The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1880-09-03
FROM COL. INGERSoLLs GLOUCESTER
SPEECH


anv't lg has to be defended. Ever. thing that
is good has to be taken care OF. Eyerytl ng
that is bad will take care of ITSELF Applause.
There is the same ference between virtue
and vice. between Ii 18th and falsebood, as there
is between gre u and wheat. We have to pillow
the land, we have to SOW the seed, and we have
with great labor and infinite patience, to
guard the crop against anything that might
| injure, while weeds and dog fennel, sown by
chance and cared for by accident, will grow on
the common highway. And exa tly so 1t is
with everyth 1g Of any account in the world.
The battle is never over; the battle for the
right is never won, fight as long as you may !;
and the argument will not be finished After
four years OF war in the United States the
questions that we endeavored to settle by the
sword are as open, as unsettled, az they we're
in 1859. These questions must be settled not
only by the bayonet, but by argument. There
is no argument in war, no logic in the sword.
All that war settles is who is the stronger OF
the contestants. War makes them stop and
listen. War gives the successful parry the
floor in order to present. his argument, and the
result is to be argued, not fought out. So to-
day we are argueng on this side. in the de-
Tense Of which millions OF men risked their
lives and the question is just as open and rn-
settled to night as it was then. We have got
country which is, in my opinion, the best
country in this world. hold all forms Of gov
eminent in sublime contempt except the re
publican form Of government. Applause.
I utterly detest every system OF government
that is not founded on the legally expressed
Will of sjority of the people. Applause.
l look upon kings and princes and noblemen as
men in the livery OF larceny, wearing the in
sigma of robbery. l am proud am an Ameri-
can and that / live in civilized country
When l speak OF free country confine my
self to the northern and western states OF this
great republic. Applause. This is in my
opinion the best government in the world,
simply because it gives the best chance to every
human being. 1t is the best county, simply
becauselthere is more liberty here than any
where else simply because life, liberty and
property are better secrred in the northern
aud western states OF this union than in any
other portion OF the habitsble globe.
/ love this country because it gives to the
lowest equal opportunity with the greatest.
The avenues TO distinction are open to all.
We have taken the failures of other countries
we have taken the men who could not succeed
in England; we have taken the men who have
been robbed and trampled upon-we have
taken them into this country, and the second |
generation are superior to the nobility Of the
country from which their fathers emigrated. |
Cheers. We have taken the lrshman, rob-
bed; we have taken the foreigner from the
almshouse, and we have turned their rags into |
robes we have transformed their novels and |
huts into palaces: out of the pauper we have
made patriotic splendid men. That ia what
we have done in this county,. We have given
to everybody in the union, in the states to |
which 1 have referred, equal opportunities
to get home, equal opportunities to attain
distinction. That is the reason I like this
like this country because the honestj and
industrious an Is nobleman. l like 1t be-
cause man, no matter how poor he may be,
whether merchant or clerk, can go home at
night, take his tow headed boy on } IS fnee and
say to him: "John, the public schools and
every avenue Of distinction are open to you.
Your father may be ignorant; he may not be
good at figures but you may rise to the high
est Office within the gift of civilized people,"
Applause and cheers. We don't know how
good this country is. Do You f1ow that we
have more to eat here than any other nation
on the globe has? And that is quite an item.
Laughter. We have better clothes, and they
come nearer fitting US. Applause. There
s more general information among our people
and it Is better distributed than In any other
country.
But really the greatest t. ng about our coun-
try is that there is no other country where
women aud children are treated as we'll as they
are in the United States. Cheers. Let me
tell you why: In other countries the family is
patterned after the form Of government. In
where there is monarch, the head
70 the family is a monarch in countries where
there Is despot at the head Of the govern
ment, the head Of the family is despot.
Here in this country orr families are republi-
can. Every man sitting by the fireside has a
vote. [Cheers. These are few OF the rea-
sons why like this country. like it because
il gave me a chance. Applause. / like it
because a man in the lowest walks of life can
have q chance. l like 1t because boy who
has worked on canal, a boy who has driven a
mule on toNpatb a boy who has cut wood at