Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-06-26

ing on putting down that "infernal re-
bellion," until, rs Gen. Steadman said,
"almost every man who belongs to
the party believes he is patriot and
hero This claim is to be question
cd, and brought face to face with the
facts of history. Thereat the Gazette
is troubled. 1t gives the individual
Democrats credit, but says the party,
"as such opposed the war" and singu-
larly enough cites MeClelars nomi-
ination in 1864 rs evidence. McClel-
Ian represented the Democratic senti-
ment in regard to the war, and we
would ask no better exponent. lie
believed the war was for the over
throw of the secession heresy, the pres
ervation of the Union, and the main
tenance of the rights of the States
unimpaired. The overthrow of slave
ry was an incident of the conflict, and
very likely an inevitable result once
the sword was drawn. Mr.. Lincoln
hit the nail on the head exactly when
he said he would save the Union no
matter whether slavery was destroyed
or maintained. Nationality was what
the people were fighting for. The
Democrats opposed the civilian CON
duct of the war by Republicans,
especially their corruption, ineiiiciency
and jobbery, which found its strongest
illustration in the brood of shoddy
patriots, and they carried the North
with them on this issue in the elections
of 1862. The Republicans in civil
Office, and the great army of contract
ors, quartermasters, commissarics, and
paymasters, used the war as means
to an end; that end was stealing. The
fruits of these thefts, their shoddy
aristocracy, WI gar display, and above
all things their monopoly of loyalty
insult even at this day the honest com
mon sense of the people in every see
tion of the North. We know men in
this State, high in rank in the Rcpub-
lican party, who make constant boast
of their superior loyalty, whose only
service to the Union cause was cheat
ing the Government of hundreds Of
thousands of dollars in contracts, Sc
cured by the connivancc of the rogucs
in office. We are getting tired of the
assumption of these fellows that they
carried the Union cause on their
shoulders, and that they and they
alone now represent fidelity To our
form of Government. They took adj
vantage of the necessities of the Gov
ernment to rob it; they gathered for
tunes by sending the soldiers on the
field rotten clothing and tainted food.
Napoleon and Wellington hung such
people. They are to-day high priests
of the Republican party, and blatant
rs donkeys in their professions of 10y
atty. They sent Don Cameron to the
United States Senate from Pennsylva-
MIA because of the fortune he made in
mules during the war; and they "nev-
er went back" on old Simon for the
reason of his corruption in giving out
contracts induced Mr.. Lincoln to kick
him out of his cabinet and congress to
formally censure him. These are sam
pie Republican heroes.
That Mr.. Lincoln well understood
the character of the greater portion of
the men who vGed for him, General
Steadman showed in his speech to the
Ohio Democratic convention, in this
anecdote, which is good enough to re-
peat:
| make another statement here to-
day-and there is living witness in
the State of Ohio who was present
when Mr.. Lincoln made the utterance.
The first | ever saw him was after the
battle of Chickamauga, when | was
ordered by telegraph to report in per-
son to him. Applause ] went up
and called upon him, and james NJ.
Ashley, who is living, heard the con-
versation.
Mr.. Lincoln took me by the hand,
greeting me warmly, and told me he
was glad to see me. Still holding me
by the arm he said to Mr.. Ashley:
Brother Ashley, what would have be-
come of us in this war had it not been
for the fighting Democrats from the
North and West. prolonged APP
plause.
With shrug of the shoulders Mr..
Ashley said:
"Mr. Lincoln, I don't know"
Mr.. Lincoln replied: 81 believe
our rebel friends would have their
flag floating at the Capital, sir"
[Applause.l
He said: "The truth is, brother
Ashley, that our party is made up, to
some extent, of the religious and sym
pathetic, and they don't make first
class soldiers. Laughter and ap-
plause.l
"They don't make frst-class sol.
diers," was Mr., Lincoln's shrewd ver-
dict as to his own party. 1t was true
at least as regards the free soil and alb