The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-08-23

| $3.50 w al, eudt 10 olctdtcu anu DODl6 III Iudu
10 the higher instincts, to the nobler aspira
| tons. 1t has accomplished grand things. 1t;
record is kept open, and il points with pride tC
every shining page 1t does not ask you to for
| get, but to remember: 1t does not say, "Lel
| nygones De bygones," but challenges the scru
tiny of each and ALL The horizon of the pas,
| IS filled with the glory of Republican achieve
ment. The monuments of its wisdom. its
power and patriotism crowd all the fields o.
| conflict. VI
Upon the Constitution this party wrote eous
| ilghts Tor all; upon every statute book, human
lty; upon the flag, liberty. The Republican
party OF the United States is the conscience Of
the 18TH century 1t is the justice Of this age
the embodiment of social progress and honor
II mas no knee for the past, Its face is toward
the future. 1t is the party of advancement ii
tne dawn, OF the sunrise.
Line Republican party commenced its ora nd
career by saying that the Institution of human
slavery had cursed enough American soiI. tho,
the territories should not be damned nv Thai
most infamous thing; that this country was sa.
cred 10 freedom; that slavery had gone faI
enough. Upon that issue the great Campaign
OF 1860 was fought and won. The Republcan
party was born OF wisdom and conscience.
Inc people of the South claimed that slavery
snouiu De protected; that the doors of the ter,
r,torles should be thrown open to them and to
Their institutions. They not only claimed this,
but they also insisted that the Constitution of
the United States protected slave property the
same as other property everywhere. The South
was defeated, and then appealed to arms. In
moment all their energies were directed to-
wards the destruction of this government. They
commenced the war-they fired upon the flag
that had protected them for nearly century,
The North was compelled to decide instantly
between the destruction of the nation and civil
war;
The division between the friends and enemies
OF the Union at once took place. The govern
hnrrQ 70 afN
war money was snecessary. The government
BORROWED, and finally issued its notes and bonds.
Inc Democratic party in the North sympathiz-
ed with the rebellion. Everything was done to
hinder, embarrass, obstrucJ and delay. They
endeavored to make rebel breastwork of the
Constitution; to create a fire in the rear. They
denounced the government; resisted the dra tt;
shot U nited States officers; declared the war
Iallure and an outrage; rejoiced over our de-
teats, and wept and cursed at our victories.
10 crush the rebellion in the South and keep
IN subsection the Democratic party at the
NORTH, thousands of millions of money were
expenaed-the nation burdened with fearful
debt, and the best blood Of the country poured
out upon the fields of battle.
In order to destroy the rebellion it became
necessary to destroy slavery. As matter of
TACT. slavery was the rebellion. AS soon as this
truth forced itself upon the Government
thrust, as it we're, into the brain of the North
upon the point OF rebel bayonet-the Repub-
llcan party resolved to destroy forever the last
vestlge of that savage and cruel institution-an
black men beasts
:. The Republican party put down the rebel
lion; saved the nation destroyed slavery; made
the slave citizen: put the ballot in the hands
OF the black man; forgave the assassins of the
Government restored nearly every rebel to
citizenship, and proclaimed peace to and for
each and ALL
For sixteen years the country has been in the
hands OF that great party. For sixteen years
that grand party. in spite of rebels in arms-in
spite OF the Democratic party of the North, has
preserved the territorial integrity and the fnan-
cial honor of the country. 1t has endeavored
to enforce the laws; it has tried to protect loyal
men at the South; it has Iabored to bring muir
derers and assassins to justice, and it is work
Ing now to preserve the priceless fruits Of its
great victory.
The present question is, whom shall we trust?
70 whom shall we give the rens of power?
What party will best preserve the rights of the
people? What party is most deserving of our
confidence? There is but one way to determine
the character OF party, and that is, by ascer-
tainog its history.
Could we have safely trusted the Democratic
party in 1860? No. And why not? Because
it was believer in the right of secession be-
lever in the sacredness of human slavery The
Democratic party then solemnly declared
speaking through its most honored and trusted
uCs
This made the Constitution nuduna pactuna, a
contract without a consideration, Democratic
PROMISE wall of mist, and left every State
free to destroy at will the fabric of American
government-the fabric reared by our fathers
through years of toll and blood.
Could we have safely trusted that party in
1864, when, in convention assembled, it de-
clared the war failure, and wished to give up
the contest at moment when universal victory
was within the grasp of the Republic? Had
the people put that party in power then, there
would have been Southern Confederacy to-
day, and upon the limbs of four million people
the chains of slavery would still have clarked.
Is there one man present who to-day regrets
that the Vallandigham Democracy of 1864 was
spurned and beaten by the American people?
Is there one man present who to-day regrets
the utter defeat of that mixture OF slavery, NAL
ice and meanness, called the Democratic party,
in 1864?
Could we have safely have trusted that party
in 1868?
At that time the Democracy of the South
was trying to humble and Brighten the coored
people or exterminate them. These inoffen.
sive colored people were shot down without
provocation, without mercy. The white Dem
ocrats were as relentless as fends. They killed
simply to kill. They murdered these helpless
people, thinking that they were in some blind
way getting their revenge upon the people of
the North. N tongue can exaggerate the cru
elites practlced upon the helpless freedmen of
the South. These white Democrats had been
reared amid and by slavery. Slavery knows no
such thing as Justice, no such thing as mercy.
Slavery does not dream of governing by reason,
by argument or persuasion Slavery depends
upon force, upon the bowle-knife, the revolver,
the whip, the chain and bloodhound. The
white Democrats of the South had been reared
amid slavery; they cared nothing for reason;
they knew of but one thing to be used when
there was difference of opinion or a coufiict
of interest, and that was brute force. 1t
never occurred to them to educate, to inform
and to reason. 1t was easier to shoot than to
reason; it was quicker to stab than to argue;
cheaper to kill than to educate. A grave costs
less than school house; bullets were cheaper
than books; and one knife could stab more
than forty schools could convert
They conld not bear to see the negro free-to
see the former slave trampling on his old chains
holding ballot in his,hand. They could not
endure the sight of negro in Office, 1t was
gall and wormwood to think of slave occu-
plying seat in Congress; to think Of a negro
giving his ideas about the political questions of
the day. And SO these white Democrats made
up their minds that by reign of terrorism
they would drive the negro from the polls, drive
him from all official position, and put him back
in reality in the old condition. To accomplish
this they commenced a system of murder, of
assassination, of robbery. theft, and plander,
never before equaled in extent and atrocity.
All this was in its height when in 1868 the De-
Is there man here who in his heart regrets
that the Democrats failed in 1868? Do you
wish that the masked murderers who rode in
the darkness of night to the hut of the freed
man aud shot him down like wild beast, re-
CARELESS Ut the prayers and tears of wife and
children, were now holding positions of honor
and trust In this government? Are you sorry
that these assassins were defeated in 1868?
La 1872, the Democratic party, bent upon VIC
tory, greedy for Office, with itching palms and
empty pockets, threw away all principle-if
Democratic doctrines can be called principles
and nomina ted lifelong enemy of their par
ty for President. No oDe doubted or doubts the
loyalty and integrity of Horace Greeley. But
all knew that if elected he would belong to the
party electing him. That he wonld have to
use Democrats as his agents, and all knew, or
at least feared, that the agents would own and
use the principal. All believed that in the ma
licious clutch of the Democratic party Horace
Greeley would be not President, but pris-
oner-not ruler but victim. Against that
grand man l have nothing to say. L simply
congratulate him upon his escape from being
used as a false key BY that burglar, the Demo-
cratic party.
During all these years the Democratic party
prophesied the destruction of the government,
the destruction of the constitution, and the
banishnent of liberty from American soil.
In 1864 that party declared that after four
years of failure to restore the Union by the ex-
pertinent of war, there should be cessation of
hostilities. They then declared that the Con-