The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1877-01-17
Speech of HO.-. Henry watterson at
the Great Public Meeting in Wash
ington on the 9th of January.

1t gives me sincere pleasure TO meet
you on this occasion. Born here, yet
sprung from the home of the hero whose
memory YOU have assembled to celebrate,
nv love for the union, which he did so
much to glorify and strengthen. has al
WAYS EN- 6raced an atfectionate interest in
the city called after the first citizen. LAp-
plause.
| Quilted Washington in 1861 with a
feeling that bordered on despair. | have
watched its rise In consequence and
splendor with sort of exultation. 1t is
not without foreboding that | see it me-
naced by the shadow of possibilities be
fore which the patriotic and thoughtful
sense ofthe country is now pausing and
questioning itself.
In my judgement the danger is real.
There can be safety nowhere. least OF
all in the national capital, when the pTesl-
dent ct the United States, the secretary OF
war, and the secretary of the interior, the
two most influential members OF the ma
iority in the sebate, 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 corporation,
when they surround themselves with
troops, when they use the power lodged
with them as a supreme trust TO secure
devices and pretexts for its perpetuation,
and thus equipped, when they tbOldly
proclaim their purpose and threaten ali,
friend and foe alike, who refuse to
acquiesce, they justify the ascription Of
conspiracy laid at their door, and furnish
cause for misgiving ir the bravest heart
| say misgiving, but not fear. Civil
liberty cannot be wrested from the Ameri-
can people at ALL either with or without a
fight. They are patient and law-abiding.
They will exhaust the peaceful agencies
placed by God, nature and the constitu-
ton OF their country in their hands; but
they will not submit to usurpation, aud ii
it should become necessary that they
should have a leader, another Jackson
stands ready to take his life in his hand
and make their cause his own. Prolonged
applause.
| trust that no such emergency will
arise. But the way to prevent il. is to pre-
pare for it, My hope is that conservatism
enough, patriotism enough, will be found
in the senate to defeat the schemes Of ex
treme men. l expect to see here on The
day the vote is to be counted hundred
thousand undrmed citizens exercising il
luCh tue lT6GLudD TIEuL U
petition, and giving the honest Repubh
cans OF both houses of congress TIVE
guarantees-one that the people wan
only what is right, the other that they
will accept nothing that is wrong. Ii
other words, the presidential vote shall bt
counted precisely as it always has been
ard not by the president of the senate, wht
has no power whatever except to Oper
the certificates. If Mr.. Hayes has
majority he is the lawful president.
neither Mr.. Hayes nor Mr. Tilden has
majority then the house elects But if Dir
Tilden has majority then-and this is a
odd, Hickory" would put it and mean
by the eternal" he shall be inaugu
rated. Applause.
There Is 20 more TO be said on the sub
iect 1t is i'll every way free from com
plexlty Compromise is certainly out O
the question. We have had or we hav
not had, an election. 10 either event tn
constitution is plain, and it must be main
tanned to the letter The effort to confus
it by the fermentation of sectional pre-
JUDGES is simply part of the policy q
usurpatiou. which always seeks to obscur
its plans and methods behind mock peril
of its own creation. | am sure that | al
able to speak with disintsrestedness a
well as with candOr on this point. 1t ha
been my fortune in life TO pass much c
my time 10 this beautiful cify-upun thi
common ground between the north an
south, the east and west-and to have Inc
here Familiarity the men and women OF a
the sections of the union They are a
a!ike-the same human motives an
passions only differences here and Their
10 manners OK in idiom. and these nc
grouped by geographical lines.
Assuredly, they are jointly and equal
concerned In the preservation OF their fire.
fabric, and they ought to be reciprocal
concerned 10 one another's well-being, be
cause each member OF the body politi
is more or less dependent upon tn
rest. When hear an excited southerne
inveieh against the yankees, ! smiI
and say He hasn't travelled.
His anger is fieeting and powerless. aud b
has ct least the reason which mIsfOrtun
gives for splenetic views of life. The cas-
is different with those who represent tn
south to be the dollhouse of a pecula
and exceptional civilization. Their in
pulse is not volatile. 1t has deep d.
sign in it. 1t crystalizes into bigotry, an
supplements itself with force, havin
power to execute its vengeful, narrow
The whole people of the United State
want, as they need, rcpo3e that epos
which will lead to a better, fairer under
standing among themselves. Ii the
representatives give them this by sue
proceedings here in Washington as wi
pass muster, man by man, by such q Sc
Element Of tho pending dispute as tn
common sense of justice in the minds
the average American would accept
private transactions, the destiny Of Repul
lican government is fixed and final.
they do not, the politicians will have
get out Of the way, and the people wi
take matters into their own hands, passiD
the wit Of any to say what the end will bt
My friends, / have avoided in what
have said the merely partisan view of Ill
case. | believe that the candidates froI
whom this club takes its title, have bee
elected president and vice-president of tb
United States. have never d.ubted, nc
do l now doubt, that they will be seate
10 the places to which the people, by Owe
whelming majOritles. chose them. Wit
proper Difference to Mr.. Morton and NJ
Sherman, the two senators who lead til
administration cabal in congress, it is III
opinion that the president, assisted by I'll
general OF the army, will not be able
make case strong enough to terriry til
rank and file even Of he Republican pa
ty, to say nothing about the bone an
slnew OF the Democratic party. They arr
after all, men merely, and, after the a.
OF March, the chlet among them, a yer
weak, powerless mau. he chariot
American liberty and PROCESS will not ste
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