Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1904-08-10
RECORD Of FIFTY YEARS
Of FAITHFUL SERVICE
Speech of Secretary of State at Jackson, Mich, Upon
Celebration of the Birth of the Republican Par
ty--True to the People in Peace and War.

go ~
Republican party during the last half
century. Mr.. Hay said:
A century is but a moment Of his
tory; it has often happened that sey-
eral of them have passed away, since
men began to record their deeds,
with little change in the physical
aspect or the moral progress of the
world. But at other times-of in
tense action and spiritual awakening
"a single generation may form an
epoch; and few periods Of equal dur
alton in political annals have been so
crowded with great events as the fifty
years we celebrate today. Under
the oaks Of Jackson on the 9th OF
July. 1854. a party was brought into
being and baptized. which ever since
has answered the purposes of its ex.
istence with fewer follies and fail
ures and more magnificent achieve
ments than ordinarily fall to the lot
OF any institution of mortal origin.
And even the beginning of the end is
not yet. The historic party is only
now in the full maturity Of its power
nd it, capacity for good. We look
back lyon l pas oil unparalleled use
id.ness AMI pride; We confront the flu
lure and its exac,ing problems with
a confidence born OF the experience
Z diiIicGlties surmounted and
...I.-phs achieved in paths more
thorny and ways more arduous than
any that are likely to challenge the
courage and the conscience of the
generation which is To follow us
1t is meet that at this stage OF ouT
journey We should review the past
and read it's lessons, and in its light
take heart Tor what lies beyond.
OF Noble Origin.
The Republican party had a noble
origin. 1t sprang directly from an
aroused and indignant national con
science. Questions of nnance, OF pc
litical economy, of orderly admins
t%ration. passed out of sight for the
moment, to be taken up and deal
with later on. But in 1854 the ques
ton that brought the thinking mel
together was whether there should
be a limit to the aggressions OF slay
cry and in 1861 that solemn inquiry
turned 10 one still more portentous
Should the nation live or die? The
humblest old Republican in America
has the right to be proud that in thu
days of his youth in the presence o
these momentous questions he judg
ed right; and If he is sleeping in hi
honored grave his children may just
ly be glad of his decision
II was not so easy fifty years ag'
to take sides against the slave powel
as ii may seem today. Respect foI
the vested rights of the Southern
people was one of our most sacret
traditions. II was founded on thu
compromises of the constitution
and upon a long line of legal and leg
islatiye precedents. The men of tn,
Revolution made no defense Of slav
cry in itself: Washington, Adams
Jefferson and Franklin deplored 1T
existence, but recognised the neces
sity of compromise until the public
mind might rest in thee hope of 1T
ultimate extinction. But after the!
had passed away, improvements IL
the culture and manufacture Of cot
ton made this uneconomic form o
labor for the time improbable, ant
what had been tolerated as a TEN
porary necessity began to be upheld
as a permanent system. Slavery en-
trenched itself in every department
of our public life. Its advocates dom
mated congress and the state legis
l~atures; they even invaded the pulpi
and grotesquely wrested a few text
Of scripture to their purpose. The,
gave the tone to society; ever tn
southern accent vas initiated in on
schools and colleges.
II the Shareholders had been con
tent with their unquestioned FREEDOM
nance, they might 70 many year
have controlled vi political and sc
cial world. II was natural for tn
conservative people of the north 4
say: I'VE deplore the existence o
slavery, but we are all to blame 70
It; we should not cast upon our breth
rem in the south the burdens and per
lis of its abolition. We must bea
with the unfortunate condition o
things and take our share Of It's In
conveniences." But the s~laveholdinl
party could not rest content. The an
clients said that madness was the fat,
of those judged by the gods. Contin
ual aggression is a necessity OF a falls
position. They felt instinctively tina
II their system were permanently 4
endure il must be extended, and 4
attain this end they were ready 4
risk everything. They rent in twain
the compromises which had protect
ed them so long. They tore down tn
bulwarks which had at once restrict
ed and defended them; and confidinl
in their strength and Jul patience
they boldly announced and inaugu
rated the policy of the indefinite eS
tension OF their peculiar institution.
Rushed to Destruction.
Once embarked upoi. this fatal en-
terprise they left nothing undon
which could contribute to the catas
trophe upon which they were rush
Ing. The Wing party had gone I
ruin In 1852 on account of the impos
sibility OF combining the scattered ele
ments of opposition to the party O
p~ro-slavery aggression; but the
themselves furnished the weapo
which was to defeat them. In May
1854. after several months Of pas
sionate debate, to which the countr,
listened with feverish interest, cor
gress passed the bill organizing tn
territories OF Kansas and Nebrasks
emitting the restrictions of the Mis-
souri, compromise, which exclude
slavery from them. This action a
once precipitated the floating ant