Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-08-11

in response to the invitation of the Repub-
lican clubs of Montpelier, Mr.. Fifield ad-
dressed large and enthusiastic gathering
of his fellow-citizens last Wednesday evening
in Trinity hall Feeling that no abstract of
this speech could do justice to the fullness
and completeness of Mr.. Ffeld's argument
and the binding force of his conclusions, we
print his speech in full, and bespeak for it
the careful perusal and candid consideration
of the public generally
Ladies and Gentlemen A few nights ago
my fellow-members of the Garfield and
Arthur club did me the honor of making me
its president. In rendering them my thanks
for that honor, | casually remarked that
believed the election of General Hancock to
the presidency of the United st ties meant
the restoration of the southern states to the
control of this government My friend, Mr..
Huse, as wicked as he is malicious immed-
ately came forward, and moved that have
the opportunity of addressing my fellow
members upon that subject The motion
was carried, and am here tonight, pursu-
ant to that invitation, to address you upon
the political questions of the day.
ought to say, perhaps, that never made
political speech in my life. | am not ac-
customed to it by habit, by education, or
tastes And il anybody expects that to-
night | am going to make political speech,
in the ordinary sense of the term-that is,
by telling stories, amusing the crowd and
abusing the other party, he will be disap-
pointed. have nothing of that kind to
offer / have simply come here to explain
to you, my friends and neighbors, the exact
reasons that induce me to believe the gen
eral proposition which ! announced the other
night, namely, that the election Of a Demo-
cratic president means the restoration 10 poWer,
and 10 the control Of this government, Of the
southern states. have come here to prove to
you the truth OF that proposition, so far as
it can be proved by giving the reasons
which control my individual judgment.
THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH COMPARED.
Now, then, if it be true that the election of
General Hancock means the restoration of
the southern states to the control of this
government, it is important to inquire into
their material condition, and see what they
are what their population and wealth is,
and ascertain whether their comparative size
and contributions to the support of the gov
eminent are such as to entitle them, on
these grounds alone, to the control of this
government, to make the laws which we are
to execute, and TO impose the taxes which
we are to pay. If we look into the record
of the sixteen southern states on these ques-
tions, and compare them with the record of
the northern states, you will find that in
1870 the population of the twenty-five north
ern states was "a 277 $50; the population of
the sixteen states which compose what is
now called the solid SOUTH" was 1857.
6l0. In other words, we have population
of about two to their one. These same
northern states in 1870 had wealth of
S25,3S3, 265,657, while the wealth of the
south was 5,559,5l27S6. In other words,
our wealth is about five times as great as
theirs. The amount which the twenty-five
northern states paid into the national treas
ury through the custom-house in 1878 was
S123,22l ,070.2l. In the same year the sixteen
southern states paid s6925, 1867. In other
words, in the year 1878, the north paid eigh-
teen dollars into the national treasury for
custom duties, while the south paid one.
By internal revenue taxation the govern
ment received from the north in 1878, $751;
lS0,22l; from the south, S26 ,33S,4l2 or
about three dollars from the north to one
from the south. II we take the thirteen
years beginning with 1866 and ending with
1878, we find that the north paid, in internal
revenue taxes, 81, 853, 49l ,750.03 the eleven
confederate states paid S20l ,906, 096.15, about
one-ninth as much. During the same Pc
riod New York alone paid nearly SlS3,000,-
600 more than the confederate states, namely,
1854, 406,776.25; Illinois paid more, SELL
SS7,3l2.35 Ohio paid more, S2l5,0l0,620.56.
DANGER IN SOUTHERN RULE.
suppose if | can make out beyond
reasonable doubt that not only will the
! $40 ~ a -
government by the election of General Han
: cock, but that there is danger to the repub-
lie in their 50 doing, there is no man
in this hall, whether he be Democratic OF
Republican or Independent, who will not
) say at once ~ will never vote for such
thing as that" | don't believe. that
there is an intelligent Democrat TO be found
in Vermont who wishes to vote for anything
which will imperil the republic, and don't
believe that any will, if the danger is once
made plain to them. The difficulty is that
, northern Democrats, and northern men gen.
orally, for that NATTER do not look into the
real basis of this business, the grave inqui
ries that lie at the bottom of it. Men dc
not accurately and fully inform themselves
of the real meaning OF the return of the
Democratic party TO power, or what it signi
fies at the present time. But before proceed
any further with my remarks let me say
this When the rebellion ended was one Of
those who believed, and believed sincerely
: in the policy of burying the dead past.
said :" Let it go. We have had rebel
lion. 1t had grown out of this careless and
thoughtless voting on the part of large
portion of the north, under the auspices Of
the Democratic party, whereby northern
}. votes sustained the course of the solid south
| In consequence of that folly in part, the re
bellion took place, which has cost million
lives and millions in money. Still the wal
is over. There are the southern states.
My idea was to "shake hands across the