National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-07-19


10 that the legal tender currency which
fought your battles and saved the life Of
your nation, paid your soldiers wages and
the pensions Of their wives and children,
and freed four million of slaves, decided
to be the constitutional currency of the
country by the supreme court in solemn
Judgment, eight to one-not eight to
seven. Applause and laughter.l Yes,
the currency Of the people, as good as gold
and better than silver [applausel; and that
being so established by the highest
tribunal in the land / do not desire,
when wheat Is only worth SO cents q
bushel in Chicago to disturb finances and
bushes by getting up q currency discus
sion, and therefore / say Let we'll enough
alone" [Applause.l What ia the answer
get for my constituency l represent
many greenback men, good and true
greenback men, like Allan G.. Thurman.
| Laughter aud applause and cries Of
"TimeWl He can answer every shibbo-
leth of tho democracy, besides his green
backism and those men arc willing to come
with you to root out corruption and wrong
from the. government If you will have
them.
How do you receive them2 BY
plank drawn by a capitalist that COM
mences: eve arc in favor of honest
money" Well, who is not2 Trot him
| out IL there is any such man. No, IL Is a
phrase of contempt upon the greenback
men Of this nation. 1t Is an abused
phrase, not original, 80 he cannot get q
patent for II. 1t is ripped up from the
platforms Of my old friends, the republi-
cans. Why don't they say rag baby"
Why don't they get some other insulting
opithet for the greenback men2
Think of IL a moment. There are q
hundred districts in congress where the
change of five hundred men ono way or
the other will Change the incumbent Of
the seat, and there are more than three
quarters Of q million of greenbackors,
honest and true, who knew what they
were about when you did not. APP
plause.] They advocated the greenback
when everybody and all the lawyers were
crying out 1t was unconstitutional, and
now the highest courts have decided they
were right; that Thurman was right, the
greenbsckers were right; that the farm
ing greenbackers were better lawyers
than your kid-gloved gentlemen of the
bar who cried out for honest money. II
any man says that no wants gold and
silver, be it so; but let us enjoy the paper
currency which has now become fixed
| fact-let us stop all agitation.
There 10 one other plank in the plat
form to which do not agree. There are
many times-I believe something like
fifteen-you repeat in your platform how
much you love labor. But you haven't
made any specific proposition but one in
their favor, and that Is coupled with
protection Of capital. There Is another
trouble. You start off in your platform
in one point--you state you are for civil
service reform. Now, will venture to
say there Is not o man in this convention
that IL in favor of civil service reform
unless no is schoolmaster. Laughter
and cries of "time."J One of tho frs,
statesmen Of Ohio, and one who had q
right to be brought here with pride by
his delegation and put before you for your
suffrage, an able and learned man, got
carried away by the doctrinaire and
started one of those civil service reforms
and 1t buried him so far out of sight witt
the Ohio democracy that he has never
been heard Of since. Laughter.]
What Is this civil service reform? II
is to give man the preference who shall
appear to have the most learning. He
signs paper containing questions, and Il
he can answer the question he is said K
DO selected. Now, what want il thai
men from the people, earnest mon O
capacity and integrity, have the offices
and you cannot learn that by any school
masters examination.
Whose portrait is this above my head
The portrait of Gen. Washington, and h
: could not have passed an examination 70
clerk. Lot me repeat. George Washing
ton could not have passed civil secvin
oseniuatfon IN the methoo namea ior
81 200 clerkship. His early education wa
neglected, and in his will, written b,
} his own hand, he spells clothes
"c-l-o-a-t-h-s." Laughter and cries o
"Go on."l Therefore have said that tn
offices belong to the people, and Their
= ought to be frequent change of office II
order to look over the books and see VIII,
. are the defaulters, and they all want t
be turned out, or else when you try t
, punish them they will protect on
, another as they did the star route trials
Laughter
= Again, want frequent change Of office
in order to counterfeit the great tendeno
. of these times to caste in aristocratic lif
! offices. If an Office is good thing, the
. want all the people to have chance Q
! 1t. Laugh teri If it is bad thing, y
: too hard to put IL on poor fellow for hi
8 whole life. Laughter. In the closin
+ moments of the time permitted to me.
want to call attention back to the mai
5 thing, because all these other matters ar
matters of very slight consequence !
I comparison. Bring your minds once moi
, to this tariff platform. Tell the workin
men aud women of this country to-nigi
: whether we will or will not protect thei
D no, not protect but to cherish and foste
t like mother her child, the laboring me
Q and women of the country. Tell thel
, that, and you will sweep tho countr.
Refuse to tell them that and the.
i sorrowful that the democratic party hav
= deserted them, will go their way sadly
4 the workshop and remain there on elet
8 ton day. Cries of "Time."l
! Now, my friends, l shall ask call {
i states on the substitution of my tart
;, plank of the platform. There may
2 objections. There are free trade notion
=, against protection. Theoretically I'm
free trader myself. Applause Pract
: cally, while you have got 5000, 900, 900
o year to raise by custom duties there is y
such thing as free trade. Therefore,
y long as we raise money for honest o!
. penses so long see to it that you cheris
=: and foster in doing it American industr
u and take care of American men an
}, women laboring for their support. An
u let me tell you II you do that the demo
- racy shall go on, the country prosperin
o under their rule from year to year, fro
1 presidential election to presidential ele'
o ton, until the old time of the democrat
u shall come back again when they he
y the country for more than generation
" men. Great applause.
70 Pampas PIuncs.
!, The cultivation of tho white-plum'
u pampas grass and the curing Of its plum
Is an industry recently established in l.
- a..