Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1886-09-11
An Appeal to Young Men
In SPEECH MADE BY JAMES A. GARFIELD
AT CLEVELAND, ONO. Der. IL, 1879.


In SPEECH MADE BY JAMES A. GARFIELD
AT CLEVELAND, OHIO. Der. IL, 1879.
Now, tell you. young man, don't vote the
republican ticket just because your father
votes it. Don't vote the democratic ticket,
even if he does vote it. Laughter But
let me give you this one word of advice, as
you are about TO pitch your tent in one OF the
great political camps. Your life is full and
buoyant with hope now, and | beg you, when
you pitch your tent. pitch it among the living
and not among the dead. [Applause.] If
you are at all inclined to pitch it among the
democratic people and with that party. let
me go with you moment while we survey
the ground where hope you will not shortly
lie. Laughter. 1t is a sad place, young
man, for you to put your young life into. 1t
is to me far more like graveyard than like
camp for the living. Look at it. 1t is
beloved all over with the graves of dead is
sues. of buried opinions, of exploded theories,
of disgraced doctrines. You cannot live in
comfort in such place. Laughter. Why.
look here! Here is little double mound l
look down on it and read, SACRED to the
memory of squatter sovereignty and the bred
Scott decision" million and half of
democrats voted for that. but it has been dead
fifteen years-dled by the hand of Abraham
Lincoln, and here il lies. Applause.
Young man, that is not the place Tor you
But look little further. Here is another
| monument, black tomb, and beside il, as
our distinguished friend said, there towers TO
the sky a monument of four million pairs of
human letters taken from the arms of slaves,
and l read on its little headstone this: "Sa-
cred to the memory of human slavery" For
| forty years of its infamous life the democratic
party taught that it was divine-God's insti-
| tuition. fhev defended it, they stood around
it, they followed it to its grave as a mourner.
But here it lies dead by the hand of Abra-
ham Lincoln. Applause. Dead by the
power of the republican party. Applause. I
| Dead by the justice of Almighty God CGreat
applause and cheers. Don't camp there,
young man.
| But here is another little birthstone
tomb, laughter] and read across its yellow
! face in lurid, bloody lines these words "Ss-
cred to the memory of State sovereignty and
| secession" Twelve millions of democrats
mustered around il in arms to keep it alive
| but here it lies, shot to death by the million
guns of the republic. Applause. Here il
| lies, its shrine burned to ashes under the
blazing rafters of the burning democracy
| Applause. 1t is dead | would not have
you stay in there a minute, even in this
| balmy night air, to look at such a place.
| Laughter.
But just before | leave it discover a new
made grave, little mound-short. The
grass has hardly sprouted over it, and all
around it | see torn pieces of paper with the
word ''iat' on them, laughter and look
down in curiosity, wondering what the little
ara e.. 4
memory of the Rag Baby, laughter nursed
in the brain of all the fanatcsm of the
world, laughter ; rocked by Thomas Ewing,
George H. Pendleton, Samuel Cary, and a
few others throughout the land" But it died
on the first of January, 1879, and the one
hundred and forty millions of gold that God
made, and not fiat power. lie upon its little
carcass to keep it down forever. Prolonged
applause.
On, young man, come out of that.
Laughter. That is no place in which to put
YOUR Young life. Come out, and come over
into this camp of liberty, of order, of law, of
justice, of freedom "Amen,'1 of all that is
glorious under these night stars.
Is there any death here in our camp? Yes
Yes! Three hundred and fifty thousand SOL
ders, the noblest band that ever trod the
earth, died to make this camp a camp OF
glory and of liberty forever. Tremendous
applause
But there are no dead issues here. There
are no dead ideas here. Hang out our banner
from under the blue sky this night until il
shall sweep the green turf under your feet
| II hangs over our camp. Read away up uu-
der the stars the inscription we have written
on 1t, 10. these twenty five years.
twenty-five years ago the republican party
was married to liberty, and this is our silver
wedding, fellow citizens. TGreat applause.
A worthlly married pair love each other bet
ter on the day of their silver wedding than or
the day of their first espousals and we are
truer to liberty to-day and dearer to God thar
we were when we spike our first word of
liberty. Read away up under the sky across
| our starry banner that first word we uttered
twenty-five years ago. What was it? "Slav.
cry shall never extend over another foot o,
the Territories of the Great West" rAp
plause. Is that dead or alive? Alive. thanh
God, forevermore Applause And true,
tonight than it was the hour it was written
Applause. Then it was hope, a promise
a purpose. Tonight il is equal with the star,
immortal history and immortal truth. TAp
| plause.
Come down the glorious steps of our ban
ner Every great record we have made We
have vindicated with our blood and with on,
truth. 1t sweeps the ground, and it touche,
the stars Come there, young man, and put
In your young life where all is living, ant
where nothing is dead but the heroes that de
Tended it! Applause. Think these youn,
men will do that. C"Of course they will -