Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1876-10-04
A Speech by Mr.. Blaine.


was some five minutes after he appeared
upon the stand before he could begin his
speech, but when he did the enthusiasm
increased as his well-chosen points and
well-rounded sentences fell on the ears OF
the vast audience. He began as follows
am opposed to TIE election of Samuel
j. Tilden TO The Presidency Applause, and
voice in the crowd, I'VE all are. " / am
opposed to Mr. Tilden because at a great
crisis In his countrys fate he proved unfaith-
full, and when it lay bleeding at every pore
from wounds by Rebel hordes, he passed by
on the other side and gave words of aid and
comfort TO her enemies | am opposed to
Mr. Tilden because he, having been in favor
Of the resumption OF Specie payments on
the lst of January, 1879, broke his faith
with the coun ry, and trampled ii out with
the bad reputation of the West and the
worse reputation of the South TO sink it in
+! the interest of Southern claims. | am OPP
posed to Mr.. TIlden because he, more than
any other Northern man, and more than ny
other Southern man, represents that fatal
heresy called State rights, heresy that pro-
duces dismemberment, loss of life, and de-
struclion of property. | am opposed TO
| Mr.. Tilden because in the name of re-
former, he is used by that dishonorable and
disreputable gang q use the word advisedly)
that every honest American abhors, | mean
!
applause am opposed to Mr.. 1ilden
because he is a member of the Democratic
party lcheers that party so just and so
good that its candidate here in Massa hu
sets for Governor dare not mention its name.
| tCheerS. Thar party which for forty years has
espouscd no idea and no policy that
was not at war with the highest civilization.
More than fourteen years ago had the
honor to be elected to Congress, and at the
time ! entered upon the floor of the House
there was under discussion the test oath,
or What is commonly known as the iron-clad
oath. II was an oath made to prevent men
in rebellion against the Government coming
again into power in the Legislature of the
| land, without at least sufficient guaran ee
of their loyalty In the Committee / saw a
| smoothfaced man named Thomas A. Hen
bricks, and | heard him say, and | agreed
| with him.: f" DO you want test oath? Let
me- said he, in a spirit Of prophecy, let
me tell you that Beauregard, Lee, JEFF.
Davis, Sldcll, when the time when they
conld take this oath comes, will be seeking
their personal safety, and will never bother
you" | thought SO too. / should have
| thought that dreamed had | thought then
! that should live 10 see seventy of the men
who were the associates of Beauregard,
Davis and Slidell, seventy of them, as ] did
last September, walk up to the bar of the
House and take the modified oath That
of the Republican party. They have mod
Grated and changed the oaths 50 that every
man from the South who ever thought of
rebellion, of disloyalty, has to swear that
he will not bear arms against his country,
and that he will support its Constitution,
and these scampS from The South are let in
on the promise that they will do nothing
hurtful or wrong again. They said they felt
at home there, and they evidently did, for
they began al once to rule The House, and
the House was as much under Southern die
tatiOn as it was under the Administration of
Buchanan.
IT was said as little jeu FespJit that the
Northern Democratic me ,nbers did not know
enough to sneeze unit the Southern mem
bers took snuff. Laughter There were
seventy of them, and there were 40 Nor h.
| ern Democrats in the House. These seventy
had a constituency behind them of about
thirteen millions, and the North had about
thirty-two or thirty-three millions. Aud
when they came to organize the House, eve
ry one familiar with the routine knows that
the division of power and the assignment of
places was not made with reference 10 the
proportion OF population But when you
give to the South its proportion you treat
IT llberaIly, Tor when you cons der the indus
tries of the North, its manufactures, its
commerce, and its great trade, it is much
larger than when you consider It only with
tnOu0u
i is two and half times larger In that.
Now the House is governed by thirty-one
standing committees, and to two Of these is
Entrusted the care of all the industries Of
the American people, its commerce, foreign
and domestic, its manufactures, its take, its
tariffs, the regulations of its social relations
btt"eeL states and nations, its revenues,
and, in fact, al that makes up the Nation is
Entrusted To these committees. | have, as
has my predecessor, who is here upon this
pl torn (Gen. Banks), occupied that place
as Speaker of the House. | thought ! gave
full justice to the South when | gave them
one third of the places on tuose Commit
tees. Well, what do you supposey But
need not ask you what you suppose, for YOU
saw il in the papers that with less than one
tn rd of the population they took two thirds
OF the commit ees, and the Northern Demo
rrat- looked happy, Applause Sunset
Cox being joked about it, said he was ad
of it, Thank God, Master Copperueld |
am 'umble,' said Uriah Heep. daughter
they gave 10 the South, 10 Nhittho NJ, of
Tennessee. the Chairmanship OF your Com.
mittee on Naval Affairs, with its 2 eat rela.
tons to your commercial interests. In the
South tuere isn't mud-scow south of the
Potomac. aughter.l At the head of the
Committee on Commerce was a little fellow
who would not know three master from
one Of the Gins on the common. Laugh.
ter. | don't want to say anything harsh of
the man. [Laughter.l His name was Here
ford, and he was about the poor
est specimen of that breed | ever
saw. lLaughter.l With twenty-one out
of the ,hrty one they proceeded to leglslate
They tell rs that we are always talking of
the war-that we 70 back fifteen years |
am talking of existing things. | don't want
to GO back OF the year 1876, and that is the
year the great Presidential election is held
Well, they proceeded to legislate, and the
hrst thing they iormcd was a body of rules
But one thing just here. When they gave
twent -one Of the Chsirmanships to the
South and ten to the \ nth there were ten
Democratic members from New England.
Ahocy heard of il before: Who viii ever
live o see il again. Barnufn told me he
nAl nnLt..l lllL I'D LII ...l Ii :.