Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1872-09-20
MIR. Grecley's Speech at Pittsburg.

evening. They were met at the, depot by,
torchght procession and escorted to the ot.
| Charles Hotel where he delivered from the
balcony the following address:
FELLOW CITIZENS: The wise King says
'"Tbere is a time for war and a time for peace
| The CITY of Pittsburg has recently witnessed
| rehearsal of the pomp and pagcantry, the bla-
zonrvand circumstance of civil war. A very large
number of men we're collected here. at vast ex-
| rense. with the single purpose OF reminding
thc bitterness and hatred, the anlmosty and
,ntinathies, the fears and Civilizations OF civil
war, for the advantage of a political party. |
take YOU to witness that the greatest portion OF
the journals of Pittsburg, we'll as the orators
on this occasion have been trying their best to
make us, the people. hate each other tor the
sake of partisan advantage.
\ stranger would imagine, who was reading
the Journals of Pttsburg for the last few days,
that we are still at war, and that their purpose
was to revive and eXasperatc the hatred and
animosity of the civil war, IN order to INTENSITY
and inyigorate their side OF the conflict. Their
talk has been about rebels and traitors. Are We
| never to be done with this? We demanded OF
our advcrsarcs in the great civil war that they
surrender their arms and 60 to their homes ll
enfrapchised. None but white men now stand
distrauchised on the soil Of our country. We
demanded that they stipulate that the emancl-
mated slaves shall not be paid for, aud that the
rebel debt shall never be paid by the Govern
ment or by the States; aud they assented to
| that. So far as can Scee, every single dc
mand made on the part of the loyal States and
ueopIe, has been fully complied with on the
part Of those lately in rebellion:
Still they tell US we want them to repent
Have they not brought forth works meet tor
repentance? In solemn convention the repre-
sentatives of the Southern people have given
their assent to the platform OF the CINCINNATI
Convention. which was the most intense the
most complete Republican platform that mad
ever been presented by any national convention
whatever All this being done, we are told by
these gentlemen, who met here. that all this is
mockery and fraud; you do not mean anything
BY it: and the cry goes on rebels and traitors,
denunciation, and prescription !! the same as
ever.
-Four years ago in Republican national con
vention it was declared that this prescription
would speedily cease. Four years bave passed,
and still it is maintained that there are this day
thousands of people 10 Aakausas alone, proba-
bly the most intelligent and responsible people
of that State, forbidden to exercise the right OF
forbidden exclusively by the party
that meets here and shouts for Grant and Will
son. Nobody else asks for prescription but
them. No other party requires that any hui,
man being should stand prescribed Oh our soil
for a rebellion that ceased seven and halt
years ago. No party, no man OF any party, but
tbis-the very party that held great military
parade this week in order to further separate
i and divide the hearts of the American people
FROM each other. They hold still to their
triumph that hatred, disrust. suspicion, and
alienation should continue. Do what you will,
do what you may, they are Determined not to
be satisfied.
Is it not enough that those who fought
against the nation should be prescribed? Those
of US who stood for it are continually denounced
if we do not happen to agree with others IN our
present politics. Here stands one who Is
charged BY them with being secesslonlst. -
Could that be true? Look the facts in the
face. When Lincoln had been elected, and
the conspiracy for secession began to advocate
itself. we, Republicans, were told by our own
men, and told still more by those out of the
circle, Your must back out of your Republl-
canism, you must surrender your opposition to
the extension of slavery or consent to great
civil war" This, they said was the only al
tentative: bloodshcd and devastation over the
whole country, or you shall surrender the prln-
cples on which you have just carried the cleo
ton.
| was one of those who said, mo; there is
no such alternative. denied that the South
ern people-the great ma orlty OF them-Ter
should be open, free discussion before the
Southern people, and an honest unterrl6cd,
unconstrained vote, and if they approved, if
the people of the South said they wanted dis
union, | would consent to it. | knew they
would not. [ knew that the Southern people
the great majority Of them-would have vo-
ted, as they actually did that winter, not for
secession, but for clinging to the Union.
And now to day, if the nation were to be I'M
pered, and there were just two modes OF saw
Ing ito trust to the chances of civil war or
to the chances Of free, fair vote Of the South
ern peope-I would very greatly prefer to
take the latter chance rather than that OF war
For, tellow-ctizens, they do greatly msunder
stand and malign this American people when
they assume that 10 cold blood, before there
had been any clash of arms the people IN the
South any more than in the North desired dis
union In its inception, IN Its origin, the great
masses Of those who consented to this secession
movement meant nothing by 1T but to back
down the North, and make US consent to the
| extension OF slavery. lDdl was lllcll posC,
and that purpose | did my best to resist and
defeat.
Well, the war is ended, and | think it ought
to be-. We had a great, a terrible, bloody, a
destructive civil war. Our success was per-
feet. The defeat Of our adversary was more
complete than any defeat recorded in history
They have suffered much they have conceded
all. Cannot We afford to be magnanimous?
| Ar least they saw that the American people
may vote. Some of them may; but the in-
slant they vote the cry is raised, s.See how
these fellows vote ~ They cry, "Y GU must
vote the other way Is that an election? 1t
is only a fashion of war in another aspect.
Mr.. Greeley then spoke in complimentary
terms of the prosperity and growth Of Pitts
burg, and closed by asking the people to grasp
the hand held out by their Southern brethren,
and forget that they had been encmies.
u. S. DISTRICT AND CIRCUIT COURTS