The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1877-08-21

20 his residence he was escorted by the
militia and civic organizations of the city
and delegations from the country, and the
route Of the procession was brilliantly illu-
minated. Upon his arrival at his residence,
the grounds Of which was lighted by loco
motive lamps and Chinese lanterns, Sen
ator Herman (Democratl welcomed him
home, in behalf Of Utica and Oneida
county, by short aud appropriate speech.
In replying to Senator Herman, Mr..
Conkling said:
Il can say seriously that my belief is no
American can realize the progress America
has made till he goes and compares 1t with
other lands. Without seeing other coun-
tries, it is hard to realize how bounteous
nature and Providence have been to us.
I'VE suffer Just now from hard times
and depressed industries. You see all
this and more abroad. We think England
rich il the ocean carrying trade; 30 she is,
but many of her best ships are idle.
Steamship lines in some instances altern-
ate with each other, running only half the
time, Manufactures are depressed every
where. Workmen here are dissatisfied
with wages, and unwise and lamentable
counsels here recently led to lawless acts,
from which in the end no one will suffer so
much as their authors and abettors and
those they assume to represent. l wish
they could all 90 to France and England
and see the work men and women do there,
aud hear of the wages they receive
England, excluding the twelve counties Of
Wales is not larger than the state of New
York, 1t contains 24,000,000 people.
Look ut a fact or two: One or two hundred
men own half of England; their estates
are princely reservations for game and
pleasure and opulence. One man may
ride thirteen miles in one direction, and
nearly as far in the other on his own estate,
aud when he dies his eldest son takes it all
The state of New York has less than 5,000,
600 people Suppose there were FIVE times
as many, aud more than one'half of the
state was given up to the monopoly and
pleasure of one hundred and fifty nobemen.
Suppose in addition men and women
labored in the fields and mines, aud that
the wages were only those paid in Eng
land; suppose only one man in three had a
vote or voice in public affairs or in
making laws, and that the great body OF
workingmen were wholly excluded from
all part in choosing the members OF the
only house of parliament in which the
seats are not hereditary. Then suppose
taxation TO maintain a standing army 10
which commissions are sold FOR money, Oh
given TO sons and relations; and tithes
taken to maintain an established church
10 which .livings are sold to the highest
bidder, or bestowed as patronage, What
would the workingmen of Pennsylvania OF
Ohio think of such conditions?
1--WE are all worklngmen in America
No class has a monopoly of the right t.
call itself the working class here. | have
always worked. and always been com
PEELED to work, and my sympathies are al
with honest labor. believe IN its dignit.
and 10 all it's rights. But when tn
tidiugs of the strike reached me in Paris
under my eye was a spectacle which
seemed TO heighten the madness of wha
men in America were doing. The gov
eminent of France was borrowing money
aud on the curbstone in the street sat me
all night TO get each his turn in the morn
ing to invest in the loan, There wer
workmen, who, living as workmen do nc
and need not live here, and working TO
wages which American workmen woul
scorn, had by hook or by crook saved fit
francs each. Fifty francs make te
American dollars, and these all nigh
watchers were there to buy ten-dolla
bond, on which they were TO get four pc
cent. There sat the workingmeU of France
amid the luxury of the more fortunate
contented with what fate had sent hin
Can it be that liberty and prosperity hav
spoiled any portion of the America
people, till they cannot endure their shar
iu Il season of common adversely?
Another advantage of every class i
America impressed me-the fact that W
have 20 near and dangerous neighbori
On the banks of the Danube, Russians an
Turks are killing each other, Thi
does not endanger Ur affect us
except that it creates more marke
for the things we have to sell. How is
with the old world, where nations adjoi
each other2 Every people is in danger
every tax payer and every working ma
and working woman is involved Grea
Britain must have a road to India wher
she governs lS0,000,00O human being
with the bayonet. She must therefor
guard the Dardanelles, the Persian Gul
the Suez Canal and Constantinople. b.
Russia, and Turkey, and Germany, an
Austria, and France, and the rest are il
call the balance Of power; and on tn
judgment or caprice Of kings and ruler
depends the question whether we mus
fight and die, and women must toll fC
bread in half the kingdoms of the eartl
Our country stands apart by herself in Il
amplitude of her own dominions
1t is said the American flag is not
be seen as often as other flags floating fro
muafhpQnu IN 20 frf1s
10 ought to be otherwise-it must be othe
wise. But without meeting it often on th
sea, you know and feel that the starry fla
is at home, and that from home it make
It's Influence aud power felt around tt
world. You see and feel that it shelter
and protects more liberty, more individu
prosperity, more of human right, an
more bright promises for the future tha
can be found in any other land KIM
ship, monarchy, nobility, aristocracy, m5
be good thiDgs-good tor the few with
the charmed circle-but give me a land
equal rights. a land where is no Law
making few, and where no man is eve
called on to obey any law which he has NJ
his full share In enacting and changing
Give me land in which it is the right an
duty OF every man-of every man what's
ever--to take part in all the elections an
all the proceedings by which governmer
Is constituted and directed. This was Ii
grand idea Of our fathers-on this cornC
stone they founded our great republic.
One glimpse at the systems they r.
pudiated aud discarded has given me Tres
generation for their wisdom and the
courage. 1t has also increasedthe sens
of obligation we owe to cherish and prote
and transmit unimpaired to our childre
the great heritage left To us.''