The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-10-26

southwest corner OF some LOWDSul p-nOe
| the opinion of some man or of some mass
Of the entire country, formed
by discussion. and illuminated by
| common sense and common interest.
And the use of party Is that 1t may
gather up this sentiment and fairly reflect
it in all its extremes and put that re1ec-
tion upon the statute hook in the shape of
law. In order that there may be pubic
opinion, there must be discussion And In
order that there may be discussion, there
must be such meetings as we hold mere To-
night-meetings at the crossroads and IN
the school houSes-wherever men meet IN
public and prlvate-discussing the facts
that must govern and the results that Will
follow. Men get beat in elections and yet
those men who get beat and whose
party and desires and beliefs go down, say,
II had a fair show" He is satisfied be-
cause he has had his day in court. He has
had his jury in the shape of his nelgnoorS
and the public generally. He has had his
day of trial at the day of election and il it
Is fair, as it is bound TO be, as 1t Is IN a
large portion of the Republic, he will be
satisfied. Hs may think he Is mistaken
and give it up; or, he may say, Il am not
mistaken. l did not get those people to
hear as they ought to, and there VIII be
another day of trial and the jury Is there.
This is the great American principle that
did it ever occur to you that in large pOr-
tion of this republic there is no jury and
no trial day? There is a day of election.
but the result of that election is as well
known months before as IL IS afterwards.
No meeting like this is being held in Ala
bama. or Mississippi, or Georgia, or South
Carolina; no public expression of opinion
there either in the papers or by free
speech. You have no jury down there aud
you can get no verdict. You can never
have the semblauce of a trial and cOuSe-
quently that large portion of this Country
has no means of gathering public opinion,
or, if it has, it has put the means under its
feet. And yet, fellow citizens, you are
asked to add your vote to tho votes from
those states that are not gathered as
the result of public opinion and not
as the result of public discussion,
That your votes added TO these obtained
by fraud and by violence shall put the
Democratic party into power. | am not
prepared to say that the condition of
things down there, which / will not
dilate upon and which is not denied. and
which resulted not alone in the disfran-
chisement of the black man but the white
man as well who happened to be against
the ruling power. | do not say that there
can or cannot be an adequate remedy APP
piled All know is that we are going to
try it. Applause.
not reach, there is one thing that public
opinion can accomplish, because you and
the people of the other northern states
who have spent your time and money to
be informed in order that you may have n
disinterested and enlightened public
opinion, you can say as you ought TO say
that until the Democratic party does in
troduce free methods, until it does give
fair elections. it shall never be put into the
seat of public power.
But, fellow citizens, there are some peo-
pie who say we are not restricted TO
choice the Republican and Democratic
parties. There is another party-in fact,
a half dozen of them: you pays your
money and you takes your choice L
speak with no disrespect to any man who
believes that the laws are against him;
that they are unequal in their operation.
He who wants to take and have a party
by himself or by himself and neighbors,
however great or however small. why, that
is his right. All | say is that no man can
have his proper influence in the control Of
public affairs unless he is a member of one
or the other of these great parties, seeking
by every means in his power to give that
party control in the country in order that
the beliefs which ne holds TO may obtain
in the general government.
There are some things sought for accord
ing to declarations and platforms which |
will briefly advert to. You will see, in the
first place, that today is enough for me,
and tomorrow. If any man wants to dis
cover the record of the Republican party,
ignoring the question of today, it lies open
before him in the pages of history. But |
notice the people who are mostly instru-
mental in forming new party, and those
who speak for them, have ever tried To
dim the record of the great men who led
this country through the vicissitudes and
ilG of no r. Vi Lincoln
not escape; and if we take men like
Stephens, Chandler, Wade and Sumner
and give effect to the words that are
uttered about them, you would think they
must be rascals indeed.
Was the last generation wiser than thiss
If so, then what is the use of living if we
do not grow wiser? Is it as wise as
this2 Then again, what is the use of liv-
ing if we have not gained on the pasty
And when person talks TO me about the
things that were done during that great
trial of the war, / am reminded of a day
that | spent before the military commits
sion appointed by the president to examine
into the facts and circumstances attendant
upOn the removal of Gen. Warren by Gen.
Sheridan at the battle of Five Forks.
Sheridan removed Gen. Warren practically
in the midst of an action. Gen. Warren
got the president to appoint a military
commission to examine into it and aScer-
tain whether Gen. Sheridans actions were
warranted or not. / drifted in one day TO
where the commission was sitting in
building in New York. Ii was summer
day: the flies were buzZing laZily around
the room; the reporters nodded, and the
witnesses were not more than half awake.
Everything betokened ease and COM
fort and indifference. The question
then seemed to be whether General Warren
was moving fast enough or not Well. in
hut faG TF11R "a ms n hF geaH l..
an hour would have been going at a very
rapid gait. ! refreshed my recollection
and thought Of some Of my own expert
ences, limited as they were, in that great
struggle When brought them to mind.
| said: You can never retry that question.
No man can tell who was not there, and
even those who were with fading recOl-
lection, cannot tell whether in the crisis Of
that battle a man was moving fast
enough at a mile an hour or at twenty
miles an hour. There were emergencies
then when men went faster and further
than they ever thought they could 20. He
who can recollect from his own experience
to complain OF things during the war
now more than twenty-five years gone
by reminds me of nothing so much as
of what the boy said TO his mother. He
rushed in from his play, threw him
self sobbing into his mothers lap a.
though his heart would break. Why /
my son. 4" said his mother. what j. itl' !
"Oh, mother, mother, mother" said he. /
Il didn't have half enough to eat all last /
year,
Twenty years ago, in the middle OF the /
war, with bankrupt treasury, with moth /
ing that was portable that the rebels I
hadn't stolen, an unarmed people, unused I
to war, were confronted with the greatest I
peril that ever confronted a free people
heroic times those werel Heroic IN this /
that the people did not complain of little /
things Anything, everything. IN order /
that the rebellion should be put down. 4