St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1882-10-20
Plain Talk.
GEN. wooDFORD TELLS SOME HOMELl
TRUTHS.

A republican rally was recently held
in Boston, and speeches were made by
some of the prominent Massachusetts
republicans, among whom were Gov.
Long, Congressman Grape and Candi
date Bishop. Gen. WoOdfOrd was
called last, and he made a speech the
purport of which rather discounted the
managers, who believe that the truth
should be told only when no election is
pending. He said that he had listened
with profound envy to the eulOgiums
pronounced upon Massachusetts by
speaker after speaker, and he cOngrat-
ulated the people that they lived in IA
state whose virtues could be so highly
/ praised He said that republicanism
had been praised and democracy had
been belabOred, and he felt sure that
they would pardon him if he entered
into no praise on the one hand and in
dulged i'll very little criticism on the
other. He said there were two ques-
tiOns left to the people from the war,
which the republican party ought to
have settled long ago, and the shame
is theirs, he said, that they are not
settled. He further said:
One question is the question of the
greenback, which remains claim un-
needed now, when times are good, I'M
noticed now when times are prosper
Gus, but "A broken pledge, which, if
distress and panic shall ever come in
this land, Will rise up and curse our
prosperity and hold the republican
party responsible that we have not yet
done Our duty. The fact is
that over three hundred millions of the
non interest bearing debt of the United
States is continued as the permanent
money of the country. The fact re-
mains that if IL panic were to come next
, year and there were to he scarcity of
+ money, that the clamor would come
up from all over the land, "lf three
hundred millions are good, five hun
bred millions will he better So long
as we retain that grecnback and do not
! pay it off there never will come an
hour of panic or danger to the business
of the country, when there will not
come up the cry. strong and deep and
earnest, when factories shall be closed.
bitter and deep and earnest, when
there shall be panic and distress i'll the
, land and, gentlemen, you have got,
whether Won will or no, to face that
question and dispose of it or it will re-
main and do You harm. Unsettled
questions disturb the peace of the
community, and think it not an idle
warning when tell you this, should
the balance of trade ever turn against
this country and there be much de-
. mand for the export of gold, the gold
will be drained, the silver will remain,
gold will 90 to IL premium, and you will
; he upon silver resumption just as sure
' ly as tO-mOrrow's sun will rise.
The other question, he said, is the
2 complete protection of the southern
: voter. On that he should not speak
, as Mr.. Grape had covered it fully. But
he said that there are new questions
, which meet us which demand settle
( ment. One is the duty of this nation
to the illiterate classes of the country.
| somewhat ut the north, largely ut the
} south. He appealed to them to do
l everything the constitutional power
, permits them to do, to help educate
E those poor black men, that they may
= be good citizens. He also said
The other question of which | wish
= to speak, and to me it is no ideal chi
! mera, no danger of fancy, no mirage, is
the practical question of the political,
; official patronage of the government.
t propose upon this to speak very
V briefly; | propose to speak very earn
estly. Whether you agree with me or
not, kindly give me your patient hear
ing, kindly give what | say earnest
= thought when you shall have left this
E hall. Whatever may have been the
errors of the democratic party, what
ever may be the eXcellencies of the re-
publican party, there are some sad
facts within the recent history of this
= government. | go not back further
4 than two wears. In lSSO we elected to
the presidency of the United States
one of the most cultured and scholarly
f men who ever sat i'll that high office.
= A man 50 broad i'll his scholarship that
, there is no university in the land that
might not have been hOnOred by max
ing him its president. That man had
as clear and profound conception OF
2 the dangers of our political system in
: the direction of official patronage rs
any man in the politics of the country
on either side. Standing in this city OF
i Boston, | think, two years before his
1 nomination, he portrayed in words elo-
. quent and earnest the danger and the
tendency of the use of official patron
age for the payment of partisan debt.
And, vet. when elected to the presi-
= dencV,-bear with me, for shall speak
Y kindly though | speak justly, when
, elected to the presidency, 50 tremen-
dous was the pressure of party intiu-
ence upon him, so earnest were the
e appeals for patronage that came up
i from almost every congressional dis
+ trict in the United States, possibly
not from Observation-Disclosures he for
got the teaching of his own utterance,
IL and, within four months of his Occu-
# pancy of the presidential chair, he
= used the highest offices in the gift OF
the country for the repayment of polit-
ical services rendered either at the
= Chicago convention or in the canvass
= that followed that convention. That
=. is the sober truth of history. When
he had done this and sent his nomina-
lions to the Senate, but, pause mo-
= ment and think what the Senate is
d The Senate of the United States is the
t. highest legislative body known tt
American law. Its members sit as tn,
y representatives of great common
Y wealths. 1t is Il part of the law-mak
II ing power. 1t is more than this. 1T
m mem hers are "A mart of the nationa
is couhcl ol uiiiihls'i"'i"ll; anu pas