The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-04-28
.ORNING, APRIL %.
duty, divided Executive, an
head, and the result will be that

60 before the country pretending to accept
it, while In reality ignoring it,. L venture to
say that there is not one of them who Will
stand up here and say that if he had the power
he would put this amendment upon the law
even with its broadcast scope, with proper re-
strictions, limitations and methods OF procedure.
venture to say that have made suggestions
which justify our side in the struggle which
we have made for the right of free discussion
of this subject before the House, and l venture
to say also that L have made some remarks
which justify our friends on the other side in
refusing to give it to u.s. Laughter
Why is it, sir, that year after year. even day
after day, the Democratic party in this House
and in this country are attempting legislation
like this, legislation which, while it may be
fair-seeming on its face, is nevertheless insin-
cere and false pretense? The answer to that
question requires the asking of some more.
Why was it, for ten years preceding the war,
the Democratic party kept slowly and steadily
solidifying itself into party in favor OF hui
broke out, that the Democratic party of the
South went into the rebellion, and the Demo-
cratic party of the North back into the bree CHI
ing? Why was it that after the war was fla
grant these men met together under the lead
of a discarded general, and resolved the very
year before Appomattox Court House that the
war was failure? Why was it that when we
proposed in legal and proper fashion to make
constitutional amendments abolishing slavery
by virtue of law, long after it had been abol-
ished by virtue of facts, they found themselves
arrayed in solid opposition to it? Why was it
that when we came to the question Of the hon.
est payment of the debts of the country the
Democratic party arranged itself solidly in
favor of partial or total reputation of those
obligations? Why was it that they came before
us discarding their own leaders and adopting
men they had received from our party? Why
is it, in single word, that always for the last
twenty-five years upon points about which
is no dispute now they have always been
wrong? do not talk now about matters that
can be discussed; | talk about matters done by
us which not half dozen men on the other
side would want undone to-day. Why is it
that they have always gone wrong upon those
subjects and have always taken wrong posi-
tions2
will tell you, my friends. The notion that
party is made up like subscription to la
dies magazine, by sending out declaration of
principles, is a mistake of worldwide signifi-
canoe. Men associate together because they
are progressive, because they are honest, be-
cause they have purposes connected with the
turtherance and improvement of government
Other men associate together because they are
conservative, because they are opposed to prog
ress, and because they are not on an average
sufficiently enlightened. That is the plan on
which parties formed. They are not
formed to meet future issues. The future is
sues spring up, and parties deal with them &C
cording to their constitution and their nature
The difference between the Republican party
and the Democratic party is founded on this
average. There is great deal more of the
government of the people in this country than
is generally admitted even by ourselves. The
people express their average intelligence
every time they come to the polls, and every
party expresses its average intelligence. The
reason we have been right and they have been
wrong has not been that they had not brilliant
leaders; it is because the average of intelli-
gence with us has been higher than the aver
age of intelligence with them. That is the
whole secret of it, and it is an "open secret" to
any man who looks at the history of parties for
the past few years.
These are general principles; let us descend
little to particulars. say that the Demo-
cratic party for the last thirty years has not
had an honest heartbeat north of Mason and
Dixon's line. l say that they have continually
come forward as party OF false pretenses
Why, look at the acts of this session. Only
the other day they came before us and de-
layed this very bill which we are now discuss
ing by bill presented by the gentleman from
Indiana Mr.. Hostetler], which was to deprive
OF the rights of Citizenship every individual
who had a claim against the Government, in
Guiding, as was so eoquently said by my friend
from New York, Mr.. Richardson the very
soldier who fought for his country And for
day or two they actually kept up the pretense
of pressing that! They were beaten and over
thrown; yet just think of 1.-THE Democratic
party at this moment of all others proclaming
against the use of money in politics! Why, in
the very instant of one of their cataleptic
spasms of virtue, let Samuel j. Tilden but
stand visibly before them, pointing his finger
to the very least OF his 'barrels," and straig
way there would leap into that old, wizened
decrepit and paralyzed frame a strength and
vigor mightier than "the might of France"
for in that attitude would be the potentiality
of swinging the whole Democratic party,
North and South, by its noblest part, its long
majestic and prehensile tail! Laughter And
yet, with that picture on the canvas visible to
whole continent, they come forward and
pretend to talk about suppressing the use of
money in politics.
was greatly struck by an instance of their
pretences in the elaborate speech which was
delivered by the gentleman from Tennessee,
lMr. House.. He resurrected what never
expected to see dug up in the House-the COM
mittee for the investigation of frauds in the
last Presidential election. Why. there has
not been such resurrection of dead and buried
people since Fitzpatrick saw the mummies of
Peru rise and range themselves on the sea-
coast line of South America. Well do re-
member the launching of that illustrious COM
mittee. Never was there on earth such an
awe-inspiring pageant. The air was thick
with the coming storm. Across the leaden sky
had famed Anderson, red-haired por-
tent, who afterward proved to be the loft
lest liar of historic Christendom Men went
about with hushed voices, whispering to each
other of dreadful possibilities. The faces of
the Democracy were radiant with solemn
JOY. Now at last the usurper who lad done
them so much harm should be hurled from his
throne; and Tilden, Samuel j., the wise the
virtuous, the innocent, the reformatory, should
stand before the world visbly what he had al
ways been spiritually, "the Lords anointed."
We for our part, sat here solemnly rounding
our backs to meet the coming storm. When
the Speaker announced the members of the
committee on the other side, it became perfect
ly apparent that the supreme hour of battle
had come, and the household troops had been
ordered up. There was at the head polished
and able gentleman, taken some years ago
from our ranks and, who had voted with us Of
ten enough since to give the people an idea
that he was respectable and to be trusted
llaughterl gentleman to whose impartiality
in everything but his report bear cheerful,
cordial and willing witness. Next came my
friend from Ohio, [Mr. McMahon] keen and
subtle, than whom there is no man in five
Kingdoms ADLER to dig a pit for witness and
sweetly coax him into it. And there, to give
tone OF chivalry to it, was my friend from the
seventh district of Kentucky, (Mr. Black
burne then as now undallying and undoubt-
ing, and consequently undastardized and un-
damned. Laughter. Time would fail me to give
an Homeric catalogue of all the great souls of
heroes who went down to dusty death. Laugh
ter. 1t is enough to say that they were the
bright, consummate flower, the cream or to
use metaphor more suitable to the subject,
the combined sweetness and strength, the very
crock and rye" of the Democracy. Laughter.
L saw that expedition set forth with much
boom of cannon, and much float of flags. Five
months afterward saw it drift into port dis
masted and dismantled. In silence and sad
ness, the sorrowing survivors, on the heel of
OF the session iostled by every job and hustled
by ten-dollar claims, disembarked their pre-
cious freight in two parcels-a little one con-
tanning what they had to say about our al
legged frauds, and big one contain
tanning their real ones. What was the reason
of all this shipwreck of bright and high en-
deavor? Why between those days had rolled
twenty-seven hundred pages of printed testi-
mony Now 1 shall not say yet am afraid
my friend the gentleman from Michigan [Mr.
Horrl will never forgive me for not saying-I
shall not say that such is the nature of printed
matter and of education and of intelligence and |
of types that it would be impossible to get to.
gcther twenty-seven hundred pages of printed
matter without there being condemnation of |
Democracy somewhere between its leaves But |
/ do say that the people day by day examined
that testimony; and when they got through, all
that vast pretense of fraud vanished into thin
air, and the public saw that Rutherford B.
Hayes had not played the knave and that Sam
uel j. Tilden had.
Time would fail me to enumerate all these |
matters. bring these up simply as samples |
showing what they have DONE L affirm that
they have not throughout all this Congress
come forward with a single measure which |