Year: 1872

tme ChAhpeA8A'


At Cambridge City, Indiana, on the third
instant an immense mass meeting was held,
which was addressed by Senator Trumbull
and others. We reproduce a portion of his
speech:


Mr.. President and fellow citizens-You
are soon to be called upon to cast yOur
votes for chief magistrate Of the nation for
four years after the fourth of March next.
In doing that it is, of course, the desire of
every honest man so to exercise this great
privilege of choosing chief magistrate as
will be best for the interests Of his country,
In what / have to say to you Today desire
to speak candidly and impartially, so far
as am able to do 80, in regard to those
party questions which, in the election OF
President, will be, tOsOme extent, settled
for the next administration. In doing that
| shall speak as if / were addressing per
sons all of whom were actuated by a desire
to discharge this high trust of electing
chief magistrate simply with view to the
best interests of the country, irrespective
of any party feeling or prejudice. know
that we are so constituted that IT IS with
great reluctance that we break away from
party ties and party associations.


One of the great evils of our time, and
one Of the great evils against which wash
ingtOn warned his cOmtrymen in his fare
well address to the people Of the United
States, was the intolerance and banetul
effects of party spirit. He told his country
men, almost ttree-quarters of a century
ago, that the greatest enemy Of popular
government was this partisan spirit 1t
would seem as if be wasinspired by the gift
Of prophecy, for the time has now come
when men high in authority, leading men,
controllers of publicsentlment, are willing
to admit that they are ready to toregO their
own convictions of right when the party
has decided what course they shall pursue.
Now, hope there are no such men here to-
day, but / fear there are, although they
may not be willing to acknowledge it. /
fear there are some here wrO are governed
bv some catch-wOrd, who are swerYed in
their course by. some cry of betrayal OF
party or want Of fidelity to party faith.


A gentleman high in the exercise of au-
thority in the national government, gen
tleman who is known to you ALL in his place
in the Senate of the United States, when
speaking of his obligation to follow the de-
cisions Of his political friends, said; lit
may be even against my convictions OF
right but, as far as all personal cOnsidera-
tiOns are concerned, / give my solemn
pledge that l will abide the action of my
party" 1t is sad for me to think that any
man can be such adeyotee to party as to ad-
nit that he will follow the dictates of party
against his convictions of right. If there is
any such person as that here to-day, / will
spend no time in reasoning with him. lie
Is not governed by reason if he suffers other
persons to dictate to him how he shall vote
and how he shall act. He is a slave, The
mind-the immortal part ofhim-is as much
q slave TO Fartyas the body of the negro
ever was TO his Southern master [cheers, ]
and If he has not manliness enough and
honesty enough to act as a free thinking
man, bave no words to spend with him.


Perhaps / ought to say the words | have
read are the words of Senator Morton,
spoken in the Senate of the United States.
What / read is a quotation from his re-
marks; and we have to contend in the COM
ing presidential contest with this sort OF
prejudice, and also with personal abuse
The chief appeals tfoT do not call them ar
guments) that are made by the supporters
of President Grant are to party allegiance
This is one appeal: Don't desert yOuI
party'-I am talking now to Republicans
1t consists of appeals Of this character, OF
else it consists in abuse of those who do moi
think proper to support General Grants re
election They are called all sorts of hard
names. Now / wish to indulge in nothing
Of this kind ] wish to talk with persons
who are interested in maintaining good
government-whO are interested in CORRECT
ing the abuses and mismanagemento of those
In office, If there are any such abuses anC
mismRnagement.


1t seems to me that all candid and fair
minded men will wish to have the ques-
tons before u5 discussed in that view
Having said thus much, l now propose Il
speak Of some Of the abuses which have
crept INTO the government of the United
states, and to show you that they ought
not to be continued ! wish to saw to my
Republican friends that these abuses arc
sueh that ~ is incumbent upon us as Re
asHfs ana A.
the Republican party to which we have he
longed, perhaps, for all the years Of our
public hte--for during my whole public
services, reaching now 10 nearly eighteer
years In the councils Of the nation, l have
always been sustained and supported by
the Republican party of my State that par
ty which gave majority at the last election
Tor President Grant, for whom | voted
OF more than fifty thousand votes
And yet with that great maiorit,
behind me, deem it my duty to call the
attention OF the people to the management
OF their public affairs by the administration
OF General Grant. And deem il my duty
TO try to correct what l regard as the gros,
abuses and usurpations of power which
seem 20 me dangerous to you as people
and destructive of honest and good govern.
ment, ] wish 10 give you to-day some evi
uenee Of the facts which have come before
me and to speak of some of the acts OF
Congress tending as / think. to injure the
freedom OF elections, and in. the end to sub
vert our ptesent system Of government
The abuses of which l speak chiefly grow
Gus Of cur bad civil service system, by
which mean the mode of appointing and
removing from Office; out OF the misman.
ugement Of our finances, by which the peo.
PIE are plundered, aud the danger to our
institutions and form of government grow.
ing out OF legislation which Il seems TO me
IS not warranted by the constitution Of the
country,


Mr.. TrUmbull then discussed the civil