Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-11
Hon. Il. F. Fineld's Speech.

Inst wednesday evening Hon. u. +.
Fitield. in response to an invitation ex-
tended him two weeks ago, spoke IN
Trinity hall to "A large audience oil ms
fellow citizens. His speech was enthusl'
astically received as the stcn2Sraphlc
report of it made 10y Mr. Oviatt and
q iyen below, will show it deserved to be.
Mr.. Fifeld said
LADIES AND GESTLEMES "A few nights ago my
fellow members OF the Garfield and Arthur oluO
did me the honor Of making me its president. 10
rendering them my thanks for that honor, casu.
ally remarked that believed the election OF General
Hancock to the Presidency OF the United states
meant the restoration OF the southern states 70 he
control of this Government. My frien'li NJ huse,
as wicked as he is malicious, Immediately came Tor.
| ward and moved that have the opportunity OF
| addressing my iellOw-members upon that subject.
| The motion was carried, and | am here tonight
pursuant to that invitation, 10 address you upon
| The political questions OF the day.
ought to say, perhaps, that never made pOlit-
| ical speech in my life. am not accustomed to II
| by habit. by education, or tastes. And II anybody
expects that tonight am gong TO make political
speech in the ordinary sense OF the term that 49,
by telling stories, amusing the crowd and abusing
| tue other party, he will be disappointed. | have
nothing of that kind to offer. have simply conc
here to eXpalnt to you, my friends and neighbors
the exact reasons that induce me to believe the
|
night; namely, that the election OF a democratic
president means the restoration TO power and TO the
control OF this government oil tue southern states
| have come here to prove to you the truth OF tina
proposition, so far as 1t can be proved by giving
The reasons which control my individual judg
| ment
| TIE NORTH AND TIE SOUTH COMPARED.
Now, then, If he true that the election of Genera
| Hancock means the restoration of the southern
states to the control of this government it IS impor
tant to inquire into their material condition ant
what they are what their population and wealth
is; and ascertain whether their comparative slz,
and contributions to the support of the government
are such as to enlite them, on these grounds aonC
10 the control OF this government 10 make the law
| which we are to execute, and to impose the take.
which we are TO pay, II we look into the record o.
the sixteen southern states on these questions ant
compare them with the record of the northern
states, you Will had that IN 1870 the population
the twenty-wO northern states was A,2i7 $50; tn,
1 population OF the sixteen states, which compos,
what IS now called "s solid SOUTH" was 1851. $40
In other words we have population of about two
to their one. These same northern states in Is1
had wealth of S25 1913, 2d5,J57 while the wealth
the south was Sj5j9,jl2 1856. In other words, ou
wealth Is about i've times as great as theirs. Tn,
amount which the twenty-five northern states pait
into the national treasury through the custom-hous
IN 1878 was 3D., ~ ,O1O.9l In the same year TN
sixteen southern states paid $500 1861. la othe
words in the year 1875, the north paid eighteen dol
lars into the national treasury lOr custom dutiei
Il while the south paid one. BY internal reyenu,
taxation the government received from the norti
IN 1873 iS,lsJ22l from the south s26,35S, tl2, 0
about three dollars IRON the north TO one from thu
south. Ii we take the thirteen years beginning will
1876 and ending with 1878, we inl that the norl
paid in internal revenue taxes, 1885, 49, 1905 III
eleyen.coniedcrate states paid S2Ol 3d. D65 10 abou
one-nlnth as much. During the same pei Iod Ne,
York alone paid nearly one hundred and eighty
three millions more than the confederate tates
namely, $@Sl,iJG HG.2j; Illinois paid more,-s2ll
ssI,3l!.3j; ONO paid morc,-S2lj, 62G.jJ
DANGER IN SOUTHERN RULE.
suppose that If can make out beyond n reason
aOletdUuOt, that not only will the southern state
obtain the control of this government by the ert
lion oil General Hancock; but that there is DANCE
10 the republic in their SO dong, there is no MAJ
IN this hail, whether he be democratic or repubI
can, or independent, who viii not say at once "
Will never vote for sucn thing that" don
believe that there Is an intelligent democrat TO b
found IN Vermont who wishes to vote for apythip
which will imperll the republic, and dom 6eliey
that any VIII If the danger Is once made plain I
them. The difficulty Is that northern democrat.
and northern men generally, for that matter do no
look into the real basis of this business the gray
inquiries that lie at the bottom Of it. Men do n,
accurately and FULLY inform themselves OF the res
, meaning of the return of the democratic party
> power or what 1t signifies at the present time Bt
before | proceed any further with my RENAL
let me say THIS When the rebellion ended was or
OF those who believed, and believed sincerely,
the policy ol burying the dead past. | SAID, Il" lie
II 80. We have had rebellion. 1t had grown OF
E of this careless and thoughtless voting the pa
OF large portion OF the north under the auspices
the democratic party, whereby northern votes su
, talhed the course OF the sJd south. In cons,
quenCe OF mat Jolly IN part, the rebellion toe
place, which had cost million lives and million
IN money. Sull The war is over. There are Il
I southern states" My idea was to " shake han,
ACROSS the bloody chasm," and 10 put an eud to Il
business. And, If the south had kept faith with II
4 country would not be here to night, saving VIII
my duty compes me to say, as to the danger viii,
VIII mCnd C all the great results Of thewar whlcha
} embodied IN the three constitutional amendmenl
by the southern domination which Will incyItab
follow the election of General Hancock.
THE AMENDMENTS.
Starting at the time the rebellion ended. wh
was uUueI We sad to the south, " We VIII ella
hands across the bloody chasm. You have he
defeated and you acknowledge it, You say V,
want peace You say you want TO live in allan
!, and gOod.leliowshp with us. We accent your OF,
# We Will trust you and re-admlt you under the 0
~ flag, and ALLOW you again to enjoy the protection
0 the laws and the constitution, only we make thr
conditions, which You must accent and soIamn
agree 10 observe forever. And they said they won
u ami were taken back. What were these condilio
- They are embodied in the immortal 18th, I'm Al
10TH amendments to the constitution, Tor the lnct
poraon of which into the organic law If it had do
|, nothing else ior the country, the republican mar
deserves ITS eternal gratitude. The 18Th amen
ment Is: "Nellhcr slavery nor involuntary ser
O tude, except loT punishment lOrcrme, whereof [
n party snail have been duly convicted, shall eX
within me United States,or any place subject to h
G jurisdiction" The lith amendment provides amo
other things, that "the validity OF the public dcht
- the United States, authorized by law mcInhi
d debts incurred Tor payment of pensions and bou
a ties Tor services IN SURPRISING Instruction
a rebellion, shall not be questioned But neither 1
" United states nor any state shall assume or n
&c any debt obligation incurred in aid of mann
II ton or rebellion against the United States or a
claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave: Ii
e all such debts, obligations and claims snail be he
J. Illegal and void he 10Th amendment sa
% that the right oil citizens of The United States
. vote shall not be denied or abridged by the Unit
states, or by any state, on account of race color
previous condition OF servtude."
v We said: " Ii we shake hands with Won nero
the bloody chasm, forget the past and restore a.
to me Tree enjoyment OF the blessings of the Unc
which you have attempted to DESTROY viii v
o submit To the amendments?" They promised ii
. they would. We tOrgavc the treason; we condo
> ed the rebellion and took them back under the d
k dag upon the promise of these things rhn
amendments were ratified by the votes of the ia
d lsaturcs OF thrcCourths OF the states and they Ii
;, came part ol the organic law Of the land
THE SOUTH FAIrIILEss TO IT'S PROMISES
Now propose to trace the course of the sou
d since that time: not to talk about the rebellion
If its causes. | Will inquire whether those suuthe
states have kept good faith with the country sin
) that time? whether they have honestly fulfilled [
Is promises they made to us upon condition that
, condone their ueachery to the government ami f
get the rebellion which cost 50 many lives and
d much money; because, if they have not, II th
n have been untrue TO their promises, broken tn,
engagements, then, as | SAID belorG no OF
5, whether democrat or republican, will say that th
e ought again TO be trusted with the care OF u
~ government.
~ How have they kept these engagements? +
le some years after the rebellion there was peace
= the south. The negroes had the right to W
6 anu exercised II hlOnSslc oil the Whte men. j
u consequence was that we had Il large republic
s. majority IN the southern states. In lSGS when &c
ri Grant was elected president, the republican paI
~ received electoral votes from the southern stat
n Almost one-half OF the entire south was republic.
i In lS72, when Gen. Grant was elected second tin
80 he had fifty five electoral votes from the south.
IL about this time the sOuthcrners, who had been
Is peace and recovering from the effects of the re
M llOn conceived the general idea that they were
y having things just as they, wanted them. Tn
'e looked back with regret to the good old times VIII
at they controlled affairs at Washington They sigh
:. for the ancient regime, when they dominated o,
~ this government, and they resolved that they mi
Dc in some way-by cunning since they could not
II lorce-regaln their former sway, They forgot
pledges they had made to us when the rebellion "
o. ended. They forgot the good faith which they t,
10 us they would keep and they entered into a gig,
u lie scheme TO get control OF THIS govcrnme
III as they had ii just kbeiore the war, when the Il
al democratic presidents was at the head of the
a ton
u They said to themselves :: We must have n so
IL south; because, II we get solid south and &c
IN small fraction OF the electoral vote of the northC
e states, we can obtain Il majority of the electo
u college and get president OF our own choosing
Or Now the only way TO create a solid south was by
pressing the negro vote. They Immediately
themselves to work TO secure that end, and all o,
- the south scenes Of intimidation, scenes OF bloc
~ shea and carnage took place which have not be
vs. witnessed IN any country possessing claims to c
M ilizaton, since the Spanish Inqulsition or
~ reign of terror lin France. by means OF
~ Ku KluX,. the White Leaguers, the Red Lcaguer
he by the shotgun policy the ncgrOe were in lmil
= = cd and driven from the polls. How well they
vi cOmplished their purpose Is shown by the fact u
ne in lS12 as have said, GenGran received fly 4
r,, electoral votes from the south out of the ht
dred and thirty eight which she throws. MIR. Hay