The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1876-10-07

council chambers OF the nation; have gov
erned it, so that imposture goes as the ac-
credited representative of the government
abroad, and crime is the welcome guest Of
that government at home; have governed
it until trade and industry are paralyzed
in all their channels, and men stand aghast
at the winter that is coming upon them,
of which all is uncertain save the cold and
the hunger. The question whether these
men shall govern this country for the next
four years, and if for four years, why not for
ever There are but two issues before the
country, one is whether we shall have
purity and honesty in the government and
civil service, and the other, what shall be
the treatment Of the South These two
issues have supplied the parties with their
respective watchwords To the Demo
Gratis it is Reform, to the Republicans the
Bloody Shirt
What is the record of each. Until the
Republican party has taught US VIC did
not believe that men as base as some that
they have selected could find their way to
the high places of the government. Not
content with robbing US they have covered
the name Of the country with shame, and
made US a byword among the nations.
We have invited the world to our Cen
tennial. We have bid them come and see
the triumphs Of republican civilization,
and by the time our invitation had gone
forth, we would fain have revoked it. We
had discovered, thanks to Democratic
House of Representatives, that our much
boasted government had within it evils
which if not crushed would destroy it,
The country is in danger, not from foes
without, but from those it has warmed at
its breast.
France is here this year. Trying once
more the experiment Of republican gov
ernment which she has tried 50 often in
vain. She is no indifferent spectator, A
hundred years ago, she stood by our
cradle; can it be that she is here to follow
us to our tomb. Before the two nominating
conventions met the country was fully
aroused. There was a universal cry for
reform. Men who had never wavered in
their allegiance to the Republican party
demanded at its hands a candidate who
should supply this want. There was no
scarcity of such men. The Republican
party has hundreds of thousands of honest
men. | should tremble for the fate of
the country if did not think so. But
they had one who was conspicuously the
man for the occasion, true and fearless
reformer, man who had not nesitated to
push his reform in the face of bitter oppo-
sitions from the highest places in the land.
When the Cincinnati Convention met the
country called for his nomination, but the
men who have managed so much to their
own satisfaction and so little to that of the
country, knew that they could not manage
him and so the name of Benjamin Ii.
BristOw was never heard of, except with
Indifference and contempt.
The Democratic Convention met That
party also had good men, but it also had
one man who was conspicuous as fear
less reformer. He was bitterly opposed,
but the opposition came from those who
had felt the weight of his hand. That
name which spared neither friend nor foe,
when they stood in the way of reform, and
which had in a single year reduced the
taxes of the State Of New York from six
teen to eight millions of dollars. The
Democrats had this man and they offered
him to the country as their candidate for
the Presidency in the person of Samuel
j. Tilden. Opposed to him is a gentle
man against whom | have no word to say
Governor Hayes, as far as we know any
thing about him, is a respectable man.
What we know against him is that Chan
dler, and Morton, and Conkling, and But
Ter, know him better than we do, and are
satisfied with him. So much for the po-
sition of the two parties on the question
Of reform.
Upon the government of the South the
Republican party says that we are not to
be trusted, They and they alone are able
to restore prosperity and to secure peace.
They point to South Carolina, for eleven
years there has been Republican Legis-
lature, Republican Judiciary, Repub
lican majority aud the United States
Army to back then all, and yet they tell us
that it will take four years more for them
by their patent Republican reconstruction
to keep all the negroes from being mur-
dered in their beds. They do not realize
that for the ruin and horror which they
tell us exist in South Carolina and Louis
lana, that the Republican government in
those States is responsible. Is it not time
for us to look for some other system of
reconstruction ? We have not far to seek.
In Virginia to the North and Georgia to
the South, we find Democratic Governors,
Democratic Legislatures and Democratic
Judges, and we find also that the negroes
Of those State are as prosperous, contented
and happy as any under the sun. Com
pare the fruits of Democratic and Rcpub-
lican reconstruction and think you will
find the same pure Democratic and not
Republican reform. Shall we not then
try change.
One word more before l close. We are
honored on this occasion by the presence
of those who do not often appear at polit-
ical meetings, but their interest is as great
as ours and their influence but little less.
If we have not agitated the question of
woman suffrage in Maryland, it is not be-
cause We do not trust their judgment and
their patriotism. Weknow them both and
we need them both. Woman requires no
ballot to enable her to vote in Maryland.
You can each control one vote am sure.
See that that vote is cast Alright Give us
the encouragement of your presence, your
smiles and your sympathy, and you will
receive share of the thanks of grateful
country when its starts on n new era of
prosperity under the banner of Tilden,
Hendricks and Reform.
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