Year: 1869

But we met other foes, fellow.citizens


We have met not only the enemies n


battle, but we have met that insidiou,


enemy in the midst of us---the 0rea,


Democrstic party, which, from the be


ginning OF the contest 70 the last day


and OH this day, have been systemati


caily and persistently arrayed aeains,


us. Al every turn IN the tide IN every
| dark hour OF the conflict, at every poin,


where we were most likely to be weak


they have met us TO strike Us A blow


You remember that eight years ago


when we were nominating n Governor


here, they held convention across the


street yonder, in which they declared


that il the Republican party undertook


to cross the Ohio river and carry out


their purpose of putting down the rebel.


lion iB the States of the South. we vould


be compelled to walk over the dead


bodies of two hundred thousand Demo.


Gratis before we could enter those States.
! lou remember that threat made in their
convention But, Notwithstanding. your
army did cross the river, and it did 90
over y great many dead Democrats. but
most all of them were from the South.
| Laughter. ssrs,,.. .......t......,
| You remember that when You CON-


menced to raise armies they said anot n


man nor dollar" You remember when
you made a law to draft citizens they


resisted, not only the law but the draft
| You remember that When you undertook


TO raise moneyto put down the rebellion
4 they resisted your efforts TO raise money.
Iou Remember that they threw all the
I weight OF their moral influence against
you and your soldiers in the great con.


fiict.n' Your soldiers remember what
4 terms they used in reference to YOU. the
fepthets they applied TO you, the discour.


agemtnts they tbrew about YOU. You


remeniber that that party never gloried


In your victories and never lamented


over your defeats. You remember that


at every stage in the great conflict, v ,u


met their orneers and their discourage


nents. But over all these disasters YOU


triumphed year by year, and you are


now gathered together in this city to-


day to organize yourselves tor one more
| fnal triumph over this Democratic party.
in settling the last issue which the war


has raised, the Issue that | believe we
shall settle before the next election is
ended.


Z Fellow-citizeus, as we progressed in


this contest, we came by and by to find
out that God, the God of nations, who
looks down upon men as His children,
and asks them to be brethren, had linked
to our destiny to the destiny of the
black race on this continent, and made
us TO know by signs hung out in the
heavens that could not be mistaken, that


we must give liberty to the black race
or lose fer ourselves; that we must do
justice. to all men, or lose our own Gov.
ernment, and We, have tried to learn His
lessons, and | believe we have succeeded
in learning them at last. I,f. -r. mi
E1 Now, feIlow-citIzens, this Democratic
party has done more than this. 1t has
attempted to attack the. credit of the
nation, When it failed to break down
the yaler of the army, it undertook to
break down the faith of the nation and
the credit of the Treasury. And could
idetain you much longer than will, in
going over some of the steps in the
career OF the Democratic party on all
these financial questions. Show me the
place IN the career of that party where
they have not attempted to cripple your
lreasuFyHand damage the strength of
the Government in every way that could
damage you. II do mot think they de-
sired TO destroy the Government because
they hated it; they tried to destroy the
Government because they hated us.
They would rather the Treasury would
break down than that you and should |
succeed III maintaining it. They would
rather tae Government would be fail. |
ure, than that the Republican party
should be SUCCESS. And that, fellow
citizens, is a kind of moral treason which |
this Denlocratic party has been guilty of
up to. the present hour. ... -.,.5.U |


THE FINANCIAL SITUATION.


Now, fellow-citizens, / will ask your
attention only for a few moments to a
few facts in our present financial situa-
tion. l give them as sign of hope and
to our party and to the
people. Gen, Grant came into power on
the 4th day Of March with great many
difficulties 10 encounter. You know
better than can tell you the sad terri,
BILE history Andrew Johnson wrote in
the nameof the Democracy during tie
last two years and half; and If any
party in the National Government ever
the nation by their manage
aient Of the affairs of 10, that party has
been the Administration lately in power
in all that 1t did in the management of
affairs.


See how corruption ran riot through
out every department of the Executive
government at Washington. Look
through ghtherevenue service, look through i
the foreign service, look through the
whole civil service, overloaded as il was
with innumerable men. more than the
country needed to do the necessary bust
ness. The army was overloaded In
every place where the partisans Of An
trew Johnson could be put into position,
hey We're put in and fed at the public
;rlb.3 SAns, n feiiow w-eitizens, 20, such an
extent had the corruption gone in regard
o. our re.enales that good men every
where beginning to despair, and saying,
'We car, not coIlact the rpvenne at ali