Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-03-11


no permanent disfranchised peasantry in the
United States; freedom can never yield its full
ness Of blessings 80 long as the law Of its ad-
ministration places the smallest obstacles in
! the pathway Of any virtuous citizen. The
emancipated race has already made remarka-
BILE progress. With unquestioning devotion
to the Union, with patience and genteness
not born of fear, they have followed the
light as God gave them to see the light"
They are rapidly laying the material founda-
tions for self-support widening the circle Of
intelligence, and beginning to enjoy the bless
ings that gather around the homes Of the in
dustrious poor. They deserve the generous
encouragement Of all good men. So far as
my authority can lawfully extend, they shall
enjoy the full and equal protection of the con-
sttution and the laws
The free enjoyment of equal suffrage is
still in question, and frank statement Of the
issue may aid its solution. II is alleged that
IN many communities negro citizens are prac-
tically denied the freedom of the ballot. In
so far as the truth of this allegation is admit
ted, 1t is answered that in many places honest
local government is impossible if the mass Of
uneducated negroes are allowed to vote.
These are grave allegations. So far as the
latter is true, il is the only pallstion that can
be offered for opposing the freedom of the
ballot. Bad local government is certainly a
great evil, which ought to be prevented but
to violate the freedom and sanctity Of the
suffrage is more than an evil it is q crime,
which, il persisted in, will destroy the gov
ernment itself. Suicide is not a remedy. If
in other lands it be treason to compass the
| death of the king it should be counted no
less crime here to strangle our sovereign
| power and sti1e its voice. II has been said
that unsettled questions have no pity for the
repose Of nations. 1t should be said with the
utmost emphasis that this question Of the
suffrage will never give repose or safety 10 the
states Of the nation until each within its own
| jurisdiction makes and keeps the ballot free
and pure by the strong sanctions OF the law.
But the danger which arises from ignorance
in the voter cannot be denied 1t covers
| field far wider than that of negro suffrage
and the present condition of that race. 1t is
a danger that turks and hides in the sources
and fountains Of power in every state We
have no standard by which 10 measure the
disaster that may be brought upon us by ig-
norance and vice in the citizens when Joined
TO corruption and fraud in the suffrage. The
voters of the Union, who make and unmake
constitutions and upon whom will hang the
destinies Of our governments, can transmit
| their supreme authority to no successor save
the coming generation of voters, who are the
sole heirs Of sovereign power. II that gene
| ration comes to its Inheritance blinded by ig-
norance and corrupted by vice, the fall Of the
republic will be certain and remediless. The
census has already sounded the alarm in the
appalling figures which mark how dangerous
ly high the tide Of illiteracy has risen among
our voters and their children. To the south
this question is of supreme importance, but
the responsibility for the existence of slavery
did not rest upon the south alone. The nation
| itself is responsible for the extension of the
suffrage, and is under special obligations TO
aid in removing the illiteracy which it has
added to the voting population.
For the north and south alike there is but
one remedy. All the constitutional power of
the nation and of the states, and all the vol
unteer forces Of the people, should be sum-
moned to meet this danger by the saving in
fuence of universal education. It is the high
privilege and sacred duty of those now living
to educate their successors and fit them by
| intelligence and virtue for the inheritance
which awaits them. In this benefcent work
sections and races should be forgotten and
partisanship should be unknown. Let our
people find q new meaning in the divine ora
Gle which declares that "a little child shall
lead them" for our little children will soon
control the destinies of the republic.
Ny countrymen, we do not now differ in
our judgment concerning the controversies of
past generations, and fifty years hence our
children will not be divided in their opinions
concerning our controversies. They will
surely bless their fathers and their fathers
| God that the Union was preserved, that slave
ry was overthrown, and that both races were
made equal before the law. We may hasten
or we may retard, but We cannot prevent the
final reconciliation. Is it not possible for us
now to make truce with time, by anticipat-
ing and accepting its inevitable verdict? En-
terprises of the highest importance to our
moral and material well being invite us, and
offer ample scope for the employment of our
best powers. Let all our people, leaving be-
hind them the battlefelds of dead issues
move forward. and, in the strength of liberty
and the restored Union, win the grander vic
tories of peace.
The prosperity which now prevails is with
out parallel in our history. Fruitful sea-
sons have done much to secure it, but they
have not done all. The preservation of the
public credit and the resumption Of specie
payments, so successfully attained by the ad-
ministration of my predecessor, has enabled
our people to secure the blessings which the
seasons brought By the experience of COM
mercial nations in all ages, it has been found
that gold and silver afford the only safe foun-
dation for a monetary system. Confusion
has recently been created by variations in the
relative value Of the two metals, but conf
IDENTIFY believe that arrangements can be made
between the leading commercial nations
which will secure the general use of both
metals. Congress should provide that the
compulsory coinage of silver, now required
by law, may not disturb our monetary system
by driving either metal out of circulation. If
possible, such an adjustment should be made
that the purchasing power of every coined
dollar will be exactly equal TO its debt paying
power in all the markets Of the world. The
chief duty Of the National Government in
connection with the currency of the country
is 10 coin and declare its value. Grave
doubts have been entertained whether Con-
gress is authorized by the constitution to
make any form Of paper money legal tender.
The present issue of United States notes has
been sustained by the necessities of war, but
such paper should depend for its value and
currency upon its convenience in use, and its
prompt redemption in coin at the will of the
holder and not upon its compulsory circula-
tion. These notes are not money, but prom
ises to pay money il the holders demand it.
The promise should be kept.
The refunding of the national debt at q
lower rate of interest should be accomplished
without compelling the withdrawal of the ma
tional bank notes and thus disturbing the
business of the country. l venture to refer
to the position l have occupied on financial
questions during long service in Congress,
aud 10 say that time and experience have
strengthened the opinions l have so often
expressed on these subjects. The finances of
the government shall suffer no detriment
which it may be possible for my administra-
ton to prevent.
The interests of agriculture deserve more at
tention from the government than they have
yet received. The farms of the United States
afford homes and employment for more than
one half our people, and furnish much the
largest part of all our exports. As the gov
ernment lights our coasts for the protection
of mariners and the benefit of commerce, so
it should give TO the tillers of the soil the
lights of practical science and experience.
Our manufacturers are rapidly making us
industriously independent, and are opening
TO capital and labor new and profitable fields
| of am nnlnunnanl nhia aLandv and healthy