Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-04-28
GRANTS BIRTHDAY
How the Pittsburg Americas
Club Kept the Same.
LEADERS SPEAK AT A BANQUET.

birthday OF Gen Grant, was an event of
more than ordinary interest. After an in
formal reception lasting one hour, dinner
was served promptly at : O'Clock Among
the guests of national renown were Speak
er Reed, Senator NJ s Quay, Hon John 5
Clarkson, Hon. f. 5. Osborn. Hon John
Dalzell Hon. Thomas NJ Bayne, Col.
Richard Murphy, f. W. Halford; Governor
Beaver, Of Pennsylvania; Lieutenant Gov.
ernor Davis, of Pennsylvania; Adjt Gen.
d. II. Hastings, Senator G. W. Delamater;
Hon. Robert E. Taylor, of New York, and
many Others
Reed on the Republican Party.
The two principal speeches OF the even
ing were those Of Speaker Reed and Hon.
J. ;. Clarksoa. Mr.. Reed began by saying:
"Iour toast strikes the only possible note
Of continued victory for the Republican
party. Continued victory we must have.
Not as partisans, but as patriots Not on the
past must be our reliance, but on the future
II to-day We are not in the forefront of hui
man progress, 20 have been followers Of
Abraham Lincoln in the years gone by is
a burning disgrace. Progress is the es-
sence of Republicanism. To have met |
Al
our history. To meet great emergencies |
as they shall arise must be our daily walk |
and duty, or we cease to be. Hanging on |
10 old traditions is the business OF the |
Democratic party. And it does that bust |
ness well; we can never rival it.
The Southern Question.
Prefacing his remarks on this issue By |
saying that ne had not for years talked in
the house about southern outrages and
wrongs, not because he did not believe in
their existence, but because the remedy
could not come from politicians-vho were
only seventh-hour men but from the peO-
pie, Mr.. Reed said that the south denies
that cheating at elections exists in that
section. so did it deny the ku-kIux, and
other methods adopted 10 annihilate
the Republican vote. On this point he
said: Il call upon you to note one Singh
lar fact-that while it existed every one Of
these crimes against the government was
most solemnly denied by the southern press
and southern people. No man denies them
to-day.
Some Basic Principles.
let us come at some principles which
are fundamental in this matter 4 negro
is citizen OF the United States He has
just "a much right 10 vote and have his vote
counted as anybody on the earth That he
i poor and ignorant. does not under the
constitution put upon his neck the foot OF
riches or of intelligence. Manhood and
not riches-manhOod and not learning is the
basis of our government. We would like
ali our citizens to be learned; We wish they
~ere all rich; but until they become both
we VIII take the average of all Of them a.
they are. Nothing less than that would be
government by the people. While the
h.. IN, ii, -
cheatingS and the ballot-box stuffing. sin
gularly enough they justify them. Why
defend them if they don't happens You
cannot understand this on the principles
OF logic but You can on the principles OF
lying.
The Republican Remedy.
The Republican vote Of the south the Re
publican party Is entitled 10 under the con
stitutiOu, whether that vote be ignorant OF
sensible II ignorant, We need it to offset
the Democratic ignorance which votes in
New York and other cities. Why he
asked, should they poll their ignorance
and we not poll ours He then asked
what Is the remedy" and proceeded to
advocate national election law Let u
cut loose from the state elections, do our
own registration, our own counting, and
our own certification. Then the nation
HAAA DC SdtA7lIEaA against tIIs CpuEst- DC
constitutional objection can be urged
Freed from all right of interference
the south will have what they have longed
for-the power to work out their own pc
culiar problem themselves; and ] venture
the prophecy that the relief from outside
pressure Will break down the race issue"
ClarksOn strikes a Note of Warning.
Hon. J. ;. Clarkson spoke to the toast
The Republican Press He said he be
lieved the Republican press to form the
strongest intellectual force on the cont
nent and then proceeded: The campaign
of 1892 will be largely a newspaper cam
paign and it has already began. Let Us be
frank and say that the Democrats saw this
before the Republicans, for any close OBJ
server must have seen with interest, and
almost establishment, the marvellous man
ner in which the Democratic party has been
strengthening its lines in the newspaper OF
the magazine. In latter days it has been
beating US in our own game. In the large
cities of the east they have captured nearly
all the magazines and illustrated papers
Some Significant Figures.
in New York city / 400, 900 copies oil
daily newspapers are printed daily. Less
than 2OO,O0U Of them are Republican. This
means that two-fifths of the Republicans
OF New York city and its environments are
reading Democratic papers, taking the
Democratic version OF things and the
young people Of the households being edu
Gated unconsciously against the party OF
their fathers. In Boston the papers of
the largest circulation are also Democratic
New England has largely gone from the
faith of the days of the war in its newspa-
pers. The same is true OF nearly every
large city ia the country Democracy has
also pressed its conquests to the agricul-
tural press and in the last three or four
years many of the farmers papers in the
west have become advocates of free trade
He closed his remarks on the subject with
an appeal to the party to take notice of
this state of affairs.
The Civil Service Question.
Proceeding to the discussion of civil
service reform Mr.. Clarkson said: The
American theory is for frequent changes
in all public Offices, and for every Amer
lean boy to have an honest chance, whether
he seeks 1t in politics or elsewhere. There
is no American sympathy for life holding
| class in office, and no real American sym
pathies attend the present experiment of
creating profession of officeholders. They
do not believe in the English theory of su-
psrior classes and lifeholding classes All
| officers under their own control they
change every two years or four, whether
in township, city, district, state or nation.
Never anywhere have the American people
made the least expression in favor of life
tenure in civil office believe the claim
Of the Mugwump that the people favor
| q life-holding class in Office if submitted
to the people themselves, would be rejected
n mn