Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1879-07-31

for the preservation of the government;
but they will never pay their debt, and
no nation that votes its own taxes will
even pay its debts. The republican party,
l think, and. every loyal democrat stood
up end said, we will show you that we
value our national honor higher than we
value our national life, even 1applausel
and we have gone on ever since the close
Of the rebellion 81
PAYING OFF OUR NATIONAL DEBT,
faster than any man on earth could count
the money. Three thousand millions oil
/ the five thousand millions that we ex.
pended, has been paid. We expended
five thousand millions of dollars and
more than 100000 precious lives
to save this great government. And now
this people assert that all of that vast
treasure and all of those precious lives
were expended for nought; and tha,
there is not yet union upon this cont.
nent tc call the United States of Amer.
| lea. sL.
l say fellow citizens therefore, that we
saved the national life and the national
| honor: but what was the situation of the
| government when this great republican
party came into power? l have shown
you
| NOW WE STOOD
as to arms and to money, to ship and 10
material But what has the republican
! party done? 1t came into power in 1861,
when your treasury was bankrupt, and,
| as said before, when your arms were
scattered and your ships were scattered,
and it took this nation when it was in
the very lowest depths of humiliation.
| This was the condition of the nation
yinf III Il
| of government. For the first time, We
took the reins on the 4th of March, 1861;
We borrowed all the money that we
could borrow to pay our soldies during
| the year 1861. The time came when we
could borrow no more money, and
| THERE WAS A TIME d.
when we owed forty millions of dollars
for feed, clothing and supplies for our
diers from two to four months deficiency
0: pay, and we had not one solitary dol.
| lar in the treasury of the United States to
| pay our honest debts; then the question
was, what shall we donext? Well, fellow
| citizens, l will tell you what we did do
We came out frankly and said to the peo
| pie of the United States, we have no
money and we can borrow no more
| money. We have this vast army in the
field; will you trust us for food and
clothing? for pork, beef, potatoes and
| -four? Will you trust us and take our
promise to pay, for in no other way can
we carry on the war; and with one &C
| cord, from north to south, from every
nook and corner Of this great country,
CAME UP RESPONSES:
take anything, take every thing; take all
~, Il
get able; and thus and there started the
| any pouy o1aInl IiIo paternity Of
the greenb back party, because I was there
myself when that child was born. Laugh
ter. / acted as both wet and dry nurse
to it [laughter1, and no man shall claim
the paternity of that thing. Laughter.
We did issue, and we continued to is.
sue, and the republican party is respon-
sible for the issuing of greenbacks, and
they were responsible to fulfill that
pledge the very moment they were able,
and they did redeem, its pledges in the
coin of the realm. [Applause.] The
time on the first of January,
1879, that we were able to u re-
deem that last pledge, Z given in;
THE HOUR OF EXTREMITY, 1csr-.
to the people Of the United States. Gap
plause.) And the very moment the day
came, we cid resume specie payment;
fulfilled the last pledge ever given, TO
pay in the coin of the realm our obliga-
tions, and specie payment has come to,
stay. (Applause) AS | said moment
ago, we took charge cf this nation when
its credit was SO low that it found no
purchasers for its bonds We carried ii
successfully through the war, and we
have carried it successfully since the
war. While there was no purchaser for
your bonds in 1861 at any price, today
your four per cent bonds are selling at
81 .021a in the markets of the world, and
THE CREDIT OF THESE UNITED STATES 3.
stands higher than the credit of any other
nation on earth save one (Applause.)
And yet, fellow citizens, you say that
this party having fulfilled its conditions,
it ought to die; the mission of the re-
publican party is ended, and it oughtto
die. Well, fellow citizens if there ever
was political party that was prepared to
die, it is the republican party, Qong con-
tinued applause and laugher). But, my
fellow citizens, we have made other ar
rangements renewed laug ghter).a Au9. sGf
The greatrepublican party, whose 25th
anniversary we celebrate, has accom-
plished more in that 25 years of its exist
ence til an any other political party that
ever lived on earth has accomplished in
a thousand years (applause). 1t is the
only party. that ever existed nearth for
20 years, that at the end of that period
could point to one single solitary unful.
filled pledge. o. SS"' s---
| 2 DEFY THE WORST ENEMY
of the rcpu Jlican party TO name one sim.
| gle pledge that was ever made by the
republican party it has not to-day full
flledto the letter. EApplausel !. r Ls3i
/ We. promised to, save Your vast terTito-
ries from the .blighted curse of human
slavery, and We not only saved your vast
territories from the blfghting curse, but
we wiped the, cure out OF, existence from
the continent of North America Zap
plause zra iiSv s4 ssa ss-s dg.
W.. pledged ourselves to give you q
homestead law, and we gave it to you;
| we pledged ourselves TO build the Pacific
railroad, and we did; well pledged our
selves to give you an agricultural college
land bill, and we gave it to you. Every
single pledge given has to-day
-sH BEEN FULFILLED "oh
by this great republican party, and yet
notwithstanding all that, you say that
your mission IS ended, and therefore you
ought to die. And who are the men who
thus utter these ana.hemas at the repub-
lican party? Aye, they are the men who
rejoiced at every Union defeat, and wBe
mourned over every rebel defeat. They
are the men who said that your green
backs were not worth the paper on which
they were printed. They are the men
who said your bonds would never be
paid, and now they say, right here IN
your towa.- fsOh, let bygones be by
goes; let us forget the past!" lap