Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-10-15

VIII admit that thoy have been wrJnR for
| viii say. beating tbe meantime upo1 ttg M.
/ low breast, " have sinned. and Wish nm OPP
| potunly 20 show that ! have sincerely ro-
| then.
| Now tho next question arises which section
/ or this country had rather you trusH The
/ party to-day without the Solid South7 The
| Solid South Is the Democratic party. The
| Democrats Of the North arc tools OF the Solid
| South There are some things IN this country
/ that we wish To preserve. or course, when n
man has got nothing he need not be very par
! make his will he need not make any fuss
about WIN shall be administrators, We
think that there are things. TO- be pre-
/ served In the American Republlo. Now what
must we preservel First OF all, you believe
| that in Republic there should be absolute
| freedom of opinion; you believe that In a Re
! public there should be absolute free speech.
/ or what use can free speech be II II Is after
! ward TO be defeated by force or fraud2 OF
/ what use IA Il TO allow the attorney for the de-
| tendant to argue before the jury II, upon the
/ jury bringing a verdict Of "Not guilty" the
defendant Is TO be hanged by the mobl We
! believe, then, In free speech. Speech Is the
wing of thought, and If you will not allow free
speech you are not a civilized people. In
what part of this country has the sacred right
] OF free speech been preserved; in the South or
/ the Northy II you want free speech preserved
/ IN this country the NOrtn must do It We
must do II, and we must not put in power the
! people who do not believe in that sacred right.
! The South never favored free speech, never.
] WhyI They had there an institution called
! slavery. II they allowed free speech they
| knew that slavery could not endure, and the
| consequence was they closed the lips of rea-
son. In other words for every chain they put
! upon the limbs Of slaves they put CORE
spending munacle upon the brain OF the white
| man. In order 20 enslayc others they en-
| slaved themselves Man cannot enslaye
another without trampling upon his own man
/ hood.
We not only wish to preserve free speech,
but we wish also To preserve the product Of
free annnph flor fhOtruhF nffnr
everybody has said his say, and IN hereupOn the
] people of the United states deposit their will
| in the ballOt-hON, we want to feel absolutely
certain that every vote that goes in there Is
| honest, we want to feel certain that every vote
that comes out from there ard is counted is a
legal vote. That Is what we want. of what
use Is free speech II Fraud is to hold in its
slimy hand the bullot-boN of this Natioug
There is in this country one supreme power,
and that i8 the legally-eNprcsscd will Of mn-
jority Of our people; and any man who viii
poison the source of authority is traitor to
the great principle upon which this Govern
ment is founded Every American citizen
should say, " am willing to abide by the de-
cisiOn Of the majority" and when we say that
then we will have a Republic that will endure
for countless years. The people are begin
ming to lose confidence in elections; the peO-
pie are beginning to say, Fraud controls,
/ rasCulity elects" and the moment that sus-
picion Is well lodged in the minds Of the peo-
pie then they will have no respect for the laws
| made by men VINO are elected by fraud. They
will have no respect for the decision of Judges
| when they believe the Judges were elected by
| fraud; and then comes the dissolution of our
form of government; and then comes the de
| struction OF human liberty for hundred
years.
The Republican party has thrown every safe
guard around the ballot-boN in every State in
this Union where any safeguard has been
thrown. That party has always been in favor
OF registration; the Democratic party has al
ways opposed it. That paity-the Republican
party-has done all it possibly could do to Sc
cure an honest expression of the great will OF
the people; Every man who is in favor Of an
| honest ballot-boX ought to vote the Republican
ticket; every man in favor of free speech
ought to vote the Republican ticket. Free
speech is the brain OF this Republic, and an
honest vote is its life-bloOd. There are two
reasons, then, why am Republicans:
First-I believe in free speech.
SGcOnd-I want an honest vote.
Can you trust the people of the South with
the ballot-box? Are you willing to let Ala
| bamn keep that sacred Recommendations,
that cast in 1875 about 100000 votes for Tilden,
but only little while ago cast "a Democratic
majority of SCOOP Alabama to-day is Re
publican State if every man was allowed free
| ly TO vote his sentiments.
olna is II Republican State; Florida is a Re
publican State. How are they kept in the
| Democratic rRnksI They are kept there by
the shotgun, they are kept there by the tissue
ballot, they are kept by force and fraud. That
is the way the Southern States are kept solidly
Democratic. All, but they say to me, Are
you willing that the black people should con-
| troll the SOuthl' If the black people are in
favor of liberty, and the white people are OPP
posed, then 1 want the black people to control.
/ If the black people believe that this is a Ma.
tion, and the white people there say II is u sim
pie Confederacy, then want the black people
to control the South. If the black people are
in favor of freedom of speech, If the black
people are in favor Of guarding the ballOt-bOx
! from fraud and IL the white people are on the
| the black people rule that country. think
more of a black friend than | do of white
enemy. ] think more of a black man who
loves liberty than do of white man who
| hates it. / think more of black man who
upheld our flag in war than of any white man
who has triedto tear 1t down. think more OF
the man trampled down than do of the tram
pier. think more of the man stolen from
than l do of the thief
We have not only got to have free speech,
not only got TO have an honest ballot, but we
| have got to raise n revenue in this country.
| We owe to-day one billion nine million dol
! lars-a Democratic debt. Democracy Is the
greatest luxury we ever afforded. We have
! got to pay that debt. WhyY If we don't we
will be eternally disgraced in the eyes of the
| civilized world. When our money is only
worth eighty cents on the dollar every Amer
lean falls twenty per cent. below par. When
our money is at par, we are. Whenwe cannot
pay our bonds we feel that we are a dshonored
people, but when our bonds bearing only fouJ
per cent. and are worth llO in the market, we
feel proud; and when we 20 TO another coun
try and see one of those bonds, that bond Ger
titles that an American is an honest man
Who are you going to trust to pay this debit
Whom are you willing to trust with the honor
Of the United StatesY The men who defended
her flag will defend her honor. The men who
tried TO tear her flag down will trample Amer
iCas honor beneath their feet. Who is gOingtC
pay2 The Democrats sOlemnly swore that we
never would pay. In the year Of grace 1873
standing in the center OF truth and knowledge
the Democratic party in every solitary State
with the exception Of two or three of the New
England States in which 1t held COnven
tidn, solemnly resolved that the United
States could. not resume specie-payments
Well we did. They resolved that the wal
was a failure, and Immediately thereafter
we succeeded, and the old flag was carried in
gFIn ~ q n
They have never made a prophecy that wa:
fulfilled. Their prophecies and their prom
ises are exactly alike. A greenback to-day 4;
rs good as gold. Who made it so? The Demo
Gratis in their conventions sOlemnly resolved
that il would never be good. Well, they help
ed a little, l have no doubt, because every
body knew that what they resolved would not
be true. All you have TO do is to copper a
Democratic resolution; Now, in order TO pay
you trust to collect, the North or South, the
Republican or the Democratic phrtyy The
Democratic party has been fasting for twenty
years. IL has suffered all the the ngonies OF
official famine. The Democratic party to-day
is a vast aggregate official appetite. In four
years, with the lnternal-ReYenue Department
we have collected of internal tax, $3.50 ,00C
at cost of about three per cent During
four years we have captured, destroyed, and
libeled ASA Illicit distilleries in Southern
States. We have captured and indicted 7,05i
Democrats in Southern States, charged with
defraudlng the revenue of the country. The
Southern people, resisting the Collectors OF
Federal tax in the last four years, have shot
and killed twenty-five revenue officials, and
have wounded ffty-ive; and now In the South
ern States-that Is, in many of them-every
Revenue Collector Is provided by the Internal
Revenue Department with "A breech-lOading
rifle and pair of Tevolvers. Are they the
gentlemen to collect our revenues2 Win you
depend upon them 10 pay the interest on
Sl,410,00l000 and the current expenses
of this Government? 1t won't do. heard d
a story of couple Of Methodist ministers who
had been holding camp-meeting, and after
they had preached a week one said TO the