Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-07-16
THE ISSUES AT STAKE.

4 " A ESS
DELIVERED BEFORE THE BRATTLEBoRo GARFIELD
AND ARTHUR CLUB, SATURDAY, JULY 10TH
Nv Han. IL. n n,InnnInr

that way upon your patience. Why, then, do
stand before you tonight? Not because
can hope to do justice to my theme, for, as
you will learn too soon, am no orator capa-
BILE Of stirring your deepest emotions; but
make this feeble effort because 1 feel that
none are too humble to do their part for the
great cause which lies next to your hearts and
mine. Hear me, then, for that cause, much
as l may fall short Of its demands and your
expectations. 1t is the most important, the
most momentous, that can move the souls of
freemen, for it is the cause Of our country,
our homes and our posterity. 1t is the cause
of the great future which to-day seems TO rise
before us in unclouded splendor but which,
if we now fail to perform our duty, may
shortly set in disastrous night. A crisis is
upon us, and we may well nerve ourselves to
action when the solemn reflection is forced
upon us that on the issue of November hangs
the fate of this great and glorious Republic
Fellow citizens, the question presented to
you is, whether the men who lately attempted
to destroy our Union by force of arms, and
thanks to patriotic valor, failed in the attempt
shall now be placed in full possession of the
national government, with all its vast powers
and suffered to revel and domineer at Wash
lngton at the expense of their Victors. Be
hold their hands are still red with the blood
of your kindred, and they have never repent
ed of their great crime or changed their rebel
lious opinions as to tho right of secession and
of armed resistance TO the Federal authority
Smothering their feelings for the moment
they seek in every way they can to compass
this great conquest No obstacle, no outrage
weighs against their selfish purpose. To ac-
complish it they suppress free suffrage at
home, and yet brook no interference with free
violence and free fraud. Thus they produce
solid South, while counting against us the
abused and suppressed black population. To
hoodwink and deceive the North, they .nomi-
nate for President a general who fought for
the Union, enduring the humiliation for the
sake of seizing the government and making a
tool Of their candidate, who stands ready TO
do their bidding. Now, fellow citizens, the
question put to you is, Are you willing TO aid
in this plan of rebel capture of the national
government, or are you resolved to do all in
your power to prevent iii To reach Just
solution of this inquiry propose to consider
the reasons which lead me to conclude that all
the powers which God has given you should
be exerted to avert the disgraceful catastrophe
of Southern subjugation at the coming cleo
ton.
Do not tell me at the outset that the result
in Vermont is certain enough. National
shrines should above all other places be the
centres of enthusiasm, and send forth the
warmest fires of inspiration. As Jerusalem
is to the Jew, as Rome is to the Christian, as
Mecca is to the Moslem, 80 is Vermont TO the
Republican party. To carry Vermont by the
usual vote is one thing; but to sweep her,
from Massachusetts to Canada, by an over
whelming majority, is a far different thing,
not only in itself, but also in its effects. We
wish to insure this result in September, 30
that the hearts of hundreds of thousands of
INV Irnttar Dar i,,a atl
be made glad, and especially that our deeply
injured brethren in Maine may enter the con
test, few days after us, full Of confidence
and spirit. So you see we have every induce
ment to labor, first for the cause, next for our
own sakes, and finally for the sake of our
brethren abroad.
Fellow citizens, we are to do battle for in
stitutions, and not for candidates but it is
cheering to know that we are not only happy
in our principles, but equally fortunate in our
leaders. The Democrats, led by the solid
South, have dropped poor Mr. Tilden, with
his cipher kilograms, his unpaid taxes, his
statute of limitations, his naughty nephew,
his hucksters in electoral votes, and all his
other picturesque surroundings and, to prove
the sincerity of their abuse of soldiers and
the army, have taken up with military man
pure and simple-a military man in actual
service, who as yet clings fast to his commits
sion. Tilden is a statesman and profound
financial genius Hancock is q professional
soldier without the least experience in civil
affairs, He was, when half f-grown boy, sent
to West Point and educated as a soldier ut the
expense of the nation, and he has been moth
ing but a soldier ever since. Thus his life
has been very narrow one-a very one sided
life-and his experience outside of his tent
very limited indeed. He knows all about
l.. a i
all about tactics and maneuvering and strate
gy. But of civil affairs he knows just moth
ing at ALL because he has had no experience
at all. Not but that he can write, or at least
sigu, a buncombe order or letter, magnifying
the civil arm of a rebel State, and deprecat-
ing the use of the military arm to suppress
rebel outrages there upon Union men; but in
managing the civil affairs of the nation, either
domestic or foreign, he would be like a Doc
tor of Divinity in banking house. This
very inexperience in public affairs would
make him the easy dupe of the crafty south
ern politicians, and before long he would be
obeying their orders with truly military pre-
cision. Personally, there is no objection to
Gen. Hancock, except his political afinities.
He is conceded to be respectable and worthy
man in private life. But in this case he is
like the fgure-head of an angel on a slave
ship groaning within with the horrors of the
middle passage.
had the honor to pass q night at his head
quarters in Virginia during the war, and after
wards met him in society in New York. / am
therefore able to confirm the report that he is
a tine-looking man a man of noble presence
and courtly manners. / should not venture
to say this before these Republican ladies' if /
did not know they were not to be influenced
by masculine beauty-after q man approaches
sixty, and has grandchildren. If General
Hancock should be elected the leaders of the
late confederacy would control the govern
ment on the principle that a man may do
what he will with his own. The extra session
of Congress showed us the way it would be
done. The Democratic caucus would be the
responsible government. The South has
majority Of the Democratic caucus therefore
the South would govern through the caucus.
The South is controlled by few leaders, who
were the high priests of treason during the
rebellion therefore, in the last analysis, we
should be ruled by the chief confederates, in
cluding JEFF Davis. This mighty honor is
highly priced by our Northern Democrats,
who hasten, as usual, to kiss the hands of
their Southern lords. The old copperheads
who cheered Buchanan and his reasonable
cabinet to the echo, gloat over the prospect
of being taken into the confederacy without
having to fight for that great distinction and
they enjoy the idea of having for their nomi-
nal Chief Magistrate a Union General who
was selected by Andrew johnson to carry out
his infamous surrender policy at the South
a Union general who is the pet of Jere Black,
the copperhead attorney general of Buchanan
who could find no law to coeroe State.
But is professional general in any way
preferable to volunteer general? Is the
man who fights because he happens to be
professionally in the army more meritorious
than he who steps out of the walks of private
life, abandons the comforts of home, and goes
forth a volunteer into the field of battle If,
then, it be conceded that the volunteer in
time of war is the moral equal of the regular,
wherein is Gen. Hancock morally greater as
a soldier than Gen. Garfield? All, yes
know, you all know, that Hancock under
stands more about tactics, and man@uvres,
and strategy, and fuss and feathers, and all
that, than Gen. Garfield knows. He can de-