The Portland daily press., 1875-04-05
Mr.. Blaine ON the Situation.
The Political Struggle en- the War Issues.

Speaker Blaine made a notable spesch to
nd Wstng S n
which is given by telegraph. Mr. Blaine said
that Democratic papers were finding fault be-
Cause the Republicans in the northern states
persisted in discussing the issues which grew
out of the war and still remained unsettled,
| when at the same time it WAS undenabls that
| the Democratic party in the southern states in
every couRty and township were discussing
these same issues from precisely the opposite
point of view. For the Republicans to aban-
don these issues which involve the questions Of
citizenship, of suffrage aud the supremacy Of
| the constitution with its amendments would be
to surrender and disband their organization
before the legitimate ends of the great strug-
| gle had been fully attained. If he WAS pointed
| to expressions of Democratic acquiscence in
these results, he must receive them with eau
tion, because the condition of the South did net
| correspond to these assurances of cquescence.
In this remark he was not specially referring
| to personal outrages, elegantly termed "bloody
| shirt issue by the Democracy, but to that gem
| eral condition of inequality and oppression
| under the law which prevailed ia SO many Of
the southern states.
Nor had he confidence in the efforts or inten-
ton of the Democratic party to pacify and
harmonic the South on the basis OF submission
ty law and order. Look at the course Of tho
Democratic members of the House of Represen-
tatives in the settlement of the Louisiana
question. The final recommendation of the
Louisiana committeeman it was certainly
very able committee, not rash, or partisan or
prejudiced-was to do two things, viz, correct
the errors of the Republican enrolling board
and give the legislature in its popular branch
to the Democrats. I'd, to recognize Governor
Kellogg as the de fdcto executive of the state
as President Grant had wisely and necessarily
done. This seemed to be not only fair ad-
.justment, but it was really the only ADJUST
ment practicable; any other would have in
yclved wrong on the one hand or anarchy on
the other. And yet every Democrat in tho
house. save only Mr.. Stephens of Georgia,
voted against permitting the subject to be even
introduced, voted against allowing the COM
mittee to report the adjustment, voted against
even giving Congress an opportunity to bring
peace to that distracted state voted to con-
| tiuue disorder, voted to invite a repetition of
| the audacious revolution Of September Ia.
| voted that discord might hold high carnival in
that riot-ridden state if only thereby the pros
| pect of Democratic victory could be en-
| hanced. And if to-day law and order have
| supremacy in Louisiana, II to-day revoluuon
| and anarchy are kept out, you owe the re-
| suit wholly to the fact that the Republicans
were enabled to outvote the Democrats In the
| House of Representatives,.
| Mr. Blaine said he had never sought to play
| the part of the alarmist, and had no possible
| desire to appear sensational But he ventured
| to say to the people of Connecticut that 1t was
! safe thing for this country not to put the
| Democratic party in the way of obtaining con-
| troll of the national government. Such a re-
| suit wonld be the beginning OF pohcy
| of reaction of which no man could see
| the end-a policy 50 violent that under the I'M
petus acquired from victory and the commerce.
| the wildness of counter revolution, overtnrn-
| ing or setting aside, or at least unsettllng,
| many of the now accepted and most important
| policy.
| consolidate the South, and then secure as
much northern support as may possibly be OBJ
| tanned. And it is a most startling fact that,
| with the electoral votes of the former slave
| states, they need but fraction of the northern
| vote to give them the government Look at
| the figures: With Colorado admitted the
| total electoral vote will he 369-of which
| 185 constitute majority. The southern
states united can give l3S votes, leaving only
| AZ to be obtained out of the 231 that belong to
| the North. The three states of New York,
Connecticut and California can give these AZ
| votes and your owD prosperous state is one
| that is found on the list OF those who wish to
control the government by this combination.
And if this design conld succeed it would on
ly be history repeating itself. Against an oy-
erwhelming majority of the free states in 1886,
| a small fraction of them united with the South,
| and were enabled to fasten the Buchanan dy-
nasty upon the country, with all the unnum-
bered evils that followed. Are you IN Connec-
ticut-l speak to you notsss Republicans and
not as Democrats, are you as Connecticut
men ready and willing to have the political
strength of your state used in an "unhoy al
nance" by which the government is to be taken
from the men who fought for the Union, and
handed over to the conlrol of those whs fought
to destroy the Union? For to this complexion
will the impending issue come.