Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1880-10-28

state rights enters into. Why is it that
for seventy or eighty years We never had
a HOMESTEAD LAW
in this country? 1t has been advocated
| time out of mind that we never could have
a homestead law. Why? Because the
| southern men said that we should sell the
land for money and put it in the treasury
and spend IL as soon as we could. We had
no right to do anything more Itwas 'agin
the resolution of '9S'' to attempt to do
anything more. And so it was that when
the republican party came in power in
congress we framed this homestead bill.
| We sent it TO James Buchanan and he We
| toed II, and there was the end of the home
stead bill as long as we had democratic
| president. Within two years after that
we had the homestead bill, signed by Abra-
ham Lincoln. Applause. Under the
bill five thousand families are settled on
western lands. Under it any head of a
| family can go there and settle Why is
| this? Because we, the republicans, said it
was better to settle a family on 100 acres
for nothing than 10 delve and work and
add TO the riches of our country. No
strange thing, l know, that the people of
Milwaukee are largely composed of men
Of foreign birth. Whywas it, fellow citi-
zens, that during the democratic times be-
fore the war, foreigners were not protect
ed in their native land? They ALWAYS
chung in Germany and they were lost to
the idea that where man was born there
must he live. He could not shake off his
nationality. You know that was the doc
! trine. Thousands Of men came from Ger
many, and if they went back again to their
| native homes they were liable to be con-
| fined and imprisoned and put into the
army, and compelled to serve for a num-
ber of years. And although they took an
oath to support the government of the
| United States and have become citizens,
the relgning power said, that makes no
difference; once born there you must always
be attached there.
| Why was it that the dem Ocratic party
never sought to relieve our foreign citizens
| of this burden. | know my own knowI-
| edge of men being in this country thirty
or forty years that would not go back to
their native land for fear that this claim
cf military service would be made against
| theml Why did not the democratic party
remove this? [ will tell you why Be
cause they denied the nationality of the
| United States of America. The idea of
| these state right democrats was that the
states were sovereign, and there was no
| place for nation to be a sovereign. They
| egarded the nation as mere tributary to
the states, and therefore never did and
| never would call themselves a nation.
| Now, for one, am in the favor of calling
| this a nation ard
SPELLING IT WITH TIE BIG n
| Laughter and applause. When the re-
publicans came into power with their
ideas of nationality, they compelled the
recognition Of the right of foreigners and
they said when man came to our coun-
try and took the oath of allegiance to the
United States that he was citizen of all
the states. Who was it that opposed the
oppression of feudal yassalage. 1t was the
republican party of the United States of
America. We made foreign lands recog-
nlze the right of every man to choose his
| own country in order that he could better
his condition. So that any man that be-
comes full citizen has Il right tu gU any
where around the world under the protec-
tion of the American flag. Applause.
| see a sign that / rather think will be a
good text for me, for | am tired of talking
on this line. [ have shown you that ac-
cording to the narrow ideas of the demo-
cratic party they cannot do anything that
is good for this country. They cannot do
anything good TO advance the common
interests and benefit the nation. They
are bound hand and foot by the narrow
doctrine of state rights The republican
party does not only believe that the gov
ernment is a national government with
great powers, but we can give the greatest
good to the greatest number without any
care for the resolutions of '98. Ap
plause.I
Now | want to talk upon the question of
resumption and specie payment, about
which you have heard something At
the close of the war the people of this
country were in debt twenty-seven hundred
and some odd million dollars, the annual
interest of which amounted to one hum
dred and fifty million dollars. A great
many honest people believed we could
never pay that debt, that it was beyond
our means, and a good many men, and
women. too, perhaps, although | think
the women were not very guilty of that,
began to think about repudiation-abou
| some way of cheating or getting rid Of the
burden Of the public debt Things went
| along pretty smoothly for a little while,
until finally the question as TO the pay
ment of this debt came up. The demo
cratic party had various projects about it.,
but the republican party of the United
States made up its mind that it would
| REPAY THAT DEBT TO THE LAST DOLLAR
| according to its terms and condi ions
| [Applause.l The republican party de-
clared that this nation should be honest
and although it might come hard, yet we
would pay the debt dollar for dollar, pre-
cisely as we agreed to do it. Applause. ]
1t was said it was hard to pay it in gold.
So it was, but we agreed to pay it, and
| that is reason enough for an honest man.
| [ Arr,lo,,ca ! FEE1., E = boF
credit became better and better; people
| began to confde in our ability to pay. Our
| bonds rose rapidly until in 1869 they APP
preached par in coin. Then it was that
the republican party passed bill to
strengthen the public credit. That con-
tanned two propositions: One was that
we should pay the debt according to its
terms, and the other that we would bring
about the resumption of specie payment as
soon as practical. [Applause.I No dem
0crat had the honor of voting for that bill
| Applause. The mere fact Of that dec
| laration advanced our public credit, so
that in about year or two from this time
| it was found that our bonds were at par
| Then the proposition was made that we
should sell 4 per cent. or 1 J or D per cent.
! bonds, and with the proceeds OF these
bonds We should redeem the outstanding
| per cent. bonds. Up to that time we had
| paid interest at the rate Of s and $40
per cent, but as
OUR CREDIT ADVANCED
| it was found that we could sell those
! bonds bearing 4 lower rate OF interest
and a bill was passed Ill 1870 authorizing
the secretary of the treasury to sell those
lower priced bonds at par and pay off the