, 1879-03-30

r
| the constitutional amendments to "nich uasc
referred. Beaten in the fl Id, the advocates -o5
the doctrine Of State Sovereignty have transferred
| the contest from. the. camp to tue 1oE9m;
| In 1861 the Democratic party South secedeu
! frpm the Union, in order TINT it might have as
| it claimed, the right to govern itself. Today
having been beaten upon its appeal to the stern
arbitrament OF war, it impudently comes back TO
the National Congress which it sought to destroy
and seeks to achieve by stealth, and the'eVen
| more dangerous agencies ol legislation, what It
was not able to accomplish bY the wager OF bat
| tie. This Confederate South, beaten in the
field, has triutn phed in the forum. Seeking on
II to govern itself, as they claimed, they have
| accomplished that, and they govern US. Thus
has the 7auauished become tine victor; and thus
| has the copquerlng and. triumphant North sur
| rendered to the South which it has defeated
| ACTIVE IN THESE REVOLUTIONARY SCHEMES,
during his whole career In Congress, has Carter
| Harrison been. Each and every OF the consti-
| tutiona1 amendments. which re regard as al
| most sacred,- ,-thns which enfranchfsed the slave,
|; made him voter,-all looked and must look to
| Congressional legislation for enforcement, tor
| without the assistance OF this legislation
they are utterly worthless. How stands the
situation ro-days At the end of each OF these
great amendments it is declared, "Con@ress
| shall have power to enforce the provisions OF
this article by appropriate legislation" A loyal
| Congress furnished the legislation, IN the pres
| euce even Of which, SO revolutionary have still
| been the tendencies OF the Democratic party,
| the legislation has been overridden. and the
1najorities in five great States dtstranchised.
| I hate the doctrine OF State Sovereignty, out
OF which the Rebellion grew, as relcntlcssly and
as bitterly when it assumes the steBlthy anu
peaceful forms Of legislation rs when it clothed
itself in its arlnor and assumed the grim yisage
Of war. Infinitely more dangerous in its former
than in its latter shape, 1t is in its former shape
| that we are to-day compelled TO confront it. II
is noticeable fact in the history Of the Demo-
cratic party that for the last twenty-five years
you can find nowhere to be credited to it
Single line OF legislation which looks to the
protection Of the purity OF the ballot-bo1; you
can find no single line OF legislation for which
the Democratic purity is to be credited, to pro-
tect the bal}ot-box or the voter against fraud,
corruption, outrage, or violence. fou can In
various States, and Upon our national statute
book, find such cnactments; out from nrst to
last they have encountered the solid, united
opposition OF the Democratic party, Carter
Harrison among tue number. To secure
FREE AND AN uNcoSsTRA1NED BALLOT,
to secure q ballot which should be unattended
by fraud, Congress several years since adopted
law which briefly provided for the prevention
Of frauds ut the polls, and for the punishment
of those guilty Of the commission Of those
frauds. These laws we're OF universal appllca-
ton. They applied as well to Illinois as to
South Carolina; and no man, nor no set Of men,
who were not engaged in the preparation or In :
the encouragement OF the perpetraton Of such
frauds could nationally ohject'to that statute.
But Democratic Congress; benz on destruction,
resolved at it's last session-Carter Harrison:
then being one Of the misrepresentation OF this
citY-to abolish these statutes, to throw down
tue barriers which the voices OF loyal people
had reared around the ballot box; and That they
might succeed In these revolutionary and nefari-
GUS schemes, the Conledcratc6 Of the South,
fresh from the battlefelds of the Confederacy,
refused to make such appropriations as were
necessary to carry on the Government unless the
President of the United States would bow to
their demands. He did not thus bow. A Congress
is again in session; the same Democratic party
which we met in the field we now meet in Con-
gress, as bitterly opposed to the constitutional
amendments to-day as they ever were. Despair
ing, however, OF any direct reversal OF them,
they are resolved that
NO STATUTE SHALL REMAIN UPON THE STATUTE
BOOK
by which they may bc rendered effective. The
threat now is-and this is the issue-tllat there
must be iull license to fraudulent ballot, or
the Government must be starved, by the votes
OF the very men who Naged four years Of war
against it. In enthusiastic, active support Of
that wildly revolutionary scheme did Carter
Harrison stand. JUST back from Washington,
where Ae was found one Of its most earnest and
noisiest advocates after consulting with friend
in Kentucky Us to whether he had better run for
Mayor, he presents himself to the City OF Chi
cago, and asks that be shall be Endorsed rs the
representative of this fresh Confederate atroc-
ity II We indorse him with this record, VIC
deserve all the humiltations which We will sure
y suffer for it.
We arc, however, constantly reminded that
the pending election is q merely local Que. In
one sense this is true; but IN its larger and
broader sense it is nuI true. What answer does
the heart Of this great city make to that sug-
gestion! With how much patience would you
listen tonight to au orator, however eloquent
he might be, who would declaim to you exclu-