Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1880-09-25


,usly and VIGOROUSLY partisan in all
'ur history. Let all who feel there
hould be change. but hesitate, rest
N the certainty that it may now be
made with safety, and let us not de-
;eive ourselves. No better oppor-
unity will occur. The republican
party will never cease i'll its en-
ieavors to keep up sectional agita-
ion and to excite alarm. This will
,e its policy at every recurring cleo
ion. 1t would have the south solid
Is q means to have the north solid.
t would have the south i'll the Union,
,ut in a condition of offensive subsr-
iination. The republican party was
porn of sectionalism aud lives upon
t. Democracy is not sectional, and
you cannot localize it.
Already we again hear the cam
paigu cry that if we change the ad-
the rebel claims will be |
paid. Can we be any longer alarmed |
by this cry? These claims are now
more than fifteen years old. 1t is
10 do this. 1t is expressly
forbidden by the constitution, and
" hat is not SO forbidden is barred by
the statutes of limitations. 1t would
be an act of suicide in either party to
enter upon such policy. Again we
hear that if we change the admins
tration the rebel soldiers will be pen
stoned. They fought against US and
we will reward them for it. This IS
the very climax of absurdity. Again
and often we hear about the amend
ments. They would not be safe.
Open the constitution and select all
article you believe to be safely an
chored that article is not more safely
anchored than those amendments.
Let me refer again to the language
of Hancock "Tne thirteenth, tour
teenth and fifteenth amendments
embodying the results OF the
war for the Union, are inviolabie."
He would have stopped here If he
were III the least unfriendly to the
amendments, but he goes further:
"If called to the presidency, should
deem it my duty to resist with all
my power any attempt 10 impair or
evade the full force and effect of the
constitution, which i'll every article,
section and amendment is the su-
preme law of the land" This is
most emphatic. He could not have
said more.
What else is there to alarm us !?
What else can you think Off There
is nothing else, absolutely nothing.
Such, ,briefy,is the present standing
of the democratic party, and now the
time has fully come when we should
change the administrations. Why
should we changer ~a ...'.
The republican party has had the
control of the government tor the
last twenty years, and these twenty
years have been more eventful and
trying than fifty years of ordinary
national life. Let US refer, very
briefly, to few of these events.
What has this party done with the
public lands Will contine myself
to grants to railroad corporations.
Prior to 1861, there lad never been
a donation of an acre of land directly
to railroad corporation. About
twenty million acres had been given
to the states for that purpose. What
has been done by the republican
party within the last twenty years
Let its own official publications all.
swer the question. In the publica-
tious of the department Of the III.
terror for 1884, and 1874-5 aud 1875 6
may be found the reports of the gen.
eral land office, branch of the in.
terier department. These reports
furnish All estimate in acres Of the
quantity of land So given away, and
according to that estimate, the re.
republican party, since 1861, has
granted not to the states, but directly
to railroad corporations, more than
one hundred and thirty-seven millou
acres. 1t seems incredible. This is
about ne-twentieth of the whole
United States, including states and
territories. 1t Is difficult to get 8
clear idea of the extent of SO large 8
quantity Of land. Let us try to com.
prehend it by msking few compar-
isons. The amount of land SO given
away is larger in extent than the
whole of New York, New Jersey
Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio and
Kentucky. Let me make another
comparison. The amount of land &c
given away is larger in extent than
i the German empire, including Prus
sia, Saxony and all the duchies and
principalities it is larger than France
and Belgium, and very much larger
than Great Britain and Ireland
Now, you may comprehend 1t. The
grant is large enough to accommodate
a great nation. More than forty
millions of people live, in comfort il
the German empire, upon smaller
territory so also i'll France and Bel
GUM. Who ewned this land L
belonged to the people of the UniteC
States, each one Of them having al
equal interest in it. To whom wa!
it given 1t was given to few i'll
dividuals, who for convenience or
ganiZed themselves into corporations
Is there in all history, such All exaInpl,
of waste? If any OF you had thou
sand acres of land or any quantity
and your agent OF attorney having
in charge. should give away the hal
of it, would you not revoke his au
thority, aud shall we not do collect
lively what each of us would do indi
vidually? The republican party il
evidently uneasy because of this
waste. In their wonderful Chicago
platform l find the following depre
catory statement: "No furthe
grants of the public domain shoul.
be made to any railway or other cor
porations." Let us hope not; an,
who shall be trusted in this appro
pirate time of reckoning aud review
Shall it be the party that has neve
given away an acre of this land I,
railway corporations, or the part,
that has squaudered upon then
enough for AL empire!
Before leave this subject let M
refer to another matter sonewha
connected with it, which occurred
during this republican ascendeucy. |
will be found IN the report Ut tn
secretary of the interior for 1878
Under acts Of congress passed in 1856
and 1864, the government loaned t,
six of these railway corporation
more than S64,000,0O0. This loan i
represented by bonds which bear
semi-annual interest of six per cent
and mature in 1868. An aitemp
was made to collect the interest, bu
the supreme court decided that IL,
interest could be collected until th
bonds maiured. If we add but sim
pie interest when the bonds matur,
the loan (principal and iutercsD will
amount to SlS1 900, 600; if we add in
terest on the interest that accrue
every six mouths (the proper metho,
OF calculstion) the loan will amouu
to $3.50, 100000. This large loan wa
made first lien upon these rail
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