The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1877-01-19
Speech Of Hen. Henry watterscn.


Union, which he did so much to glorify aud
strengthen, has always embraced an affec-
tionate interest in the city called after the
first citizen. [Applause.l
quilted Washing ton in 1861 with feel.
ing that bordered on despair I have watch
ed its rise in consequence and splendor with
a sort of exultation. II is not without fore
boding that see it menaced by the shadow
Of possibilities before which the patriotic
and thoughtful sense of the country is now
pausing and questioning itself
In my judgment the danger is real. There
can be safety nowhere, least of all in the
National Capital wheu the President of the
United States, the Secretary of War, and
the Secretary Of the Interior, the two most
Influential members of the majority in the
Senate, and the General Of the Army, are
committed in advance of an undetermined
presidential election to any fixed partisan
policy. But when these organize themselves
into r corporation, wnen they surround
themselves with troops, when they use the
power lodged with them as IA supreme trust
to securr devices and pretcxts for its perl'et-
uaiion. and thu. equipped, when they bold
Iy proclaim their purpose and threaten all,
friend and foe alike, who refuse to acquescc,
they Justify the ascrlption of conspiracy lad
AZ thcif door, and furnish cause for missiv
ing in the bcavest heart. say misgiving,
hnt not fear. Civil liberty cannot be wrtst~
td from tue American people at all, either
with or without Il fight. They are patient
pnd law-anidng.
They witt exhaust the peaceful agencies
placed by Go |, nature aud the Constitution
OF their county i'll their hands but they
will not submit to usurpatiOn; and If it
should become necessary that they should
have leader, ant ther Jackson stands ready
to take his life in his hand and make their
cause his oVn. Prolonged applause.
| trust that no such emergency will arise.
But the way to prevent it is to prepare for
it. My hope is that conservatism enough,
patriotism enough will be found in the Sen
ate to defeat the schemes Of extreme men,
expect to see here on the day the vote is
to be counted q hundred thousand unarmed
citizens exercising in their persons the free
mans. right of petition, anl giving the hon
est Republicans of both Houses Of Congress
two guarantees-one that the people want
ouly what is right, the other that they will
accept nothing that is wrong. In ether
words, the presidential vote shall be counted
precisely as it always has been, and not by
the President of the Senate, who has no
power whatever except to open the certifi-
Gates. If Mr. Hayes has majority he is
the lawful President If neither Mr.. Hayes
nor Mr.. Tilden has a majority then the
House elects. But if Mr.. Tilden has ma
iority then-and this is as "Old Hickory
would put it and mean it-"by the Eternal!'
he shall be inaugurated. Applause.
There is no.more to:be said on the subject
1t is in every way free from complexity.
Compromise is certainly out Of the question.
We have had, or we have not had, an cleo
ton. In either event the Constitution is
plain, and it must be maintained to the let
ter. The effort to confuse it by the foment-
alton of sectional prejudices is simply a part
of the policy of usurpation, which always
seeks to obscure its plans and methods be-
hind mock perils of its own disinterested.
ness as well as with candor on this point
1t has been my fortune in life to pass much
of my time in this beautiful city-upon this
common ground between the North and
@, A.. o,,l nd ho,
here familiarly the men and women of al
sections of the Union. They are all alike
the same human motives and passions-only
differences here and there in manners or in
idiom, and these not grouped by geograph
ical lines.
Assuredly they are jointly and equal,
concerned in the preservation of their fre
fabric, and they ought to be reciprocall
concerned in one anothers well-being, be
cause each member of the body polite i
more or less dependent upon the rest. Whe
| hear an excited Southerner inveigh agains
the Yankee, smile and say she hasn
travelled" His anger is feeting and pow
erless and he has at least the reason whic
misfortune gives for.splenetic viewssof life
The case is different with those who repre-
sent the South to be the hot-house of pr
cular and exceptional civilization. The
impulse is not volatile. 1t has deep d'
sign in it. 1t crystalizes into bigotry, an
supplements itself with force, having powe
to execute its vengeful, narrow-minde'
mal-nspired theories.
The whole people of the United State
want, as they need, repose-that repo
which will lead to a better, fairer unde
standing among themselves. If their Rel
resentatives give them this 10y such pr,
ceedings here in Washington as will pa
muster, man by man, by such settlemer
of the pending dispute as the common sens
of Justice in tho minds of tho average AM
rican would accept in private transaction
the destiny OF republican government
} fixed and final. If they do not, the poiit
clans will have to get out OF the way, al
the people will take matters into their ov
hands, passing the wit of any to say VIII
th g end will be.
My friends, have aVo,ded IN what nav
said the merely partisan view OF the cas-
believe that the candidates from who
: this club takes its title, have been elect
r President and Vice President Of the Unit
States. have never doubted, nor do nc
4 doubt, that they will be seated inthe plac
1 to which the people, by overwhelming M
jorities, chose them. With proper deferen
3 to Mr.. Morton and Mr.. Sherman, the t'
$ Senators who lead the Administration cab
, in Congress, it is my opinion that the Pres
dent assisted by the General of the Arm
n will not be able TO make case stro
n enough to terrify the rank and file even
: the Republican party, to say nothing abo
+ the bone and sinew of the Democratic p'
h ty. They are, after all, men merely, and
I ter the 4th of March, the chief among the
% ", ~,