The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1877-09-27
NOBLE SENTIMENTS ADVANCED At
\ AN AGRICULTURAL FAIR.
No More Sectional Distinctions Wanted,
ALLUSION MADE TO THE
PRESIDENTIAL STEAL.
THE SOUTH, STANDING FIRM FOR
PEACE, AVERTS CIVIL WAR.
Hampton a Union Man Before the
War.


Chicago, Sept. 13.-The Times Rock
ford special gives Wade Hampton's
speech before the Winnebago Fair Com.
pany to-day, of which the following ex>
tracts are made. Mr.. Hampton said;
Mr.. PRESIDENT AND FELLow-CITI-
ZENS OF ILLINoIS-If any evidence was
needed to show the high appreciation
which hold the invitation which brings |
me here to-day, It would surely be found |
in the fact that have travelled more |
than thousandmiles that lmay makemy |
acknowledgements to you for the honor
you have conferred in person. APP
plause. And let me say to you, and
say it with infinite pleasure, that had that
journey been far longer, had its fatigues
been greater, the sight that greets me
here to>day, the cordiality Of the well
come given by the people of Illinois
would have amply compensated me. APP
plause. Under ordinary circumstances
should scarcely have felt at liberty to
have left my official duties to participate
in an occasion of this sort, however graf.
flying the honor might have been, but
the invitation Of the Winnebago Agricul'
tural Society carried with it such weight |
that it imposed upon me on obligation
which felt could not neglect. 1t was
this society year ago, before the polit-
ical spirit which has now so happily sub
sided and abated, that was among the
first to inaugurate that spirit Of reconcil-
iation which is now spreading with such
wholesome force over the country. |,
a Southern man, felt it was not only my
pleasure but my duty to go and make
response in person, and thank them for
their course in the interest of harmony,
and to pledge my cooperation in this
patriotic and noble work. Applause.
If l comprehend the purpose of your
invitation to me, it was not that | should
speak to you merely on an agricultural
subject, but that should discuss those
graver and broader issues which are de-
stroying the country. But my friends,
in doing that you need not fear that shall
violate the prophecies Of the occasion by
giving you political speech. | shall
speak for no party, no man, no section,
but for the whole country. Applause.
And doing so l shall strive truthfully to
sink all men and all partizanship, and to
place myself upon that grand high plat
form where true and pure patriotism can
be found Applausel, AS | construe the
motives of this movement, my friends, 1t
is in the interest of peace. Understand
ing it so, it was that that brought me here
and by anything can say or do, if |
can in the slightest degree assist these
gentlemen in the noble work they have
undertaken, then, my friends, 1 shall
feel that my mission has not altogether
failed.
Object Of the Governors Visit.
The chief thing had in coming here
was to promote true and correct under
standing between the North and South.
You must admit that very many of the
evils which have fallen on the country
have come from a manifestation of the
purposes, each of the other, and you re-
member there is profound truth as well
a knowledge of human nature, embodied
in the fable where it is told that in olden
times, shield, white on one side and
black on the other, was hung out at the
intersection of two roads, and twoknights
approaching in opposite directions, dis
puted as to the color of the shield. FL
nally their lances were put in rest, and
they perilled life, each to support his own
convictions. 1t has seemed to me, in look
ing over these questions, that something
ofthe same sort happened between the
North and the South, The Constitution
was the shield, and viewed as it was from
different points and constructions, the
dispute upon the points waxed warmer
and warmer. The sword was called in,
and by its red arbitrament many brave
and true knightly soldier laid down his
life in support of his conviction. What
might have happened, my friends, had
prudence and not passion ruled the hour
it is useless for us to say now. The states
man looks to the past perils of his count
ry, simply that he may guard against
them, and the prayer and work of the
patriot should lend to the same end,
The South Desires Peace.
My friends, speak for the South. We
of the South have had not only enough
but too much war. Laughter. We seek
peace. We come now to plead in the
interest of peace, and it is for that am
here to day. Cheers. Can you doubt,
my friends, that the South wants peace?
Go and look at her ruined fields, the
way she has lived for twelve years, and
you will doubt it no longer. Do you,
men of Illinois, doubt her sincerityl She
has been charged with faults, but among
those faults the worst enemies have never
said she was hypocritical, or spoke with
double tongue. ImpetuOus, rash, she
may be, but thank God, false, never.
Cheers. Do you want proof of her sin
cerity, look in the recent past and tell
me if you can find sympathy more con-
elusive than is given by her conduct.
Need tell you to look back to those try>
ing days when the Presidential contest
was unsetted2 What was the course of
the South then?
The Presidential Steal.
Governor Hampton alluded to the pos
sibility of civil war, in which families
would have been diverted in civil war
had not the South stood firm for peace,
and tell you, citizens of Illinois, and |
speak not as Democrat; | don't care
and don't know whether speak to Dem
ocrats or Republicans, speak as an
American to Americans, and say to you
to-day, you owe debt of credit to the
people ofthe South. Cheers InCongress
too, what some of the North called the
Confederate brigade prevented fllibus-
tering, and stood by the result of the Elec.
toral Commission work. During the re-
cent strikes and riots, too, she evinced
her feeling by upholding the laws and
standing conservative. She has given
bonds to the State to preserve the peace,
and she wants peace. She wants you
people of the North to understand her