Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-10-14
Speech by Hon. C. G. Williams.

court house last Saturday evening.
His coming was not known here un-
til Friday afternoon, but the court
house was well filed and the audi.
ence heard one of the finest political
lectures ever delivered in the place.
Mr., Joe Cover was present with his
Photographic pencil, and by bis fa>
vor we are enabled to give our
readers liberal extracts from the
speech, as follows:
We are to exercise this year the
highest function of an American cit
izen-the right of the elective fran
chise. Some may say, we'll that is
said every four years, 1t is old and
trite. That is true, my friends. The
sunlight is common, and repeated
every day, and yet the sunlight is no
more indispensable to human life than
free elections and the purity Of the
purity of the ballot are to represen.
tative government. We Justly boast
OF the achievements aud the example
OF our representative government, yet
the governments of Europe trace
their lineage by the thousand, two
thousand, three thousand years.
Rome dominated the world for over
one thousand years. We are scarcely
IN the morning of the second century
of our life as nation. We have
not even reached the breakfast hour
of the day of our nations life +; and
without speaking as an alarmist
thoughtful men are refecting, while
they hope that the sun of free gov
eminent may rise to the zenith of its
full meridian on this continent, we
must have different government
from what we even have had before
we can realize that idea. We have
never had yet free representative
government in one half of this repub.
lie. We have it not tonight, and the
question is whether we ever shall
rests with every free born voter OF
America whether he appreciates the
birth-right of free suffrage, to uphold
it In its purity and to prize it at its
real worth.
We choose man this year to pres
side in the highest place within the
gift of the people, and the theory of
our government is that each elector
however humble is a member of the
jury to render the verdict at the bar,
and that the voice of the humblest, il
ne respects himself, is equally potent
to the voice of the mightiest. But if
he can be bought or driven with i'm
punity from the exercise of this God
given right then the end of free gov
government in America is at our
door. But you say, this Is sensational
our fields produce, wealth accumu.
lates, railroads are built, population
increases-what is the Immediate
danger to this nation? My friends
the summer air was never softer, the
summer sky was never fairer than an
hour before the battle of Gettysburg
that left thousands of dead on the
field. No sooner had the roar of the
conflict died away than nature was
as joyous and gay as these beautiful
fields of this portion of Wisconsin,.
1t is one of the dangers of represen.
tative popular governments that they
nevee realize the danger until the
danger is upon them. Men said there
would be no war even up to the mo-
ment that rebel shot went crashing
against Sumter's walls. / have not
come here to talk of distractions.
may be wrong in my ideas and views
they may not be worth the hour
you lend me tonight, but it shall not
be my fault if do not present them
to you in their integrity.
1t has become fashionable in north
ern Statesmen to discuss questions
like these: Is this a nation-State
sovereignty and State rights? /
shall engage in no discussion of this
kind. If there is anything that de-
lights the heart of the Southern poll.
tician it is to draw Republicans and
northern men into a discussion of
these abstract questions, leading
them back into the fields of Calhoun
ism, letting them review the resolu-
tons of '98, and going back to the
days of Webster and Hayne. They
never tire of it. 1t is the school in
which they have been trained, and
they are better trained politicians
according to their views than the
north is willing to concede. NV
friends, the South understands the
North better than the North under
stands the South. l have nothing
to discuss whether this is a nation.
If four years of war and thousands
of dead, as brave men as ever car.
ried muskets, if $3,7oo,oOo,ooo of
debt piled so high that the mortgage
on the muscles of your sleeping infant
in the cradle to night will never be
removed until that infant,if it reaches
ripe manhood, shall sleep in its grave
if these things have not settled the
question whether this be notion or
not, talk can never do it.
l have no time to talk of State
sovereignty. I like the expression
of true and glorious old Zach. Chan.
dler on this subject. SAID he in his
blunt, common sense way, "when the
rebels surrendered at Appomatox
they surrendered TO some govern.
ment, and take it that government
was this nation, known as the United
States of America" (Applause.)
think he should have stuck his
State right there and held them right
to it. Why, if | cared to discuss
this question whether we are ration
or 5S little principalities, l would
like to inquire which of these states
has flag that will command the
recognition of any government on
the globe. A nation not only has a
flag, but diplomatic corps, armies
and navies, it can coin money and
regulate treaties without nations
these are some of the vital elements
of nationality. Then there is another
thing, if these states are nations, if
Georgia is a sovereign y, and as they
claim their representatives in Con-
gress are simply ambassadors, there