Year: 1868

The following is the closing appea


Of Carl Schurz to the Democracy il


his great Chicago speech:


Democrats of the North, a last np-


peal to you. Not for ourselves will


speak, but TO you | will say a word


for the poor South, whose friend, yor


profess 10 be. Did you ever consid


er what your friendship has made of


that unfortunate country For more


than a generation you have excited


and stimulated the worst pro slavery


passions in the Southern people


You, children of the free North


could not love slavery for its own


sake you could not believe that SO


fagraut al abomination could sue


cesslully y resist the progressive spirit


Of the nineteenth century, and yet,


did you not encourage that insane re


sistance- resistance TO the last--with


your insiduous acclamations and


promises of aid? Is it not true, that


but for that artful encour cement


the Southern people would have rec.


ognized the impossibility of perpet-


uatiug slavery, and that, abandoning


their false hopes, they might have


long ago commenced, by gradual


and peaceful reform, to accomplish


that which has nov been ACCOMPLISHED
by the tcrrors OF revolution and war
That the pcacesble and salu'ary
course of reform was not commenced
in time--you Northern Democrats
arc responsible for it. But more /:
Brave as the Southern people may be.
they would scarcely have dared to
raise their hand in rebellion against
this Republic had they not been as
sured that the people of the North
would not fight, or if they did, that
there would be Northern people
enough to rise in aid of that rebellion.
You, Northern Democrats, caused
them to Indulge in this fatal dclu-
sion; you goaded them on to the
path of rebellion, blood and destruc


ton. But still more. In 1864,
when the back of the rebellion was
alrendy broken, and when speedy
submission might have spared us
many grievous sacrifices. you, North
eru Democrats, thcn declared the
war to be failure on cur side, you
then encouraged the Southern people
TO persevere, to hope, to fight on
Aud thus the destruction and slaugh
ter continued. But still more. At
last the rebellion was vanquishcd and
and the Southern people lay pros
tratc at the feet of the conqueror.
exhausted, Impoverished, lacerated,
bleeding, SO far your friendship
had brought them. There was but
one way for them to rise to new life,
peace, and prosperity 1t was by
giving up all those cd wild dreams
Of sectional power ;by abandoning all
thought of the possibility of a reac-
tion; by accepting readily all the
new order Of things would bring by
deyoting themselves, without looking
back, to the reparation of their loss.
cs; by averting their eyes from the
past and turning them full upon the
future. And who will deny that af.
ter the first stunning effect of their
defeat such was their disposition, and
that this disposition would have
been strengthed by firm and urcnm
promising attitude on the part of the
North2 Thus their wounds might
have been quickly healed, and their
life restored to health and vigor.
But what did you do, Northern Dem.
ocrats? No sooner was there
chance for their regeneration than
you FASTENED again to pour into their
minds the poison of false hopes. You
stimulated their pride with flattery.
You stirred up their feyerish ina ia.
ation' by showing them the deceitful
picture Of a possible reaction. By
wild harangues you excited them to
stubborn resistance 10 the new order
Of things. You infamed their worst
passions by appealing to their worst
prejudices, and, alas, they believed
you once more, And now sec what
you have done. The South is in
new attack of that delirium which
the defeat of the rebellion had happi-
ly abaied, and the repulsiye manifes-
tations of which you yourselves now
Vainly endeavor to restrain the old
the old violence, the old
mania for the exercise of unrighteous
power, And thus, three years since
The end ofthe war have been waHtOp-
y squandered. three years which
might have given them peace, but
for you! And yet, if you are not
blind to the signs of the times, you |
InOw that all the hopes you have ex.
'ited are vain. You know what they !
ire struggling for can never be re-