The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1872-10-04
CIR L ELEY.
His Speech at Pittsburgh.

His speech at Pittsburgh.
FELLow-CIT1zENs The wise King
says there is time for war and a time
for peace. The City Of Pittsburgh
has recently witnessed rehearsal of the
pomp and pagantry, the blazonry and
circumstances, of civil war. A very
large number of men were collected
here at a vast expense, with the single
purpose Of kindling the bitterness and
hatred, the animosities and antipathies,
the fears and Civilizations of civil war,
for the advantage of a political party.
l take you to witness that the greater
portion of the journals of Pittsburgh,
as well as the orators on the occasion,
have been trying their best to make
the people hate each other for the sake
of a partisan advantage. A stranger
who was reading the journals of Pits
burgh, for the last few days would i'm
agine that we were at war, and their
purpose was to revive and to exasper-
ate the hatred and animosity of civil
war in order to intensity and invigor-
ate their side of the conflict. They
talk about rebels and traitors. Fellow
citizens, are we never to be done with
this? We demand of our adversaries
in the great civil war that they surre-
der their arms and 60 to their homes.
They surrendered them. We deman-
ded that they abandon Slavery, and
they abandoned Slavery. We deman-
ded that they enfranchise the blacks,
and the blacks were enfranchised.
None but white men now stand disfran-
chised on the soil Of our country. We
demand that they stipulate that the
emancipated slaves shall not be paid
for, and that the Rebel debt shall
never be paid by the Government Or
by the State, and they assented to
that. So far as l can see, every single
demand made on the part Of the loyal
States and the loyal people has been
fully complied with on the part Of those
lately in rebellion. Everything has
been conceded. and still they tell us,
"why, We want them to repent" Have
they not broug ght forth works meet for
repentance?
Coming together in solemn conven-
tion, the representatives of that South
ern people have given their assent to
the platform Of the Cincinnati Con-
vention, which was the most intense,
the most complete republican platform
that was ever presented by any Nation
al Convention whatever. All this be-
ing done, we are told by these gentle
men who met here. "All this is mock
cry, all this is fraud; you don't mean
anything by it," and the cry goes on,
'.Rebels and traitors, Rebels and trait
ors, '-denunciation and prescription
the same as ever. -Four years ago, in
the Republican National Convention,
it was declared that this prescription
should speedily cease. -Four years
have passed, and still it is maintained.
There are this day thousands of people
or Arkansas alone-the most intelli-
gent, the most responsible Of that
State, forbidden to exercise the right
of suffrage, forbidden exclusively by
the party that meets here and shout
for Grant & Wilson. Nobody else
asks for prescription. No other party
asks that any human being should stand
prescribed on any soil for rebellion
that ceased seven and half years ago
no party, no men of any party but
this, that held great military parade
here this week in order to further and
further separate and divide the hearts
of the American people from each
other! They hold essential to their
triumph that hatred should continue,
that distrust, suspicion, and alienation
should continue. Do what you will,
do what you may, they are determined
to be satisfied.
Now fellow citizens, it is not enough
that those who fought against the
Union should be prescribed; those of us
who stood for it are equally denounced
if we do not happen to agree with them
in our present politics. Here stands
one who is charged by them with being
a Secessionist. Could that be true,
fellow citizens? Look the facts in the
face.
When Lincoln had been elected, and
this conspiracy for secession began to
advance. we Republicans we're told by
our own men, and told still more by
those out Of the circle, "You must
back out Of your Repubhcanism, you
must surrender your opposition to the
extension Of slavery, or consent to a
great civil war;" This, they said, was
the only alternative: "Bloodshed and
devastation over the whole country, OF
you shall surrender the principles on
which Won have lust carried the cleo.