Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1879-02-01
SPEECH OF SENATOR VEST.
Delivered I'm the House OF ReRr
sentativss on January 2lst.

After the election of Col. Vest as sem
ater for the long term, committee was
appointed to wait upon hun. and apprise
him of his election. The committee
soon returned, accompanied by the SEN
ator elect, who was introduced to the
iolnt session by Senator Majors, in few
appropriate words. Col. Vest responded
as follows:
SENATOR VESTS SPEECH.
For the compliment to me personally,
evidenced by your action to-day, words
are inadequate to express. my gratitude,
and can only hope by faithful dis
charge of the duties devolved upon me by
the high Office to which Ihavs been elect
ed, to prove myself worthy Of your gen.
erous confidence.
My political opinions are we'll known,
and have been SO often expressed. that
no extended address will be necessary in
defining my position on the questions
now prominently before the people, nor
can there be any uncertainty as to my
action in the future upon any Issues in
volving the well-defned differences cx-
istlng between the two great parties now
struggling ior supremacy. These diff.
l lcT6uCcSs al NY JuuSiAVAss oAASSs GAo
very existence OF republican institutions
ernment, aud commencing with the gov.
ernment itself. they enter now. as they
have always done, into every public
question. When our fathers declared
their independence, and when they af-
terward framed the constitution, their
leading idea was to avoid the centraliza-
ton which characterized the govern
ments OF the old world, from one of which
they had Just separated after long and
cruel war. Every drop of patriot blood
shed in that unequal strife, every skele-
ton bleaching upon its battle. fields, every
hour of cold, hunger and agony in the
long, dark winter at Valley Forge, ev-
cry prayer that went up from the patriot
motner for her soldier son, every tear
upon the graves of the patriot dead, were
each and all protests against centrali-
zation.
For ages the only object OF govern
ment had been to enable the few to en-.
Joy the labor and property Of the many,
ter had been sometimes the handmaid
of Capitalization. Our fathers, with a
courage for which we can never be suf.
| uClCully EldbOluAs NOSA0A Ou GuoS al .JuSl
government derived its power from the
best government is that which confers
the greatest good upon the greatest mum
bsr. Upon this basis they established
the only true and real republic vSaich has
ever existed, and for this, I, their de
, upon the prairies of the far west, and ir
| sL oc hat Of ~ Oh h.,.
come from their matchless courage
aveuch this, their great deed, and mag
niiy their sacred names.
The advocates of Capitalization have
It asserted that when the trainers of the
constitution declared their object to b,
}, the formation of more perfect govern.
ment, they intended to abridge the
> rights OF the states. 1. is false. A more
perfect government simply meant ont
s in which the rights of the people woule
be more thoroughly protected, and tt
of that end, the powers vested in the diff
ferent departments of the governmen
were more distinctly defined and limited
Under the monarchial system from
which our fathers had escaped, govern
N ment was something alien from and an
> tagonistic to the people, an aristocrac'
in the air, to be worshipped like sta
he from afar off, but not to be touched b.
vulgar hands. Upon this infamous su
.; perstition our fathers trampled, as the,
+. marked the snow with their bleeding
feet, and in its stead they created th
system of state government, comm!
from and near to the people, the system
so clearly enunciated in that clause G
the constitution which declares that 18th
powers not delegated 10 the Unite
States by the constitution, nor prohibits
i'd by it TO the state, are reserved to tn
states respectively, or to the people,"
o,I What could more clearly establish tn
great truth upon which the Democrat
party is based. that the federal govern
ment is the agent of the states, actin
under power of attorney in the shap
OF written constitution Interwove
with every fibre OF the party, this doc
trine has given to it the vitality whic
has outlived SO many adversaries, an
survived so many disasters.
Capitalization means force, as ant
thetic to popular will, and must alway
be associated with monarchy and hered
itary rank. State government, upon tn
other hand, next to that OF the family
will always be dear to the America
heart. The one is of foreign, the othe
of domestic growth, and whilst grea
centralized government may dazzle 70
z, a time, like the sun with its garlsh ligt
1y at monday, it is at last in the states. an
Nv by the unpretending but steady light {
that lamp which Jefferson fixed as
beacon Ter posterity, that our llbertie
must be preserved.
Capitalization means force, but it doe
- not always come in the shape of stanc
ing armies or the mailed hand of mil
tary despot. Look around and you wi
see in every portion of this vast cour
try. with: its varied products and almo.
unlimited resources, the blightlng il
huencs Of financial Capitalization.