Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1872-04-27
speech OfHOn. Daniel w. VOOr-
hees-The PiHnder of Eleven
states by the Republican
Party.

Mr.. SPEAKER The condition of
many of the States of this Union
excites to-day the mingled pity and
Indignation of the civilized world.
They are the theme Of sorrowful
and Of bitter comment wherever the
channels Of human intelligence
penetrate. They engage the atten-
ton Of all the departments of this
Government. Executive proclama-
tions spread evi tidings about them,
and hurl every principle Of their
liberties, every imminent Of their
safety to the ground. Congress en-
acts laws against them which ut
terly destroy every vestige Of free
dom, and forge and rivet on their
helpless limbs the fetters of despot-
ism. 1t also sends forth its power
full missionaries of mischief in the
form of committees, backed by the
....a .r.o EvwTI Ur 49,
ernment, whose labors are to black
EN- the character and fame of their
people under the guise of official
Investigations and, official reports
The head Of the Department Of JUS
tico, the late Attorney General, he
who led his people in the war and
then returned to plague and lay
waste the hearth stones Of his fol-
lowers, superintended in person the
inquyition and the torture inflicted
upon the descendants Of those who
fought in the battles Of the Revolu.
ton. The Army of the United
States in II time of profound peace
is launched like a bolt Of destruc-
ton into their midst. 1t is engag-
ed in seizing, without sworn charge
or warrant of law, the youth, the
middle,aged, and the gray-haired
grandsires, in the sanctuary of
American homes, and driving them
like herded boasts into crowded
priso ons. The odious service Of Cla-
vcrhouse, KirlSe, and Dundee, in
the bloody expressions of Scotland,
which gave their names more than
hundred years ago to the ever
lasting execration of mankind, is
being repeated hourly on American
soil. Aud the President himself,
in his recent message, prepared, as
he saws, in haste, rs if he had af,
fairs of great Importance to engage
his attention, yet found time TO
give his sanction to all this and to
add his malignant mite TO the gen
cral arraignment and accusation.
Surrounded and confronted by
this disastrous state of public at.
fairs, | rise to address this House
in behalf of free institutions, Of i'm.
parllal Justice, and of the oppressed
ar d outraged citizen, wherever hii
home may be planted. Ishall speak
by the authority OF those who sent
me here. To them am beholden
for all that | am--to them alone ]
acknowledge myself responsible in
this world for what | utter on this
floor.
Sir. who has filled one third o
the boundaries of this Republic
with al! the curses and calamitie,
ever recorded in the annals of the
worst Governments known on th,
pages Of history? Nearly sever
years ago blessed peace, like mer
ciful, white winged angel, came tC
the land. Who, since then, ha:
poured upon the unrcsisting anc
helpless South the floods of disor
der, corruption, bankruptcy, crime
oppression, and ruin? Every re
suit has its distinct and specific
cause in the moral and politica
world as well as in the malhemat
/ ical realms of the physical sciences
The greatest thinker and writer o
the present century has said:
ain the moral world, as in the physica
world, nothing is anomalous nothing il
unnatural; nothing is strange. All i
order, symmetry, and law. TAere are op
posiies, but there are no contradictions
/ In the character Of a nation, incorsisten
cy is impossible. Such, however, is still
the backward condition Of the human mind
and with 50 evil and jaundiced an eye d.
we approach the greatest problems, tha
not only common writer's, but even mel
from whom better things might be hoped
are on this point involved in constant con
fusion, perplexing themselves and theft
( readers by speaking Of Inconsistency as !
II we're a quality belonging TO the suhjee
which they insssilgnte, instead Of being
as Il really is, measure Of their own ig
noranoe ID Is The business Of he hisior
ism 10 rem5ve this Ignorance, hs shorinI
tlial the movemtnis Of nations ars perfect
| u ~ rnlar. and ilal. Lis Al olher move