The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1876-09-21
ROBERT G. INGERs0LL.
His Great Speech in Cooper In
stitute, New York.
An Eloquent and Vigorous Pre-
sentation of the Issues
OF the Day.
The Record Of the Republican and
Democratic Parties COntrasted.

The Record OF the Republican and
Democratic Parties COntrasted.
My friends, two political parties are asking
the votes OF this people-one wishes to retain
the power that it has held for sixteen years
the other wishes an Office. Laughter The
Democratic party, with the hungry, starving
eyes of q wolf, has been looking into the ma
tional capital and scratching at the doors of the
White House for sixteen years. Occasionally
it has retired to some convenient eminence
and lugubriously howled about the con-
stitution. daughter The Republican
party comes to you with its record open, and
asks every man, woman and child in the broad
country to read 1T in it's every word. And say
to you, that there is not line, paragraph, or
page of that record that is not only al honor
to the Republican party but to the human
race. [Applause.] On every page of that
record is written some great and glorious ac
ton, done either for the liberty of man or the
preservation of our common country. [Great
applause We ask everybody to read it's
every word. The Democratic party comes be-
fore you with its record closed. recording every
blot, and blur, and stain, and treason, AMI
SANDER, and malignity, and asks you not to
read single word, but to be kind enough to
take it's infamous promises for the future.
[Applause.1 Allow me to- say here that charac-
ter-good characteristics upon record, and
not upon prospectus. A man has good or
bad character by what he has really DONE by
what he has really accomplished, and not by
what he promises to do. If promises would
make a good reputation Samuel j. Iilden and
the Democratic party would have one in twenty
four hours Laughter.] I propose now to
tell you, my friends little of the history Of
the Republican party, also a little of the his
tory of the Democratic party.
And first, the Republican party. The United
States of America is a free country it is the
only free country upon this earth; it is the
only republic that was ever established among
men. We have read, we have heard, of the
republics Of Greece of Egypt Of Venice we
have heard of the free cities of Europe. There
never was republic of Venice there never
was republic of Rome; there never was
republic of Athens there never was free
city in Europe there never was a government
not cursed with caste there never was a gov
eminent not cursed with slavery; there never
was country not cursed with almost every
infamy, until the Republican party of the
United States made this a free country
[Great Applause I want no grander title of
nobility than just that belong to the Repub-
fcan party, and did little toward helping it to
power and magnifcence. Applause.l In Or
der for you to ascertain what the Republican
party has done for US, let us refresh ourselves
little we all know it, but it is we'll enough to
hear it now and then. Let us then refresh our
what the great and grand Republican party has
accomplished in the land.
RECORD OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
We will consider in the first place, the
condition Of the country when the Republican
party was born. When this Republican party
was born there was upon the statute books OF
the United States Of America law known as
the Fugitive Slave law of 1850, by which every
man in the State OF New York was made by law
a bloodhound, and could be SIT and Kissed upon
a negro, who was simply attempting to attain
his birthright OF freedom, just as you would
set dog upon wolf That was the Fugitive
Slave law of 1850. Around the neck of every
man it put collar as on a dog, but it had not the
decency to put the mans name ton the collar
Tlaughterl. said in the State of Maine [cheers]
and several other States, and expect to say it
again although I hurt the religious sentiment
of the Democratic party and shocked the piety
of that organization by saying it-[great
laughterl-but I did say there and now say,
that the Fugitive Slave law CT 1850
would have disgraced hell in it's palmiest
days. [Great laughter and applause. At the
same time in nearly all of the Western States,
there was law by which the virtues of pity
and hospitality became indictable offenses.
There was law by which the virtue OF charity
became crime. and the man who performed
kindness could be indicted, imprisoned and
fined. It was the law of IlinOis-of my own
State-that if one gave drop of cold water,
or a crust of bread, to fugitive from slavery,
he could be indicted fined and imprisoned.
Under the infamous Slave law of 1850, under
the Infamous black laws of the Western States
AL the time the Republican party was born
if q woman ninety one-hundredths white had
escaped from slavery, carrying her child on
her bosom, having gone through morass and
brush, and thorns and thickets, and crossed
creeks and rivers, and had got within one step
of freedom-With the light OF the North Star
shining in her eye-with her withered child
upon her breast--it would have been an in
dictable offense to have given her drop of
water or crust of bread not only that but
under the Slave law Of 1850 it was the duty of
every Northern citizen, claiming co be a free
man, to clutch that woman and hand her back
to the dominion of her MASTER and to the DEM
ocratic lash. Kisses.
What more? The institution of slavery had
polluted had corrupted the church not only in
the South, but al arge proportion OF the church
in the North 80 that ministers stood up In
their pulp1ts here in New York and defended
the infamy that have mentioned. Not only
that, but the Presbyterians South, in 1868, met
in General Synod and passed two resolutions.
The first resolution read: IS ReSolUed, That
slavery is a divine institution second Re-
solUed, That God raised up the Presbyterian
Church, South, to protect and perpetuate that
institution" [Hisses.1 Well, all have to cav
is that, if God did this, He never chose 8 more
infamous instrument to carry out more dia-
bolical object. [Applause.] What more had
slavery done? At that time it had corrupted
the very courts, so that in nearly every State in
this Union if Democrat had gone to the hut
of a poor negro, and had shot down his wife
and children before bis very eyes, had strangled
the little dimpled babe in the cradle, there was
no court before which this negro could come
to give testimony. He was not allowed to go
before ms gistrate and indict the murderer
he was not allowed to go before grand jury
and swear an Indictment against the wretch.
Justice was not only blind, but deaf; and
that was the idea of justice in the
When the Republican party was born, the yelp
OF the bloodhound was the music of this Union;
when this nartY was born. the dome of orr