The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1880-10-14
HORATIO SEYMOUR.
The Sage of Utica Warns the Coun-
try Against What the Re
publicans Call Nation
alism.
A Dissection of Gen. Garfleld's The0-
ries as to This Election and
of His Plans If He
Should Win.


Extracts from Speech Delivered at Utica, N VI
FELLow-CITIzENs !" 1t must not be forgot
ten that this Governments is no longer the simple
machinery it was in the early days of the re-
public. The bucollc age of America is over.
The interests the Government has to deal with
are no longer those of a small number of agri-
cultural communities with here and there
commercial town. They are the interests of
nearly so, 100000 of people spread over an i'm
mense surface, with occupations, pursuits and
industries of endless variety and great magni-
tude; large cities with elements of population
scarcely known here in the early days, and all
the producing aspirations and interests SO
pushing, powerful and complicated in their
nature and SO constantly appealing to the
Government, rightfully or wrongfully, that the
requirements of craftsmanship demanded in
this age are far different from those which suf-
feed century ago."
these are not my words. If had uttere
them it would be felt that 1 was making
harsh charge against the administration. They
are statements put forth by one of its officials,
who speaks from his experience as member of
the Cabinet, and as one who formerly had a
seat in the Senate. This declaration made by
Mr.. Schurz is official in character 1t will be SO
viewed in other countries and will rejoice the
enemies of our Government while 1t mortifies
the American people.
Until within the past twenty years the Execu-
tive the Legislative, the judicial Departments
gave honest construction to the constitution
They did not seek to usurp power by strained
definition. They sought to carry out its spirit
They did not summon crowds of men with
schemes, who were pushing, rightfully or
wrongfully, to get at the public treasury, by
calling thus a nation and teaching the false doc
trine that we should follow the usages of other
and not the constitutional law of our own Gov
ernment.
The leaders in the canvass on that side are
those that hold places as Senators or as Cabinet
Ministers or important positions under the pres
ent administration. All of them in fact and in
some form ask that their powers should be in
creased by taking from the people some of their
home rights. They say in effect, give us your
rights of making laws for yourselves, we can
take care of your interests better than YOU can
Every demand for jurisdiction for the General
Government is a demand for the surrender of
rights by the people in their towns, their
counties or their States. Mr.. Garfield openly
expresses his satisfaction and his desire if he is
elected President that the Government should
have more power than it had when Washington
and Adams and Jefferson and Jackson filed the
Executive chair. He says there has been gain
and that there will be more by force of gravita-
ton not by the popular will, nor by changes in
the constitution in aregIlarway, but that author.
ity, patronage and power will add to themselves
will by their own weight increase and grow until
they are up to the full measure of his DESIRE He
rejoices to see this done in a way against which
George Washington warned you in his fareH ell
address, which was submitted to Alexander
Hamilton and other statesmen before he gave
it to the American people.
Another member of the Cabinet Mr.. Sher-
man, Secretary of the Treasury, takes differ
ent view of the state of affairs from that given
by his colleague. He dwells upon the business
prosperity of our country. Overlooking the
industry of our people, the favorable seasons
that have rewarded their labors with ample
harvests, the demands for our products from
| other countries, he claims for the administra-
ton the gratitude of our people for all their
| blessings l have no unkindly feelings for
Mr.. Sherman. regret that he does himself
wrong when he is ungrateful to God and unjust
to the laborer of the land. It was not the
craftsmanship of the Cabinet, but the states
manship of the plow, blessed by fruitful sea-
son, that gives us our growing wealth. Not
! the skill of the Treasury Department, but of
! mechanics and manufacturers, that make the
| springs of our prosperity; not the talk in Con-
| gress, but the toll of labor in all its varied
! fields. In another respect he does himself a
wrong. He does not warn our people of the
danger whichthe change of seasons may make.
| He does not, as he should, admonish them that
| at this time, when money is abundant, men
! should throw off the burdens of debt, and ex-
tricate themselves from positions of peril, if
times should change. He teaches the false and
niischievous doctrine that Government policies,
| and not honest toll and frugal care, that the
schemes of the brain, not the sweat of the
| brow. give competence to men. Much has been
said about the absurdity of fiat money. How
much more absurd are Mr.. Sherman's teach
! ings of fat prosperity. In this direction Mr..
Sherman outstrips Denis Kearney.
1 The points most conspicuous in the speeches
and journals of the Republican party are, first,
! that this is nation. and next this election is a
| contest between the Northern and Southern
States, in which victory will be great gain
/ to the former party. We charge that the de-
nunciations of the South are used to mask their
designs to get jurisdiction over all the Union
and mainly over the interests and people of the
North, as they are the most important and
varied; that the term "nation" " is selected be-
cause it is word of obscure and indefinite
meaning, and if it is substituted for the legal
and proper title of Government it will enable
chem to make changes in its character hurtful
to the rights of the people and disastrousto the
prosperity of their business and industrial pur-
! suits; that the mischief it will create will not
be for the remote future but they are pressing
upon us now and will be felt in their full force
from this time on, unless they are averted by
the results of the pending elections.
It'll q marked and conspicuous fact in the
political discussions of the past four years that
the Republican leaders have sought to bring
into use the words "nation' and +" national
ism when speaking of our country. These
significance as terms generally applied to diff
ferent divisions of the human race into COM
munities governed by some forms of law. We
always find that the men who use the word
and many like Senator Blaine love to call it a
sovereign natlon-are IN favor of different
construction of the constitution than has here
tofore prevailed. Mr.. Garfield openly states
this when he says that the views held by Mr..
Hamilton are growing in strength, and he re-
joices that our Government is gravitating to
more power. We find, too that they favor the
plans of the same distinguished statesmen OF
gaining jurisdiction by constructions put upon
the words of the constitution. As they dc
not like at this moment to develop all theil
plans, which would excite alarm, particularly
at the North, to mask their purposes and tc
divert attention by exciting passions and preju
dices, they use the word as far as they can il
connection with sectional controversies so that
it may be felt they only have in view the
strength of the Union. It is this idea which
gives their phrases a measure of favor with the
Republican party. They also take great paini
in their discussions to carry the idea that ma
tonality means something favorable to the in
terests of the North. We charge that the pur
poses of the Republican leaders in confic
with the constitution; that they endanger th,
peace, the order and the safety of the Union
They draw to the national Capitol hordes Of
men who have selfish and corrupt objects, whC
tempt officials to violate duty from motives O.
ambition and greed for gold. They impair th,
interests and prosperity of different sections o.
our Union by laws framed by men ignorant O
the subject upon which they act and by legisla
ton not only in conflict with the letter of tn
constitution, but with its spirit and the geniu
of all our political institutions, both local anC
general.
1t must not be thought that the change
which men seek to make in the character o
our Government by the use of the words na
ton and nationalism, and by the construction
which they mean to put upon them, relate onl
to the theory of politics !; that their influence
: are too uncertain and remote to be of immedi
ate concern. They affect us now They no