Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1876-11-02

THE SOUTHERN CLAIMS.
1t hes frequently been said by Dem
Gratis that in the question of Southern
claims there is nothing but a mere par
tisan cry. Gentlemen, it is my sober
conviction that there is much in it, and
/ will tell you why believe so. The
South has been Impoverished by the
war, and in conversation with South
ern men myself l have found this to be
their idea: You of the. North have
controlled the Government alone since
the war; you have taken out of the pub
lie treasury millions of dollars to SUBJ
sidize steamboat lines. You have
granted away millions Of acres for rail
roads to establish your lines of com.
munication. You have spent untold
sums of money on internal improve
ments, and while ycu did this we in
the South were exposed TO all the raw
ages of the war, and out of which we
have come in an impoverished condi-
tion. Now, they say, there is nothing
fairer in the world than that we should
have the same advantages, so as to get
even. Gentlemen, you converse with
almost every Southern man on this su b.
ject, and if he does not tell you this be-
fore election he will be candid enough
TO say so after, if the Democratic candi-
date is elected. What does that mean?
We have discovered in the course of
time that the policy of granting rail-
road grants and subsidiZing this and
that private enterprise was exceedingly
costly, without confering correspond
ing public benefit. Therefore, that
policy has to great extent been aban-
IL A. hUnf II fif.fi Nf ha,
cratic victory that that policy will be
renewed and carried on to a more ex-
travagant extent by that party when it
becomes the controlling power. That
is the one point. The second point is
this: While Was in the Senate and
ever since large number of bills were
introduced there aiming at the refund
ing OF the cotton tax. Youare all
aware that during the war we paid
hundreds upon hundreds of millions of
taxes for the purpose of keeping our
Government alive and our armies go.
ing. We did that having been forced
into war by the rebel States, a war
that cost 100000 precious lives and
thousands of millions Of dollars. Dur
ing the whole time the South contribut-
ed almost nothing to the public treas
ury. There is only one considerable
item of the tax that was levied upon
the Southern people, and that was the
cotton tax, some siXty-eight million
dollars or over. Now they demand a
restitution of that tax, as it is proposed
by some, not to the individuals by
whom the tax was paid, but to the
Southern States as such. / am man
Of very generous disposition with re-
gard to the South. thought that when
tie war was closed the Southern people,
who had been in revolt, would again
become peaceable and law-abiding citi
zens, and that generosity was not only
duty, hut an act of wisdom and JUS
tice. And so l have been one of the
first to advocate policy ofgeneral am
nesty, and of the complete removal of
all those political disabilities which, in
consequence Of the rebellion, had been
imposed upon large number of South
ern people. In general L advocated a
policy of generosity and reconciliation.
L am willing to be as generous to them
as anybody, but when, after having
forced US into so terrible war; war
that came near destroying the very life
OF this great Republic a war that has
covered the land with mourning, and
put such terrible burdens upon our peo-
pie; when, after such a war having
contributed this little mite to the sus.
tenance of this great fabric of our insti-
tuition, they demand that we should
refund every cent of it, | think it is a
little too much. And yet you are cool
ly asked you, the possessors of the
wealth OF this country; 10 put your
hands into your pockets so that S6S. .OOO.-
600 be given back. tell you, gentle
men, it is my honest conviction, should
the Democratic party come into power
again, they will inevitably return to
the South every cent of that money
which was contributed to the National
Treasury in the cotton interest, with
interest too. tell you candidly, fear
that the Democratic party will be ex-
ceedingly generous to their Southern
friends in the way of putting money
into their pockets.
THE SOUTH WILL CONTROL THE DEMO
CRATIC PARTY.
1t has frequently been said that mo
Northern Democrat, after voting for
such bill, will be able to come before
his constituency. Is that true? Don't
we see things, which, under ordinary
would be incredible !?
The South is now compact unit again
i'm the Democratic party. At least the
Democratic party wants to fight US, and |
in case of Democratic victory thel
South will not only be solidIy Demo.
cratic, but it will also remain so for an
time. Let me say to you.
would look upon that as great ma
ional misfortune, for, when, in the
Republic political parties are divided &
" geographical sectional lines, it will
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