The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1879-03-06

the sentence which he Mr.. bahnlngJ
had quoted from his speech, and which
he declared was not true.
Mr.. Hayes characterized the attempt
ed amendment as note Of alarm ana
signal of distress from the Democratic
party, That party was in trouble, and
this House was called upon TO help 1t
out. II that law we're enforced, the
Democratic party knew that the fenl'
tentiaries would be filed with Democrat
iC voters. ..,.
Mr.. Davis of North Carolina criticised
the right of the elective franchise IN
Rhode Island and Massachusetts, In
the latter State no one was allowed TO
vote who could not read the Constitution,
II that were test in the Southern States
nine.tenths Of the Republicans in those
States would he excluded. la 1876, by
fraud, by perjury, by forgeries,. by the
improper use Of the army aud oil Feder,
al off ers, the voice of the peole had
been defeated. The pending amend
ment was a protest against fraud and
against the improper use of Federal OIL
GERS. Not gentleman on his side Of The
House approved of fraud in elections
while known perWers had been reward
ed in Louisiana by Republicans.
Mr.. Phillips opposed the amendment
III called attention tn the fact that few
years ago there had been several colored
Republicans in the House; now there
were but three next year there would
be none. Whittier was the country
drifting? The Democratic party, once
great historic party, was now reaction
airy party, endeavoring to drag this coun'
try back to the old States rights doctrine
This was q concerted party movement to
strike down the few safeguards which
the law had thrown around the ballot
box.
Mr.. Hewitt of New York said that the
opposition expressed by the gentlemen
on the other side showed how impossi-
BILE it was for them to understand the
motives which governed the Democratic
party in their desire and fixed determin-
alton to erase from the statute books ev
cry provision which infringed upon the
personal liberty of the Citiz n, All such
provisions had been placed upon the
statute books during or since th. close Of
the war. Once only had an attempt
been made to violate the principles npon
which Jefferson, Madison and Hamilton
had planted free government, and that
obnoxious law had been swept away
from the statute book. So the Demo
Gratis planted themselves on the old
stronghold that there was no safety in
centraliziug power; that the only secu
rity for liberty was in the people them
selves. If abuses occurred they could be
much more readily and efeCtually rem
edied by the people, than by a central.
lied power, When the gentleman rom
Maine, (Frye) q few days ago, alluded TO
corrupt judges in New York, he seems to
have overlooked the fact that Judges
McCann and Barnard had been driven
from the BENCH not by Federal power
but by the ignorant voice of the people
OF NV York. TIE gentleman from
Maine had also said that these laws must
be repealed in order to enable the Dem
oCrats to carry New York in the next
election. Did not that gentleman know
that the election of 1876 had been an
honest election in the State of New York,
and had not Governor Ti.den received
majority in that State Of over thirty
thousand, The Democrats had carried
that State with constantly increasing ma
iorities ever since those laws had been
aEIlgted, and would have continued to do
50 to the end of time but for the inter-
vention of Davenport, by which free cit
izens were prevented from voting
Davenport following an example which
mad been set him in New Orleans, had,
on the afidavit5 of his own party, issued
in one night warrants which had result
ed in the arrest of four thousand free cit.
izsns Of New York.
Here Mr. Hewitt's time expired, and
he asked leave to print the remainder Of
his remarks, but Mr. Butler objected,
saying that Davenport was a friend Of
his, and he did not want him abused.
Mr.. Hazlston said there had been three
propositions presented to the House by
the Democrats. The first one repealed
the test oath. He favored it because il
opened the jury box to the intelligence
of the South. The second was to make
the jury box of America a political jury
box by providing that jurors should be
Of different political parties. That prop.
osition was not and never would be &C
ceptable TO the American people The
third proposition was to destroy the
mieDiments of the ballot box. Who
asked for a repeal of these laws2 Not a
voice from the sentiment that had stood
by the government since 1865 asked for
it. Did the demand from Louisiana,
whose regular diet for the last ten years
has been fraud, intimidation and blood ?
Did it come from Mississippi, whose es-
cutcheon was j1st now blaCkened by the
murder Of Chisholm, of that boy, and Of
that young girl whose memory would
ou,last the memory of that Roman
mother whose name she bore2
Mr.. Whitthorne said that greater than
his love of section or of party was his
affection for a republican form of gov
ernment, and as this supervisor law in
terferes with and usurped the right of
popular sovereignty, he was in favor Of
its repeal.
Mr.. Davidson stated that the South did
not desire absolute control of the Gov
ernment, as had beeu stated by the gen.
tlemen on the other side, but it did de-
sire that the laws passed in the heat of
the late struggle should no longer pre-
vail, and that the laws used as political
machines should be so repealed.
Mr.. Dunnell argued against the amend
ment as tending to break down the only
safe. guards the Federal Government had |
throWn around the ballot-box.
Mr. Hale said that the House might |
as well understand exactly how this
matter stood. The gentleman from Ohio |
(SOnthard) in pressing this amendment
had thrown down to the Republican
side of the House the gauge of battle.
The gentleman from New York (Hewitt) |
had taken the position this morning that |
the Democratic party stood here to-day,
and would stand, in favor of sweeping |
from the statute books all that body of |
the law which he said interfsred with
the operation of the State Governments
ri L 4 r l..