Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1875-09-30

rights, Tor the oppressed, not Tor secta-
ria:l privileges in violation of the Con-
stitution, not for facilities for the min
istration of sectarian ceremonies and
forms of worship, as sects may deter
mine, nor for the State establishment
of any thing sectarian whatever. They
petitioned for nothing analogous to
the grants of the Geghan bill.
There is not Protestant sect in
the State of Ohio that would so
far seculariZe itself, and crawl upon
its belly and beg sectsrian privilege
from Democratic Legislature, to
have State facilities at State expense to
interfere with the official business of
State Chaplaincy, and moreover, no
chaplain having self-respect-noneb but
some Democratic political preacher, of
strong prO-slavery and rebel prOclivi-
ties would bare his head and bow to o
Catholic prie-thoOd demanding share
in the functions of State official.
Mr.. Thurman grants the cOnstitu-
tionai right of the protestant clergy re-
ferred to in exercising the right OF Pc
tition; any citizen, in any relation may
petition. So Thurman knows. And
now, in the name of common sense
and common decency what las the
right of petition to do with the Geghan
bill, or with the Legislature in framing
such thing granting sectarian priv
ileges under the terror of the threats
(not petition) of a Catholic priesthood,
and their manipulation of the Catholic
press? Priests did not petition, Cath
Olic press did not petition, the Catholic
people did not petition, nobody petit
| tc L.
tion, or right of petition come in ?
where, in connection with this Bill ?
nowhere, Mr.. Thurman. An eclipse of
the moon has about as much relation
to this Geghan enactment as the petit
tions of the friends of the slave in the
days of the rebellion and anti-slavery
struggles against pro slavery, Demo
cratic tyranny, and secession. Not Pc
tition, but threat, stood with its whip
of terror over cringing legislature in
the framing of this bill for the estab-
lishment of sectarianisln.
THE Democratic State Conventions
in Maine, New York, Connecticut,
New Hampshire, Michigan, Wiscon-
sin. Minnesota, Maryland, California,
Oregon, Iowa and Nebraska, have all,
so far, spoken out in favor of early re-
sumption, hard money and less of it;
while Pennsylvania and Ohio stand
alone against resumption and contrac-
ton. Which shall be regarded as
speaking for the party--the twelve
States named, sustained, as they un-
dOubtedly are, or will be, by Delaware,
New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont,
Nevada and Illinois, making eighteen
in all, or the two States which have
spoken the other way? If the majority
is to rule, the anti-resumptiOn States
are in a woful minority; and we shall
think that the Democracy of the
eighteen hard-money States are the
true exponents OF the Democratic finan-
cial doctrine. To which is to be added
the fact, that at least One-half of the
party in Pennsylvania and large
portion of it in Ohio are sentimentally
in sympathy with their hard-money
brethren in other States. Those, there
fore, who are tempted to look at the
! Democratic party as an lnstrunentat-
Iity for preventing resumption or for
promoting the issue of more national
currency, will do well to look at the
folly of trusting that work to a party
which has committed itself against it
in eighteen out of twenty States, and
has large and powerful minority in
the other two in accord with the party
elsewhere Oh that subject.