Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1884-08-27
mn. BLAINE Defended.
An Eloquent Speech by Sena-
tor HOar, of Massa-
chusetts,
Delivered at the Great Repub-
lican Meeting at
Boston.

The first question, compared to which every
other is petty and triting, is that of the SUI
premacy Of the Constitution itself. l know not
what others may think, hut cannot stand in
Faneuil Hall in honor, when know that in
great States the right of suffrage is practically
denied to my countrymen. do not think my
own right to vote for President is of much value
if the man of my choice is to be defeated by
such processes as prevail at the South There
are three States Missssippi, Louisiana. and
South Carolina-to say nothing of Others in
which, beyond all question, the electoral vote
recorded at the coming election will Shave no re-
laton whatever to the will of the people These
three States cast twenty-six electoral votes
with Virginia they cast forty. Now, giving to
Gov Cleveland all the States that his most en-
thusiastic supporters can hope for, he will fall
far short of an election unless the votes of these
States, wrested from their Republican maiori-
ties by crime and fraud, are to be counted in his
favor. The young reformer who votes for
He can only help to make possible the
successful accomplishment of the crime
by which a minority. shall usurp the
very simple and familiar. 1t is known as the
Mississippi plan. Violence and murder are
made use of until the minority get the election
offices in into their hands, and thenceforth the
ascendancy is maintained by the easier way of
tissue ballots and fraudulent counting. These
things will scarcely be denied by Southern
Democrat in private. The leading Democratic
papers in each of these States / have named,
have in substance admitted these facts, and all
but one have indicated them as necessity.
You tell me Gov. Cleveland is not responsible
for these things. If he were to declare in man
ner that showed he was in earnest that he
would, If President use the power vested in him
for their suppression or if he should declare as
an honest man should DO, that he would not
take an office gained by such means, he could
not get Democratic vote south of Mason and
Dixon's line.
Another question next in dignity is that
of the wages of the American workman. We do
| economy, with its tidings of despair,
which tells us that it is the lot OF the
workman forever to toll for bare life.
We, believe this country is governed, is to be
governed, and ought to be governed by the men
who work with their hands farms and in
shops. Unless these men shall have return
for their labor, which shall bring them leisure,
comfort, education for their children, they cam
not preserve the qualities needed for citizen
ship, and the republic must fall. There may be
a great and powerful nation on this continent
on other terms, but there cannot be a great re-
public. This end can only be secured by the
maintenance of the American system. The
prices of many other things, the rates of ex-
change, are, in the artificial arrangements of
commerce, determined in Great Britain. We
do not propose to annex American labor to that
market We believe that by judicious system
of protection, framed for that purpose, this
suit can be and Is secured, and that agriculture,
manufacture, and commerce will alike be bene-
flied. A few theoTetic economists, a few college
professors, and the great bulk of the old owners
of plantations and slave labor, differ with us.
We propose to debate that question with them,
and take the verdict of the American people.
The Republican party has nominated its can
dates and framed its platform. Your delegates,
in obedience to what they believed to be the
wish of their constituents, voted for the distin
guished statesman from Vermont. But are
bound to say that there was never nomination
made under circumstances more entitled to
spect. The unit rule, which formerly threatened
to trammel the free choice of the people, was
overthrow. The holders of office were in al
most solid column for another candidate / do
not believe that until within a few days Mr.
Blaine either sought or expected the result.
1t was the rrepressible act of the people who
had D0Ix
the States and communities who have
made this choice. They are the very flower
the nomnaton Of M6St is besf n rs
our American life. 1t is the nomination of what
is best in human society the round world over.
It is the nomination of the great free Statesa 1t
school-house. 1t is the nomination of the men
who own and till their own farms. 1t is the
nomination of the men who perform skilled la
Dor III our shops. 1t is the nomination of the
soldier. of the men who went to the war and
stayed all through. 1t is the nomination of
the men who paid the debt and kept the
currency sound, and saved the nations honor.
1t is the nomination of the men who saved the
country in war, and who have made it worth
living in in peace This, fellow citizens, is the
"riffraff Of the Republican party that surrounds
James G. Blaine"
The people knew well what they were doing.
Mr.. Blaine, if we except our great soldiers, has
been for nearly twenty years the most conspic-
nous personal presence in the country. He has
dwelt in his simple American home in Augusta
the inmost recesses of his life blazing light has
been constantly poured. He is the choice of
what is best in character and what is most pro-
gressive in opinion throughout the whole coun-
try. Gentlemen tell us that he has done moth
ing of memorable public service. had thought
otherwise: I had thought him one of the very
greatest of the great leaders who have conducted
the American people along the difficult pathway
of danger and of glory which they have Travelled
for the past twenty years. L had thought his
hand was found in the framing Of the four
and f1ft0arth ho6
thought-indeed, had known-that he was in
the very inmOst councils when the resumption
act was framed, and that his influence carried it
through the House over which he presided. I
had thought that he had been Speaker of the
| House of Representatives during six crowded
| and eventful years. had thought that among
| the great orators of the country he had been of
the very greatest and most persuasive in the de-
| bate which satisfied the American people to take
up the heavy burden of the debt, to keep its cur
| rency depressed and it's credit safe had
thought that when in Maine the ambitious lar
| ceny of the Democratic party undertook to pill
| fer a whole State Government at once, 1T was
| his leadership that by peaceful and lawful meth
DDS bafied the conspiracy and saved the State
| / remember too the next year, when the ReDub-
| Hcans had the temptation to retaliate in kind
| and exclude Gov Plaisted by technical objec
| tions it was Mr.. Blaine who said One major
| 1ty for Mr.. Plaisted shall be as good as a
They say Mr. Blaine is a "Jingo." He is just
such lingo" as was John Quincy Adams. The
malice Of his detractors brings against his per-
|
! ed by no proof and refuted by every witness who
| knows the facts, and single phrase in a letter
which is fully susceptible of an honest construc
| ton It is said that the President of the United
States ought to be like Caesars wife, above sus-
picion. have one thing to say about Caesar.
Caesar did many base things; among them was
| the destruction of the liberties of his country;
| but he never did baser thing than when he
| abandoned hiswife because somebody slandered
| her.
/ wish to say word concerning Mr.. B]aines
associate on the ticket, whom for fifteen years I
have had abundant opportunity of knowing.
Gen Logan's opinions and character have
been a constant growth from the
time he entered public life as a
Democratic Representative from Egypt thirty
years ago. have not ex )lored, but / have no
| doubt if you were to look back among forgotten
records, you would find many opinions that he
| expressed and many votes that he gave with
which YOU and should have little sympathy.
! But what of that? He was born again in the
day of the great regeneration. He went through
the baptism of fire and blood and ever since
has been true as steel on every question of
patriotism and freedom. He is the type and
representative of the American volunteer
soldier. He entered the private. He
| came out the highest in rank and the most
famous of all the men who enlisted from civil
life Ever since, the people of his great State
have kept him in public service in House and
oth HaT S1oa ~