Year: 1868

Military District.


From the Washington Chronicle.


/ The following is full report of the


great speech of Senator o. P. Morton,


of Indiana, delivered on Monday even
! ing last before the Soldiers and Sailors,


Union of this city:


! GENTLEMEN OF THE SOLDIERS AND


SAILORS UNION: There are two ideas


paramount in the American mind antag


onistic and irreconcilable, each strug-
Cling for the supremacy. One is the


justice and propriety of the war to put


down the rebellion and preserve the in
| tegrityof the Union. The other is the
rightfulness of the rebellion and the


wickedness and injustice of the Govern


ment OF the United States in putting it


down by force of arms. The contest be-
tween these two ideas will, as in 1864,
| constitute the issue in 1868, and all


other questions will be offshoots from


them and will arrange themselves upon
the one side or the other. Whoever
shall vote the so-called "Conservative'
| or Democratic ticket in 1868, whether
he SO intend it or not, will thereby en-
dorse the rebellion; and whoever shall
| vote the Republican ticket will utter his
voice in favor of union, liberty and JUS
tice Whoever believes in the justice
of the war and the preservation of the
Republic will be in favor of reconstruc-
tion upon such terms as will give pro-
lection to all loyal men and guarantees
against future rebellion; and whoever
believes in the .rightfulness Of the rebel
lion will be in favor of the immediate
restoration Of rebels, without condition
or limitation, to civil and political
rights, just as if there had been no war
and nothing had happened. The Dem
ocratic or "Conservative'' party will be
composed of the Northern Democracy
who sympathized with secession and re-
beIlion and of the Southern rebels, with
a few recruits from the Republican
party. But before entering more fully
into the issues of 1868 I will glance
briefly at the present condition of
affairs.


There is much financial embarrass-
ment in the country, depression of labor,
and stagnation of trade. Much of this
can be traced directly to the unsettled
and disturbed condition of the South.


The persistent and determined efforts
of Southern rebels and Northern Demo
Gratis to defeat reconstruction, and keep
that question open for the chances Of
future events, has greatly impaired con-
fdence in the financial and commercial
world, and keeps the business men of
the country doubtful and uncertain what
to do. 1t is therefore of the first i'm
portance to the general prosperity that
reconstruction be speedily settled upon
principles of equality and impartial JUS
tice, that shall insure domestic tranquili-
ty and permanent peace.


Another cause OF embarrassment and
distress is the great drain which has been
made upon the people since the end of
the war in the payment Of the public
debt. We now learn that more than
1865, 100000 have been paid on the
public debt since the 1st of August,
1865; but Of this vast amount only
1855 100000 have been reported in that
way. $500, 100000 belonging to what is
called the unliquidated debt, that is,
debt not evidenced by notes, bonds, or
certificates of Indebtedness, but never
theless part of the public debt that
should have been funded for the time
being. The people would be in far bet
ter condition and far more cheerful to-
day if they had only paid the interest
upon this sum, and had been left free
for time to recover from the exhaus
ton of protracted civil war. The
policy of extorting nearly $500, ,00O, 900
in payment of the national debt in so
most unwise and disastrous, and cannot
be justified upon any principle or theory.
For several years to come the nation
will be burdened with heavy taxes for
growing out of the war, while the ex-
penditures Of the National Government
will be greatly increased by the pay
ment of bounties, pensions, currency
debts, and the innumerable expenses
springing from the unsettled condition
of affairs. While the payment, under
such circumstances, of SO large por-
ton of the public debt may excite the
astonishment of other nations, it will
certainly fail to excite their admiration
for our good sense; and they must des
further exhaust an exhaustad neQple.