Year: 1867

and harmoniously, let there be nc
man without that shield which ever
the mighty, the strong and the pow


erful cannot. fail to respect. Le
there be no man without the magic


wand which transforms the great


Governor of to-day, representing


the sovereignty of millions of peo


pie, into the affable candidate of to,


morrow, who anxiously and sympa


thetically enquiries for your good
lady and children.


For these reasons we said to the
negro in the Southern States
Friend! we have done our best to
protect you. We have tried it from
above downward and it would not
do. We passed Freedmen's Bureau
and Civil Rights Bills, and they gave
YOU no security. We must now
adopt the American plan of ofselfpro-
lection, and try it from below up
wards. We will clothe you with
that power which alone affords Sc
curity and a fair start in life-the
right to vote. Take the ballot and
protect yourselfw And, sir, this
remedy at once effected the desired
cure. The poor contrahaDd is no
longer the prosecuted outlaw whom
incorrigible rebels might kick and
kill with impunity, but he at once
became "our colored fellow citizen
in whose we'll being his former mas
ter takes the liveliest interest
Thus by bringing the negro under
the American system, we have com
pleted his emancipation. He has
ceased to be parian. From an
outcast he has been transformed
into a human being, invested with
the great national attribute OF self
and the re-establish-
ment of peace and order and secur-
ity, the revival OF business and trade,
and the restoration of the Southern
States on the basis of loyalty and
equal justice to all, will be the hap
py results of this astonishing me-
tamorphosis, provided the party
which has inaugurated this policy
remains in power to carry it out
II, however the reins of govern
ment should fall into the hands of
the party whose leading principle is
to that policy, the great
peace work now accomplished would
be undone, the foundations which
we have laid for the new edifice
would soon be torn down, the storm
Of passion and hatred would break
oose anew, and anarchy, confusion,
Dloodshed, and perhaps war of ra-
,es, would again devastate the
South and prevent, perhaps for gen
erations to come, that peaceful and
prosperous development which a
few years more of republican rule
will secure.


While endeavoing to extend to
the negro. in justice to HIM and for
of public policy and peace,
our system Of self-protection, it is
natural that we should offend GER
tain prejudices and antipathies, the
results of the wrongs the white race
has inflicted on the black 1--WE gen
orally dislike those whom we injure," :"
is an old saying, verified by the
Demo cratic party in this case. But,
if anything distinguishes our peo-
pie, it is the facility with which they
overcome obsolete prejudices.-
Look back at our short history, and
you will behold with astonishment
how many prejudices and popular
errors we have overcome. We have
overcome the mistaken belief in the
necessity of a State church, pre-
judice from which European nations
are not yet emancipated. We have
the me-horned prejudice
in favor of hereditary aristocracies.
We have overcome that mean relic
of barbarism-the prejudice against
Jews-which disgraced European
civilization for SO many centuries
We have overcome that prejudice
and tinidity with which, during the
war, we approached the first steps
towaM emancipation. We have
overcome the prejudice against ne
gro soldiers, SO dextrously famed
and stimulated by the Democratic
party.


Now if you consider how little
time, comparatively, it took to over
come each of the prejudices I have
referred TO, you will agree with me
when I say deliberately that the pol.
icy Of a people like onrs cannot per-
manemtly be guided by a prejudice.
Prejudices may gain a temporary
hold on the public mind. They may
temporarily sweep everything be-
fore them and strut and fret theil
hour on the STAGE" but you cannot
engraft them upon our Government
or make them the basis for a success
full party organization. The sober
second thought of our people will


always be sure to sweep them away


And herein, Mr.. Chairman, lies


the cardinal error of opponents. -


The instincts of our people are dem


ocratic. Democratic ideas have al


ways swayed the country. Our ma
tiOnal existence was conceived il


the spirit of Democracy and Dem


ocracy stood watching over its era


die. AS long as the Democratic


party understood how to appeal tt


the democratic instincts of th'


masses, it almost invariably carried


the day, and governed the country


almost without interruption. Th'


moment it turned it's back on it,


own fundamental principles, ant


openly and unequivocally discarded
the Declaration Of Independence
that great evangel of American Gle


mocracy, the doom of the party wa


sealed AS long as it was possible


to cover up its apostacy, or to dodg


the real issue, the masses clung


with the old affection, to the Demo