The weekly Oskaloosa herald. [volume] (Oskaloosa, Iowa) 1855-1885, 1876-09-21


Inow ask, had the transformation oc-
Cured in the winter and spring of the
present year?
/ hold in my hand the reports of an
address of Rev. Taylor Martin, of Char.
lotte, North Carolina, the town to which
Congress lately gave mint building, to
be used for school purposes The adj
dress was made on Decoration day, May
5, 1876. quote:
The South is to day ruled over by the
miserable thrall of Yankeedom; but they
cannot muzzle our chivalry and patriotic
| devotion to the ''lost cause" We fought
| for our rights, but i'm Gods dispensation
we are yanquished, but not cowed. Slav-
| cry was divine institution, and we must
have that institution or the South will be
ever bankrupted. They speak of our
cause as the s'loSt cause" If SO, shall it
| be lost forever No! new generation
has sprung up, and at not far distant
| day there will be ''stars and bars" fioatlng
| proudly OUer our sunny S0ah. In
the next political campaignwe must, even
if in the minority, support Southern man
| who will build up our interests and artlfi-
cial tie; but we are distinct people, and
| God and the right will enable us to show
| to the world the truth and the equity of
| our claims. Our statesmen now in Con-
| gress are the cream of that body, and are
| the only element that reflects credit on the
United States Is it not better to hang on
to the "lost cause" than to stay in gov
eminent of corruption?
| Mr.. YEATEs. With the consent of
| the gentleman from Ohio, | want to
state that / have seen under the sig
nature of the gentleman from " HON
he has just quoted a statement deny
ing in toto every word of what has
inst been read; and number of gen
tlemon who heard the speech certify
that the quotation is false in every
particular.
Mr. GARFIELD. IF that be the fact /
will cheerfully strike the extract from my
speech | never before heard its authen-
ITCHY denied.
Mr.. YEATEs. There is no doubt of
the correctness of my statement.
Mr.. GARFIELD. Let the extract and
denial stand together. But, sir, | will
quote recent utterance of public opin-
ion, the authenticity of which | am quite
sure no gentleman will deny They will
neither deny the ability nor the promi-
hence of Robert Toombs Of Georgia, for
merly Senator and Secretary of the
Treasury. On the 25th of January, 1876,
he addressed the legislature of Georgia by
invitation; and the following extract from
his speech will show how far the trans
formation has taken place in him and his
followers:
| We got good many honest fellows into
the first Legislature, but will tell you how
we got them there. / will tell you the
| truth. The newspapers won't tell it to
you. We got them there by carrying the
black vote Jy intimidation and bribery,
and / helped to do it! | would have
scorned the people if they had not done it!
| And / will buy them as long as they put
beasts to go to the ballot box! No man
should be given the elective franchise who
has not the intelligence to use it properly;
the rogue should not have it, for govern
ment is made to punish him; the fool
should not have it, for government is
made to take care of himl Now these
miserable wretches-the Yankees-have
|
stomach of our body polite, and the man
who says he accepts negro suffrage, l say,
accursed be hel [ will accept everything;
l will accept Grant and empire before |
will accept such democrat! The poor, ig-
norant negro-talk of him governing you
and mel 1t takes the highest order of in
tellect to govern the people, and these poor
wretches talk of governing US! Why, they
| can't perpetuate their own negro power.
In the countries where they were in the
majority they did not preserve their pow
er and perpetuate their rule. My remedy
helped to break that up. We carried them
with us by bribery and Intimidation.
advised it and paid my money for it! You
all know it, but won't say it. But l will
say it, for fear no man, and am prepared
to account to no one but the Great Judge,
before whom must appear in a few years,
for my enemies have thought my services
to nv country so great that they have done
me the honor to exclude me from again
serving my people. / contest that honor
with our chief, Mr. Davis, / am just as
good as he is, and he is no better than | am.
/ demand that they shall place me beside
him. | thank them for it! 1t is very few
things that have to thank them for, but
/ do thank them for that.
In view of the testimony | have of
fered, we must wait for an answer to
the question, when and where did the
transformation occur? 1t occurred
long ago in the philosophical and
patriotic heart and mind Of the gen
tleman from Mississippi; but has it
occurred in the majority of the elev-
en- millions who joined with him to
destroy the Union, to perpetuate sla-
very, to defend the cause that is now
'lostW
Had it occurred in the town OF
Meridian, in the gentleman's own
State? ! quote from the Meridian
Mercury of July 10Th, 1876:
We heard Lamar's Scooba speech, and
while his truth to his beloved South, per-
haps, famed out little more than com
mon we remarked nothing inconsistent
with his other speeches we had heard OIL
read of. The morning of his arrival here
the Mercury contained a sharp fling at
him about the Sumner Grafton, and that
night at the court house he venturcd 10
chastise us sharply for it in the house OF
our friends and was boisterousiy applaud
ed. We consoled ourself that the applause
/
the excellence of the oratory than in sat
isfaction at our castigation. We had our
revenge, though, in taking which we in
augurated the policy of the canvass in
spite of him which carried the State like
| a prairie on fire. He, and others who
wanted to dress up in nice starched and
| ironed white shirt that would shame the
bloody shirt, established laundry at Jack
son on the 4th of August, and came out in
snowy white fronts to present themselves
creditably before the northern public sen
timent In their party pow-wow of that
day, disregarding the deep under-current
of public opinion, they declared by formal
resolution against the white-line policy.
The Mercury had sounded the depths of
that under-current, and we knew it would
not do. In heart we felt with the plat
form, but our Judgment assured us that
the canvass must be lost on it, and that to
| practice it were a fatal error. We de-
nounced the platform upon the instant,
and took what care we could that Lamar's
speeches upon his national reputation
| should not ruin our canvass. We called
upon our people to "step across the plat
| form" which denamed it, and form the
| White Line beyond it. The summons was
music to their ears, and the unconquered
and unconquerable Saxon race of Missis-
sippi rallied to the slogan.
We have got the State; we know how
we got it; we know how keep it; and we
are going to keepit without regard to race
or numerical majority.
Mr.. Chairman, after the facts /
have cited, am | not warranted in
raisin a grave doubt whether the
transformation occurred at all except
in few patriotic and philosophic
minds? The light CLEANS first on
the mountain peaks; but shadow and
darkness linger in the valley. 1t is
in the valley masses of those lately
in rebellion that the light of this beau
tiful philosophy, which l honor, has
not penetrated. Is it safer to with
hold from them the custody and SUI
preme control Of the precious treas
ures of the Republic until the midday