The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1888-09-13
Villas GREAT SPEECH.
Brilliant Address by the Secretary
Of the Interior.

VlLAD UhEh i Ol ELJus
Brilliant Address by the Secretary
Of the Interior.
Measures and Policies Of the Two Parties
Compared - IniquIties Of Protected
Taxatlon-The .sTrust" Atrocity
A Tribute to the President.
Hon. William f. Villas, Secretary Of the
Interior, addressed the Democrats of Wis
consin at Milwaukee few days ago. When
he appeared on the platform he was greet
ed enthusias tically by thousands Of voters,
to whom he spoke as follows:
FELLOW CITIZENS: The Democratic party
of to day, under the leadership and upon
the personal and official record in admins
trait on Of Grover Cleveland, challenges
comparison with its decaying adyer-
sary and confidently lnyokcs the calm and
serious Judgment of the electors of the
Nation. 1t asks for no hasty or passion
ate decision; it appeals to no prejudice, it
stands in no fear Of the most searching
scrutiny. Its trust is in its purp oses, its
fidelity to the people and the unerrlng GER
tainty Of justice and wisdom in their judg-
ment, as the voice Of God II is the historic
party of American popular liberty; and,
from the earliest contests, the champion OF
the people against classes and class gov
ernment; the true exponent advocate and
administrator of the principles Of constitu-
tional liberty in America.
invite you TO contrast the conditions,
the principles and professions Of the great
opposing parties in this contest and the
promise for the future afforded by them
respectively.
What is the Republican party Of tdday,
and wherein is it better or more worthy Of
confidence than it was in 1Ss4s
It was in the beginning more popular
uprising than q political party. 1t found
origin and quickening power in the high
appeal of justice and tenderness for human
brethren in oppression. and in the honest
zeal Of deep conviction its following was
well nigh fanatical 1t was q crusade
against a great National sin; and it fell
upon the time appointed of Heaven for the
purification Of the Republic by fire. So it
rose to rapid power like the whirlwind,
and like the whirlwind it swept its course
Of destructive though wholesome violence.
Within decade the evil which had en-
gendered its being was more than de-
stroyed it was dcraclnated as by dyna-
mite, and the land was strewn with
the mighty wreck, where, in fantastic
chaos, lay States, constitutions and peo-
pies amid the wide flung havoc of war.
That was the logical period Of the party's
existence. 1t stood upon or possessed no
doctrines OF government, no principles for
the guidance Of the institutions Of free.
dom in the repose Of peace. 1t was not
National, but sectional; party for civil
war, not for National fraternity. But the
heart Of victorious people was in its
grasp, and the rage Of war was long un-
spent. The party retained unslackened con-
troll Of all legislation and taxation,
with all their possibilities Of fraudu-
lent gain. 1t was the opportunity of op-
portunities for the political freebooter.
There lay the carcass, and there the keen
scented birds Of prey were soon gathered
together. The Republican party was not
in origin the party Of the rich or the aris
tocratical. Its vanguard was the perse-
cutcd Abolitionists, its mission was to re-
deem the lowly slave, and its appeal was
to the poor and humble rather than to the
rich ana high. But the eye and nose OF
greed never fail, nor ever its insatiate
/ thirst rclents The golden hour was
promptly recognized. Even in the darkest
days Of the mighty life-strugglc of the
Nation, when every thought was agoniz-
| ingly bent and every muscle tense in the
/ fearful strain of war, ever while the
drench Of our brothers blood was yet un-
drunk oy the sated earth, the agents Of
| personal and confederated avarice, darkly
moving behind the scenes, gave constantly
the saillful turn to private gain of meas
urcs taken for the prosecution Of war.
And never, for one moment, did they
suspend their efforts nor even spare the
exhausted people Upon one pretcxt and
another, from almost the earliest grasp oil
Republican dominion, corruption began its
work and schemes for dishonest enrich
nlent of the few to prevail.
1t was IN 1862 that, pursuing the senti
mcnt that National defense required q
transcontinental highway. the Pacific rail
road legislation began; and in 1864 that
with unrelenting ingenuity, it was 81
amended to diabollcal perfection that tht
Government really built the roads, anG
gave them, with land enough for an EN-
pira, to the successful conspirators Then
also, the earliest act for laying taxes, and
aftcrward, with greed that heightened
with each new gluttony, every revenue
measure was perverted and distorted b,
4 ingenious lOuCICS, lHlpcTCtYllUlc ID uIS
but the practised eye, by which privats
tribute was extorted from the people five
times greater than the tax that went to thu
Treasury. Then it was that the monstrou.
vampire hidden in the tariff, which Sc
ductively fans with the wings of protec
lection the laborer whose hearts blood il
sucks, was begotten in sin to rob the toll
ing producers in the fields and forests oil
the wealth they create. And when wal
had ceased, and a great people witt
its Golfers unlocked and its resource.
exposed lay before the spoiler. whilt
in the exhaustion Of struggle ant
the heat Of rage National guard
ianship was gone, there followed such
seizure Of the National wealth by variou,
devices. so rapacious, SO gigantic, SO in
gcnious in the methods by which the grasl
was laid as has never been exhibited il
history. Nothing is comparable to it bu
India under Warren Hastings Other Ia
tions have been despoiled by conqueror
in the open force Of unlicensed conquest
this people was robbed by the devilisf
manipulation Of its own legislation ant
agencies of administration in the hands O.
Its supposed friends.
You know this story; at least SO mucl
as has been brought to open light--par
only Of the shameful whole Sixty fy'
million dollars stand in your stated public
| debt to-day to the account of the Pacifi
railroad loan as the open share Of plunder'
far-reaching rascality levied on = coming
generation. The broad expanse Of tn
public domain. gained under Democratic
administrations and designed for the nu
merous homestcads of independent pio
neers. you have seen granted to corpora
tions by principalitles in area, or delivere,
to the pets Of partisan power to becom
the estate Of landed lords, where some Fl
kins may revel in sudden wealth.
The scandals Of the custom houses; tn
undervaluations Of imports to favorites 0
the party; the millions squandcred on pre-
tense of repairing the rotten hulks of tn
navy; the plundering of the postal scrvic
by fraudulent star-route contracts; tn
sales Of post-traderships; the manifold
forms Of jobbcry, the half of which hav
not been told-who can recall this story o
National! disgrace without modification
Who read the record of dishonesty, on
travagance and recklessness in admins
tration under Republican rule without tn
sense Of burning shame! 1t is well 70
our pride that the full measure of the reck