The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-10-22

VA AAR AEhCC 1OhAbA " ~ 9sd14A16
an that State. Two of them had been elected to
high Office by both parties, and, notwithstand-
ing all that has been said of them are still OF I'M
furnished name and fame among the men with
whom they have lived since their childhood. i
speak of Governor Wells and Colonel Anderson.
This returning board having revised the returns
according to the plain language of the louisiana
law, reported the result of the canvass to the
President of the United States Senate.
And here comes in what / have always regard
ed as a most inexcusable piece of political con-
duct-the complaint now made OF the tribunal
organized by Congress TO pass upon the vahclty
of the returns of that election. L believed then,
9nd believe now. that the Electoral Commission
was not justified by the Constitution and voted
against ii. spoke against it, and SO did your dis
tinguished Senator, Oliver P. Morton, a man OF
ouch conspicuous ability, frmness and patriot
ism that his name and fame will grow brighter
and brighter as time rolls on. and greatly hon
ored by the people of Indiana without distinction
of party. But this measure was passed mainly
by the Democratic Senators and members, and
by the vote of Senator Mcdonald and seven out
of the eight Democratic Congressman from Indi-
ana. 1t was of Democratic origin. 1t was ex-
pected that by means OF this Electoral Commits
sion the returns under State authority. under
the laws OF the State, would be reversed. but the
Electoral Commission, when organized. did decide
that the returns made by the canvasslng board
we're conclusive; that by them Hayes and
Wheeler we're elected President and Viee-presi-
dent of the United States. This judgment OF a
tribunal created largely by the Democratic party
Is the one SO loudly denounced by Senator Noor-
bees, while he has not one word to say about the
cipher dispatches which were disclosed by the
subsequent Investigation to have passed, by
which large sums of money were offered for the
purchase of electoral votes for Mr.. Tilden.
Now, J. say to you. as l said in the Senate at
the time, the act OF the returning board of Louis
lana was not only legal, but it was right and just
between man and man, and that il Tilden had
become President by the frauds committed in
Ie0uiR1lnp SNnfh EQpnliua and n%hnr GnrfhArn
btates, he would have enjoyed the ~nsufruct of a
fraud; and l give him the credit to believe that
he shrunk from its acceptance, and acquiesced In
the legal decision of the Electoral Commission.
So say the allegation of the Republican con-
yention is entirely true. that the Democratic
party is in power by means of crimes and frauds
against the elective franchise.
But the frauds OF 1884 do not stand alone,
for such frauds have been the conspicuous
means used by the Democratic party in other
elsctions il other States. AS early as 1874 they
int oduced what are known as the ~Plaquemine
frauds, and thus cheated Henry Clay out of the
electoral vote OF Louisiana. The frauds of 1868
in New York, committed by Boss Tweed, were
monumental, amounting. according to the re-
port of q committee of the House of Representa-
tives, to over &c. 600 votes. We have had a re
cent specimen of Democratic frauds in
the city of Cincinnati, where members
of that party ~practiced all the crimes
denounced in the statute book as Of
lenses against the elective franchise, including
perjury forgery, D6IlOb-DOX gtUIQ0R ana the ike.
Honest men might have doubted these allega
tions. but that they are now established by con-
elusive proofs before committees OF both houses
of the Legislature, by the JUDGMENTS of courts
presided over by Democrats as well as Repub-
licans, and by the verdict of honest iurymen and
the punishment of some of the guilty culprits in
the peniteutiary of the State. ] am sorry to say
that nearly all OF the frauds against the elective
franchise have been committed by the
any case where such crimes have been
committed in aid of the Republicans:
but whether by one or by the other, they ought
to be denounced and punished with unmeasured
eeVerlty, for no crimes are more dangerous IN
Republican government than those that destroy
confidence in the purity Of the ballot. If this
confidence is destroyed, then the sooner our
government relapses into tyranny or barbarism
the better, for l would rather. q thousand times,
submit to force openly exercised than to he
cheated by the low cunning of criminals and
forgers.
THE SYSTEM OF PROTECTION.
Both General Harrison and Mr.. Voorhees,
have endeavored to present, in the most at
tractive form. the work Of their re-
Spective parties, but it is to one
topic mainly in this connection that
j wish to call your attention.
General Harrison has stated to you that the Re
publican party adopted the homestead policy,
abolished slavery. preserved the Union, estab-
lished sound money and the highest public cred
it, and has given you the system of protection
by tariff laws which has so greatly added to the
wealth and strength of the country. Senator
Voorhees, seems to ignore the fact that all these
measures have been resisted by the Democratic
party. and the wool and web of their political
life during the last twenty-five years has been
in resisting the measures proposed by the Re
publican party. One would take it from read
ing his speech that the Democratic, also, was a
protective party, in favor of the protection of
American industry, and that the only difference
between the two parties was as to questions of
detail.
Now / will confess that Senator Voorhees, has
been more liberal on this subject than the body
OF his party, and has often separated from them
In his votes on the tariff question, especially of
late years. He quotes the riddle adopted by the
Democratic party in 1884, on the tariff question,
but he does not state the constructions that have
been given to it. We have had a commentary
upon this resolution in the recent action of the
House of Representatives on the Morrison tariff
bill. Colonel Morrison treats the reso-
lutien as entirely consistent with
free-trade ideas, with the abolition
OF the duty.on wool, on iron ore and on what are
ealled the raw materials of industry, and is sup.
ported by a large majority of Democratic mem
bers, while Mr.. Randall! opposes this theory
with a theory of his own. and Mr.. Carlisle would
go still further in the line of free trade. Certain
1t is that If the Democratic party comes into
power, their tendency will be to break down the
protective barriers to domestic industry fur
nished ny the tariff laws.
Ihave always thought that public speakers. In
taking TO you aOoub the Carln question:, have
fred over your heads and talked a good deal
about things you did not know of and cannot
comprehend; treated it as a complex question of
political economy, but it is not. There is not
anything about the tariff question that ought not
to be made plain to the simplest understanding
of any man or boy that hears me. 1t is only a
system of taxation. We have to support the
government of the United States, carry on our
army. build up our navy, pay the expenses of
foreign intercourse. build public buildings. and
carry on the various affairs of the government of
sixty millions of people. That can only de done
By taxation.
Now. we do not levy any taxes directly for the
national government. We do not tax your land,
your horse, and plows, and implements of hus.
baudry. We levy no taxes of that kind. But,
during the war, we did levy a heavy tax upon
many articles of domestic production, and we
went SO far that we got everything on the tax
list that You made or raised on the farm or else
whano L. INA aid ~ 49, ill., No. o-..-