The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1876-09-28
LIVING as. DEAD ISSUES.

LYING as. DEAD ISSUES.
From Gen. Brinkerhoff's speech at Mansfield, Ohm
1t seems to me, fellow citizens, that the
time has come for the people of the
United States to turn away from the
discussion of dead issues and devote
themselves to the solution of living ques-
tions. The war of the rebellion is now
decade behind us, and for all practical
purposes it is as far distant as the revo.
luton Of a century ago. There is no
more danger of the restoration of slavery
or of the southern confederacy than there
is of the domination of king George the
Third. In my judgment there is no
more danger from the rebels of 1876 than
there is from the tories of 1776. We are
now the people of one country. The
cause of contention has passed away, and
it is not in the power Of mortal man to
restore it. The south could not restore
slavery if it would, and would not if it
could. AS stated by governor Tilden in
his message of 1875, "the questions SET
tied by the war can never be re-opened.
The adoption of the thirteenth, four.
teenth and fifteenth amendments to the
federal constitution closed one great era
in our politics. It marked the end for
ever of the system of human slavery, and
the struggles that grew out of that sys-
tenn. These amendments have been con-
clusively adopted, and they have been
adopted i'll good faith by all political Or
CARNATIONS, and the people of all Sec
tions. They close the chapter; they are
and must be final; all parties hereafter
must accept and stand upon them, and
henceforth our politics are to turn upon
questions Of the present and the future,
and not upon those of the settled and
final past"
Wise words are these, and as an anti
slavery man from the very beginning of
my political career, down to this present
time, I give them greeting. Human
slavery il this republic is dead, and dead
forever. Not only is it dead ard buried
by the constitution of the United States,
but it is dust and ashes, and powder im'
palpable beneath the sIow-moving but
irresistible providences of God Almighty.
We turn our faces therefore from the
past and address ourselves to the ques-
tions of the present and future, and for
the solution of them we can not give any
better advice than that given by Gov.
Iilden in last gubernatorial message;
awe must build up q new prosperity
upon the old foundations of American
selfgOvemment; carry back our political
systems to the ideals of their authors;
make governmental institutions simple,
trugal-meddling little with the private
concerns Of Notwithstanding at fra
ternity among ourselves and peace
trusting to the people to
work out their OWN prosperity and hap
piness. All the elements of national
growth and private felicity exist in our
in an abundance which provi-
dence has EOuchsafed to no other people.
What we need to do is to rescue them
from governmental folly and rapacity."
These are noble words, and I trust they
mark the beginning of a new era, as they
do the beginning of a new century.
The century gone, to us as a people,
has been one of discord; but now that
the cause of dissension has passed away,
there is no reason why the century to
come should not be one of concord.
Believing that the principles enunci-
ated by the democratic party tend to this
result more than any other, enlist under
its banner, and trust that the good sense
of the American people will give it vic
tory in November.
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