The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1884-10-11
The Republican Party aS II Is ana
Ever Was.

|
lust been looking over letter in THE Men
Yoyk Witness from one of that class OF con
yrr,s He says II supported the Repub-
lican party from 1860 to 1888, and 1t Is
with regret that we now see that old party
of Grand ideas and noble deeds of the past
bow 50 low TO the liquor power that it dare
not notice or acknowledge in their platform
or otherwise that IA temperance element
existed" The above sentence is only II
sample of what appears weekly IN the
same paper from persons who are leaving
the Republican ranks with apparently a
much regretfuness as Lots wife left Sod
ON Now would il not be to their credit
as well as for the good of the party they
propose To act with in the future If they
would say little or nothing about their Tor
mer connections, or what they consider the
present condition of the party they are
! leaving It seems to me that any honest
and unpreiudiced person who has careful
| " watched the doings of the Republican
party from the time it came into existence
to the present must admit that it is no
worse now than ever il was that its present
candidates are about Of the same class Of
persons AS those it has had in times past
! Its former friends who have now become
dissatisfied with it tell us that it was organ
| lied purposely for the overthrow of slavery,
and since il has accomplished the purpose
for which it was brought into existence II
has become corrupt, and there is no further
need for it. That is what Fawcett Plumb
said in speech he made in the old Farm
Ridge Seminary two years ago, when he
was a candidate for Office on the Prohibi
ton ticket. Now we maintain that it was
not organized exclusively for the overthrow
of slavery, if indeed its organizers had any
such object in view. If that was its object
then it was IA usurper, for there was already
party in existence with platform broad
enough for any Abolitonist to stand upon;
and as to its having overthrown slavery,
that was done not by it but in spite of 1t.
Did not its first president labor with as
much zeal and energy to save the Union
with slavery as ever the mariners labored
TO bring Jonah to land after he had con
fessed his guilt Did he not pettishly an
null the proclamations Fremont and Hun
ter issued for the freedom of the slaves
Ia Al. Al ~ ,l,a,,
the nation was black in the face by reason
of the grasp that southern rebellion had
upon its throat, and he was compelled to
do something, what did he dog Did he
proclaim liberty throughout the land to
all the inhabitants thereof" and call upon
all without respect to color or nationality
to come to the help of the nation against
slavery? He did no such thing, but in
stead thereof he placed the four million
slaves of the country on the auction block
for ninety days and asked but for one bid
of loyalty from the rebel government for
them. If the rebel authorities had at the
last minute of the last night on which the
offer was to be withdrawn complied with
the conditions of the proclamation the
Union and slavery would have remained
together, and slaves might now in 1894 be
clanking their chains under the stars and
stripes and our broad and beautiful prai-
ries as in days of yore, be the privileged
hunting grounds of the government-com-
missioned kidnapper, and yet we call that
act a proclamation of liberty, and It's author
the saviour of his country. What sacri,
lege of language! attended the first Re
publican meeting that was held in Ottawa,
and it was the only political meeting that
ever took any part in, and thought that
some good might come of it. The resolu.
tions that were passed were, In the main,
such as might satisfy wooldyed Adolf
Zionist at that early day, but when | heard
Lincoln some time after that, in the public
square in Ottawa, when in controversy with
Douglas declare he had nothing to do with
those resolutions, and of course did not
consider himself bound by them, conclu-
ded to have nothing to do with the Repub-
lican party, but to oppose it.
As to its record on the liquor question, it
is not necessary that much should be said
about that 1t has been in power long
enough to have abolished the liquor traffic
if 1t had had any purpose to do So Where
il does claim to have accomplished any
thing against the liquor interests ii can
very readily be shown that its claims are
unfounded that the good work had been
done by those who by whatever party they
may have been claimed had more regard
for principle than for party relations.
The Republicans seem to delight in APP
plying such epithets as cranks, fanatics
and insane persons to the Prohibitionists,
and often compare them To mad bull in a
china shop. Well, it is no wonder that
they, and the Democrats too for that,
should be careful of their china ware, for
if il should all be broken in the present