The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1875-08-05

throb. Born Of commercial and IN
dustrial agony, catching inspiration
from the cherries fresides and de-
caying homes of labor, it goes forth
TO Che yindication Of the rights Of the
oppressed people and the repulse Of
class and aristocratic entertainments.
To doubt its success is to deny the
existence of the public conscience,
the power Of public justice and the
willingness Of the people to embody
in act the convictions Of the judg-
ment and the sympathies Of the
heart.
It is usual, my friends, for men in
determining their POLITICAL action,
to consider the pending questions in
their relations to their personal in
tcrests, their peculiar personal inter
csts, or those in which with the mas
ses oftheir immediate neighbors they
are directly Unidentified. But it is
consistent with the very highest or
der Of citizenshipto act with refer
ence to the good Of all our people.
neighbor or remote, and upon proper
occasion to interpose for relief, for
protection or for redress.
In this view, and in conclusion,
my friends, / desire to ask you to ex-
anime the Question Of the misrule in
the South, and to determine from that
examination whether there are no
passages in its record that appeal TO
your sense of justice as citizens of the
American Republic, or to your kind
ly sympthizes as men of a common
history and a common destiny. The
close Of the war left the South impov-
erished, defeated. The decrease in
her taxable property had reached
s3,000,000,000 during the preceding
decade. Her only remaing resource,
her cotton, was disposed Of by con-
fscation. tG
Three million bales were seized by
the specializing agents Of the Federal
Government. 1t seems to me that if
it were the desire to restore the pro-
ductive energy Of that country, re-
store the people to industrial pur-
suits, the dictates Of expediency would
have required their public affairs to
have been administered in such I
manner as would have economical
their resources and husbanded their
strength. But what was the policy
pursued? You were all familiar with
its history and with its WORKING
The policy Of spoliation prevailed
The combined sewerage of Sodom
could not have thrown out more Of
fensive elements than were let loose
upon the people Of the South when
the Reconstruction Acts encouraged
the whole tide Of bummerdom to flow
upon the people Of that section Of the
country. The adventurer, the carp
ct-bagger, the scallawag, and the
black were the controlling elements.
They proceeded upon the theory of
plundering those who had something
for the benefit Of those who had moth
ing. Although the taxable property
Of the Southern States had decreased
nearly one-half, they doubled the rate
Of State taxation in nearly all Of the
States and quadrupled local taxation
and added to the aggregate debt Of
those States nearly two hundred mil
lions Of dollars. ..lr
No more suspicious time than the
present could be chosen for rendering
a popular verdict which shall show
to the people Of the South that hence
forth they stand upon an equal foot
ing upon the soil Of the United States
and under the protection Of the Con-
stitution; that henceforth- they are to
be at liberty, like the people of every
other section of the country, to regu-
late their domestic affairs, free from
Federal interference or control.
The Republic is closing the first
century Of her existence. Let not
the centennial dawn upon States un-
der despotic rule or cities under the
ban of public distrust, or wearing the
badge Of servitude in the land of their
birth. We have here but one life to
live, one country to love, one govern
ment to preserve, one destiny to ach-
ieve. Let US in walking the ways
appointed for us in the Providence Of
God endeavor to live and act as one
people, one in our desire for the pub
lie good, one in our respect for indi-
viduals. As Boston and Charleston
clasping hands within the shadow of
Bunker Hill cast ancient enmity- TO
the winds and renewed their fore
fathers faith amid the scenes and
over the ashes of Revolutionary he
roism, so will the people Of the res
pective sections, banishing all prcju-
dice and all uncharitableness, gather
in the happiness Of National jubilee
around the affairs of reconciliation
and peace, and plight there each to
the other that troth OF confidence and
love which shall fill the land with