Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1872-08-16

From Senator Wilson's Speech at indianapolis
on the 9TH inst
And nov, gentlemen, here to-
night, l want briefly to notice what
l have read to-day in the public
press.
A friend of mine sent me the
other day Western paper contain
ing what purportcd to be speech
made by me in Massachusetts, in
1856: / wrote and telegraphed to
him denial of the genuineness of
that speech. l have read it here,
to-day. / said in that denial, it
was pure invention, wicked
forgery, an absolute falsehood, so
far as | was concerned.
Now, | wish to say no unfricndly
word toward any man in the country.
| do not know man or woman that
l have met in this life whom could
not meet tonight and take by the
hand-any living person. l have
no quarrel with any person on earth;
but | wish to say to you that the
papers which have published that
speech, and which have sent it over
the country; that the speakers who
have referred to it, will do so no
more. 1t cannot hurt me. You
cannot lie a man down in this Christ
ian land. lCheers. say here, l
suppose some men,and l suppose
some papers, may have been i'm
posed upon if they suppose that l
have uttered these words attributed
to me rs Il speech made in Massa-
chusctts. l say to you here, in
your presence, and in the presence
Of Almighty God that never utter
ed thought stated in that speech
in my life, nor word Of it. That
is all pure coinage, and the man or
the paper that shall hereafter pub
fish or use it, will, when they are
doing it, know they are stating
what is false and dishonorablc.
Now, gentlemen, / have another
word to say here tonight. Born
myself in abject poverty; having
known what it was to ask my mother
for bread when she had none to
give me; having left my home at
ten years of age, and served hard
apprenticeship, ! came in childhood
and in youth to know something Of
the very hard lot that belongs to
poor boys, even in our country. !
have felt what it was to be under a
social ban; l have endured and as
God is my judge tonight, l never
had thought in my heart to say
an unkind word Of any race on the
face of this earth; cheers nor to
speak disrespectfully of any man
i'll any honest profession in the
world. Brought up on a farm to
manual labor, learning after l came
of age a mechanics trade, working
for four years with mechanics, sit
ting them, and living with them,
knowing who they are and how
they feel, and what they are, l
should have been q criminal could
l have uttered toward any class Of
men, whether they were black or
white, born in the old world or in
this country, q word that should
dishonor or disgrace them.
Gentlemen, at that very meeting
to which l have referred here to-
night, in your city, seventeen years
ago, l said here, and it is printed in
speech of three or four columns,
which l have in my possession
that l loathed the idea Of opposi-
ton to foreigners because they were
foreigners. In the very months in
which they charge me with making
that speech was proclaiming every
wherc-and the speeches have been
printed over and over again, and
the question referred to, letter and
datc-that | would never support
any measure that denied to any
man, not born in our country, any
right | would ask for myself or my
son. Applause. l referred to
Gods word that bids us always
treat the stranger who comes among
us as of us.
There is another thing l have
seen to-day in the Newspapers
remark made by me in the Senate
of the United States, that has been
dragged up and quoted against me
as an expression of contempt or dis
like toward a portion of the people
Of our country. refer to the
Israelites.
Now, gentlemen, l want to refer
to that speech here tonight, and /
want to say to You that when /
uttered that sentence in a speech
which l have with me, but can not
stop to rcad-it never entered into
my mind that an Israelite in this
country would think l intended any
disrcspect or unkindness toward
him.
Mr.. Benjamin had made BRILL
ant and able speech in the Senate,
and he had been replied to by Gen
eral Baker, who undertook to re-
ply to some of his observations, and
| referred to the fact that he, an
adopted citizen, had come into the
Senate and was straining every
nerve to destroy the Republic of
the United States. And to show
the wickedncss of this act, I refer
red to the fact that the Government
he was striving to overthrow gave
rights and equality even to that
race to which he belonged-or
rather "to that race that scorned
the Prophets and crucifed the Re.
deemer of the world" l wanted to
show that this man was trying to
destroy the country that gave rights
to the race to which he belonged;
race that has been prosecuted for
hundreds Of years in all the coun-
tries of Europe, but here had equal
rights, and he was coming forward
to destroy the Government which
gave him these rights. l wish to
call your attention to that fact, and
as God is my judge, | never dream
ed that Jew in this country would
feel hurt by it. Shortly after, I re-
ceived information to that effect.
To the person who gave me that
information, l said it had never
nntared nav heart or mind and ri