New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1874-03-26

| htpuDiicanS us wei as democrats; ny ihoSo
who look at everything through sort Of
mental ma%nilyinG glass, and by others who
are actuated by Il variety Of motives by which
the country has been to some extent deceived.
Representations are made against our party
in spirit of rccklcssncss which to me is
| perfectly astounding. That things are not i'm
a satisfactory condition in this State is too
true; there are many things Of which Just
complaint might be made. That il is possible.
aud has been so ever since the Republican
party has held the asccndency in the State
| To set along with lower rates of taxation by u
more judicious expenditure of the public
funds, and that VIC might have selected better
men to fill our most important Offices, cannot
DC denied; but neither do exaggerated repre-
sensations made by our opponents, nor reck-
less and injudiciOus public speeches made by
Republicans against their own party and puh-
tic men, help the situation. / am no apolo-
gust for thieves; for if l were, do not think
would have occupied for so long a time n
place IN your confidence. On the contrary, |
| am Ill favor of most thorough investigation
OF inc Official conduct of any and every pub
lie officer i'll connection with the discharge of
whose duties there is anything like we'll
grounded suspicion; and to, this effect have
| spoken time and again. Nor am lukewarm
| on The subject of better government in South
carolina than that which seems to be bearing
hcavlly ON all classes and conditions of society
to-day. Still, recognizing that which believe
to be true that such is the determined oppo-
| Sitioh to the Republican party and its doe
| tlihcS by our opponents that no administra-
tloi oi our affairs, however honest, Just and
economical, would satisfy any considerable
pOflion oil the democratic masses in the State
OF South Carolina, and satisfied that the prin-
clples and policy Of the great Republican
panty 10 which l belong is best adapted for
the promotion OF good government to all
classes OF men, our party leaders should be
Judlcious in dealing with the situation. A
leading public journal thus iorcibly says: "a
roiiticai leader should not he disingcnuons
win his own party friends indeed, he should
not run muck against the administration he
Is implicitly supposed to support. Iftherc are
| causes Of weakness or occasion for corrcc
Ton and amendment, these should be admins
tered III the tranhncss and confidence of pri-
waite counsel, and not in the wide forum of
pubic debate. This is not the place to expose
one s own weakness or unrOll the calendar of
dciccis which may be better corrected in the
confluence Of the caucus" In the spirit OF
THIS suggestion, would ask for an adyiscdac
iion on the part olthc Republicans throughout
The state. iwould ask you calmly to consider
ihc stale oi affairs as they are presented TO us
to-day, and il You cannot reach those who
have brought this ruin upon us through the
medium at the courts instituted by us as a
party, ana by the officials whose duty il is to
prosecute those who violate the law then LET
them forever be discarded from the party.
And, again, when You are called upon in yOur
primary meetings in your county and State
nominating conventions, let each man act as
ii, 10y ms individual vote, he could wipe out
the odium resting upon or party, and help TO
remove The evils that alilict us at present. Let
Il tsnl Hal l..
holds him responsible for the shortcomings oC
his party, and that it demands Of him the ec-
walton TO public positions Of men who arc
above suspicion. Let each man feel that upon
! Inn Individually rests the work i rCf3lm let
| each man feel that he is TesponsiGin so..cycry
| dollar OF the public money fiaululcntv used
| for cvery-scho0l-houSc closed AGAINST his chill
drcn for every dollar of taxation in excess
OF the reasonable ana legitimate expenses OF
the Stale; III short, let every man feel That So
ciety at large will hold him and the party ac-
countable for every mslccd in the admnisira-
ION OF government, and will credit him with
every honest effort in the interest of the peo-
| pie, and the interest of good government,
| whereby the community as Il whole is best
| protected and the equal rights of all orlaran-
tccd and made safe. Applause. THIS, gen
tiemcn, is the line Of argument which | had
hoped To present to you. IL is not for us 10
hc true, while it is for Us To deal in the conf
dcnce of caucus, and by other judicous
means, without giving the Democrats weap-
ons with which to beat out our brains.
| tchccrs la voice cried Good cnourhn)
For say tonight, with the full knowledge
Of the fact that what may say here tonight
will go out to the country, and in view Of my
responsibilities TO my immediate constituents
and to society at large, and in view OF my re-
| sponSibilltics as n member Of Congress. | say
that Republcanism is best calculated for the
welfare Of Democrats as well as Republicans.
1t is The government of the people made by
The people and for the people, and you dare
not, as Republican, trample on any right
| OF Democrat, or triic with the important
interest of the people, while at the same time
it is your duty to prevent them from tramp
ling upon any of yours. APPLAUSE And the
best way to effect this is TO keep the power
within the party. [Arplausc.l CA voice
THAT'S so."O We must not think that be-
cause the colorcd people are in the majority
now that we are privileged to be indifferent
to the interests of others. AS Il country we
have rrospered, we have multiplied our vast
| resources from Maine to California, while we
have Increased our industries, aud added
vastly to our capital, and rcopied our cities
and towns with ten(Old their number; we
| have rescued within the last ten years an
entire race from bondage; we have not only
cmancipated, but we have enlranchscd and
clothed this race with the habilimenls of cit
iZGnship.
But we find ourselves to-day, as 4, race,
| passing through Il crisis. The col0red pco-
| pie in the United States, with all the grand
achievement Of the past ten years, are to-day
passing through the crisis Of their political
history in this country. We present to the
world 4 noble spectacle, 4 record unparal-
| lelcd in the annals Of any people similarly
| situated. No race has bcch subjected to
such scathing fire of criticism: no people
have had such tremendous disadvantages to
labor under. And feel free To say, no race
in Il similar position could have aquitted
themselves more creditably; but now in this
trying epoch of our history, we seem to for
get much that VIC should remember; we
must not trie with our responsibilities and
let slip our best opportunities to prove our
fitness for government. We are charged as
giving evidence in some localities of unfit
ness in this direction; it is for us in this cri-
sis to DENY as best we may those allegations
against the colorcd men rs 4 race as TO their
ability to manage the affairs Of government.
The country accepts in great part the rep
reservations made by our opponents as to the
sitnatIon of affairs in this State. it rests
with YOU to remove every just cause OF COM
plaint, remembering that by every unworthy.
man YOU elevate to office, by every scoun-
drel you keep in Office, you justify the public
opinion in the country adverse to the we'll
being of the Republican party in this State,
and to the fitness of the colored man for fran
chico Tho Toy-poyers, Convention was