Year: 1875

speeches they generally, as common ex-


preston goes, put.their. .foot.in it, OF exceed


the privileges Of the occasion. At the fes-


tivities of the New England societies in


New York on Wednesday evening, there


were present, as invited guests, the Presi-


dent of the United States, General Sher-


man, and other dignitaries, both civil and


military. The President had sense enough


to recognize the fact that he was not COM


petent to make speech, and as usual when


his h ealth was proposed looked about as


animated as stuffed figure prepared for


the occasion, while the President of the


banquet tickled him under the ribs by al


luding to the golden silence, which Grant


was 80 wont to preserve.


General Sherman said in his speech


that as the result of the late war there


never was such an example of the con-


querers giving the conquered the same


rights they themselves possessed. The


rights given the Southern people are very


we'll known, they were nothing more than


the slave could ask of the master. There


was no constitutional right guaranteed


them, there was no recognition of the


rights of protection to the private proper
ty Of the Southern people. That revered
instrument-the constitution as Grant
once called it, was so twisted and conterted
by Radical macEination that in tli. whole
country, which General Sherman said in
his speech where The rights of the conquer
ers had been given 10 the conquered, every
Office Of any notice whatever became the
property of hordes of unprincipled men
from the north, armed with carpet bags
that nsurped everything The public
treasures became the prey Of their greed
and States were ruled by dishonesty and
the vilest corruption.


General Sherman said further on in his
speech: The moment the vanquished laid
down their arms we said to them: Go
home, go to work for the flag which is to
be the common one over our homes.''
These were very soothing words to come
from man who had marched to the sea
and left in these very homes he counseled
men to return to, a vast train of in
cendiarism, rapine and murder. And even
if he did counsel these things after the
war had ended its dreadful carnage, there
has been no effort to maintain the policy.
1t has been as empty as Gre nt's great popu-
lar political motto, "Let Us have peace
and Congress has by means of proscriptive
bills, inflicted the gressest outrages upon
the civil rights of these people; bills and
measures well calculated to re-kindle the
old asperities, and yet the administration
people represent the hero Of Appotomattox
with an extended olive branch, saying
"Le: lis have peace Now we have Sher-
mans advice, and though We must admit
that it is excellent of sound, the admins
tration although it comes from the very
head and front of its representative
men have stamped it by their own actions
as false sentiment, given purely for po-
litical effect.


Further on Sherman said: 81 say to
every Southern man who will go with lis
heart and hand to build up this land they
are welcome just as if born on the very
surface of Plymouth Rock; but if they
cherish any hopes for the old conflict, a
a storm will arise over their heals ten
times as heavy as the las, one" This the
General, no doubt, thought very sagacious.
But it was direct conflict with the advice
he had previously stated himselfas having