Year: 1868

ment should directly ensOre a system ol
taxation which depIives the people Of the


several States of money that would be far


better appropriated in paying the debts OF
those States.


The Democratic party, and in speaking
of il may as well say what constitutes the
strength of this party, for il is composed OF
4 the Democratic party of the North, the
rebels of the South, and few converts


from the Republican party since the close
i of the war. 1t has its financial scheme to
relieve the country OF the debt which is ia


fact the result of the party action which
brought on the war and made the debt !;
and, though it PROCESSES to have the great
remedy for our financial troubles, | cannot
myself think so. unless the remedy is based
upon the hypothesis that the hair OF the
| dog is good for the bite" But we think
that Congress will settle upon some policy
that will be satisfactory to the whole ma
tion aud so ar as any afempt on the part
of the Democratic party to benefit the
/ financial condition of the country is con-
cerned. they may just as we'll make up
their minds that the whole matter will be
adjusted without their assistance.
| / said in the commencement of my re-
marks that there are two ideas uppermost
in the minds of the people.


The first of these will, as / have already
said, enter into the issues of the coming
campaign. 1.-THE idea prevails that the
government was right in putting down the
rebellion; if ii was right in putting forth
every energy that could be suggested for
the accomplishment Of this purpose. then
you, soldiers and sailors who bore part in
the struggle for the preservation Of our ma
tional existence, will certainly feel that you
have not only acted wisely, but that YOU
have borne an honorable part in the servi-
ces rendered your country in the hour of
lis peril.


But on the other hand, should the Dem
ocratic party succeed. and trus; in God ii
may not-tLai the people Of this great ma
ton will avert such a calamity by their
votes in that campaign--then will il be TO
Won disgrace and dishonor TO have been
member ofihe Union army and the places
of trust will revert To the rebels, and their
names occupy the position Jf honor in the
pages of history.


One question we have yet to meet in this
campaign is. the manner in which the
Southern States shall be fully restored with
all their political rights and privileges as
States. and the manner In which these
blessings may be fully enioyed by all.
The question is not whether that power
shall be divided between loyal and disioyal
men-whether il shall he conferred upon
blacks and whites. or upon whites alone,
fourteen fificenths of whom are rebels aud
bore prominent part in the war against
the Union: but we must insist that the
power. when ii is conferred, should be so
fdivided that its prcponderance shall not he
on the side of disiOyal men. Nor do we
ask all we should even in granting this. for
il does nut exclude those who have borne
arms in the late war against the country
but v-e do demand that the power shall be
conferred in such manner that blacks and
whites may have voice IN the State gov
crnmcni and on the question of reconstruc
tiOn.


II is true the present law Of Congress dis
franchises only a small number of those
who engaged in the rebellion. 1t does not
disffanchisc the petty officers or soldiers.
hui that class of men who had once sworn
allegiance to the constitution in Offices of
trust, and This class cannot exceed forty
five thousand persons.


When President Johnson issued his proc
lamation DISTINGUISHING those who had par
ticipated in the rebellion. Il INCLUDED rot
less ilian fourteen classes. numbering be-





Congressional system of disfranchisemcnt
win apply 20 only $4,000, and not to exceed
50,fGO men.


We have heard of late much about an
oppressed people. We are told by Demo
in aH parts of the country, that the people
of the South are down lrodden and op
pressed. Do they who pirate about oppres-
cip l.aor tr,r ;,l hot . 10
people who. but few years since, arrayed
themselves in arms against the nation -
whose actions have cost US over half IA mil 1
lion of lives, the very people who devel-
Oped the war that has left us a legacy of
debt Of thousands of millions OF dollars.
with an almost incalcuIable amount vet To
liquidatc, not to speak of the untold suffer
ing and sorrows that have been thrust upon
The people OF TIE North? And now we are
charged with being oppressors and tyranis
because they have not been admitted 10
full political rights And do you call this
oppression? Can you ignore the fact that
they were the projectors OF rebellion. |
guilty of treason. and plotiers against the
life ofthe nation? And are these the men
who are 10 be welcomed back as citizens (
of the United States? Did they have a
right - run from the battle field 10 the I
ballot box. and declare who shall be their
representatives in Congress--to abandon
their arms and resume the rights Of loyal
citizens--to wield again the control of our
national government


Yet these arc the people whose agony is
in the throats of the Democratic party. and
take ii upon myself to say there is neither
sense nor justice in il. When they talk /
about oppression they forget they are favor
ing those who brought on the trouble, and
bathed the land in blood.


The law prevails in all we'll regulated
communities that crime shall be punished,
and sense Of justice demands that out
RACES upon laws aud the rights of the peo- (
pie shall be severely punished We talk
about the present State governments that
have been ignored in Congressional acts
Can you tell me by whom they were
formed, II not by the proclamation of the I
President of the United States and If YOU
will recur TO the elections in Virginia. !
North and South Carolina you will find
that less than one third of the white voters I
took part in forming the constitutions of I
the present States. The delegates formed /
them, and they have never been submitted 7
for ratification to the people Nor have
they half the moral right that
the constitutions have which have been .
mole recently formed. Those formed in
1866 contained certain conditions, such as
prohibiting slavery, prohibiting the pay
ment Of the debt contracted during the late .
war: provisions that were required by the
proclamation of President Johnson. But
yet they have never been ratified. and were
the Senators and Representatives of these
States admitted into our Congressional
halls. they would be cast aside and ignored
as they had never been ratified--and that
know would be the'course pursued.


The struggle, therefore, on the part of
the Democratic party, North and South, as
1 have spoken, will be in 1868, for the
restoration of these States into rebel hands,
and The administration of the affairs of
those States on that basis.


II you are prepared to say that the blacks |