The daily gazette., 1878-09-07

sion. The seat of TIE Chief Magistrate
that seat that in times past has been and
In all times should be an emblem of
purity and honor-is occupied by man
VINO was never elected to it, and whose
elevation was accomplished by the gros-
sest frauds and bolaest usurpations that
ever dlsgraced the history of free peo-
PIE L have no time to-day to 20 into a
detailed statement of these frauds and
usurpahonS. l have no time to show
you now the Returning Board of Florida,
In plain violation of the law of the State,
In equally plain violation of the solemn
Gecision Of the highest Court of the
State, Threw out sufficient number of
democratic ballots to give the vote of the
otate TO the Hayes electors instead of to
sne iliden electors, who had been chosen
Dy the people. Nor how in like manner,
! the Returning Board of Louisiana thre W
out from six to eight thousand votes
gwen to the Tilden electors, thereby dis
franchising the people of whole precincts
ana counties, and completely reversing
the vote of the State. Nor how, by q
vote OF eight to seven in the Electoral
Commission, all inquiry into these frauds
and usurpations was precluded, and the
ooctnne sole'nniy snnounced and acted
upon that no matter by what frauds, no
matter by what illegaities, no matter by
what usurpaLions q Returning or Can
vassing Board may defeat the will of the
people, The wrong is remedless, the
constitution Is powerless, the people are
helpless, and usurpation must triumph
and prevail
These, fellow-citizens, are now all
matters of history, but although the er-
roneous decision by which Congress
ounted in Hayes and Wheeler NAV not
be reversi BILE, that fact only makes It the
more Incumbent upon the people to con-
demn the decision and the means by
which 1t was brought about. If such an
usurpatlon can pas without rebuke, IL
VIII soon be in vain to talk of Constitu-
tional modes and honest elections. If
the VIII OF the people can, with impunity,
De overthrown by obscure and corruDt
Returning Boards, and there is no remedy
1or the wrong, it will soon be the voice
OF such Boards and not the voice of the
people, that will mako your Presidents.
And how long, 1 pray you, could your
government stand under such q system,
or what claim would it have it to be cal
led Governments of the people. NV
friends, II the people ever condone this
great sin, If they ever pardon the guilty
men who perpetrated it-and nearly
ever one of whom has been rewarded by
once under the Administration-the
~ os o@uS u.no auFocdte Oh popular gov
ernment will have reason to hang his
head In shame, and doubt the possibility
OF It's success Yes, my fellow-citizens,
the very existence of popular govern
ment, the question whether it is posi- BILE
TO maintain it, and to maintain it in
purity, is now on trial before you. AS
you love the institutions bequeathed to
you by the fathers, as you reverence
your Oonstitutlon and value your free
dom, as you esteem virtue and detest all
wickedness, you are bound, in ne uncer-
tain tones, to manifest your abhorrence
OF the great usurpation.
Filth: Another great topic remains to
De considered, and when I shall have of
Tered some brief observations upon it nv
task Will be done. Fellow citizens, moth
ing In pontlcs seems more certai a to me
than that the Republican leaders rest
their hopes of a prolongation of their
power upon the success that may attend
studied and energetic effort ON their
part TO excite and perpetuate sectional
Ieenng. And nothing seems to me more
unwarranted, unpatriotic and detestable
than this scheme. 1t is not enough that
the South has frankly and manfully ac-
cepted the results of the war, that, waiy-
ing all questions as to the mode of their
adoption, no voice is raised against the
binding force of the Constitutional
amendments; that every law passed by
Radical Congress, however doubtful its
constltutionality, or manifest its lnjus-
tice and lmpolicy, is nevertheless obey
ed; that desire for harmony and peace
and a determination to aid in the preser-
Vation OF the U nion, are Enthusiastically
and plainly the dominant sentiments of
the Southern people-all this is not
enough to deter the Republican manage
ers from resortlng to all the weapons in
the arsenal OF the demagogue, by which
sectio nal hatred car be aroused and per
petuated, and a solid North thereby Gre
ated to rule with a rod of iron prostrate
South. 1t is thirteen years 81 nee the close
OF the war, thirteen years since a hand
was raised or sword was spoken against
the preservation of the Union and vet
articles are now written and speeches
are made by men, prominent in the Re-
publican party, the bitterness of which is
scarcely paralleled by anything that was
written or said when war was fragrant
and the Union was in danger.
Feilow-citizens, nothing more unjust,
nothing moro unpatriotic, nothing more |
Injurious to the peace, welfare and pros
perity OF the Republic, nothing more
clearly demonstrative of the necessity of
change of rulers and the Inauguration
)f an era Of justice and fraternity, than is
Afforded by these facts can be imagined.
DO you wish the Union preserved |
Then support those who wonld bind it to- |
ycther by the ties of fraternal feeling and |
! common interest, as well as by constitu- |
ions and laws. Do you revere Justice |
md advocate equality of rights Then |
support the party on whose banner "Jus- |
ice and Equality" are indelibly inscrib- |
ID. Do you wish to see tho country |
'trong and prosperous? Then support |
he policy that, shedding its benign in
1uence upon every part, gives irresisti-
Die strength and universal well being to
he whole.