The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-06-18
SECRETARY SHERMAN.
Splendid speech Of senator Garfield I'm
Presenting Els Name 20 tIie Chicago


Mr.. PREsiDENT-I have Witnessed the extraor-
binary scenes Of this convention with deep
soicitude. No emotion touches my heart more
quickly than sentiment in honor Of great and
noble character, but as / sat on these seats and
witnessed these demonstrations il seemed to me
you were human ocean in tempest. i have
seen the sen dashed into fury and tossed into
spray, and its grandeur moves the soul of the
dullest MN; but remember that 1t IL not the
pillows but the calm level Of the sea from which
all heights are measured. lApplausc.l When
the storm has passed and the hour of calm set
ties ON the ocean, when the sunlight bathes its
smooth surface, then the astronomer and sur
veyor takes tho level from which he measures
all terrestrial heights and depths. Applause
Gentlemen OF the convention, your present
temper may not mark the healthful pulse Of our
people. When your enthusiasm has passed,
when the emotions of this hour have subsidized,
we shall find the calm level Of public
opinion below tho storm, from which the
thoughts Of u mighty people are to be measured
and by which their final action will DC deter
mined. IApplausc.l Not here III this brilliant
circle where fifteen thousand men and women
are assembled il the destiny of the Republican
party To he docreed. l"That il SOL Not
hundred and fifty-six delegates waiting 10 cast
their lots into the urn and determine the choice
of the republic appausel but by four
million Republican iircsidcs, where the Thought
full voters, with wives and children about them.
with the calm thoughts inspired by love Of
home and country, with the history of the past,
the hopes of the future, and knowledge Of the
great men who have adorned and blessed our
nation in days gone by-there God prepares the
verdict that shall determine the wisdom Of orr
work tonight. IApplause.l Not in Chicago in
the heat Of June, but in the sober quiet, that
come to them between now and November, in
the silence of deliberate Judgment, will this
lpSti hn (,rin nf
Let liz aid them tonight. tGreat applausc.l
But now, gentlemen of the convention, what
do VIC want? A voice: "Gariield," followed
by applausc.I Bear with me a moment. Hear
me for this cause, and for a moment "bo silent
that you may hear" lCries of Good. }
a triple chain of bondage. Long familiarity
with traffic in the bodies and souls of men had
paralyZcd the conscicnces of a majority of our
people. The baleful doctrine of state sover-
eighty had shacklod and weakened the noblcst
and most beneicent powers Of the national
government, and the grasping power Of slavery
was scizing upon the virgin territories Of the
west and dragging them into the den of eternal
bondage.
At that crisis the Republican party was born.
1t drew Its first inspiration from that fire of Gb.
erty which God has lighted III every human
heart, and which oil the powers of ignorance
and tyranny can never wholly extinguiSh. Ar-
pause.l The Republican party came to deliver
and save the republic. II entered the arena
where the beloaguered and assailod territ cries
were struggling for freedom, and drew
around them that sacred circle of liberty
which the demon Of slavery has never dared
to cross. II made them free forever. Loud APP
plause and cries Of 'Good."l Strengthened by
its victory on the frontier, the young rprty,
under the leadership of that great man who on
this spot twenty years ago was made its leader,
entered the national capitol and assumed the
high duties of government. tApplause.l The
light which shOne from its banner dispelled the
darkness in which slavery had enshrouded the
capitol, and its heat melted the shacklcS Of
every slave, and consumed in the fire of liberty
every slave-pen within the shadow of the cap
itOl.
Our great national industries, by an unpro-
tected policy, were themselve8 FRUSTRATED, and
the streams of revenue flowed in such feeble
currents that the treasury itself was well-nigh
empty. The money of the people was the
wrctched notes of two thousand uncontrolled
and irresponsible state banking corporations
which were filling the country with circula
ton that poisoned rather than sustained the
life of business. Loud applause.l The Re
publican party changed all this. 1t abolished
the Babel Of confusion and gave the country
currency as national AZ its flag, and basedit upon
the sacred faith of the people. IApplause.]
1t threw Its protecting arm around our great
i I
filed with the spirit of true nationality all the
great functions Of the government. 1t confront
ed a rebellion of uncXamplCd magnitude, with
slavery behind it, and under God fought the
final battle Of liberty until the victory was won.
Applause:
the calm words of peace spoken by the conquer
ing nation, nd saying to the conquered foe
that lay PROSTATE at its feet: "This is our only
revenge-that you join uS in hitting into the Sc
rene armament Of the constitution, to shine like
stars forever and ever, the immortal principles
of truth and justice that all men white or black
shall be free and stand equal before the law"
[Iond applause.] Then came the questions of
reconstruction, the public debt, and the public
faith. In the settlement of these questions the
Republican party has completed its twenty-five
years of glorious existence, and it has sent
us here to prepare it for another lustIum
of duty and Of victory. How shall we
friends, by assailing our Republican brethren.
[Great applause, and cries of "GOod."l God
forbid that should say he word, cast shadow
upon any name on the roll Of our heroes. The
coming light is our ThermopylG. We are stand
ing upon a narrow isthmus. If our Spartan
hosts are united, we can Withstand all the Greeks
that the Ncrxcs of Democracy can bring against
us. Let Ills hold our ground this one year, for
"the stars in their course" fight for us. In the
future, the census to be taken this year will
bring reinforcements and continued power.
lApplause.l But in order to win this victory
of every Grant Republican, and every anti
Grant Republican in America-lgieat ap-
plausel-Of every Blaine man and every
anti-Blaine man. The vote of every follower Of
every candidate is needed TO make our success
certain. IApplausc.l Therefore, | say, gentle
men, and brethren, we are here to take calm
counsel together and inquire what We shall do.
IA voice" Nominate Garfield" Great ap-
pla,Ise.l We want man whose life and opin-
ions embody all the achievements of which ]
have spoken. We want man who standing on
mountain height, sees all the achievements of
our past history, and carries in his
heart the memory of all its glorious
pares to met the dangers to come. We want
one who will act in no spirit of unkindncss
to those who lately met in battle.
The Republican party offers to our brethren of
the south the olive branch of peace and invites
them to renewed brotherhood Oh this supreme
condition: That it shall be admitted, forever
and forevermorc, that in the war for the union
We were right and they were wrong. Cheers.
On that supreme condition we meet them as
brethren, and on no other We ask them to share
with us the blessings and honor of this great
republic. IApplause.l
to present q name for your cOnsldcratlon-the
name Of man who was the comrade, and asso-
iate and friend of nearly all these noble dead,
whose faces look down OH from these walls
| Refcrring to portraits of Giddings, Lincoln,
Sumner, Wade and Chandler, and other emf
ncnt Americans, hanging i'll the hall. nan
who began his career of public service twenty
five years ago; whose first duty was coura &C.
ously done in the days of peril Oh the plains OF
Kansas, when the first red drops of that bloody
shower began to fall, which finally swelled into
the delugc of war. lChcers.l He bravely stood
by young Kansas then. and returned to his scat
in the national Legislature; through all the sub
sequent wears bis pathway has been marked by
labors performed in every department of legis-
lation.
You ask for his monuments. point you to
twenty-five years of national statutes. fCheers.
Not one great, bcneiiccnt statute has been
placed on our statute books without his intcli-
gent and powerful aid. Cheers.l lie aided
these men to formulate the laws that raised our
great armies and navies, and carried Us through
the war. Hit hand was seen III the workman
ship of those statutes that restored aud brought
back "the unity and married calm of states"
His hand was in all that great legislation that
created the war currency, but in still greater
work that redeemed the promises OF the gov
ernment and made the currency equal
to gold. And when at last he passed from the
he displayed TINT experience, intelligence, finn
ness, and poise of character which has carried
us through a stormy period of three years, with
one-half the public press crying, "Crucliy
him !" and hostile congress seeking to prevent
success. In oil this he remains unmoyed, until
victory crowned him. Applause. The great
fiscal affairs of the nation, and the great bust
ness interests of the country he has guarded
and preserved while executing. the law OF