Year: 1874

every step by strong influences, VINO,
getting their fingers tightly gripped
into the throat of the commonwealth,
wanted to commence twisting.


It is charged also that the admins
tvatiOn Is stultilied because cO2stitu-
tional convention was not called. L
will explain that so that it must ap-
near to the mind of every sensible and
unpreiudiced man. To begin with the
plank in the platform upon which
Governor Coke was elected did not say
when the convention should be called.
Mind you it said only that Il constitu-
tional convention ought to be called.
My friends, in case of great public
emergency the executive possesses an
otherwise latent function which
stretches its broad arms out over all
other authorities written ana under
stood. 1t is the authority of his discre-
ton. In times of hostile Invasion and
great public calamity, there occur eX-
igencies which no law can meet. Ii Is
then that the fate of the common
wealth is committed into the hands or
one man, and he does what seems III
his own good discretion to he the best.
When all men else are dumb he must


ct, and if in acting he violate one OF
the laws, no court can hold him ana
no man condemn him.


\Now for my application. do you
not know that last winter the state
capital was beset and beseiged by
thieves and usurpers? Yes you DO.
You know that the eye of the general
government was on us too. And you
know that we all trembled lest the up
lifted hand should fall upon ours in
stead of our enemies heads. Well, yon
know all this, but do you know that
our enemies were not crushed when we
nut them down? Do you know that
they still hope to reverse the decision
of the national executive and get their
ferociuus hands again through the
chink holes of the treasury? | fear
vou do not. will tell you what l
know, and it is what ! saw with my
own eyes. | know that Flanagan stood
ready at Washington, and that the
agents of Davis left hurriedly for that
place, and bent with listening ears
to catch the first accents of the news
from Texas that constitutional
convention had been voted. l
know that Davis supreme court judges
were there, and that the other pr0mi-
nent men of the Davis stripe were
there, at the ear of the president,
waiting and wishing for it. And L
know that had their wish been graft
fled, the mailed arm of the military
would have again descended, and that
within less than thirty days, our streets
and state capital would have been gar
risoned with United States troops. 1t
was n dire emergency. 1t was great
black cloud that hung over us then,
though all did not see it. The fate OF
us all, as freemen, was in that terrible
moment committed to the discretion
ofGuvernor Richard Coke, andwhether
he has done anything we may know
not; but we know this: We still lift up
our hands unclaimed to our God.


So you see why we did not get a con-
stitutional convention when we asked
for it. We want it bad enough, God
knows. Now / think the great emer-
gency is passed, and that we can call a
convention without endangering our
selves. / am in favor of u convention
at rs early day as possible, that Will
tell you that believe that Governor
Coke is favor of the same thing.


Judge Ferris spoke for about thirty
minutes, and was loudly applauded
from beginning to end. What is given
is only a synopsis of his speech.