Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1880-07-08

| power ana great power ne mas Deen ~
tary governor over states of the union, dpr
large portions of his fellow countrymen, wfae
his will could have been made their III,
where at his pleasure the liberty OF every mn
stood and what was his course? what Ns
his course alone OF the military governorste
have seen in this country for the last fiftfn
years? when he was asked in Louisianapr
Texas to arrest men he asked, "where is pc
judicial process2" When he was asked to ty
men by military commission heponted to be
court house with its Judge and its jury b.
when he was asked to coniine men, to tie
from them their property or their liberty.he
asked,n where is the law for this I" Who DO
among the military governors in this counE,
and there have been among then soldiers d.
tinguished in the field, perhaps hs
bold aud courageous as he, and tht
is saying great deal but name me be
man that has refused to exercise wit i'm
the past fifteen years, arbitrary power wtn
he had it in his hands. You cannot name de.
| do not believe, with my teachings, / cold
exercise or wish to exercise arbitrary poWr,
but never was tried. l have seen men, a.
telligent men, personally upright nll,
distinguished men aH statesml,
educated wholly in the paths of oil
life in the Republican party; have stn
them advocates for the most arbitrary id
monstrous exercise of power that possibly IN
Db tDUCtlNcu. Dut MHcu llli ~ man W
has been tried, who has had this chate
brought to his lips that he may drink his flbf
the control over his fellow creatures that's
so dear to the human heart and when l hae
seen him put ii aside and say 81 am a mi
tary man. an American soldier, but / hold iy
citizenship higher than my militay
power and the law that controls ie
il the constitution that l sw{e
to support" would ask what higher tribto
! ~, M, and worth pf n man DIN
could ask. can remember standing in 10
Senate and hearing there of states overthrow;
yes, within four years past l have seen q Ia
islature of the State OF South Carolina orgi-
lied at the will of corporal, without any quail.
In Louisiana too, what hayeyou SEEM do pt
propose to go over these scenes which trpt
are past and gone forever, for recognises
well az any man the necessary consequences
of the gigantic conflict in which the two T.
tions of the country have been involved yu
cannot 80 stir this ocean of human feelig
without having the waves last long after be
storms have passed away, | do not proI@e
to cite the Irregularities OF these years of H.
construction and military power now to b.
cusB them, but l cite them to show you hw
amidst this carnival of tyranny, this every by
llsirpation. the character, the soul of this ts-
tiuguished man shone out with peculiar Ill
liancy. 1t IL because he has been tested it
is because he has shown you these great ls-
SONS of self-control that il worthy of bmg
your Chief Magistrate.
Why was it the people of the Ameriln
colonies revolted against the rule of Klg
George the Third? Because they said Pf
him, King George, that he had attempld
to make the civil subordinate to the milit,y
power. And the man or the party wp
attempts to do that which King George ws
not allowed 10 do is surely not, i'll this day
grace, fitted to be q ruler over the America
people. But the men in whose breast glot
the same spark that was kindled at Buzz B,
Hill, that lighted the young nation to victoi
at Yorktown and that led 1t to fight unsucces
4, fully at Brandywine and to mark this count
with blood IN Georgia and Long Island u.
man to-day echoes the same spirit that mao
our people free i'll 1776 and which WI
consecratc and consolidate that freedom
1850.
Do you not remember, because you mu
compare him, remember that his powers we
as ample. that he had the same array, orgai
ization, administration, or whatever "
choose to call it, of power that other genera
had, compare him if you please with tI
General III New Orleans who bcsought Il
President of the United States only five yea
ago to issue " proclamation of outlaw
against the citizens of five states for th
were embraced within what was known AZ
military department" to proclaim thd
white men of Louisiana, of Alabama, of Nit
issippi of Texas and of Georgia, to proclai
them outlaws and "loave the rest to him
Suchlwas the dispatch, | shame TO say it, OF
Major-General, nay, u Lieutenant General
the United States Army i'll respect to Ame
can citizens. And from the Cabinet at Was
ington back came the response that 1--WE all
us heartily approve your action" Such "
the answer General Sheridan received fro
Grant and Bellinap. These names have pass
, into history, that of the last with kissing ~
, reproach because Belknap, the Secretary
, War, who penned that dispatch, was soon d
covered to be u base rogue as treacherous
the money of the American people M he W
to the principles of liberty.
, My friends. there was n principle at stal
/ there is a principle to-day, at this hour. 1t
, the great impulses underlying the two gre
! parties of this country. During such
i struggle AZ the government of the Unit
|, | States was concerned i'll from 1861 to Ia
! there was little law, and there could be in I
! states that had attempted to secede from I
4 Union, no law but that of force, but
: difficulty has been that the power obtained
/ force was sought to be retained by force d
a by force il is yet sought to retain it. III
made the attempt at Chicago to renominati
I man who typified nothing but brute force u
: arbitrary power i'll this country They fail
!, because there We're machines of other kr
: there, governed by great clashing interef
A Those kings of the lobby, the railway mi
= ayers, the great corporations, the subsidif
a were all there, and thus between their qii
/ rels they dropped upon comparatlv
: uucOnspicuOlls delegate in the same conY
i ton.
n have been face to face with them and v
4 closely ,as one of your representatives, ,engat
in the affairs of the nation for the past
# years. | do not impeach the patriotism
Al 4, Ntsl,sN
n that the safety of the country il best ropu
g in the Republican party, but wish them /,
N | wish you to SEC precisely and inevitii
ii | where the continuance of that party Ill POT
# in its present rule will necessarily carry
I by force the war was ended and when
ended craftsmanship should have takenl
10 place. But, instead of statesmanship,
love of power was there. 1t Ind been eng
a dered III them and, unlike Washington I
! Hancock, they were unwilling to give il
a, and 80 we have seen ever since all the
~ along struggle between the natural gel
, osty and kindness of heart OF Amcri
i, people, their real love Of the Union, their |
M Of each other, the disposition to forget ,
ID forgive the quarrels that led TO the war
m ~. the war itself, we have seen the strug
40 40 between this disposition Oh the one side
~ !, the desire of the Republican party to M
r.. tain itself i'll power by any means on
al other
~" ~ See how they have centralized power iill
~. hands of the Federal government bcca
~ they controlled it. Why was it We ARA
~ citizens of Delaware and of the United Ste
.d why was it that after the experience illl
"a state of II hundred years we could no
4 trusted to conduct our own elections? lft
IL, put men in the Federal jury box OF in ther
10 box at the State court house are they nufl
w same citizens? What can it be then that
~ make man better judge because he VI
-, the title of Il Federal Office? l only mer'
~ this to show you one of the means by NAt
i, this party has sought to retain itself in Pee
~ But back of that always there was showtl
N, hand of military power, TO enforce, ii lrt
.rv sary and advance Republican success.
lts Now, my friends, in 1876 we came tot
~, polls, and very nearly 800, 900 votes mOree
nj east for the Democratic nominees thaI5e
DC cast for the Republican. There was notI
of popular majority at the polls, but thcrw
,ll- n majority of some 30 votes i'll the il
Ills toral college, Now about that, whaw
ng done2 The Cabinet at Washington, to
nj trolled by the military spirit of a nierelyli
er; tary man, IL man who never laid down Nv
lm willingly, who never put power awayrc
rs him when he could exercise it, sent trots
his the United States under the suggestion
yer Secretary of the Interior, who was also IA
cat man OF the Republican National Commit
(thc late Mr. Chandler, of Michigan al
the had his willing aid i'll Mr.. Cameron, of er
ted sylvania, his Secretary of War, and atth
iyil bidding thearmed forces of the United Slt
as without any protest upon the part of allqn
of in charge Of them; without any protesfr'
no. any quarter among the officers commaIir
[ but with all the ready alacrity of Cite
has | Sherman, with the complete concurreae
iar- the officers in the Southern States, these
ch troops to Columbia in South Carolina, tT
i. lahassee in Florida, and to New Orleas
nee Louisiana, and for what purpose? Up
ter tect three boards of canyassing dc
to in deliberate perversion Of the ~
,,nn | of a rnn1ilnr elactinn Ii WAS done nj