Year: 1879

recovery of her long-lost heritage by
tearing off these degrading badges Of
servitude and destroying the machin
cry of a corrupt and partisan legisla
ton.


We do not intend TO stop until we
have stricken the last vestige of your
war measures from the statute-book,
which like these were born of the
passions incident TO civil strife and
looked alone TO the abridgment of the
liberty OF the citizen.


We demand an untrammeled elec.
tion no supervising of the ballot by
the Army. Free, absolutely free right
to the citizen in the deposit Of his bal
lot as condition precedent to the pas
sage Of your bills. a


Now, sir, if the gentleman from Ohio
is to be excused, for sure he cannot be
justified, if he is to be excused for pa.
rading before this House the threat, the
drgumentum in terr0rem of veto that
would have us believe is already cut
s-d dried N ha nlaced upon bill that
is not yet passed II he is 10 be par
doned for warning this House that the
executive branch Of this Government
win never yield its assent to this meas.
ure in its present form, may /
not be warranted and justified in
employing equal candor, and may L
not assure that gentleman and his as
sociatcs that the dominant party of
this Congress, the ruling element Of
this body, is also equally determined
that until their just demands are salts.
fed, demands sanctioned by all laws
human and divine, protected and hedg-
ed around by precedents without num-
ber demanded by the people OF this
land without regard TO section, who
are clamoring for free, untrammeled
ballot mot for the South, | beg you to
remember, for If there be sectionality
in this issue | cannot discover IT'D for
Philadelphia as well as for New Or.
leans, for San Francisco and Boston as
well as for Charleston and Savannah
that this side OF the Chamber, which
has demonstrated its power, never
means to yield or surrender until this
Congress shall have died by virtue of
its limitation. Applause on the Dem
ocratic side.] Wewill not yield. Aprin-
ciple cannot be compromised Itmay
be surrendered; but that can only be
done by its advocates giving proof to
the world that they are cravens and
towards, lacking the courage OF their
own conviction. We cannot yield and
will not surrender.


Let me assure my friend, and it is q
picture that | know be does not dwell
upon with pleasure, that this is the
restoration TO power Of party as old
as our Government itself, which for
almost a hundred years has stood the
boldest, fairest, freest exponent and
champion and defender Of the doctrine
of constitutional limitations against
the doctrine of the aggrandizement of
power. 1t is this organization that
has come back TO rule, that means to
rule in obedience to law.


Now, sir, the issue is laid down, the
gage of battle is delivered. Lift it when
you please we are willing to appeal
to that sovereign arbiter that the gen.
tleman so handsomely lauded, the
American people, to decide between us.
tend % to o', deny i to the President resident Of this
Republic the right to exercise such nm.
constitutional power. We do not mean
to pitch this contest upon ground OF
objection to him who happens, if not
by the grace of God yet by the run Of
luck, to be administering that Office.


tell you here that il from yonder
canvas [pointing to the picture of
Washington the first President Of this
Republic should step down and re.
sumo those powers that the grateful
people of an infant Republic conferred
upon him as their first Chief Magis-
trate, if he were here fired by that pa
triotic ardor that moved him in the
earlier and better days of this Repub.
lie, to him we would never consent TO
yield such dangerous and unwarranted
powers, to rest the liberties of the citi.
zen upon any one mans discretion, nor
would he receive it,


1t was not for the earlier but for the
later Executives Of this Government TO
grasp and seek to retain such question.
able prcrogatives. You cannot have
it. The issue is made--it is made upon
principle, not upon policy. 1t cannot
be abandoned; twill not be surrender
cd. Standing upon such ground, cloth
cd in such panoply, resting this case
upon the broadest principles Of eternal
Justice, we are content TO appeal TO the
people of this land. There Is no trib-
unal to which we are not willing to
carry this case Of contest; we are will
ing TO allow Him who rules the destin.
les of men to Judge between us and give
victory to the right.


] do not mean TO issue q threat. I'm
like tho gentleman from Ohio, | dis.
claim any authority TO threaten. But
| do mean to say that it is my deliber-
ate conviction that there IS not to be
found in this majority a single man
who will ever consent TO abandon
one jot or title of the faith that is IN
him. Ho cannot surrender il he would.
beg you TO believe he will not be
coerced by threats nor intimidated by
parade of power. He must standupon
his conviction and there we will all
stand. He who dalics is dastard, and
he who doubts is damned. [Great ap-
plause on the Democratic side.