The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1872-08-10
GREELEY RALLY At STREATOR,


auspices of the Greeley Club of S.rea.or and
vicinity. Fully twelve hundred people were
present, which was a marked numerical contrast
with the radical meeting the week before, when
the crowd was easily accommodated in a hall Of
the town. A convenient stand and seats were
erected for the accommodation of Sneakers and
audience. and the grove was we'll illuminated
The meeting was of the most orderly character
and was marked with unwonted unan;mity and
enthusiasm.
Mr. S. Plumb, the president of the local Gree.
ley Club, acted as chairman. In stating the OBJ.
jects Of the meeting he said that liberal repuLl,.
cans and the democratic party were of one accord
in this great movement. The Cincinnati plat.
form meant faithfulness to the exact and equal
rights of all. [Cheers.l
A voice here called for three cheers for Wash.
ington Bushnell, the great reformer, which were
given with will.
Rev. ]. G. Stoughton, Of Aurora, being intro.
duced, said forty million people were about to
decide who was to be president for the next four
years. This contest was usually attended with
excitement, and was often not tempered with
wisdom and patience. 1t was essentially neces-
sary that fundamental principles should be in.
quired into, and no man should allow his con.
science to be overwhelmed by party considera.
tions. That man did not comprehend his posi-.
ton who did not obey his conscience independent
OF party dictation. Politics ought to be discussed
alike by men and women, SO that they might be-.
come familiar with the grand idea that the peo.
pie are the governors The present contest was
narrowed down to two men, Grant and Greeley.
The distinction between Grant as a general and
as civilian should be borne in mind As a
military man Grant was an undoubted success.
He came in the dark hour Of trial, and proved
himself the man of the hour, but he is not now
subject OF criticism as military man. We are
not selecting general, but a president. Grant
had never been an ideal as president. Few
men were satisfied with him at FIRST and people
have had no occasion to change their opinions Of
him. His ideas were altogether military. II
fifty republicans, not office.holders, were asked
if Grant were their first choice, fortv.nine would
answer, No. The reverend speaker in all his
travels had not found one republican who de.
clared for Grant as his first cholce This ex.
planned the reform movement which had arisen
80 Unexpectedly TO ofice.holders Grant was in
an unprincipled ring, by which he was manipu.
lated, and the people demanded change.
Grant knew little of, and cared less for, the true
theory OF government. He bad accepted the
presidency in return for services rendered dur.
ing the war. and to make the most out Of it he
ID mt tv.tA ~ Al -.
derstanding that he must have a second term in
order to pay expenses. laughter His ides
was simply personal one, which was proved
by his recommendation that congress should re.
peal time.honored law in order that he nigh
appoint A. I. Stewart as cabinet officer A. T.
Stewart was man Of deeds and had donated
$4,000 to the Greeley Club Of New York.
Cheers. Again, in the San Domingo affair he
had asked for the repeal OF laws to suit mis- own
personal ideas. The time had come to invest.
gate these matters Of history, and the movement.
had become 80 great that 1t had Ls,oni.hed its
friends and COMPOUNDED its enemies. You could
not tell whence it came, or whittier it goeth. It
meant no step backward, no abandonment of
things gained in the past, no ENGRAVING of cd
dead issues upon the living present, ho union
for the spoils of office. It meant the union OF
men of one faith with the purpose and determi.
nation OF doing their duty TO God and their fel.
low men. Cheers 1t meant lifting men above
the spoils of Office to do good to all people
Cheers We have had great and mighty issues
which have passed into history, such as the Mis-.
souri, compromise in 1851, the crushing Of slavery
by the military power, and the adoption of the
18th, l4th and 10Th amendments. These had
been fought out to the bitter end at the point of
the bayonet and at the expense of millions of
lives and treasure. but they had no more to do
with the present issues than the war of 1912 or
the revolution. 1t was an insult to the common
sense OF the nation to suppose that these quest
tions would be changed. The country was not
about to go back on its record. The empty
sleeves, the crowded cemeteries, and the memo.
ries OF Gettysburg, &C.. were pledges that these
matters were irrevocably settled, and America
will stand by them. Cheers 1t was only the
clsp.trap and stock ia trade of the politician to
say these grave issues would be changed, but the
republican party would fail to exist if the war
was over. Laughter and cheers These issues
could no more be changed than we could raise
the martyred Lincoln from his grave, and we
would not do 1t if We could. [Cheersl The
administration declared that tho democrats were
the rebels. Granting that, they had lost every.
thing in the war The north had gained, and
the south had yielded and accepted the situation
and the northern idea There was no magnani.
nifty in continuing the old war, bu. the fact was
the administration in hsrping upon these mat
tiers like the bull ut the sight of the red pet
ticoat. Laughter. The democratic party had
united with the reformets and agreed to accept
rs candidate the father of republcanism. who
was living power in the land while Grant was
voting for Buchanan and sweeping out leather
store in Galenn. Laughter and applause Gree.
ley had done for the liberation of the slaves
than aRy ten men, and the fact that the south
supported him in this contest wa. proof Of the
sincerity of the latter. The pc pie were work.
ing silently. This movement came like the dsy
FAR in thu upt boru1d:...