The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-05-05

said Sam, staring rlgnt up INTO Lne IAN
tern in the roof ofthe court. Have yon
a pair of eyesP" said Sergeant BuSzfuz.
II have pair Of eyes," said Sam, "and
that is just it. II they wos pair O. pat
ent double million magnifyin' gas micro
scopes Of hextra power p'raps | might
be able to see thro' fight O. stairs and
a deal door; but bein' only eyes, you see,
my vision is limited" Laughter.
Mr.. President, l heard something said
in the debate the other day about this
Onio ides." do not think the gentle
man who spoke of it quite understands
what it is. The Ohio idea is the abso:
lutte equality of all men before the law;
absolute and equal justice to all men by
the law; and, in the administration of
out State affAirs, the administration OF
the few powers committed to our State
Legislature by The Constitution in such
wise as that every man may pursue his
own avocation and his own scheme of
domestic life according to his tastes and
his Judgment and his habits and his ed
ucation to such extent, without interfer-
ence by sumptuary laws, as is consistent
with the order of society and the peace
of the community. And in national af'
fairs "the Ohio idea" is the the absolute
performance of everv act to which the
plighted faith of the Nation is given. 1t
is that no classes and no industries shall
be fostered and benefited by subsidies
and bounties paid out of the common
treasure and the common labor. 1t is
that our financial system shall be 30 reg.
ulated and ordered as that labor shall
fad abundant employment and receive
steady and adequate reward. 1t is that
systems shall be 80 ordered and admins
tered that when viCissitudes over which
we have no control and which we can
not prevent, wars and Gonvulsious and
exigenCies of other nations, shall drain
from us, as they always have at inter
walls and always will, the precious metals
and our domestic trade shall moi stagnate
for waut of currency, and labor shall
not starve and debtors shall not become
bankrupt. 1t is that no combination of
corporations or of capital shall dictate
vetoes and defeat refunding acts. 1t is
that the man shall stand higher than the
corporation. 1t is that the interest of
the people shall stand higher than the
money power. 1t is that everywhere in
State and in Nation the active brain and
the sinewy frame and the lofty aspira.
tions of the poor and the lowly shall
have before the law an equal chance in
the race of life with all others. And it
is that, Cultivating these fundamental
ideas, we shall stand abreast with an
active, progressive, humane, humanizing
civilization, whose constant advance is
such that the unseen of yesterday be-
comes the goal of to day and the starting
point of tomorrow.
This is the democratic "Ohio idea" It
is the ideal of Ohio Democracy.
And there is another instruction which
that great Commonwealth which | am 30
proud to call my mother enjoins upon
all her SONS of all parties and persua.
sions; that when they are entrusted
with great public duties they shall per.
form them so honestly, 80 faithfully so
intelligently, as that when any party in
the country seeks for one whom to in
vest worthily with the performance of
great duties and the possession of great
powers and tine enj j1yment of great hon.
ors, it will turn instinCtively to her. Do
you ask me for a proofP Iwould point
to my honorable colleague of to-day; l
would point to his illustrious predecessor
in this Senate, my honorable Colleagus
of the last session.
Mr.. President, the constant Cultiva.
ton Of these principles, which are called
our Ohio idea, has given to the people of
that State very high appreciation Of
the right of suffrage. We believe that it
is the right preservative of all rights,
and that it lies at the very foundation OF
our whole fabric of government. Our
people are sensitive about its eIioyment
everywhere. They hear with not en- ire
ComplaCenCy Of the restrictions that are
put upon suffrage by the laws of Massa
Chusetts, but they recognize the Gonsti
tutional right of Massachusetts to regu-
late the right of suffrage within her linn
it's in her own way, subject only to the
constitutional amendment; and, there.
fore, however much dissatisfied, they do
not feel at liberty to find fault. They
hear not " tn entire satisfaction, of the
restrictions imposed by the State oil
Rhode Island upon her citizens of Ger.
man and Irish descent, so valuable q
part of our population, so intelligently
exercising g the right Of suffrage with us
but she admires the sturdy manhood Of
Rhode Islands Senators who in these
days rise upon this floor and in the
strongest terms assert the validity and
virtue of the conservative doctrine oil
State rights.
The people of 0Aio are sensitive upon
the infraction of the right of suffrage
anywhere and everywhere and they are
just as sensitive to an infraCtion of the
right of suffrage when it comes from the
mill owners of Massachusetts as when il
comes from the white people of the
South; but the peolle of Ohio, I am
proud to say, do not sit with open, eager
ears anxious 70 hear evil accounts oi
their neighbors whether North or South
When we hear from a defeated condi.
date for Governor of Massachusetts, OF
the great wrongs imposed upon the la.
boring classes of Massachusetts; when a
committee of this Senate makes it's re
port that great wrong has been done in
various of the counties and towns of that
State, we listen patiently to the honora.
BILE Senators from that State who deny
that the accounts are true, who assert
that there is no illegal limitation upon a
free suffrage there. We find them up.
right and honorable men in all the ayo.
cations in which we are brought togeth.
or upon the floor of this Senate; and the
people of Ohio regard their denial and
are glad to believe that the stories are at
least greatly exaggerated. When we
hear of outrages committed in the
South upon the negro population in de-.
priving them of the right of suffrage
there, we call upon her Senators for in
formation as to the laCts. If it relates to
South Carolina we call upon Hampton
and Butler; if Alabama; upon Pugh and
Morgan; il Mississippi, upon George and
Lamar; if Nor.h Carolina, upon Vance
and Ransom. They are men we'll known
to the Senate, we'll known to the country,
men in whose keeping every man in this
SanQtn WhqknUar NAV ha hiu Vno1iEioal