The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-09-18

About Hampton's speech, in which he SAID
These are the principles for which Lee and
Jackson died." the Ottawa Rrpublicda
comes back on the FREE TRADER in this
wise:
The man who sent the stenographlc repor,
to the New York Herald aflirms that the
speech was emascuated after it lett his
hands, and admits that the report published
in the local paper was substantially correct
Furthermore, the publishers OF the local
country paper" have printed affidavits of men
of all parties who heard the speech as to the
correctness of the report, and the Richmond
Dispatch, Democratic to the core. says that
their case against Hampton is clearly estab
lished.
This is only more lying to back up lie
The truth Is, no stenographic report OF Hamp.
toms speech at Staunton was made, but after
two local papers had given short synopses of
the speech attributlng to him the language
about which the fuss is made, Mr.. Hampton
sent his own manuscript to the Herald which
was published. SO the assertion that 1.-THE
stenographer who sent the report to the Her
aid afflrms that the speech was emascalated,"
&c, is Of course a lie out of whole cloth.
About the whole business of this speech, how.
ever, we ask the attention of our esteemed CO.
temporary to the following very sensible re-
marks of that staunch republican sheet the
New York Nation:
The great republican "And" of the week
has been passage i'll speech of Wade
Hampton at Staunton, Va. He Is reported to
have requested his hearers to think how Lee
and Jackson would have voted at the coming
election, and ito remember that the princi.
Piles they died for are again on trial. On
this getting abroad he supplied the press with
his own version of his remarks, in which the
only allusion to Lee and Jackson is contained
in the question, will the men who followed
Lee and Jackson sacrifice the democratic par
ty, sacrifice The south, etc.y" Usually mans
own version of what he SAID Is accepted as
either correct report of what he SAID or In
tended to say. In either case it destroys the
effect of what he is reported TO have said, by
showing that he did not think it a true or
wise thing to say. 1t is, however, just now
so important that Hampton should have said
what he is reported to have said, that he finds
he cannot escape by any correction. Proba
bly, he did speak as first reported and what
he said was IN part true: Lee and Jackson, If
alive today would, everybody feels sure, vote
for Hancock, and 1.-The principles they died
for were the principles that mans first al.
legiance is to his state and that his state has a
right to secedo from the union. These prlnci.
pies, however, have been so modified by the
war that Lee and Jackson would hardly recog
nize them If they saw them now, and would
never think Of dying for them So that where
an orator says they "are on trial again" he
says somewhat empty and very rhetorical
thing which political opponents who had n
strong case Of their own would be very will.
ing to let him withdraw or change as much as
he pleased. The frantic eagerness to hold on
TO It displayed by our republican cotempora
raries has painful appearance of poverty
which cannot but be injurious to their own
party. The Hampton speech Is q good little
thing In its way, but 1t Is poor thing 10 goI
around with as dearest earthly possession