Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1876-09-22


reasons given Ebovs ought to be sufficient to
defeat It's present effort TO gain possession Of
the Government. We call upcL loYsi citizens
to do their whole duty in the present ttruggls,
and to defend the Unicu in 1876 80 saeei daily
as it was defended in 1861.
Twenty Reasons why the Republican
Party Can be Trusted.
The history of the Republican party may
justly be called the grandest chapter on hu-
man government ever written by man. If the
old saying, "a friend in need is friend in-
deed is true one, then the best friend that
the Union ever had is the Republican party.
1t sprang into armed existence tc preserve the
Republic; it stood true to it through four
years of bloody war; it has been loyal to its
best interests ever since. For the following
good and sufficient reasons it has a just claim
upon the gratitude and confidence of the
American people
1. The people called It into existence III 1856
to protect the liberties of the nation against
the encroachments of the slave power
2. During the treacherous administration of
James Buchanan it stood between the nation
and those public enemies who sought to be-
tray it.
3. The people gave into its hands the ad-
ministratiOn Of the Federal Government at q
time when Democracy had betrayed it and
armed rebellion sought to destroy it,
4. 1t resolutely set to work to defend the
Government and preserve the Union. 1t in
fused patriotism into the people, aroused
them to action, equipped armies, supplied
them with men and money, kept them in the
field until rebellion was crushed, and enacted
such measures for the preservation Of the
peace as the condition of the country de-
manded.
5. Throughout the period of reconstruction
it displayed both wisdom and magnanlmity,
and on the simple conditions Of jastics to all
men within their borders restored every
Southern State to its original rights within
the Union.
8. It devised a financial system that pro-
Vided for the wants of trade, supplied the
Government with ready money to meet Its
heavy obligations, and which substituted cur
reucy of uniform value for the old defective
issue of State banks.
z. 1t devised and carried into effect system
of revenue by which the necessary taxes were
levied aud collected without invading the
rights of any one or disturbing the business
interests of the country.
s. Its collection and disbursement of the
millions of money called for-amountiug, in
tue aggregate, to more than three times the
entire disbursements of the Government from
1883 to 1S61-shOW official fidelity unequuled
in the history of nations. The reduetion of
more than $500, 600, 900 Of the national debt III
the face of reduced taxation is eommendable
in the extreme.
o. The abolishment of slavery, the protec-
tion of the freedmen by giving them the rights
of citizenship, the establishment of free schools
throughout the South, entitle the Republican
party to the thanks and gratitude Of every
friend of liberty.
10. Its support of internal improvements
and the material aid extended tn those great
public enterprises like the Pacific railroad,
which unites distant sections to the centres Of
trade and commerce, and opens to the tliliug
millions the rich fields Of the West, c0mlnshd
il to all who favor progress.
II. 1t founded the homestead system that
has given to tens of thousands of industrious
families free farms, and that still offers to the
toiling millions, without money and without
price, the rich lands of the West.
12. 1t has labOred earnestly to establish
and nationalize free education by liberal doDs-
tions of land for school purposes, and has
zealously guarded the free school systsnl from
those sectarian encroachments which from
time to time have threatened to destroy its
usefulness.
13. 1t has protected the workingmen of
America by the enactment of wise laws for
the protection of the products of industry
from the competition Of foreign labor, and
has given practical evidence of its fostering
care Of their interests by reducing the hours
of labor.
IA 1t has made favorable treaties with all
nations whereby American citizenship has been
protected abroad, American industry en-
couraged, and the wealth of the nation in
creased. The opening of China and Japan to
the commerce cE the United States is due to
the wisdom and enterprise of the Republican
party.
Is. It settled, by judicious arbitration, the
San Juan boundary question, which had vexed
the nation for thirty years, and thereby re-
claimed to the country valuable tract OF land
that was considered lost.
16. 1t settled by friendly Intercourse and
arbitration the disturbing questions growing
out of the Alabama claims, and put into the
National Treasury the sum of $4,000, 900 in
gold as England's practical recognition Of the
Justice of our claim.
II. 1t settled, by the frmuess of its policy
and the earnestness of its demands, the Span |
ish complications, and received from Spain,
with a pledge of peace and future respect, |
an indemnity equal to the grievance COM
plaiDed of.
Is. 1t has maintained peace with the whole
world through mastery diplomacy, and has
shown to all nations that selfgoYernment
when wisely directed is equal to every emer-
gency that may come upon it.
to the detriment of personal liberty, but
always in its defense. It's power has never
been abused. Its administration of the Gov
erument has been at all times in favor of the
peoples interests, and under its mild sway
the nation has advanced in civilization and in
wealth as never before in like period of its
history.
20 Its continued supremacy is a vital neces-
sity. 1t saved the nation, and its wisdom and
courage and patriotism are necessary to pre-
serve it. To abandon the Republic to its for
mer enemies would be to invite its destruction.
The measures adopted by the Republican party
for the safety and unity of the country need
Republican care and fidelity to continue their
effectiveness. They had their existence in the
face of Democratic opposition and would per-
ish under Democratic control.
A hundred reasons equally strong could be
given why the Republican party should be
trusted by the people. Its brilliant record is
the record of the nation during its most glo-
rious period. No man need ask "What good
thing has the Republican party done during
the past twenty years % for the answer Is
found on every leaf of our history. The exist
ence of the nation, the countless blessings en-
joyed by the people, the perfect freedom
secured to all, are among the fruits OF hepuo-
licau rule. No true American who loves MS
country and desires to see it advance can be
unmindful of the debt Of gratitude which the
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