New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-07-07
REPUBLICANS CELEBRATE
Continued from first page.

-alsSOufl compromise, which excluded slavery
from them. This action at precipitated
the noating ant-savery sentiment of the courl-
Try. a mighty cry Of TesolUte indignation arose
from ore end Of the land TO the other. The hol-
low truce. founded upon the legitimate compTo-
misses which had been observed in good faith by
aae side ard ruthIessly violated by the other
VAS al an end. Men began to search their con-
sciences instead Of the arguments OF political
'@pediency. A discussion OF the right ana
wrong Of slavery became general: the light WAS
let IN. fatal 70 darkness. system which de-
graded men, dishonored women, deprived little
ehluIen OF the sacred soi&ce OF nome, was
cooiacd from the hour II passed into the arena
or +fee cebate. And even II we shut our eyes
10 the moral aspects of that heartless system
ana confined ourselves &c the examination OF its
economic merits il was found to be Wasteful
ana inefficient. The Americans at once the
most sentimental and the most practical OF
pcoples-and when they that institution
IS morally revolving, ard, besides does not pay,
its fate is sealed.
Yet the most wonderful feature Of that
extraordinary campaign which then began, and
which never ceased until the land purged
OF It's deadly sin. was that even in the very
tempest and Th.rlw,nd of their passion the
great leaders or the Republican party kept their
agitation strictly within the limits Of the Con-
SfitutiOn and the law. There general de-
nand Tor even an amendment TO the organic in
Etrument- They pleaded for the repeal OF I'M
just statutes inconsistent with the Con
stitution, but did not advocate their violation.
only among the more obscure and ardent mem
bers Of the party there any demand for
the abolition Of slavery, but the whole party
$1,000 IKE a rock Tor the principle that the
damnabe institution must be content with what
II had already got and must not be allowed 10
pollute another inch Of free soil On this i'm
pregnable ground they made their stand. and
the mass convention which assembled here in
1874 while the vibrations of the thunder of the
guns and the shoutings Of the birthday of Lib
erty yet fingered in the air, gave a nucleus and
name 10 the new party destined TO great
and beneficent c5reer. Before the month ended
The enti-slavery men of five more great States
adopted the name Republican," and under
that banner Congress was carried, and TWO
ears later national party assembled at Pitts
burg and nominated Fremont and Dayton, who
Jailed by a few votes Of sweeping the North.
DAYS OF ARDENT ENTHUSIASM
Who OF us that was living then will ever for
get the ardent enthusiasm of those days? It
was one Of those periods rare in the life OF any
nation, when men forget themselves, and in
spite Of habit, Of interest and OF prejudice fol-
low their consciences wherever they may lead.
IN the clear keen air that was abroad the best
men IN the country drew deeper breaths and
rose TO a mortal height they had not before at
tanned. The movement was universal sumner
tn the East, Seward in New-York Chase in
Ohio, Bates in Missouri. Blair IN Maryland. all
sent forth their identical appeal to the higher
motive; and In Illinois, where the most popular
man IN the State boldly and cynicay
nounced, Il don't care whether slavery is voted
up or voted down." a voice, new to the nation,
repned' There are some OF Us who co care.
II slavery is not wrong, nothing IS wrong
and Abraham Lincoln came upon the field, not
10 leave II until he triumphant in death.
I have no right TO detain you at this hour in
recounting the history of those nlennora BILE days
Two incidents Of the long battle will never be
forgotten. One the physical and political
contest for the possession Of Kansas, carried on
with desperate courage and reCklessness of con-
sequences by the prO-slavery party the one
side and on the other by the New-England
farmers, whose weapons of aggression We're
Bible texts and the words Of Jefferson, and
whose arms OF defence We're Sharps rifles.
With words that ring even now when read
them like the clashing of swords, the Slave
State men claimed Kansas as their right and
The Free State men replied IN the words Of the
prophet before Herod, 1T is not lawful for you
10 have her" And when the talking sharpened
liv1Fl
with the same ferOcity as the men who cursed.
In the field Of political discussion the most dra-
matte incident Of the fight the debate be-
tween Lincoln and Douglas. Not many of you
saw that battle of the strong, where each Of the
gladiators had an adversary worthy of his steel,
where the audiences were equally divided where
the combatants We're fairly matched In debat-
ing skill and address and where the superiority
Of Lincoln was not much personal as Il was
in the overwhelming strength of his position.
He was fighting for freedom and could say so:
Douglas was fighting for slavery and could not
aVow It The result Of the contest is now seen
10 have been inevitable. Douglas was reelected
10 the Senate, but had gained also the resentful
oisowned him and defeated his lifelong amb-
ton; Lincoln became at once the foremost Re
publican ia! OF the West and little later the
greatest political hgure OF the century.
FOLLOWERS OF LINCOLN.
II there is one thing more than another in
which we Republicans are entitled to a legiti-
mate pride it is that Lincoln was our first Pres
ident; that we believed IN him lovalIy sun
ported him while he lived and that we have
never lost the right to call ourselves his fol-
lowers. There is not principle avowed by
the Republican party to-day which IS out
OF harmony with his teachings or inconsistent
with his character. We DO not object to our
opponents quoting him, praising Uneven
claiming him as their own. If ii is not
sincere, It is stin laudable tribute to acknowl-
edge excellence II IL is genuine. il is still bet
ter, for even Nebraska Populist who reads his
Lincoln IS in the way Of salvation But only
those who believe IN human rights and are VIII
ing TO make sacrifices to defend them; who be-
UeEe IN the nation and its ba1Nflcent
who believe in the American system of protec-
uon championed by a long line OF our greatest
and best, running back from Mckinley to Wash
lngton, and, as Senator Dolliver so truthfully
said, ito the original sources of American com
mon sense; only those who believe in equal
Justice 10 labor and to capital; in honest money
and the right to earn Il, have any title TO name
themselves by the name of Lincoln to claim
a moral kinship with that august and yenerated
spirit I admit II would be little less than sac
rilege to try TO trade upon that benignant Re
nown, whose light folds IN this orb O. the
earth" But we who have always tried TO walk
IN the road he pointed out cannot be deprived
Of the tender pride Of calling ourselves his dis
ciples and Of doing in his the work aIlot-
ted TO US by Providence. And I hope I am
violating neither the confidence Of a friend nor
the proprieties Of occasion like this when I
refer TO the ardent and able young statesman
who is now and IS TO be our President to let you
know that in times OF doubt and difficulty the
thought oftenest in his heart IS What In such
a case would Lincoln have done?"
HATRED AND CALUMNY DIE AWAY
AS we are removed further and further from,
the founders Of party and their mighty
work, their names and their fame rise every
year higher in the great perspective Of history
The clamor Of hatred and calunny dies away
The efforts made 70 weaken the hands OF Lin
coin and his associates forgotten. The s1r-
ViVors OF those who so bitterly attacked him
and his cause, which was the cause of the conn
try, are now themselves astonished when CON
fronted with the words they then uttered T2,,+
il was against a political opposition NOT less
formidable and efficient than the armed forca
beyond the Potomac that the Union men Of that
a NJ fhAfE IDraCf