Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-10-07
snesch Of Sovernor Harris.

Governor HSFrIS spoke tu0St8ntl2IlY
| as follows: For the very kind and compli-
| meLtary manner in which my distinguished
| I'll nd has seen Gt t. present me, am pro-
fOundly thank ul to Linn. II has been twenty
| yeaTs, my fello W citizens, since first had the
nOnOr and pleasure of addressing the good
re lple of Wilson county uCOn the great ques-
Ons that divided the pUlItica al parties OF that
period. 1t has been sixteen years since the
| last time l had the honor of addressing you.
Tho years have brought 10 us many changes
some OF them tXt! t!emely sad changes well
rememter tnat upon the Gee 4sioa of my first
| appearance, my distinguished friend, Judge
| Calutbers, and myself were membes of dit
| I6rent political organizations; We stood upon
| platforms different som -whaJ in their views
| Of the princiE les of this government, but we
were the representatives OF two great a.
| glOriops parties, divided upon those questions
| of palicy, to lie sure, but they were parties
| IN the hands If either OF which the VIII, lie
| country leit that the rights of the States
| and the rights of citizens were entirely
secure. Tine with its changes has seJ.led ali
the questions about which my distinguished
| friend ard myself then differ ed, and am glad
| 10 know that to-day the old-lne Wings aud
| the CId-line Democrats OF other day stand
| hand to hand and shoulder to shoulder to
m mainialn the constitution of the country ana
| The rights or the states and c;tiZe-s under
that constitution. Loud applause.l There
are two gre at pUllti cal parties IN existence To-
! day, and there arc but two. propose briefly
| TO present to you some OF IN views and facts
| which l think he voieIs should see and con-
| slder before det rmining which one of these
great parties shall have the administration Of
your gOv- rnment for the next four years. The
pos session OF The government, in all its de
pa.tm5 nts, for the last sixteen years, and
whstev OF veal, whatever of eood, whatever
of pTOsperi'y : or adversely may have come to
the country in that period the Republican
party is entitled TO the credit of or respon-
sibilIty for the result For the last sixteen
years there have been no Democratic vote In
| this broad land sufficiently potent even to
modify or shape single measure of the poll
cy Of your government II you have been
prosperous and happy and are now locking
foiwara with bright hopes to the future, tho
Republican I Iarty is alone enti led TO the
credit OF toe conGi fo1, To- 1T has had full and
un0isputed control or all the departments OF
the government for the last sixteen years
What is the condition of the country to-day?
You are suffering from the evils of hard times
in more prominent.degree, perhaps, than of
any period of your former lives, caused by
the maladministratIOH, eX rav6gaHce and
corruption OF those who have held the high
positions and hat the administration of your
government for the last lew years. 1t is hydra
headed and manifold. hard times is the pre-
vailing epidemic from Maine to Louisiana.
1t is not confined to Wilson county or Tennes-
see, but IL is all-pervadiDg throughout
The length and breadth OF this gIori-
GUS country OF yours. 1t is not the
fault OF your extravaganza, your Incidence,
the maladministTation OF your private affairs,
hence the fault must rest upon the adminis-
Irat on of your go geTnment. l undertake to
assert that there mas bsen spirit OF class Leg
lslaLion running through every act and every
policy of the Republican party, from the time
it took posses ion of your government down
TO TINS coed hour. Ry he system OF class le gis-
lstion 10 the collection and expenditures Of
the revenue, you have not only uD idsJ exac-
tiorst TO bear, but, by the manner in which it
is collected, il costs tdree dollars to put one
into the Cotfers of your government But there
are Questions that, in my humble Judgment
loom far above all questions involved in dol
lars and cents; qcesions that TIN eaten usur
patton, that ignore the very foundation upoa
which your government rests as a republic;
que tiOns that AFFECT the life and death OF
states, that set at defiance every idea of civil
and constitutional liberty of the citizen, lad
psuse.l Governor Harris then reviewed tde
n ~ IN
TO Mississippi to investigate the election that
vas held there a few months before, and eriti-
cised the report of that committee in fit
ting terms. He referred to the lats order O
AtJOTney-General Taft in reference TO the
coming electors, and said that under that
order, four or five hundred deputy United
States marshals could be appointed for Wilson
county and empowered to drag innocent citi-
zsns TO jaIl, without warrant or due process of
law, and on whatever speciOus prelext they
might see proper TO make. He merely threw
olt these suggestions relative TO this order.
1ney had doubtless seen IL, and when they
had scrutinized it closely they would probs-
rly understand II better. He advised them TO
take the facts and ponder them well in their
minds and determine for themselves, as be-
came freemen and men who were born and
reared with the idea that they had cUnstitu-
uOnal rights, and could vindicate by their
votes those rights that their fathers had Sc.
cured 10 them in proudsr and more hopeful
period OF our DalionFl existence. There was
not People OF God green earth that w6s so
uDjustiy, 50 extravagantly, and so outrage
OuSly burdened with taxation as were the free
men OF America 70 day. He had heard a
good deal about "high tax" and "Iow Lax,"
IN condec' ion with The state debt. The
deot of Tennessee aud the interest ac-
cTuing upon IL was a mere musQuito
b. .te when compared TO the wound of a solid
shot iron seNenly-iour FOUNDER, and whe
compared to ths burdens i'm posed by the Fed
eral government. He then referred aG some
length TO Federal JsXapon, e wing a detailed
statement OF faets and figures, and drawing
comprehensive comparison bstween the cost
OF running the Federal government previous
10 AMI since the war. He spoke of the higu
protective tsrin, and explained It's burden
some operation IN a clear and intelligent
manner. In reference to Mr.. Ltucoln's ad-
ministratiOn, Governor Harris said that IL he
had been in Mr.. LincOln's position, with Mr.,
Lincoln 5 opinions and convictions of duty
he would not nave stopped to count the dol
lars or drops Of blood that it would have cost
70 prosecute that war. He honored the Jude
pendent spirit and manhood Of a man like
Mr. Lincoln, who had the courage TO think
and act for himself Holding the proud posi-