The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1888-06-28
Speech of Judge Thurston.

man of the Chicago Convention on Tue
day last, Judge ]. M. Thurston, of N
| braska, delivered the following stirriI
and eloquent speech.
GENTLEMEN OF THE CONTENTION
am deeply sensible of the distinguishe
honor you have conferred upon me as tt
presiding officer of your temporary organ
ZatiOn.
| am also mindful of the grave respons
cilities of the position; and if they al
successfully met it will be due to the COZ
tinuance OF your loyal assistance.
have no words in which to fittingly e3
press my heartfelt appreciation of you
confidence. thank you, gentlemen, nc
for myself alone, but for that great an
growing West which never disappoints tn
expectations of the Republican party.
come from State whose vast domai
has been largely appropriated by the sur
viving veterans of the Army of the Reput
lie, under the beneficent provisions of th
homestead and pre- emption laws eDaete,
by a Republican Congress. And. true t
the heroic recollection of the past, tn
homesteaders of the West still march OF
under the banner of Republicanism.
In victory and defeat, in sunshine an,
"
mighty West retains the courage of it
principle, though it brings defeat. is bet
ter than success achieved by broken VOW
and political dishonor.
We are met in National Convention TO-
deliberatlon and conference.
The Republican party of the United
States relies upon the wisdom of its assem-
bled delegates for such action as will in.
sure success. If we are prepared to hon
estly and fairly meet the supreme issues
of the hour with d clear, fearless and ring
ing declaration of principles, and to nomi
nate a ticket which will commend itsel1
to the loyalty and intelligence of the
country, we can grandly win.
We enter upon the proceedings of this
Convention prepared to sacrifice individ
ual judgment to the wisdom of the major
ity, and to lay down personal prefer
ences on the altar of party success.
When our candidates are chosen we will
all join with heart and soul in the grand
chorus of rejoicing. and the rainbow of oul
harmony shall give certain promise of the
glory of victorious morning in Noyem-
Der.
When the Democratic party at the close
of the last Presidential election robbed us
of victory honestly and fairly won, we
patiently waited for the certain coming of
the justice of the years. We hoped and
believed that 1888 would right the great
national wrong of 1SS4-right it not only
for the Republican party, but also for the
grand and glorious candidates whose
names we're the inspiration of that won.
derful campaign.
The infinite wisdom of an all.wise Prov
idence has otherwise decreed.
One of them-the citizen-Soldier, the
warrior statesman, the Black Eagle of
Illinois-has been summoned by the Silent
beyond the river. But although Jno. A
Logan is dead in the body, yet he lives
again in the illuminated pages of his
country's most splendid history lives in
the grateful loye of free people whose
Union he so CALAMITY fought to preserve
lives in the blessings of q down-trodden
race, whose freedom he so manfully strug,
gled to achieve lives in the future song
and story of a hero worshiping world, and
along the highway of the Nations glory
side by side with old John Brown, Abra-
ham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, his
soul goes marching on.
The other, that gallant leader, the
Chevalier of American politics. the glory
of Republicanism and the nightmare OF
Democracy, our Henry of Navarro, is
seeking in foreign travel the long needed
relaxation and rest from the wearisome
burdens of public life and service. With
the sublime magnanimity of his incom.
parable greatness he has denied us the in
finite pleasure of supporting him in this
Desiring above all things party harmony
and success, he has stepped from the GER
tain ladder of his own laudable ambition
that some other man may climb to power
AS his true friends we can not, dare not
commit the political crime OF disobedience
to his expressed will. We can not place
BIN at the head of the ticket. butwe will
make him the commanders Inc chief at the
head of the forces in the field, where he
will be invincible. And, though James
G. Blaine may not be our President. yet
he remains our uncrowneG king, WELDING
the baton of acknowledged leadership SUI
preme in the allegiance OF his devoted fol-
lowers. honored and respected by all honest
and loyal men, the greatest living Amer
lean. and the worthy object of our indy
ing love.
But the Republican party is not left
without great men to place upon its ticket
We have that honest, able and exper
ienced financier, statesman and Senator
from Ohio, and his no less distinguished
colleague from Iowa. Indiana, Michigan
and Wisconsin present to us gallant sol.
diers, while New York, New Jersey, Kan
sas, Connecticut and other States Offer
worthy and favorite sons. From this
splendid galaxy of political store we CAL
not choose amiss. The Republican party
points with pride to the great achieve
ments of its past, and offers, as an earnest
of its future faithfulness. an unbroken
record of services performed for freedom
union and national prosperity. 1t is pre-
eminently the party Of protection. 1t was
born of the irrepressible desire to protect
to save our civilization from the blighting
curse of it's crime against humanity. 1t
performed the sacred mission of protect
ing the Republic from secession and dis
union, and in the latter time it succeeded
it protecting the credit and currency OF
the Nation from reputation and imitation
The platform epitomized stands for the
protection of popular government on the
American continent +; stands for the pro-
lection of all governmental and interna
tiOnal rights from restriction or invasion
stands for the protection Of the life, lib
,erty and property of the individual
stands for the protection of all the i'm
munities and privileges of American clti-
zenship stands for the protection of the
ballot-box from the crimes of intimlda
tion, robbery and substitution stands fol-
the protection of American commerce
American manufacture and American
agriculture from destructive foreign com
petition stands for the protection Of
home invention, home skill and home la
Dor against the free-trade heresies which
would pauperize and degrade them all
stands for the protection of the people
from the unjust and oppressive exaction
and combination OF aggregated capital anC
corporate power stands also for the pro
lection of both capital and corporation
from confiscation and mob violence and
above all, stands for the protection Of the
sanctity and happiness of the American
home.
1t welcomes to our shores the dowr
trodden and oppressed OF every land, bu
it insists that the inestimable BLESSING O.
American citizenship, purchased with tn
priceless blood of our heroes and martys
shall be extended to those only who are il
full sympathy and accord with the funda
mental principles of our government, an,
who will Loyalty support the sacred provis
ions of the constitution of the Unite
States. And it holds that Congress ha
the power to save American oivilizatio
and morality from the leprosy of Asiati
Paganism, degradation and contagion.
1t maintains that the nation should ex
tend the benefits of free government to a
true lovers of liberty, but it demands tina
the law of the land shall be a shield t
those only who obey it, and that for tn
Anarchist, the Communist and the Grim
nal American iuStice has nothing TO Offe