Year: 1876

In his Columbus speech Colonel BoI


Ingersoll made the following remarks


Now then, my friends, / need not


tell you how the war came out; you


all know that. 1 need not tell YOU who


saved the country; you all know that.


| need not tell you who fought the


battles of the Nation; you know that.


But | must tell you a little that the


Demoratic party did in the meantime.
This Democratic party did all it could


to prevent the Rebellion being crush.


ed. They passed a resolution declar


ing that the war was illegal, that il


was unconstitutional This Democrat


ic party made a breastwork of the Con


stit utionof the United States for rebels


to get behind and shoot down Union


men. This Democratic party was for


slavery this Democratic party denoun


ced every man willing to fight for bis


country as an abolitionist and a muir


derer; and they even went SO far as to
say that every soldier that went to tie
South rendered himself liable to an
action of trespass. Samuel j. Tilden
said that every soldier could be sued


before a Southern justice of the peace
for trespass. Laughter. What more
did they sayl They said this is simply
a confederacy; this is no nation, and
the General Government has no right
to do these things. And Samuel J


T1den said, and said it again and again.


our fathers left revolution organized i'm
each State, SO that whenever public


opinion demanded it he should snap
the tie of confederation as u nation


breaks a treaty; and State can repel
coercion as a nation can repel lava


sion. That is the doctrin of Tilden.
He has never taken it back from that
time 10 this. Now, then, my friends.
| deny this Confederecy. You may say.
what is the use of talking about that
They believe as much 10 Gay in seees-
sion as they ever did ia this world.
When the eleven Confederate States
came back into tie Union we made
every one of them adopt a Constitu
ton. and we male every one put ip
that Constitution that they had no |
right TO secede. Since that time six of |
these States have s1oI ted new Consti |
tuiioDs. and in every instance they left |
that clause out, and they refused to |
pus it in their Constitutions that they
have no right to secede. That shows
that the old doctrine is still alive. What
morel When we say that the General
has right TO defend its
citizens in the Southern States the
Democratic party stand up and say
hat the General Government cannot
march across a State line unless the
Governor of the State or the Legisla


ure OF that State asks assistance from


he General Government. That is the


anne old doctrine, that a State has a


light TO do wrong, the same doctrine


hat State has the right to trampel
lpon q citizen and that the United
states cannot protect its own citizens
t home, he must wait until the citizen {,
'oes to some foreign laid, and then
he General Government can protect ;
i'm, but IL he is around his own fire.
ide at home with the flag flying over
jim. the General Government cannot q
,rotec. him If his rights are trampled I
pom BIZ a Southern State. They in ,
Is;ed upon that do ;trine, they insist !.
non Il now, and this is the onIy doe
rine they depend upon TO protect the i
lurderers, thiges and assassinsin in the I
southern States What mora did the :
party do during the Solth- I
m wan They met in conventions in '
very county and in every town in the {
Inited States and denounced every eff G
ort to crush the rebellion and save ! q