Year: 1872

FELLOW CITIZENS A Presidential
election necessarily brings into review


the action of your Government, and
Ghe measures for good or i'll hich effect
6he prosperity of the country, aRd the


welfare Of the people. Not that a
or b, who may be persons of moderate
capacity and still more moderate
worth, should he President or hold
some other Office, but that you, the
people, should look over the whole
ground, see what is right aud what is
,amiss, and use your best efforts to
correct evils, and to sustain what is good
Now. you are aware, as Well as | am,
that our country has not been reconciled
and regulated, and brought into peace
and order, and that nearly eight years
have elapsed since the war ended, and
peace and security ought to have been
attained much sooner than this. Look
at the difficulties and obstacles to be
overcome now First in point OF
urgency, was what We call the ku klux
outrages of the South Certain persons
mainly open rebels and rebel soldiers
eouspired together, formed themselves
futo companies or organizations oi
some kind, and in hideous disguise
Paradcd the country,-1 mean certain
portions of the Southern country


abusing and maltreating innocent. quier
people, mainly black men. | don't say
don't mean to say there were mol
excuses and provocations for these
outrages. There were, bat | say there
were no justification for any such
conduct as that The pretence generally
was what that they called the carpet
bag governments were abomnible. True
or not, that is no excuse for hauling
quiet people out Of their beds at
midnight and snbjecting them to all
manners Of iudi2nities. So, then, |
sald | DID not recommend particular
or extreme measures, but said no doubt
it is the duty Of the State to protect
their citizens respectively, and to put
down all lawlcssness. But suppose they
don't or can't, or won't? The people
are entitled to perfect protection. If
the State Governments won't give it
there must be power somewhere that
will give it. We look after man who
is NJ more than half a citizen, whom
a foreign Government oppresses, and
all the power Of this great nation is put
to work to protect that man, he may
perhaps have only declared his inten-
ton to. become a citizen but all
the cannon and all the force we
command is employed for his protection.
Our Government must have the power
TO protect its own people at home as
well as abroad So | said year ago
last spring. Let the President tell us
what sort of legislation he needs to
put duwn these Ku Klux, and / will
back him out to the full extent. He
said what he needed. Laws were
passed, and after all they did not work


You have rot heard Of any serious
Ku.Klux outrages since those acts were
passed. SINCE those acts were passed


a year and half ago, nobody has
heard of any serious outrages there,
though there have been trials in one
OF two States, especially in North
CoTollua, yet they are trials OF offences
committed two or three years ago, long
before the act was passed, So the
work was done. The Ku. Klux
conspiracy was crushed out by the act
of Congress, and although outragcs
occurred in very narrow district of
territory, they discrcdited and damaged
all the Southern people who may be
suspected Of any sympathy with those
who made the outrages that was done
but still there remained that other
element of dscord and discomfort at
the South which was called the carpet>
bag thieves. When they went into the
South with our armies, a number Of
ehreWd, interruptions men, undertook