National Republican., 1880-09-09
GEHERAL DEvENS IN INDIAYA.
A rinc spcccl, at the state Capital.

A Fiue Speech ut the state Capital.
Attorney-Reneral Devens has been doing a
good work in Indiana. He spoke on Friday
last at Muncic. on Saturday at indianapolis,
and will speak at other points during this
week. His address at Indianapolis was r
mastery political address, covering almost
every point of the canvass. Mr.. Dcvcns spoke
without notes, and those who heard him de-
| clare 1t TO have boon, in elegance of dictiOu
and closcncss of argument tue fac ST address
heard in the campaign. Wo havo room only
for one extract:
1--WE have been told during the greater
| portion Of the presidential term now
drawing TO close that tho great issue before
tho people was to be what the demo.
cratic party was pleased to term
the fraud by which tile president of the United
States holds his seat. 1t is great charge. But
| somehow or othcr this great charge has dropped
out very largely, aud the gentleman who was
last In proclaiming that fraul should never be
| condoned, has disappeared from the surface Of
things, passing into an obscurity from which
he will never emerge. [Applause.l 1t is no
| answer on our part, / agree, to say that the
charge of attempted fraud and bribery has been
brought home to him by the publication of
what Is known as the cipher dispatches, by
proof as absolute as that of mathematics. We
| do not claim that as All offset; we stand upon
/
its power rightfully to-day, by the consent of
the people of the United States expressed
| through the most solemn forms. [Appausc ]
"What made that election ever IN doubt?
| Why was the president of the United States
not elected By an overwhelming majority 2
| What were the frauds that preceded that cleo
| tlou? What were the crueltes that made our
blood boil rs we read of them, practiccd in
| Louisiana, South Carolina, Florida and other
states in the south2 Yet in spite of all that
| wrong aud bloodshed, the dispatch that came
| from Zach Chandler the day after the election
was true: Rutherford b. Hayes has 1S5 votes
aud is elected [Appause.] As this was the
real state Of the case, the agents of bribery
| aud colrnpton were set to work first in Lou.
isisna, TO prevent tho board which was u-
| trusted with the duty of counting the votes,
| and of re- cje0bing those parishes in which there
| was fraud aud intimidation, from doing it,
! and induce them 10 mako a return which
| should be accepted as truc. In South Caro-.
| lima it was clear that, upon the very face OF
the returns, Mr. Hayes had majority of the
votes aud there every agency was brought
state, and the authorities of that state, to do
| precisely the reverse, and to say that the re.
corded vote was not tho true vote.
| at would consume too much time for me Ia
| pursue the subject Of Oregon and Florida, bu,
in spite of all this, it still stood when
| congress came tOReIOGr 10 COUNT ln0 vote, tnal
| II. b. Hayes had 1856 votes. Applause]
"What was to be doue then2 The consttu
| ton prescribed that the vote shall be opened
| by the vCe-presidcnt in tho presence of the
| senate and house, and they shall be counted
Aud tho argument WAS that by virtue of THEN
| right to count il was competent for congress
itself to go behind the authorities of the states
| TO show that the votes which thoy returned
ought not properly to have been returned, tC
refuse to accept those votes, and then to de-
clare something other and different from that
which those states had declared. On the other
| hand, many persons held that it was the duty
of the vico.president himself to count the votes
| aud that there was no other duty incumbent
| upon the senate and house except that of being
present and seeing that they were fairly
counted. 1t was a subject Of great aud tron
feeling. 1t was known that the senate and
| house differed in politics, aud q measure was
| devised by which an electoral commission
| should bo appointed, comprised OF certain
members of the senate aud house, with GER
tain judges of the supreme court, who them
| selves should examine these votes and return
them to tho house with their decision BuI
how2 Tbe question wNs Has congress
authority to go behind the returnsp For II
| was well known that the party or ma orit y
| giving voice behind the returns would rgjec
all that was opposed to it. On that point
there were grave differences of opinion aud
| To lINt COMMISSION WIS IblSIFSN nOb Olly tHS
authority TO examine tho count, but tho
authority to determine whether congress had
that power. Ii it had the commission was
to prove It; II it had not the com
mission WAS not to prove it. There was
no differences Of opinion, IL the debates
are examined upon that subject, be-
tween lawyers so distinguished as Senator
Edmunds and Senator Thurman. All agreed
that all be referred TO the commission. The
commission decided that the votes Of the
states aud returns by the states must be ac-
cepted, and 10 that decision the senate aud
house assented, and Mr.. Hayes was declared
elected president OF the United States LAp'
plausc,l Every form was gone through in his
case that was required by the constitution
and would it hurt his title that II body tenn
porary in its character, created for an emer'
gency not known, / agree, to the constitution
also said the same thng2 That is the whole
| fraud that is charged, and the charge Of fraud
was base aud basoless, aud the wretched au-
thor Of that charge, who pursued it during
three or four years, found when the demo
cratic party came together to nominate q can
ddate for the presidency. that Instead of theil
echoing the cry which they had endeavortd d
to do through three years, had become fainter
and fainter until at last they called him The
"Old Man Of the Ssa" [laughterl and bur
den that no party could stand and they lait
him aside and nominated another candidate