Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-04-23
THE ISSUES or THE DAY.


lIE 1851 ms Of I IN ~ ! .
Speech Of senator Dawes before the
MRssachusetts Republicans.
The speech Of Senator Dawes, as presiding
officer Of the Massachusetts Republican State
Convention, last week, was a strong and able
presentation of the political situation, and Of
the grave issues at stake He briefly sboke
of the work that has been done by the Re
publican party, and the changes that have
been wrought by the war, and then proceed
ed to consideration of the duties involved
in the present condition of affairs. He said :
II will be the dictate of wisdom, on this
day of preparation to look in the face, for
moment and measure, if we can, the force,
thus led and animated, which the Republican
party is about to encounter. One hundred
and eighty five electors will choose the next
President, as that number did the last The
sixteen Southern States will elect l3S of
them. In no one of these States has the Re
publican party an organized existence, al
though in five at least casting thirty seven
electoral votes, a Republican majority of le-
gal voters is rs iudsputable as in Massachu-
sets or Vermont. In three of them, at the
last election, that majority, wading through
bribery and forgery and blood, reached the
ballot box aud was heard. But all are still
now, and Oh the next election day will be as
silent Ms the grave 80 many Of them filled on
the last. To these one hundred and thirty
eight electoral votes as certain for the Dem
ocratic candidate as is the sunset of the day
Of election, add the vote Of New York and
Indiana. or the vote of New York and almost
any two Of the small and uncertain States,
like Connecticut and California, or New Jer-
sey and Oregon or Nevada, and it is settled
against us. 1t is plain, therefore, that the
next Presidential election will hinge upon the
choice of Electors in the State of New York,
where parties are so nearly divided that, at
the last election, in nearly million of votes
cast change of twenty five hundred would
have turned victory into defeat. All the sue
cesses of the last year have still left the great
Presidential contest Of this year to be deter
mined by the disposition Of twenty-five hun
dred votes III the State of New York, out Of
nine millions to be cast for Electors in No
vember next. Let every man then lock arms
with his neighbor, for the margin on which
we stand is not wide enough for a single mis-
step. Let every true soldier stand in line,
for there is no space for straggler. These
are not words of discoungement, for, mar
row as that margin is. there is still room
enough upon it for every Republican to do
his duty, and doing that, victory is as certain
as November. This is the last Presidential
election npportionment of political power
based upon the present census. The sixteen
Southern States, now lopelessly Democratic,
have had, by the emancipation OF their slaves,
fifteen at least added to the number Of their
Representatives in Congress, and a like num-
Der in the Electoral College This addition
al power, gained by making freemen of slaves,
will be welded in the Electoral College not
by the Republican freedmen who are its ba-
sis. but by their masters, who are still mas
tiers of the ballot box. This power, and
much more, will forever pass out Of their
hands after the census of this year and be
lodged with the strong Republican States Of
the Northwest, in obedience to that law Of
growth which is stronger than all human laws
and human plans. Unless, therefore. the
Democratic party gain ascendency at the Ap-
preaching election, it must yield to the inevi-
table, and give up all hope of power in the
future based on its present support. Success,
on the other hand, makes an indefinite lease
Of power possible with party whose attempts
to obtain place and ptrpetuate its own rule
no scruple or law has as yet been able to re
tain. Success is also a necessary condition
to the maintenance of solid South" The
forces which control Southern politics will
not long adhere TO the fortunes of disheart-
ened minority. Defeat will surely bring di-
vision and with it dissolution The Demo
cratic party will therefore enter the contest
with the desperation of last opportunity.
Let no man delude himself into the belief
that the differences between the two great
parties into which this nation is divided are
growing less, or that their antagonisms are
becoming any the less radical and perilous
They are travelling different ways ever di-
verging farther and farther from each other
and are maintaining theories of government
and policies Of administration as wide as the
poles. The struggle for the mastery between
those conflicting theories and opposing poll
tics has arrayed party against party with a
dstinctness of division more marked and a
force more violent each year for a generation
past, till their settlement can be no longer
postponed. The next election will determine
not only with whom political power shall
hereafter rest, but also questions of govern
ment grave and vital, involving the future of
the institutions under which we live. First,
and before ali else in Importance, will it be
decided whether, under the Constitution, the
nation or the State is sovereign. and whether
there Is power in the one TO maintain its own
life and authority in the other with or with
out Its consent whether the nation shall
protect its citizen, whoever and wherever he
may be- III free and honest ballot for ma
tonGl officers or shall surrender him to the
State; whether or not the peace of the Uni
ted States shall abide with each of its citi-
zens however humble. and wherever he may
go or dwell within the limits OF this broad
Union; whether the Supreme Court of the
United States shall be stripped of its effec-
tive jurisdiction in causes between citizens of
different States and the vindication of their
rights be thereby abandoned to sectional
rejudice and local hate
These are vital issues upon which Republi-
cans and Democrats have separated and ap-
pealed to the country for a decision. Next
in Importance but not less clearly defined
are issues forced upon US, affecting every bus
mess relation in the land, and the permanent
Of the whole nation, the decision
of which no less certainly waits on the trial
in November. 1t will then be decided
Whether the currency of the country shall
be, at all times, maintained at par with and
in coin at the will of the holder.
or hereafter become unlimited and irredeem-
able promises TO pay whether the labor 10
be performed for Americans shall belong to
the laborer in America or in Europe, and
consumption build up American or
European industry and capital. 1t will also
be determined whether the vast and wide |
spread civil service of the country shall be |
controlled by the elevating assurance that Of
fetal tenure is to be measured by official f.
deity, or shall become an organized force |
hopelessly harnessed to the party machine |
with the spoils of victory as its only hope and |
reward
HIeV. James Freeman CIarkes speech. |
l know it is not only important that man |
should be nominated, but il is also importaut |