Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1878-08-15
THE BELMONT DEMOCRACY.
A Lively JambOree.
Remarkable Speech of Ross al
eXander.

/
of Saving the country" and especially
the party, took place in the Cour
Honse, in st. Clairsville, on Saturday
Some OF the more anxious about the
salvation of the party, arrived on the
evening previous, and engaged them
selves in presenting the reasons why
their particular favorite could save the
party. The Convention, in addition
to the large number of delegates, drew
together a host of candidates, witt
their respective "whoopers-up," 81
that altogether there was a respectable
sized Onvention. The fight for the
chief places had been an exceedingly
active one, and hence the great inter.
est manifested.
AT IL O'Clock the Chairman of theil
County Committee, G.. n. GauIDer,
Esq, called the Convention to order
and named Ross Alexander for Chair
man of the Convention. Mr.. AleXan-
der WAS on hand, but committee had
to be appointed in due form to escort
him into the Convention. Even the
appearance of SO distinguished a re-
former as Ross, did not appear to en-
thuse the men who had come up 10
''save the party" but he went on with
bis remarkable cut tand-dried piece, all
the same. Upon taking the chair Mr..
Alexander saui:
Fellow DEMoCi:ATs-I thank you indeed
for the honor you have conferred upon me Oh
this occasion. l feel deeply grateful for this
renewed expression of your confidence. The
Democratic party, it seems to me, has never
been more excited and aroused than at this
time, and justly so. The greatest crime that
was ever committed against the rights of
man, against the liberties Of the people, against
the Constitution of the country, has been
committed in the Inauguration of a man, as
President, who was not elected by the peo-
pie. 1t seems to me that all other crimes
pale before that crime, where man, in viola
tion of the rights of his countrymen, with a
majority of 250,000 of the popular vote
against him, with a majority of 40, in the
Electoral College against him, should, by the
practice of successful fraud and dishonesty
usurp place to which he was never justly
and legally elected. And these frauds-the
highest treason ever committed-the Demo-
cratic party, by reason of its patriotism and
its love of democratic institutions, and for the
sake of peace, acquiesced in the outrage and
made no disturbance. Are these charges of
fraud true? Many as they are they have been
made. And what do ali these investigations
prove that the Republicans ask us not to
make? What do they show? To my mind,
if there is no guilt here, if these charges are
not true, why do we see, all around us, the
parties who were concerned in the frauds,
receiving the highest rewards at the hands of
this administration? Look at Florida, Her
four electoral votes should, by every consid-
GRAFTON of right and justice, have been cast
for Samuel j. Tilden, but they were cast for
Il. b. Hayes, and the men who consummated
that villainy are the men who divided the
spoils. Who are they? Indexer Noyes, of
Ohio, was appointed Minister to France, one
of the most responsible offices under the Gov
ernment. Stoughton, another one who de-
Tended these frauds, has been appointed Min
lister to Russia. Kasson, another of the 0iSit-
ing statesmen, has been sent as our represen-
tative to the Court of Austria. John Sher-
man is the Secretary of the Treasury, and l
dare any man to name a single person who
was engaged in concocting these frauds, and
concerned in them, who has not received the
price of his treachery against the rights and
liberties of the people Not one of them!
Take the Returning Board of Florida-Mc-
Linn, one of its members, is to-day acting as
Chief Justice of New Mexico; Dennis is a
special Treasury agent on the recommenda-
ton of these gentlemen themselves; while
Gov. Stearns, repudiated by the people and
compelled by their just and righteous indig-
nation to flee from the State, is to-day Com
missioner of the Hot Springs in Arkansas. All
of these men have been rewarded, who have
been concerned in this conspiracy, this high
treason against the Constitution and the lib
critics of the people.
l. "a 7 7
is more glaring. There was Kellogg, acting
as Governor of the State, holding intimate
relations to the parties to this great crime; he
has received his reward by being elected to
the United States Senate, on the casting vote
of Stanley Matthews, one of the visiting
statesmen, and to-day he is a Senator for the
State of Louisiana, holding his office corrupt
ly and in violation of the rights of the people
of that State. He has received his reward
and is satisfied, and if he had not, like some
of the others, he would have spoken out, and
the whole business would be exposed to the
scorn of the people who have been cheated,
and deprived of their rights. Packard,
man whose claims had been supported by the
bayonets of the government, but who was not
elected, was rewarded for his part in the con-
spiracy, by being appointed to the best Office
under the Government, that of Consul at Liv-
erpool. Geooge L. Smith, a forger and falsi-
fer of the returns of DeSoto Parish, was re-
warded also by the appointment of Collector
at the port of New Orleans.
All of these rogues and rascals-all of them
-(and who defends their reputation from
these charges?) )-have been rewarded by the
administration that their frauds put in power.
The Democrats of Louisiana asked for repre-
sentation on the Returning Board, but where
the law required that both parties should be
represented on that Board, in violation of law,
these scoundrels allowed no Democrat to look
upon their infamous deliberations, which du
ring all this while have been concealed from
the people. Madison Wells, the head man of
that Board is now the Surveyor of the port of
New Orleans, appointed by R. B. Hayes
Thomas Anderson, another member, and who
was convicted of forgery and perjury, was
kept and continued in power after his convic-
tion. He was the second person on that
Board. Casanave, another member is the
naval officer. Kenner, another, is in the
Custom House; the other, the Democrat that
was to be appointed, was not appointed to
assist in the count.
No honest man was allowed to look upon
that infamy, and in this way the returns have
been kept from the people. Talk about crime!
talk about treason.-It seems to me that all
other crimes pale before that greatest of crimes
that has ever been committed in this country.
Harlan of Kentucky has received the price of
his villainy in seat on the Supreme Bench
of the United States; Geo. A. Sheridan is the
recorder of deeds at Washington; Weber
died, and we were getting little leaking of
the truth, when James E. Anderson, though
he had the special recommendation of Stanley
Matthews, and the promise of Hayes himself
that he should be taken care of, yet failed to
obtain his reward, and he comes to-day and
exposes fully the great infamy; and the pres
emit Congressman from this district testifies
that Anderson told him that the plan was
that no election was to be held in the parishes
there, that it was for the purpose of throw
ing out their entire vote, and that only one
Republican vote was cast there, all of which
was to show intimidation. One after another
these facts come out, and every man oon-
cerned in that greatest of crimes against the
Constitution of the country will stand under
an everlasting pillar of infamy as the subject
of the condemnation of the American people.
(Ypntlpmpn tharp anOfhar of tboca uiai+