The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-09-12
GRANT AND THE sANTO DOMINGO M
RRCGLID.


ton of territory in the West Indies
It was rejected by the Senate. Con.
gress then passed an act apprOpriat
ing money for the purpose of secur
: ing a harbOr at SantO Domingo, sc
? that when Gen. Grant came into pow,
2 and assumed Office there was an ap.
: preparation already made looking tC
securing a harbOr fitted for a maya
|. station in the West India Islands.
Gen Grant believed that the proposed
territory would be a valuable acqui.
sitiOn to the United States. He may
!. have erred in that conviction, but il
was his conviction, and suppose il
Z is to-day, that it would be advanta-
geous to Us to secure those thousands
a of square miles Of rich territory, its
:, few people, and a magnificent harbOr.
. And if a canal could be made across
the isthmus, that harbOr would be one
of the most important and valueable
on this globe. Gen. Grant believed Ii
to be the duty Of the government to
secure it for the purpose of a naval
station for our commerce, and, above
all and more than all, to extend the
influence of the United States in
the West India Islands. He said
that, if we could obtain possession of
that island, it would be settled by
thousands of our enterprising men,
who would take their capital there !;
that millions and millions Of tropical
products would be exported, which
would help the balance of trade be-
tween us and other nations, and at
the same time strengthen our great
commercial interests, at that time 50
depressed. But he went further. He
said that, if we obtain that country,
our influence and example would be
potential for liberty, and that Spain
would not be able to maintain slavery
in Cuba or Porto Rico four years if we
obtained possession Of that territory.
Now, Gen. Grant may have been
mistaken in all this, and it may be
that some persons employed by him
in the public service there may not
have done their duty altogether as
they should have done, but that he
was sincere and hOnest-governed by
public considerations and by a desire
to extend the power and influence of
the United States for good, over a
still wider domain no honest man
in America can, think, raise a reas-
enable doubt.
Now, gentlemen, that question of
acquisition, as you know, was not
sustained by the Senate, nor, indeed,
/ by the American people, and Gen.
Grant, adhering to the doctrine he
had laid down, that be had no policy
to enforce against the cOuYivtion Of
the people bowed to the verdict of
public opinion.
MORE ABOUT THE KU KLUX.
You remember, gentlemen, and I
remember that in the election of 1868
there were hundreds Of men murdered
in the State of Louisiana for political
reasons. You will remember that in
one district, where there were 5000
Republican majority, but one vote
was given for Gen. Grant, and the |
man died for giving it. You will re- |
member that many hundreds of men |
in Louisiana were butchered like dogs /
because they were in favor of General |
Grants election, and that that State |
that has 10000 or 10000 Republic |
can majority, gave the electoral, |
vote through these Outrages of these /
men, to HOratio Seymour. This
was not all. There were organized /
in that Southern land, especially in
Forth Carolina and South Carolina, Sc
cret organizations called Ku KluX
Klans. They burned school houses |
by the hundred; they burned churches; |
they burned the cabins of the lOWly /
and the poor; they lashed women;
they murdered men; and to-day four
thousand of these miscreants have
been arrested by the government of /
the United States. Hundreds of them
have been tried, many of them con-
victed, and many of them are in the
penitentiary of Albany to-day, thank
God! [Great applause
We laid down the doctrine, in the
great campaign of 1865, that it was
among the highest duties of the gov
ernment to protect the people of the
United States against villains. We
waited; the administration waited;
used its influence through its judicial
tribunals, through to officers connect
ed with the courts; used its influence
in every proper and legitimate way to
bring to justice these cOwardly mid
night assassins, who murdered men
and whipped women because of their
was punished. These Ku KluX Klans
had their men in the courts, had their
men in the jury box, and when they
were arraigned for murders and crimes
that cannot be mentioned here to-day,
these miscreants escaped because jur-
les would not convict them. This
subject was taken up by Congress and
Investigated. Able and honest men
were commissioned by Congress to
make the investigation, and the facts
disclosed made it clearly the duty of
Congress to legislate for the prOtec-
ton of the people of the United States.
Congress hesitated. We had class
of men that talked States rights, them
and want of constitutional power, just
as we have men who talked of want
of constitutional power when we
raised men to save the republic of the
United States from annihilatiOn. Gen.
Grant, while Congress hesitated many
days, came up to his room at the Cap
itOl and asked eight or ten gentlemen
of both Houses to come in and see
him. We spent an hour or two there,
and talked these matters over. Some
of US believed-and ! among the num-
ber--that it was the duty of Congress
to act; to clOthe the government with
ample powers to break down these
kIans of rebels and murderers, and
protect the poor people from their
Outrages. am among the men that
believe, gentlemen, that government.
is not plaything; that the rich and
the powerful in our country, as in all
ages and in all countries, can take
care of themselves and governments
are made to protect the poor, the
humble, the weak, the dependent
TcheersE that every citizen of the
United States is entitled to the prOtec-
ton OF the Government of the United /
States-at home, at sea, and in
every country on Gods green earth.
Loud applause. hold it to be the
first duty of this government to give
to every man complete liberty and
equal rights, and the next duty to pro-
tect him in the enjoyment of COM
plete liberty and in the possession of
his equality of rights. Applause.
No matter what blood courses through
his veins, no matter where he was
born, no matter to what race of men |
he may belong, no matter what be his
faith or creed-a citizen of the United .
States is the peer of every other citi-
zen, and has the right to the prOtec-
ton of this government all over this /
world. Applause.
Gen. Grant, after listening to sew
eraI Senators and members, sat down |
and wrote a little message, perhaps |
as long as your finger, but il was like |
one those battle papers by which great |
armies move. Congress at once raj |
lied to the message and around the
President, and we passed the bill |
clothing the government with ample
power to protect the citizens of the
United States all over the land.
The courts in North Carolina and
South Carolina, in Alabama and other
portions of the South have tried hun
dreds of these murderers and assas-
sins. Some of them belong to what
they call in the South "first families"
and in their own estimate that term
includes nearly everybody in the
the South. Laughter "First fami-
lies" are very important. Some of
them are in the Penitentiary; some
have been fined some of them are
out on security; Others are going to
trial, and the Ku-KluX murderers' de-