River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1879-10-30
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
Address Of Hon. ]. G. Burrows, Of
Michigan.
At the Celebration of the 25th Ami.
versary of Republicanism
in Wisconsin.

Mr. CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND FELLOW.
CITIZENS: Had l consulted my owe
health | should have Teirained from be-.
ing present upon this occasion to-day
ut the interest feel in the success OF
the republican party induced me to fore
go my personal convenience and TO par
ticipate with you on this memorable oc,
casion.
The event you have this day celebrat'
ed, though OF special interest to the peo-
pie of your state. is
OF GENERAL CONCERN
TO the nation. The birth, development
| and achievements Of the republican par.
ty, VIII ether recorded in the state or ne
tional annals, mark new era in the life
of this republic.
The republican party, my fellow-citi,
zcns, has fought
THREE GREAT BATTLES,
and has won three great victories. lis
first battle, as | have already intimated,
was for free territories, and when 1t won
that battle and consecrated the territories
to freedom forever, it struck fatal blow
to the institution of slavery, for slavery
could not live within the states where it
existed.
But, my fellow citizens, no sooner had
this battle been fought and won, than
the republican party was called upon TO
fight
ANOTHER GREAT BATTLE;
battle for national unity--a battle fer
the unity of these states. Before the re-
/ publican party came into power, on the
4th of March, 1861, the union of these
states was already destroyed. We gave
to the democratic party a union. They
surrendered the union to us with the
union broken. We gave to them one
flag, waving in unmolested supremacy
over every foot of American soil; they
gave the country back TO us with two
fags-with a rebel and a hostile flag fl g
| ing from across the Potomac and flaunt-
| ing in the very face of the capital city.
| We gave them country with one con-
| gress; they handed it back TO us with
| two.
WE GAVE THEM COUNTRY
with one president; they had two when
! they got through. I'm a word, they had
their whole machinery of state and ma
tional government, running fully and
completely, with a president, cabinet,
executive and Judiciary, and thS whole
machinery of state and national govern
ment in full and complete operation; and
| then, to cap the climax, the last Demos
cratic president, as he looked upon the
| dissolution, said There is no power in
| the constitution to coerce the states"
Then my fellow citizens, commenced
THE GREAT BATTLE
to restore the union and preserve the re-
| public. That was terrible battle. The
| slave power went into rebellion. The
democratic party of the north leaned
that way. [Applausel l do not want 10
| be misunderstood. do not mean to say
that every democrat at the north sympa-
| thized with the rebellion. / do not mean
to say that this is the record of every
| democrat by any means, for ! know aud
you know that there were democrats in
Wisconsin, in Michigan, Ohio and all
over the north, when
THE TWICE HoNoRED FLAG
of the republic twice went down over
| the shattered walls of Sumter, that tore
their party banner down with it and
trampled it beneath their feet, and they
knew no party flag or party issue until
the flag of the republic waved over
united republic But do mean TO say
that the democratic party as a party,
| sympathized with that rebellion, and
while we share with the war democracy
| of the north all the glory for saving the
| government, if there are any democrats
here of the other kind, we do not share
it with you [Applausel.
After putting down the war and gather
ing up the fruits of that great struggle,
we were confronted with
ANOTHER GREAT DANGER.
The democratic party of the north--of
course all the democrats of the south
agreed with them-said: 1--WE cannot
pay this debt, it is no use talking. 1t is
an enormous thing" And the demo-
cratic party turned right round upon the
question of the greenback. Now / re-
member, when it was first issued,-of
course there were no democrats in Wis
consin of that kind, but there were some
of that kind in Michigan, who, when
they were first issued, said they were TN
constitutional. OF course, you had not
| any such here, but with us we had some.
They said we had no right TO issue
| them;
IT WAS UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
| Gold and silver was the money OF the
constitution But we SAID to them: ave
haven't got any We have got to put
down this rebellion, and we have not got
any money, and the only thing we can
do is to issue these promises to pay"
They said: "You have no right TO do it;
| 1t is clearly unconsi itutional." We did
not know about that; we did not have
time to look into it, but we could see
that it could be done and save the gov
eminent We had perhaps some doubt
about the cCnstitutionality of
ISSUING THE GREENBACK,
but the difference between the republi
can and democratic parties was this:
That the republican party gave the beae-
fit of the doubt to rebels (Applause)
SO we issued them.
These are the three great battles we
have fought--the three great victories
we have won. Do you think there is
nothing more for us to do?
WE HAVE MADE FREEDOM UNIVERSAL.
But | want to say to you, in all elm
cerity, here tonight, that the freedom OF
the black man in this country, here to-
| day, is a mockery and a lie. We may as
well look at things as they are-may as
well understand lhem-there is no free
dom in the southern states. Why i'm
mediatelv when The war was over, don't
you know that the cry wentup of carpet
! baggers. All over t. c south the cry was,
| out with
THE CARPET
Now, have no apology or excuse to
| offer for that man who, when the var
was over, took his carpet-bag and went
south merely for the purpose of holding
office and plundering the people, and
then returning to his northern home. /
have no sympathy with that class OF men;
but have sympathy for the men who
did not belong 10 that class. We are all
| carpet baggers.
lama cARPET-BAGGER
from Ohio. Many of you are carpet
baggers; you were not all raised IN
this country. And there were some men
whom these people denomiuated as
carpet baggers who were the carriers OF
knapsacks; men who during the war
carried your flag down the Mississippi,
from Cairo to the Gulf-from Atlanta 10
The sea. When the war was over, In
good faith they went south and settled
down to live among that p, ople, as their
future home. These, with all others,
were denounced as carpetbaggers. Now,
when man from the north goes south
in good faith, to live there with his
family for future home, /, for one, am
in favor of protecting him in that home.
But under that cry northern men are
driven out: we may as well meet u.