Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-10-25

J., PROPRIETORS.
GREAT SPEECH
OF General Ben. Harrison in Chi
cago.
| Below we give an extract from
Gen. Harrison's speech, delivered in
Chicago on the evening of the 18th.
We have room only to lay before our
readers what he said upon the infa-
nous Southern claims. He said:
But these gentlemen tell us, "Why,
In tho Democratic States of the South
EVERYTHING rs PEACEFUL AND Or
DERBY.
where the Democrats have the con-
troll. Now there is quictness that is
Of death, and the qnietncss that reigns
in those States is the death of per-
s0nal liberty. It is the death Of per-
s0nal security. It is the grave of poll
itical rights. Tremendous cheering. ]
have no doubt things were very
quiet in Bethlehem-at least there
were no infant cries in the night
when the cruel edict of Herod had
been executed and the children
had been put to death. 1 have no
doubt that in many of those Bulga-
rian villages where the heaps on heaps
Of women, and aged men, and little
children have been put to death, that,
when the night came on and the stars
looked upon that scene of carnage
and blood, it might have been said,
with equal truth, "Things arc oil quiet
here [applause.] when, of the VIC
tim of the inquisition, his last cry up
on him as he went down through q
living tomb, 1t might have been said
in the Courts above, "Things are all
quiet here;" when the assassin has
struck down the peaceful citizen in the
night time, and the cry is for help,
and the noise of resistance is over, and
his dead, mangled body lies at his
feet, it might be said, ut is q very
quiet night" Applause.] just so is
this quiet which Democratic rule
has brought to many of these South
ern States.
But, my friends, there is still an
other question in connection with this
Southern problem to which desire
to allude for little time. It is the
question of the
rAYMENT OF THIS SOUTHERN DEBT.
There is q large claim down there, is
there not9 That is, they have large
claim, not debt. There are a great
many people in the South who suf-
fered losses incident to the war,to the
passage of Grants army and Sher-
mans army through their borders.
The amount Of destruction incident
| to this war-incident tn the March of
those armies through Southern fields
and villages-incident to the subsist-
ence Of those men-in many cases in
the South, cannot, of course be accu-
rately estimated; but, taking such
claims, the cotton claims, and others
Of. this character, which are being
pressed upon Congress, intelligent
men have estimated them at as much
a. 1900, ,OOO,O 900. Now they will want
them paid, will they not7 Those fel-
lows down there are all Democrats.
Doesn't the average Democrat want
all tho money he can get? A voice
Eyes" and laughter. Then, you can
set it down for certain that there is a
claim down there in various shapes
which have not time to more partic-
ularly notice, probably fully as large
as our present national debt. And
| You can add to that this other certain
J ty, that the persons who have suffered
these losses will want those losses
paid. And you can add this further
element TO the problem, that every
Southern representative in Congress
of the Democratic persuasion will be
in favor of paying them. Now, we
are getting along with this que ,tion.
We have the debt or claim, the
eager claimant, and the represen-
tations from these Southern States all
in favor of pay ing them. Why should
they not be? I heard Mr.. Blaine
(cheersl say in one of his speeches in
Indiana that he had called the atten-
ton of one of these Southern Repre-
sentatives to the fact that the presen-
tation of so large body of these
Southern claims in the Lower House
of Congress when it was impossible
that they should pass, by reason of the
Senate being Republican, would tend
to alarm the North, and he said to
him, "Why don't you withhold these
claims for the present? You cannot
get them through now, and you are
alarming the Northern mind. What
do you mean by presenting them
fnow?" And the response Of that
Southern representative was: 81
could not be reelected to Congress in
tmy district if did not present them
now" [Applause.l
ESQ EAGER, 10 cLAMoRors, so DETER.
MINED,
so poor and hungry are these South.
ern claimants, that they will not wait
and these Southern Representatives
hold their tenure to Office upon the
condition that they are ready to pre-.
sent and press these claims. Hear
hear And 80 we find the singular
fact that, though they have possession
of but the Lower House of Congress-
the Senate and President are Repub
lican, and It is impossible to get then
through,-so eager are these people
to get their hands into the Nationa
Treasury that they cannot wait, bu
must start their claims in the House
looking forward to that consumma
! ttion, which they expect in this Presi
dental election, when they will have
Is Democratic President, and make
such gains presently In the Senat
that they may get their claim
through. A voice, "They won't &c
! them."l The character of some o
these claims, when you come to lool
at them, 10 very absurd. There is on
county in Virginia that wants pay 70
damsge done to its roads and bridges
4 We marched over them. Some o
, these Illinois soldiers did, l have n
ldoubt. lApplause.] We hauled ou
'kartillcry and trains over them, an
we cut up the roads some, and nov
7 THAT county, q Rebel county, almos
{every one Of whose young men wer
Fin the army, whose whole politica
}opinion was on that side who's
fields supplied the Rebel commisss
t county comes to the Mort
4 l and says, "We want You to put you
, hands in your pockets to fix up on
roads and bridges" Now, I do nc
kthink we ought to
trAr TOLL Fon GOING ovER THOSE RoApl
!, IfLaughter.1 We have got cnoug
roads up here. Your Illinois road
: are not the best, and yet I dare "A
: that those brave Illinois boys-and
don't speak unadvisedly when l 50
. SO, because 1t was my fortune to CON
: mand three regiments OF Illino
" troops in my brigadc--thought the
' roads here were good enough II
% them. I have no doubt that thes
). men would rather have taken the
wives and children and driven ov,
). the black mud In Illinois than ovt
+ their roads. We didn't go dow
il there because we wanted to; it W,
no pleasure-drive we were takir