Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-04-12
KANSAS LIBERAL CONVENTION.
Speech of Gov. B. Graft Brown.
The Programme for Republican Re-
fOrm-Hndictment Of the Dominant
Party-NOble Recognition of Demo-
cratic Patriotism.

, f0rm-HndictmentO Of the Dominant
Party-NOble Recognition of Demo
cratic Patriotism.
Z Topeka, KS, April 10.-Gov. Grat7
J Brown, of Missouri, spoke as follows in the
Kansas Liberal State Convention yester-
, day:
, You meet to-day to cradle reform
movement that has only patriotic ends in
view. 1t purposes no violence either OF
language or of action.
A period of our history fraught with the
agitation of great ideas has just ended. It
began under the gOading OF angry party
isms, and was carried forward through the
blood and bitterness of civil war spread
all over the land. 1t has terminated by es-
tablishing an equal freedom as the rightful
heritage Of every American citizen. From
Missouri came the first inroads which ush-
cred in that tragic time. From Kansas
came stern resistance which kindled the
feUd Of our whole nation into irrepressible
antaeOnism. And now Missouri and Kan
sas join hands in friendship, insist that pol
icies of peace and not hatred shall prevail,
unite to stamp out the corruptiOns which
fastened whilst we fought, and demand that
a constitutional rule shall once more pre-
vail, that the limits of State and National
authority shall be respected as Of old, that
a military shall give place to civil order,
and the people come into their own again.
My friends your assent lage assures me
that You realize this to be no idle parade of
conventional politics. There is a certain
suspense in the very air; but there is a
manly purpose on every brow. The Gus
tOmary rallyiDg cries are lacking; but there
Is elevated a banner with this strange de-
vice: "AIy country before any party"
As Republicans you have come together
! to consult upon the modes whereby effect
may be best given to your convictions. So
| grave a national danger can only be
averted by concerted action. To accom-
! plish this a National Mass Convention has
been called at Cincinnati on the first of May.
As that assemblage may be expected to
take action of infinite consequence to the
future well ordering Of our Government,
and as hostile criticism has not been slow
to assail Its purport in advance, desire to
put in pleading before you some Of the rea-
sons that have shaped its calling.
Apart from the imperative necessities al
ready stated there confronts the public a
consideration connected with present Re- |
publican organization which breeds serious
alarm with all rejecting men who value the
substance of things more than any form.
That consists in the transformation which
its partisanship has impressed upon the
Government itself. To state it plainly, ours
is no longer a Government of three co-or-
dinate branches, each Independent and a
check upon the other as our fathers framed !
it; but within the structure has been es-
tablished another Government,
Intangible to the Law,
merging all departments into one will, |
known as that of THE PARTY, and within |
the party has been erected despotisIn, rul- |
ing all its membership to its own ordering, |
known as EXECUTIVE FAVOR. Thus it re- !
suits that those barriers against abuse of |
power, set up with so much care, are all |
broken down, and replaced by a subtle ma
chinery whose secret springs few may
know. Under Republic in name we have
to-day
Packed Judiciary,
and a subservient Congress, dominated by
a military chieftain. This fact which is Wis
ible to all who will look, this fact which sets
at naught the defences of charter rights,
this fact which puts to blush the claims of
party fealty, this fact which arraigns the
very method Of that interior ruling organic
atiOn-tbis fact l say necessitates a revolt
from established routine to attain any free
patriotic expression. There can be no lib
erty Of Utterance where Ostracism falls upon
the best and bravest who dare to dissent,
Tradition has it that amongst the ancient
Locrians he who proposed any reform did
so with halter around his neck, by which
he was suspended if the law was not ad-
opted. Here the hanging begins before the
is permitted and administra-
/
smpass in malignity the implement Of a |
Tweed or Connolly.
Those, therefore, like yourselves, who |
have chosen another method OF canvassing
the views Of the Republicans of this nation,
find full warrant for any latitude of pro-
ceedure in the surveillance thus set by Off
cial mandate over any questioning. For
this reason
The Convention at Cincinnati
instead of evading, challenges rebuke for its
1t does not pretend to be a 1
copy of its rivals at Philadelphia or else ;
where. Unshackled by ordinary proceed
ure, popular in its origin, limited to no spe-
cifc numbers, it passes official comprehen-
sion and scOrns its adroit controls. Therein
viii lie its power and its influence. From
The masses, and of them it will embody
their frankest expression. Gathering the
numblest along with the Wisest, it will COM
bine enthusiasm with guidance. The |
States will be represented and accorded
each its appropriate influence. Further
more, it boldly assumes an initiative and {
thereby gives warrant of absolute sincerity,
not mere scheming. This, after all, let me {
say it with deliberation, is the highest title
10 the confidence of the people. l
To-day the prevalence Of passiveism
is but another sign of the temper of the |
lines; not that parties are always baneful, c
but that the work Of restoration requires a I
broader and better contemplation than lies I
within the temper Of any passionate tri- /
umph. t
Accepting, then, this assurance of wide. e
spread sympathy, it becomes a duty to Il
adopt such courses of political action as L
will give an option to our countrymen of S
passing condemnation upon a system whose 2
abuses they so clearly recognize 1t is not, a
therefore, as a party in any strict sense
Dut as reform and a deliverance-that a
Liberalism makes its appeal to public epin- o
on. Definite outlines of action are set C
Orth, but it is rather the relaxation of all L
)ast disCiplines that will fill the measure of
he great hope of the country for a new and Il
prosperous era. What the 4
Party of the Future c
will be, it would be premature now to de- n
lare. Only this can be said, with certain D
Y, that il viii take character from the vic d
Dry which may be won, not from the rel v
cs left behind. hat the present crisis, t
Iowever, absolutely demands, may be set ii
orth definitely in a few words It's require Il
nent above all else is a President without n
'artyism, an army without a mission, + n
congress without price and a Supreme d
Judiciary without politics. ST
Let us not underrate the magnitude of IL
his III. ,srtakng. 1t is no small matter to p
bake loose a victorious party from its b
mornings, and it will be no slender argrl- IL
lent that will have weight to effect that OBJ nj
3Ct. Many attachments will have to be st
rOken; many interests will intervene; ma II
y doubts will arise. But | have an abfd- IL
lg faith in theEpatriotism of the American I'll
eOple, whenever hearing can be had. |
now too, that this appeal, to have any sue &,
esq, must be made to the mind and con- .,
cience of the cOnquering North. 1t is NJ
mere the Dublic ODiniOn is consolidated ~