The times., 1888-07-06
ROSCOE CONKLING.

Speech In the National Republican Con-
vention at Chicago, June, 1880. Nomi-
mating Ulysses s. Grant for the Presi-
dency.
And when asked what state he halls from.
Our sole reply shall be,
He halls from Appomattox
And the famous Apple Tree
Obeying instructions | should never
state of New York to propose nomina-
tion with which the country and the Re-
publican party can grandly win. The
election before us will be the Austerlitz
of American politics. It will decide
whether for years to come the country
will be Republican or Cossack." The
need of the hour is a candidate who can
carry doubtful states, north and south;
and believing that he, more surely than
any other, can carry New York against
any opponent, and carry not only the
north, but several states Of the south. New
York is for Ulysses S. Grant. He alone
of living Republicans has carried New
York as presidential candidate. Once
he carried it even according to Demo
cratic count and twice he carried 1t by
the peoples vote, and he is stronger now.
The Republican party, with its standard
in his hand, is stronger now than In 1868
or 1872. Never defeated q war or in
peace, his name is the most illustrious
borne by any living man; his services at
test his greatness, and his country knows
them by heart. His fame was born not
alone of things written and said, but Of
the arduous greatness of things done.
and dangers and emergencies will search
in vain in the future, as they have
searched in vain in the past. for any
other on whom the nation leans with such
confidence and trust. Standing ON the
highest eminence Of human distinction,
and having filled all lands with his re-
nown, modest, firm, simple and self
poised, he has seen not only the titled but
the poor and lowly In the utmost ends of
the world rise and uncover before him.
He has studied the needs and defects of
many systems of government, and he
comes back better American than ever,
with wealth of knowledge and expert
ence added to the hard common sense
which so conspicuously distinguished him
in all the fierce light that beat upon him
throughout tho most eventful, trying and
perilous sixteen years Of the nations his
tory.
Never had policy to enforce against
the will Of the people, he never betrayed
a cause or q friend. and the people will
never betray or desert him. Vilifed and
reviled, ruthlessly aspersed by number
less presses, not in other lands, but in his
own, the assaults upon him have strength
ened and seasoned his hold upon the pub
lie heart. The ammunition of calumny
has all been exploded; the powder has all
been burned once, it's force is spent, and
Gen. Grants name will glitter as q bright
and imperishable star in the diadem Of
the Republic when those who have tried
to tarnish 1t will have moldered in for.
gotten graves and their memories and
epitaphs have vanished utterly.
Never elated by success, never de.
pressed by adversely, he has ever in peace,
as in war, shown the very genius of COM
mon sense. The terms he prescribed for
Lees surrender foreshadowed the wisest
principles and prophecies Of true recon
struction.
Victor in the greatest of modern wars,
he quickly signalized his aversion to
war and his love Of peace by ON arbitra-
tion of international disputes which
stands as the wisest and most majestic
example of It's kind in the worlds diplo-
macy. When imitation, at the height of
its popularity and frenzy, had swept both
Grant which, single and alone, overthrow
expansion and cleared the way for specie
resumption. Tohim, immeasurably more
than to any other man, is due the fact
that every paper dollar is as good as gold.
With him as our leader we shall have no
defensive campaign, no apologies or ex-
plantations to make. The shafts and ar
rows have all been aimed at him and lie
broken and harmless at his feet. Life,
liberty and property will find safeguard
in him. When he said Of the black
man in Florida, Wherever l am they
may come also, he meant that, had he the
power to help it, the poor dwellers in the
cabins Of the south should not be driven
in terror from the homes of their child
hood and the graves of their murdered
dead. When he refused to receive Denis
Kearney he meant that lawlessness and
communism, although they should die
tate laws to whole city, would every
where meet a foe in him, and, popular or
unpopular he will hew to the line of
right, let the chips fly where they may.
His integrity, his common sense, his
courage, and his unequaled experience are
the qualities offered to his country.
The only argument against accept
ing them would amaze Solomon. He
thought there could be nothing new
under the sun. Having tried Grant twice
and found him faithful, we are told we
must not, even after an interval of years,
trust him again. What qualification
does not such fallacy involved The
American republic exclude jefferson Davis
from public trust. Why' Because he
was the arch traitor and would be the
Destroyer. And now the same. people
- aoSko1 IN o~frarixa Grant and not
trust him. Why? Because ne was the