Huntsville gazette., 1892-06-18
PRESIDENTIAL TIMBER.
Depew's Great Speech at the Re-
publican National Convention.
The Republican Party Amply Provided
with Suitable Material for the Pres
idency-The Party's Claim to
Popular support.


was inaugurated at Minneapolis on the
evening of June s by a grand concert,
in which was chorus of one thousand
voices supported by the Second regi-
lnent band of Chicago. Avast audience
numbering fully twelve thousand peo-
pie witnessed the imposing ceremonies,
and the scene was one long to be re-
Inembered by those present The in
augural address was made by Hon.
Chauncey NJ. Depew, who in his most
pleasing vein spoke as follows:
About eighteen hundred years ago,
when Rome was mistress of the world,
The Emperor Titus, who was counted
the most enlightened and liberal of the
Caesars, celebrated universal conquest
by the dedication of the coliseum.
Within its walls were gathered eighty
thousand spectators, who represented
all that there was of the religion, poll
tics and culture of the Roman empire.
Neither eloquence, nor music, nor song
was present. Captives who were the
flower and youth of every nation were
forced into the arena as gladiators, and
five thousand of them were slaugh-
tered amid the plaudits of emperors,
senator's, priests and people. Thou
sands of early Christian martyrs-men,
women and children--were mangled,
torn and devoured by wild beasts.
Centuries have come and gone, most
of them presenting only bloody records
of suffering and sorrow. Millions have
died upon the battlefield and upon the
scaffold, dynasties have been over
thrown, empires disrupted, continents
ravaged and the people kept in british
ignorance and slavery, but upon the
western hemisphere freedom from
caste and tradition, the equality of all
men before their Maker and the laws,
the equal opportunities for every one
to rise to the highest places in the state
and to grasp the largest industrial and
commercial prizes, the generous recog-
milton of mutual obligations, one TO the
other, have created an empire greater
in power and incalculably better in
eyerv attribute of benefcent sovereign
ty than Rome. The principles of its
government have been influenced and
are influencing and sliberalizing the in
stitutions of every nation in the world.
1t has welcomed the people from every
land. and over the unseen wires of af-
fection the messages of liberty are
passing from every emigrant's home to
the village of the old world from which
he came.
In this hall will gather tomorrow the
| representatives of one-half or more of
| the American people. They meet to
nominate the man who shall conduct
the government and formulate the pr n
ciples which will control its policy.
| The stake is boundless empire and
majestic power. 1t is prize which
has been in all ages the fruitful source
| of rebellions and of civil wars, but
under our institutions the issue is
settled not by bullets, but by ballots.
| If the result of the final contest shall
| be defeat for the man and the measures
| here put before the country the mi
nority will Loyalty support the govern
ment and maintain its laws. If it shall
be victorious the defeated party will
| with equal good temper acquiesce, anc
the result will rebound to the glory OF
the republic and to the happiness of its
people.
A distinguished statesman from Mis-
souri, remarked the other day that the
differences between the parties were
so unimportant that it did not make
much difference to which of them. a
citizen belonged. We who have come
here as representatives of the repub-
lican party do not entertain any such
idea.
The history of our organization, its
men and its measures of the past are a
part of its claim to popular support
The democratic party neither through
the mouths of its orators nor the utter
ances of its conventions nor the editor
ials of its newspapers ever refers to .
democratic statesman since Gen Jack
son with one exception. They do speak
of ex-President Cleveland-s sometimes
from Albany and then again to Syra
| cuse; sometimes in the New York
| World and then again in the New York
| Sun. But it is difficult to put states
man in the category of jefferson or Of
jackson when part of his party ascribe
him as a mountain of light and the
other part as a mountain of beef. Nc
mention is ever made of Polk, Pierce
or Buchanan. No statesman of demo
cratic faith brings us in contact with
the needs or the obligations of the pres
ent The republican party, on the othel
hand, hangs up on the walls of its con
ventions the portraits of its presidents
and knows, as the country knows, tina
their lives and achievements are thu
best history of the country.
At the head of the list stands th'
savior Of the republic and the eman
| cipator of slaves-Abraham Lincoln
Then comes the great soldier, who's
genius Of war gathered the scattered
fragments of power and welded then
into that irresistible force-Ulysses s
Grant. Then comes the educator, soldier
statesman and orator, who has been al
example in the theme of college com
mencement and the aspiration o
American youth--James A. Garfield
Then that admirable officer and mode
| gentleman-chester A. Arthur. w
honor and express our best wishes 70