Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1874-10-08
The Mission OF the Republi-
can Party Not COmplete.

Convention, september -, senator Conk-
ling, in response to the call of the Con-
vention, spoke in substance as follows:
One of the catch sayings of our oppo-
nents has long been that the mission of
the Republican party is ended; that its
work was done when slavery and the re-
bellion fell. Have you ever thought how
senseless this cry is? Look abroad in
the land; take up one by one the grave
public questions and tell me which one
of them would be safe without a Repub
lican party and Republican president?
Look over the South from the border
States to the Gulf. You see prostration,
decentralization and discomfort These
things are in part the inevitable effects of
vast, sad war--a war forced on the ma
ton and brought on themselves by the
white people Of the South, misguided and
deceived by the leaders of the Democrat
ic party. | say the existing troubles of
the south came of the war and its ching
es and havoc in part, and only in part.
Much of the difficulty was of more recent
cause. The worst of the present woes of
/ the Southern people came from the la
mentable and suicidal course of men who
have been freely forgiven by the nation
for one of the bloOdiest crimes i'll the
! book % time When the armies of the
South had surrendered. and State Gov
ernments had been again set up, no man,
not even JEFF Davis, was denied the right
to vote. All could vote; all could take
part in rebuilding their shattered interests.
! indeed, the TACT that all could vote was u
! grievance to those who still hated the
/ Union. There was still another cause Of
com plaint. By the votes OF three-fOurths
of all the States in their Legislatures, /
amending the Constitution. the ringlead
ers who had taken and broken an oath.
besides committing treason, were no. al
J lowed to hold office until relieved by Con-
gress, and let me here remind you that
not one who has ever asked to be relieved
/ has been refused. But even this, even a
postponement Of the time when those
who planned the rebellion might resume
their place IN Congress. was de med al
atfront too grievous 10 be borne. Such,
a, least, was the pretext, and they set to
work to make the worst cf their local az
fairs. They refused to help. They re-
! fused to aid in eleciing reliable men 10
! their Legislatures and to public offices.
/ They eXertcd themselves TO deter cspaOle
mcn from accepting office or taking the
part that citizens should in free govern
ment. Social ostracism, persuasive and
still worse means were brought to bear to
prevent all who had sympathized with Sc
cession from joining In restoring order
and prosperity in the reconstructed States.
! the avuwed purpose was to leave every
thing 10 the carpet-baggers and the mig
gers, as they called the victims of their
( long oppression, in the hope ,ha. III this
way they mis lit bring such odium upon
the measure which had given black Icy
alists The ballot, that political reaction
| in the North would again seat them in
I the places from which they revolted in
rebellion. and make them again masters
of the situation. Thus far the plot has
! failed the obstinate obstruction policy OF
southern leaders, missing its aim, has
wounded its inventors. Ignorant men,
weak men, vcnal men, have seized the op-
portunity To work their way into places
of trust and power. Bad legislation. ex-
cessive taxation, unwise and profligate
administration, with their trains CT evil,
have ensued. and now what do We see !.
| Do the authors of this mischief relent ?
Is it proposed by lawful and peaceful
means to tighten these wrongs? Not at
all. But violence, bloodshed and levo-
luton are the attempted remedy. White
! Leagues, Kukluy Klans, a war of races
these are the remedies, a sort OF despot-
ism tempered by assassination. Look at
Louisiana and the uncounted murders
which have stained her soil since last Ju-
Nv. What is the special complaint there
Why, that kellogg was counted III as
Governor, when in truth McEnery was
elected. Suppose he was; we in New
/ York have known equal wrongs. 1t was
an open secret that John L. Hoffman was
counted in as Governor when John A.
Griswold was elected.
He then in n-titutes a comparison be-
tween the course of New York then and
Louisiana now, speaks OF Grant as the
firm soldier and quiet magistrate, who
when the tidings reached him OF the do
incs i'm Louisiana, in few words gave
the insurgents i've days to undo their
work as far as their deeds could be
undone. and at the same time gave
such orders for the disposition OF the
tmops as gave them grim warning
that at the end OF five days the beak and
claw of the national power would tear in
nieces the fabric of lawlessness and riot
knew Grant and they did not wait even
for a regiment They were willing to
take his word, and to stop if he would.
Had the insurrection triumphed last
week in Louisiana, there is not South
ern State in which the White Mans
League, a war of races, and bloody
grapple for the ballot-box and State Gov
ernment would not have been the order
of the day. Next door to the matter OF
good order in the South is another ques
ton, even yet more direct in its relation
to The interests of every taxpayer in the
land. | allude to claims on the treasury
for damages done. War claims and claim
agents, a multitude which no man cal,
number, are swarming In the South and
at Washington, with demands for the loss
and destruction of cotton and other crops,
of timber, buildings and other property
and for the occupation of lands by the ar
my during the var. 1t is proposed to get
. through Congress acts reiunding the wal
tax on cotton in the early years OF the re-
bellion. An organized attempt is to be
made to have the State debts of the States
lately in rebellion assumed by the United
States. These and other raids on the