Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1872-10-04

"a viz PVOPLO VI eHV COuutl tACtu-
selves, and the country howled
around until they were forced to
vote secession. So it was at nearly
every convention. They voted
nearly every State out.
Do you believe you could get the
whole Southern States into a REBEL
ion, save one or two, where every
man took up arms who was able to
bear arms against the government,
ifthey were not for secession? ["No,
No"] And yet Greeley tells us he
knew they were not in favor of it,
if they could only have had vote.
And if they could have had a vote
he was satisfied, he says, and voted
themselves out, then he would have
consented to it.
Let me show you the fallacy of
shch q statement as that. Suppose
we agree tonight that if State
wants to 60 out of the Union we
will let it 60. Don't you know that
every time State became excited
about heavy taxation, or anything
of that kind, ambitious politicians,
whom you can always find in a
great government, would demand
secession, as the Southern leaders
did, and would lead the people to
vote to dissolve the Union. If they
voted a fair vote at the ballot box,
then, says Greeley, 81 would be
willing to let them CO." Suppose
these Southern State had known
they could have gone out Of the
Union by vote. Suppose Mr..
Lincoln had said: "Gentlemen, I
am opposed to secession, but if you
take fair, honest vote, and vote
that you are in favor Of it, then I
am in favor of your going" Sup
pose Mr.. Lincoln had said that
when he was a candidate. Don't
you know this Union would have
been divided to-day? Why, it
would have been easy to divide it.
How easy? Lincoln, when elected
President, would have been in COM
mand Of the army and navy, and if
he refused to send the army down
there, the vote to secede would have
established secession and q govern
ment for them.
have been for some time sur
prised that Greeley man who
has denounced the Democratic party
for forty years; man who has
called them every conceivable name
that men could be called; who has
denounced them in the most villain
GUS manner-is the almost unani-
nous choice of the Southern rebels;
but now l am not astonished when
l hear his declarations. Why?
Because they seem to understand
him better than we do. They seem
to know what he is better than we
do.
He says: eff you vote yourselves
out, you may CO." Fellow country
men, being candidate for Presi-
dent, if he should be elected, when
he becomes Commander-in- Chief of
the army and navy, and Kentucky,
across the river, would take vote
to secede from the Union, what does
Mr.. Greeley say? He says it is un-
constitutional to do it, but then
you have done it, and you have done
it by vote, and hence you can 60.
Now, does anybody want to trust a
man of that kind as President? mo;
never"
Now, let me read little further
and see how he don't take any of it
back. Laughter.] He says: sAnd
now, to-day, if the Union were to be
imperiled, and there were just two
modes of saving ito trust to the
chances of civil-war, or to the
chances of a full, fair vote of the
Southern people, l would very great
| ly prefer to take the latter.".
Now, there is what Greeley tells
you. This rebellion is past, but il
the thing was to como up to-day,
and the question was civil war or a
vote as to whether they should go
out or not, Greeley would allow
them to take avote upon it, although
the very taking OF that vote would
be treason against the government.
The voting itself would be a con-
spiracy against the Government of
the United States; and yet, before
he would call the army and the
navy into the service of this country
to protect the people of any State
against disunion, he would let them
take the vote; and if they voted fol
it, then he would agree to it. That
is Mr.. Greeley.