McHenry Public Library District Digital Archives

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 29 Sep 1880, p. 2

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" : noscoE com His Great Speech in the Academy . • #f Musio, New x Sept. 17. &. of the Day Presented in the Wnagwt Ufkt Yet Thrown Upon Them. ;%i Psdlg off a Solid South, Which ;'a Election Makes .;V - • # ?>•- tm That Canaoi be Anwcnd ui Facts Tbat Cannot be Deniedt Ttaxow-CrnzEss: Whoever is given greet- i»g and audience in such a presence ought, in­ deed, to have something worthy, something fit, Hud something wise to say. Inadequate in all , «ve only grateful and respectful appreciation tnust be my return. We are citizens of a re- jmblic. We govern ourselves here. No pomp eager array in the chambers of royalty await* -the birth of the boy or girl to wield an hered­ itary scepter. Whenever death or revolution pours on the oil of coronation we know no scep­ ter except a majority's constituted will. To Meld that scepter in equal share is the duty and Sight, nay the birthright, of every oitLzon. The •apreme, the final, the only successful arbiter here is the ballot-box, and in that return should gathered from it, should be sacredly record­ ed, the conscience, the judgment, the intelli­ gence of all. The right of free self-government has been in all ages the bright dream of op pressed humanity, the eighed-for privilege to Which thrones, dynasties, and powers have •o long blocked the way. France seeks it "by forced marches and daring strides. Mr. Forster, Secretary for Ireland, tells the peerage of England it must take heed bat it fall, and Westminster and England ring with dread echoes of applause, tmt in the fullness of freedom the republic of America is alone on the earth, alone in its grand­ eur, alone in its blessings, alone in its promises Mid possibilities, and, therefore, alone in the devotion due from its citizens. The time has «ome when law, duty and interest require the .nation to determine, for at least four years, its policy in many things. Two parties exist-- parties should always in a government of the majorities, and to support and strengthen the parly which most nearlv holds his views is among the most laudable, meritorious acts of an American citizen, and this whether he be in official or in private station. Two parties con­ tend for the management of national affairs. One or the other of these two contesta rits is sure to manage the nation's concerns for some time to come. The question is, Which of these two is it the wisest to trusty It is not a question of eandidate. The candidate, if he be an honest, genuine man, will not seek and accept a party nomination to the Presidency, Vice Presidency, Or Congress, and after he is elected become" a law unto himself. Few things are more despic­ able than first to secure elevation at the hands of a party, and then, in hopes of winning pre­ tentious non-partisan applause, to affect supe­ rior sanctity and meanly to imply that those •Whose supjxirt and confidence were eagerly and deferentially sought are wanting in purity, pa- jriotism, and other titles of respect. The higher obligations among men are not set down in Writing and signed and sealed. They reside iii konor and good faith. The fidelity of a nomi- belongs to the exalted class, and, therefore. • candidate of a party is but the exponent of a party. The object of political discussion and Action in to nettle principles, policies, and issues. It is a paltry incident of election affecting 50,- 000,000 of people that decides for an occasion the aspirations of individual men. The Democratic party is the Democratic can­ didate, and I am against the ticket and all its Works. The general issue confronting us is in itself, and in its bearings, sectional. I would, and yeu would it were not so, but it is so. If in one portion of the country one party out­ numbers the other, even by overwhelming odds, tbe fact need not be blamable nor proof of sec­ tional aggression; but if, in any section, any party gains and keeps control, not by numbers, not by honestv and law, and then, stifling free discussion ana action, attempt to grasp the Government of the whole country, the proceed­ ing is sectional, guiltv and monstrous. In twelve States of the tjnion the approaching election is to be no more than a farce, unless, as fcas sometimes happened to be, turned into O tragedy. There is to be no free debate, no ?ual rights, no true expression in these *tes, and in several States the clear majority to have no deciding power, not even a <(uuioe in a raffle such as that in which lots were cast and the booty divided the other day fittween Tammany Hall and the upper-air and Atfar-walk reform Democracy. Senator Hamp­ ton largely promises 40,000 Democratic majority An South Carolina, where the actual majority is 40,000 the other way. In several Southern Mates there is a large, well-known and often- ascertained Republican majority, but all Sou th­ orn States aline, without exception or doubt, •re relied on to count on the Democratic side and to score 138 electoral votes, lacking but forty-seven of a majority of all. The causes of Wch a condition, and the consequences if it •occeeds, are matters which no sane, intelligent •an can put out of view, and yet he who discusses them must be told, in •be coarse parlance of the day, that he "waves the bloody shirt." It is a relief to re- anember that this phrase and the thing it •leans is no invention of our politics. It dates back to Scotland, three centuries ago. After a •iassacre at Glenfruin, not so savage as has atained our annals, 220 widows rode on white pftlfrevs to Sterling tower, bearing each on a jpear her husband's bloody shirt. The appeal waked Scotland's slumbering sword, and out­ lawry and the block limde the name of Glen­ fruin terrible to the victorious Clan Alpine even to the third and fourth generation. I am not going to recite horrors nor to allude to them, nor to the chapter of cruelty they fill, nor to re- tey the issues of the war. My purpose is quite different. It is to show, if I can, what is actu­ ally at stake now ; who and what the contend­ ing forces are; how much the result may mean, and which way prudence and wisdom point. You have listened to a letter from one to whom, at lea-t as much as to any other man, the nation owes its preservation, prosperity, and •npremacy. This letter, full of common sense, hit the nail on the head. Its writer generally does hit nails--rebellion and pretenders--on the head. He says: " This meeting should awaken the people to the importance of keeping oontrol of the Government in the hands of the Bepublican party until we can have two na­ tional parties, every member of which can oast his ballot as his judgment dictates, without fear of •olestatiou or ostracism, and have it honestly counted--parties not differing in opinion as to whether we are a nation, but as to the policy to aecure the greatest good to the greatest number Of its citizens. Sincerely believing that the Democratic party, as now constituted, is not a to trust with the control of the Gen- venmierit, I believe it to the l>est inter- OBts of all sections. South as well as North, that the Republican party should succeed in Novem­ ber. lours very truly, U. S. Grant" Lord Chestarlield said that a letter shows the nan it is written to, as well as the man it is writ­ ten by. This letter bears Lord Chesterfield out. is written to Gen. Arthur, and it reveals the Confidence and esteem in which the writer holds *1Ri, informed by many years of intimate ac- Juaintunce. Gen. Grant knew and felt, as we now and feeL that he was writing not oulv to a friend, but also to one of the most genuine jOatriotie, and honorable of men. This letter Jumished a text for many sermons. The Demo­ cratic party, nsnow constituted and controlled-- how it is consti'ufe:' and controlled! There is a >ast narnl er of uj r ght, patriotic men in it; a vast «nmr er of men who gave all and did all they giould have given and done to uphold their overnment and their flag in the supremo and dire hours of trial; a vast number who im­ perilled their lives as other Democrats laid down their lives for their country. Many northern Democrats who cast "all their Weight and sympathy on the nation's side after the war was over returned to their former party associations. Many others never did so aetnrn. Were such Democrats to guide and influence a Democratic Congress and a Dcmo- fpatir a rliriin intrH iiOil, their rmrty wotiJd not be m constituted and controlled^ as'it is. Because auch men and thi*r views and interests will not and cannot contro1 in the event of Democratic •access much grave peril arises. As the Demo- •ratio party is constituted, not the men of the Jiorth, «ot the men who were for the Union ' 25*t'"5 constitution, but tho men of the South we re against the Union and the constitu­ tion, n«-n whose policy and purposes are still •I®™11' to the country, are liourid and predes- ip control a Democratic administration » OanKKntga Ooormm. In the Senate and in the House the Ronth lias an overwhelming majority of the Democratic members, and most of them are men who led in the rebellion. Every party measure in Congress is settled in party caucus by party majority. Thus the Southern members hold absolute sway. In possession of the law-making power, of the purse and power to confirm or reject 'treaties and appointments, the South is also to furnish all votes to elect the Democratic candidates, save only the forty-seven votes which must, txi rafllod, 'or counted, or certified, or produced from the Northern States particularly, not ex­ cepting Oregon. Should Oregon be close, there is no knowing but the two Democratic houses may find ground ou which to throw wit a part or all of any State electors. With much unem­ ployed leisure on their hands, with the danger which the Electoral Commission of 1877 alone overpassed for the time staring the country in the face, these Democratic houses have adopted no measure to insure order and right in ascertaining the result of the Presi­ dential election. Should a controversy arise, and the eloction be thrown into the House, there, the vote being taken by States, the South would cast nearly all Democratic votes, and in the Senate the vote for Vice Provident would come from the same source. In the event of Democratic success the Southern ond of the Democratic party must be to the North­ ern end as the locomotive is to the tender, the horse to the cart. This is plain as any truth in gravitation or arithmetic. The South con­ trols the Democratic party. Perhaps this point will seem to you to chal­ lenge some attent ion. For tho population of tlie Southern States we must go back to the census of 1870. That count of the people was made by enumerators not selected by Southern Senators and memlx-rs of the House as "non-partisans" and professional reformers. It was made by tho regular Marshals and their deputies, and the compensation was so adjusted as to induce thorough visitation and at the same time to guard against aggregation of numbers. No imputation of fraud was cast upon the work. Such a thing as a plot to fabricate a monstrous increase of population in one- section in order to baffle the course of nature and the logic of events in another, to change the balance of power and population in order to aggrandize one section by establishing a false basis of representation au5 apportionment, thus robbing other sections of their share in governing the country, in levy­ ing taxes and appropriating money, liad not at that time occurred to the conservative foes of radicalism. That particular spoke in the wheel of deviltry had not turned up to the shifty pa­ triot of that day. We read of producing "false heirs to thrones and estates, but to multiply false heirs without any one to personate them on a scale so grand as seems now in process, would stupefy the ingenuity of a French novel­ ist, or anybody else, except a thorough-going non-partisan conservative disciple of the Demo­ cratic persuasion, wanting nothing for bimself, but ready to do and suffer for a white man's gov­ ernment with reform and a change. Tho sugges­ tion now is that the census-takers of 1870 undercounted their neighbors. Paid by tho head, by the mile, and not by the day, it is now alleged they robbed themselves. They neither* traveled, nor counted, nor charged for doing it. They were carpet-baggers, too many of thein in the Sooth. Their States were Republican; they had their ambitions and motives for increased political numbers there and power. There was not the remotest danger of any direct tax, and yet, with nething to lose, they wronged and swindled themselves for the sake of being dis­ honest. A uik all may be. It is the only way of ac­ counting for the awkward wouders of the census now progressing. It cannot be called ingenious. Ix>c,iuse it is plainly the only possible explana­ tion, and it l:mps badly. Ecumenical councils may sit on these recent fabulous census revela­ tions, but men will still wonder how 43 }>cr cent was added to the population of a State in ten year-, during which she received exactly 130 foreign immigrants, a fact established with­ out the «id of any census. Such an increase, of population anywhere would crep out in un­ numbered direct ons. Production, consump­ tion. building, tilled acreage, railway traffic, postal returns, immigration, would* tell the story of such growth. Whether these tell­ tale tests, which cannot be smothered, sus- t&'u or demolish the proposed count in the Southern States will incidentally appear further on, if your patience shall endure. In speaking of the population of tho eleven States, now twelve, by the division of Virginia which seceded from the Union, and now consti­ tute the chief power of the Democratic partv-- in 1870 it was : White, 7,067,313 ; black, 4,179,- 222 ; total, 11,246.435. The total was 29 per cent., or three-tenths of the population of the United States. The whites were one-sixth of the whole population of the country, the blacks one-niuth. The Democratic majority in all these twelve States represents about 0,000,000 people, or about 15 per cent, of our whole peo­ ple. If to this number be added all the people of these States of whatever color, then thoy represent not more than 7 per cent, of the in­ dustrial, commercial, tax-paving, property in­ terest of the country, the other States of the Union representing 93 per cent. Let us see how much national control is now in the hands of the South, scant as it is in numbers and interest. Upward of thirty mem­ bers sit in the House of Representatives,. in the electoral colleges, by reason of counting the whole colored population as citizens with full political rights, equal in all things with the whites. This is double wrong and double rob- bery. to just the extent to which the freedmen are hindered or defrauded of their vote and their voice. To what extent this is true tho election returns clearly show. This representa­ tion, based on stifled rights, is a plain violation of the constitution and of common honesty. But there it is, and there it votes and speaks in the nation's councils. The sixteen lately slave States, including Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, which did not secede, have thirty- two Senators. Thirtv-nine is a majority of tlie Senate.sothat the South needs but seven Sena tors /from the other States to make a majority of all. She will never fail to get them, if seven Northern Democrats are there. In the House of Representatives there are 298 members--a majority is 147. The South has 106 members, lacking only fortv-one of a majority of alL The Electoral College consists of 369; a ma­ jority is 185. The South has 138, lacking only forty-seven of a majority. Consider the sway these numbers have in the Senate. There are twenty-eight committees, and committees not only prepare, but virtually control legislation in both houses, and this must be so more and more as the houses and the business grow larger. Of these twenty-eight commit­ tees the South has the Chairmanship of seventeen, and the control of all the Southern Chairmanships are of im­ port-ant committees. Delaware, with 1'0,000 people, about as rtmiv as the city of Cleveland. Ohio, or a single rural county ia New York, has the Chairmanship of Revision of Lews, a com­ mittee whose business was finished years ago. Virginia hss the Chairmanship of the Commit­ tee on Pensions ; Georgia of Commerce ; Texas of Postoffices and Post Roads ; Missouri of Claims; North Carolina of Railroads, and so on. I have said the South has control of all the working committees. This is true in this way: On every committee there is a majority of Democrats, and of these a majority in all cases consists of Southern Senators. The same condition prevails in the House. There are forty two committees. The Chairmen of twenty-two are from the South. All the commit­ tees are so constituted that the majority is Dem­ ocratic, and of the majority more than half is Southern. During the t * o years while this absolute power in both houses has been so lodged the existence of the veto ]>owcr and the aprroach of the Presidential canvass has sug- g< Vcd urrent reasons for " going slow." Many expected Mils fr^ve not been introduced ; mMp that have been introduced have not been passed ; some that have been passed have run against such obstinate opposition as to secure present postponement or some modification. But whenever the hour strikes that the veto power is in Democratic hands, put there by Southern votes, whatever the "solid' caucus decrees wiH be written. That caucus will l>e controlled by those who represent less than one-seventh of the people of the Union. I have said, also, that they represent not more than one-fourteenth of the producing, commercial, industrial, tax-paying and property interest of the country. Let me prove this bv the official figures of the Bureau of Statistics, 1879: Customs duties, $137,250,048 , collected at Southern ports, 92,145,505. This is per cent., or one-sixtieth part. Internal revenue, 1879, #116,848,221; paid by twelve Southern States, §20,332,304. This is 17 per cent., or one-sixth part. Since the war, Ohio alone hns .paid more internal revenue than all the lute Confederate States nnited; so has Illinois. New York alone has paid nearly twice as much. If customs duties were added, the comparison would be more striking still. Our domestic commerce exceeds our foreign commerce twenty fold. Railways move 90 per ctnt. of it- In 1879, 423,013 freight cars carried this traffic. Of these cars tho late Confederate 8tates^3mployed 31,248; this Js 7 j.jj cent or one-fourteenth part, in 1879 the tonnage of vessels engaged in internal traffic was 2,078,067 iTric. 8 late Confederate States employed ^4Aj48 tons ; this is 9 per cent., or one-eleventh Pa"* June 30,1880, our exports The South exported 4188.- 629,717: tius is 223£ per cent., or two-ninths R ' this, 84 per cent, was cotton, and the C°tton Exchange reports that very little of it was moved by Southern capital. All mat came North was handled by Northern oapt^L That exported directly waa moved mostly by Northern and foreign capital. In 1879 to Juno 30, 18H0, our imports were $667,953,302. The Sttutli imported, j?15,934,- 391; this is per cent., or one forty-third part Exports and imports together were T 1,593,586,897. The share of the South was $204,564,108 ; this is 13 3-5 per cent., or one-seventh. In 1879. Oct. 2, bank loans were S-878,503,097; loans of Southern banks, £40,- 360,007: this is 5 per cent., or one-nineteenth. In 1879, Oct. 2, State and national-bank circula­ tion was $314,108,223; Southern banks, $23,- 478,426 ; this is 71( percent, or one-thirteenth. In 1878, for the six months ending May 31, the latest returns, deposits in savings banks were #873,135,817; ill Southern banks, #2,527,423; this is 4-10 of ljper cent., or one-two hundred and fiftieth part. In 1879 the cost of railroads in the United States was $4,166,331,921 ; cost of Southern railroads, $556,274,973; ilus w 131-13 per cent., or one-seventh. The latest returns show the weight of the mails carried on rail­ roads was 551,370,158 pounds; on Southern roads, 94,394,853 pounds. This is 17V<! per cent., or one-sixth part. I11 1870 ohr manufactures were $4,232,325,442 ; the South­ ern portion was $277,720,637. This is 6*^ per cent., or one-sixteenth part. In 1870 the pro­ duction of our mines was #152,958,994 ; of Southern mines, $4,996,052. This is per cent., or one-thirty-first part. From June 30, 1870, to June 30, 1SS0, the number of immi­ grants who came to the United States was 2,812,127. Of these 2,662 came to Southern Atlantic ports, and 47,230 to ports of tho Gulf of Mexico, making for the whole South 49,901. Viis is 1 77-100 per cent., of one-sixtieth. The latest report of the Commiswoner of Education states the total income of the public schools of the country at $86,978,101 ; tho South paid for public schools $8,536,797. This is 9 1-12 per cent., or one-tenth part. This item is presented here because it belongs to the industrial iuter- eet Looking into this mirror of the country's business, we see impartially and exactly re­ flected the respective proportions and features of tho two sections. By analysis and average we see that production, industry, commerce, capital, and revenue are found one-fourteenth in one section of the country and thirteen-four- teenths in the other sections. These are hard, stubborn facts. They are not recited with pleasure ; far from it." They are recited with deep regret; yet their recital will lie denounced as evincing a spirit of exultation, of ho3tile, in­ vidious criticism. It. will be said tho South was taunted with her poverty. All this will be untruly, unjustly said. As an American, profoundly do I deplore the languor, the misfortune, and the wasted opportunities of any and every portion of our land. The ruinous course of affairs in the South comes home to every citi­ zen of this great State whose interests and whose grandeur are so deal to me. The welfare and interest of the South and of the West, and of every portion of the country is the interest of New York, whose capital helped to build West­ ern and Southern railways ; who holds the bonds and obligations of Southern communities. When petitions are presented in Congress, praying for some action to stay repudiation t>y ijouisiana and other Southern States, who si^n these memo­ rials, as holders of dishonored bonds V Who sells credit to the South ? Who buys her cotton and tobacco? Who would gain by her increase of production and wealth? Who loses by her in­ ertness and distractions ? Do men wish to in­ jure or destroy their own investments? Who­ ever will answer these questions will know that New York and her people, from love of self and love of gain, saying nothing of other reasons, earnestly long that the South may be peaceful and prosperous, and able to pay her share of taxes and bear her part of the public burdens. From the wheat fields of Minnesota to the past­ ures of Texas there is not an acre whose fertil­ ity does not benefit New York, nor could she profit by the misfortunes or poverty of a ham­ let in all our borders. It is not needed to the argument at this mo­ ment even to relate the causes of the mildew and ateriiity of the South, sunny, fertile, and blessed by nature as she i<. Were I speaking to Southern men with a hone that they would listen, it would be well, indeed, to ask thein to reflect upon these causes. When the w ar was over, had there been hearty, manly acceptance of the most generous, magnanimous terms the world ever saw accorded by victors in any case--not in any like case, because there is none like it in history"; had politics and a thirst for power pi ived less part, wasted less time, »nd done loss wrong; had ! industry, enterprise, thrift, and humanity ruled the hour ; had there been more meudin'g, and building, and planting, and sowing ; had there been less ostracism ami liate to repel Northern capital, and keep back and drive back Northern men ; had a fair day's wages been paii* for a fair day's work ; had there been no persecution or exodus of labor ; had repudiation been loathed and shunned and not embraced--how high in the firmament of the Uniou would glitter the constellation of the South. But, as already said, I deal at this point with consequences and results, as they are, not with causes. De­ ploring, as we do, and as wo should, whatever of misfortune falls on any section, when that section comes forward as a claimant of control and management of our general affairs, it ia rigbjt to look, we are bound to look, into tho scGjpfe and ground of tho claim and into the motives, method, fitness, situation and standing of the claimant. Light is thrown upon these queries by the facts already presented, but much light may be gained from other facts of kindred import. One thing for which we fought was the free­ dom of the Mississippi river. As some one ex­ pressed it, "We were determined the father of waters should go unvexed to the sea." The building of jetties at the delta of this gAiat stream, to deepen a channel in which sea-going ships might reach New Orleans, has also at­ tracted wide attention and stimulated the be­ lief that New Orleans must be a vast outlet to the markets of the world and a port of entry of commanding importance. Tho river com­ merce of the Southern Mississippi is regarded as a great tie of interest; a great safeguard and assurance against purposes sectional or in­ imical, and a large foundation for tho claims set up for Southern influence in national affairs. Tlie canvass in some portions of the country already blossoms with literature m this behalf. This theory, as far as it was ever true, belongs to the past. The tread of man in all ages lias been on the lines of lati­ tude, not on lines of longitude. Rivers and mountains on this continent run north and south. Men bridge and tunnel them, and move east and west. This the ordinance of a power higher than a South Carolina census-taker. The enterprise which in its youth and helplessness floated the way the water ran has changed its course. Trade has veered from one point of the compass to the other, and permanently altered its relations. The construction of railways lias revolutionized trafiie and tn vnpoiAation--four t" "*vk lius' '•"* eteel »••• «*' V' \ie see ends are between New York, Philadelphia and Balti­ more, now carry each one of them more freight than ever moved on the Mississippi river. The great companion and competitor to this trans­ continental movement is the lakes and the Erie canal. Besides handling a vast traffic, this water route acts as a check on railway freights, keeping them down by force of competition. To this vast comprehensive modern current of business tributary streams flow in by rail and river from the North, South and West. The tonnage across the Mississippi on bridges above St. Louis is twelve-fold the tonnage to that city by river. Twenty-five years ago the commerce of St Louis was all by river. Last year, as shown by the records of the Merchants' Exchange, the railway tonnage was 6,948,794, and the river tonnage was only 1,366,115. The single bridge at St. Louis has a capacity for ten-fold the traffic that ever floated on the Mississippi river. The actual commerce crossing this one bridge is four times as great as that of the river beneath. Trafiie south of the Ohio river and of tlie Mississippi ig tut trib­ utary to the East amTWcst. Tlie St. Louis Mer­ chant.-*' Exchange rej>orts that last year tlie num­ ber of tons moved to and from the East by rail was 2,930,855 tons; moved to and from tlie South by river, 693,520 tons ; moved to and from tlio South by rail, 1,951,098. Commerce takes the rail even witii the river by its side. New Orleans is 652 miles further from Liver­ pool tlutn St. Louis itself is; Baltimore is {>20 miles nearer than St Louis to Liverpool, mak­ ing a difteveno; in favor of Baltimore as a point tor shinning to Europe of 1,572 r;ii:es as agaiiiKt New Orleans, saying nothing of the disadvantage of enrrviug products through the tropijnl exposure and rwhs of the Oiftf of Mex­ ico. Philadelphia, New York, and Boston fire still nearer tlun New Orleans to Liverpool. But this is not all. The commercial forces of seven great citie s have grasprd the vast carrying trade and hold, propel, and direct it Boston, Now York. Philadelphia, and Baltimore at the East, and St Louis, Chicago, and Cincinnati at the West, command the machinery, and the outlets and inlets through which tho surplus products of the United States reach the markets of the world, and through which tho merchandise of Europe is brought here and distributed. Geo­ graphies-! and-natural advantages «xe favorable, but alone they would nbt be iecisive. The vital fact is the genius, energy, enter­ prise and capital of merchants, farmers, manu-. facturers and railway managers, aided by wholesome adjustments of tariff and other laws in the interest of American labor. Could sci­ ence deepen the mouths of the Mississippi till the Great Eastern could load at the wharves of the Crescent Citv, the achievement would no more arrest or divert the movement of com­ merce from East and West than it would con­ trol tbe tides of the sea or change the courses of the stars. Southern commerce Is simple, tardy and dependent; Northern commerce is complex, intensely active, highly organized and independent Northern methods and pro­ gression have constantly increased their fruits; the reverse is true of Southern methods. In 1860. the imports of New Orleans were $22,932,773; last year they were only $10,840,- 254. Thoy were less last, year than in any year from 1866 to 1878. In I860, exports from New Orleans were $107,812,580 ; last year they were only $90,249,874, loss than they were jn 1.S7-0 and 1874. The tonnage account varies this state­ ment apparently, but only apparently, because steau^'vessels have been used of late, and steam­ ers count- more rapidly in .tonnage than in car­ goes. Like retrograde and stagnation aopears at other |>orts. Baltimore is not treated as a Southern port, because it is the ocean terminus of a great East and West line of traffic, Now turn to Northern ports : _ - 1H6U. Boston, imports. $ 3!>,3fifl,RR0 Boston, exports 13,530,770 New York, imports " 233,C!W,i»41 New YorkJ exports.. .... Philadelphia, imports... Philadelphia, exports... Baltimore, imports Baltimore, exports * f (58,(519,558 • 58,l)23,.W C43,50.V 1'ts 3ttS,U 1 ,r.04 35,<r.l, 2<f.' 49,!>12H>r> id,!W, 7f»,'220,«70 120,630.1).') 14,r,2r,,soi 5,51-J,75T> 9,7S4,773 8,804,60(5 The imports of these four ports in I860 were $279,491,075; their exports $248,479,086 ; total. $549,950,161. In 1880 their imports were $668,- 122.604; their exports, $572,298,315; total, $1,240,420,920. In I860 the foreign commerce of New Orleans waa 24 per cent, of that of the four ports just named. In 1880 it is oulv 8 jier cent, falling off from $130,735,450 in I860 to $101,092,128 in 1880. The foreign tounagoof New Orleans in 1859 was 659,083 ; in 1860 it was 682,898 ; in 1880 it was 7i>'3.910. Tho for­ eign tonnage of Charleston iji 1859 was 129,764; in 1860 it was 126.421; in 1880 it is 116,283. In 1860, year ending June 30, the tonnage of vessels entered at seaports sonth of tho Potomac was a third as large as the tonnage of all Northern ports, both Atlantic and Pacific. This year, ending June 30, 1880, it is only about one- teventh. Democratic orators bid us look at thfc exports of cotton. i have looked at them, and find these facta touching cotton and breadstuff's: lu 1860, bales of cotton exported, 3,812,355; value, $191,806,555. In 1870, bales of cotton export­ ed, 2,095,323 ; value, $227,027,624. In 1880, bales of cotton exported, 3,810,153; value. $211,535,905--fewer bales this year than twenty years ago. In 1860, the breadstuff* exported sold for $24,422,320. In 1870, the brendstuffs exported sold for $72,250,933. I11 1880 the breadstuff* exported sold for $288,036,835. Cotton has stood still, while surplus breadstuffs have multiplied twelvefold. Look again ; lbok at the value of all exports as they have risen and fallen in one part of the country and in others. Tho value of all exports from ports south of tlie Potomac was, in 1860. $199,097,- 750 ; in 1879, $192,889,920; in 1880, $187,140,573. Here is a steady decline. These unerring proofs mark and locate the bulk and substance of the nation's wealth and business. But Some man may say, What has all this to do with eh*ting Garfield and Arthur and a lle- publican Congress? I answer, It has every­ thing to do with it. Again some men may sav, All these vast enterprises and transactions are managed by individuals and corporations as private business, and what are they to party or politics ? To them 1 answer that the good of every one of them depends on just and friepdiy laws and wholesome administration ot' the Gov­ ernment. I say thiHj speaking in tho great commercial metropolis of the Western hemis­ phere, and speaking to men whose wisdom, in­ tegrity and enterprise have made thus one of the greatest, and, in my belief, the most gener­ ous and benevolent, city on the globe. I affirm that the broad issue at tLib election is, whether our colossal fabric of commercial, industrial interests shall be under the management and protection of those who chieliy created and own it, or shall be handed over to the sway of those whoso share in it is small, and whoso < x- pcrieneo, theories and practices do not fit them or entitle them to assume its control. Tariffs, tax laws, finances, currency, banks, courts, appropriations, the maintenance and enforcement of national as well as State laws, these are the things upon which prosperity de­ pends, and those are tho things at stake in this election. The partv which represents the tax- paying |>ortions of the country is the party whose representatives can best be trusted to vote i.poii drafts on the treasury. A Congress­ man wnose constituents "foot."the bills" may not stand up alone or with a few others against Ins part v and its caucus, but if he belongs to a party, all of whose Congressmen represent the tax-paying constituency, they may be trusted, to stand together against raids on the treasury which they know all their districts would con­ demn. It is still more certain that if you place the tix-lovying power in the hands of those who do but little of the tax- paving, your situation is like that of the man who sat on, a limb and sawed off the liinb between himself and the tree. The consideration of disparity of interests, if it stood alono, ought to turn tho scale in deciding whether to put the Government into the hands of the Democratic party, "as now constituted and contry^d," in" the language of Gen. Grant. Ba« infenttlty of interest or antag­ onism of interwst is unfortunately not the only consideration. Banded seetiona'l resentments and sterile hates disfigure and pervert the jiolitical policy of those who. dominate tho South, foreboding immeasurable peril and evil should they come to wield the whole force of the National Government Intolerance of free action and equal rights in political or even business affairs is too patent and ilagrant to be denied or doubted. Oue glance at Southern elections proves ostracism, tyranny and wrong iu monstrous proportions In 1868'eight of the Southern States gave majorities for Grant. Iu 1872 seven States did the same thing. Their Republican vote was very large. Onl v four years afterwards 260,000 of those votes disappeared from the count. In the nine other Southern States in the same four years 300,000 Republican votes disappeared from the returns, also mak­ ing an absence of 560,000 votes. Most of t hese stifled votes were the votes of men vSio had been slaves, freedmen, only just crowned with tho crown of American citizenship, and proud and eager, more proud and eager tfian the most of us, to exercise the right to vote. Does any sane man doubt that thev would have voted if they could, or that those who dared and could did vote, and that their votes were not honestly counted ? If any man does doubt, let him look at the spectacle presented in individual States. The votes of Georgia were registered before tho election in 1866. The white voters numbered 95,303, the colored 1)3,458. In 1876 the whole Itcpublic&u vote counted was 50,446. Two vears later the whole Republican vote counted "was 5,257. Pre­ tense being made that the freedmen of Georgia do not care to vote, and often vote the Demo­ cratic ticket, only read the savage laws of Geor­ gia under fiction of vagrancy, and prison man­ agement, and thou leam of their sickening, lieast- ly administ ration, and human nature will tell vou that the freedmen of Georgia do not support'tlie Democratic party, but would cant it out if they could. In 1876 the Republican vote of Louisi­ ana was 77,174 ; two years afterward tlie lie- publican vote disappeared from the election re­ turns. Yet in 1867, in this same State, tlie registry of votes sho.ved 45.199 white voters, and 84,431 colored voters, and in 1876 tlie reg­ istry stiowed a Republican majority of 22,314 In North Carolina in 1876 the Republican vote cast was 108.417. At the next Congressional election the Republican vote soareiv appeared in the count In Alabama in 1872 the licpubli- cans cast 90,272 \otes. They elected live of the seven Representatives to Congress, ;ind the Legislature by a large majority. In 187668.230 Republican votes were counted. Two years later, when a Governor and members of Con- giess weio elected, tliero were but 213 counted. This was a very carnival of fraud and devil­ try. Voting nlaces in Republican regions had been established twentv-tive miles apart, and the Republicans of South Carolina do not ride by night or by day. They go on foot. Tiiev are poor and ignorant, but they know what emancipation means. 'Thev know what the UU- lot box means. Thev Know which side tlicv prayed and fought lor in the war. Thev know which side tluy will vote for in peace. Fence and tissue ballots took earo of tho election in 1878 in South Carolina. It was testified before a committee of the Hi nate thr.t one man put about /(>0 votes into the ballot box. This m:ike< politics one of the exact, sciences, much more certain than the dice or lots with which ollices nnd nominations were rallied off here the oliter day. i n Mississippi more than half tho population is colored. Everv year until 1874 the Republi­ cans had a majority m all elections. In 1870 the Republican vote returned was 52,605. Next year it was but 1,168, and the year after, 2,085. In all these States the Republican vote, and e\en the Republican committees and newspa­ pers, have been utterly suppressed. Alabama has just held an election. The Greenback candidate for President went there ^ahzed the embarrassment of the bun who builed against a locomotive. The whole Dro- ceeaing was a shameful wrong, and Mr. Weav­ er says the enforcement of tho national elec­ tion law is the only thing which will make a fair election possible. Arkansas, where, until recently, the Repub­ licans always elected members of Congress and the Legislature, where at tho last Presidential election 38,669 Republican votes were cast, and whoro now in no part of the State does the Re­ publican vote appear, repudiation and Democ­ racy prevail mightily. I repeat here, as I said in the Senate, when the Government waa taken by the throat and threatened with strangulation, unless the eieo- tion laws were stricken down, that the Demo­ cratic party would liavo no majority in either house of Congress, except for elections domi­ nated and decided by violence and fraud. What use is made of all this ill-gotten power? One of its chief uses has been the repudiation of honest debts. Every Southern Stato but Texas has lately repudiated its obligations. The aggregate repudiation of Stato and munici­ pal debts amounts to about $300,000,000. In 1872 the debts of the Southern States were ¥242,500,000. Now these States recognize and pay interest, oil only $53,978,945. A large part even of this is unpaid and funded interest. On •¥20,000,000 interest lias been soalod down to 2 per cent. Whether the residue of tlie debtB are also to be foresworn is now an open issue. Is there excuse or palliation for thi - ? Wo are told so. What is it? It is that carpet-bag governments contracted those obligations. One difficulty with this excuse, and not the only one, h that it is not true. The anti-war debt, contracted before the cafpet-bagger ever visited the South, either with knapsack or without it, was $!K),000,000. No. part of this debt has been paid ; a largo part has been re­ pudiated. The carpet-bag governments paid the interest on it regularly. The increase of debt since the war was largely for public im­ provements. But tho most damaging fact for this excuse iR that nil the alleged illegal issues of bonds charged upon the carpet-bag govern­ ments put toget her does not equal the sums re­ pudiated by Georgia alone. Wh .t are we to think of men and communities who go into wholesale repudiation as " gavlv as the trouba­ dour touched hw-guitar." When Sir. Weaver 'brought forward in the Hons of Representatives ; a bill to issue fiat money and make it, a legal t" tender for all debts.public and private,man after man from the South openly declared that if the v-ord private were stricken out he would vote for tbe bill. They had no objeotion to paying off public debts with chaff, but private debts they thought should be paid in money. St ite debts are sacred above national obligations. In Southern ethics " a sovereign State is of higher essence than the nation, and this was the standing defense in rebellion for going with their States. Moreover, States and municipal obligations are for home purposes. If their own State's faith and credit is not inviolate with Southern leaders, what in their hands would be tlie fate of obligations which were tho means, the cause, the memorials of their defeat ? But we aro told Gen. Hancock would watch them. An angel might watch a tiger ; a child might attempt to divide a beefsteak with a bloodhound; a. lamb might lie down with a lion--but the lamb would lie inside. The peril of Democratic ascendency in all the branches of the Government is deeper rooted than any measure within the scope of existing public questions. Statesmen abroad talk of "tho bal­ ance of power," and of " changing the map of Europe.' These sayings mean not much more than might easily occur here. The resolution admitting Texas to tho Union in 1845 provided for erecting out of Texas four additional States. Tlie area and population are both sufficient Tbe area is 274,000 square miles; tbe population 1,500,000. Such a pro­ ceeding would add eight to the number of Southern Senators and Add to Southern power in the Electoral College. From New Mexico and otherTerritories whose traditions and pr. ju- dicos have descended from slaveholding intiu ences, several new States may also be made. Schemes exist not in embrvo, but far advanced, to obtain "a slice of Mexico." Cattle-stealing on the Rio Grande border has been and is a fruitful occasion for incursions into Mexico, f.pecial cavalry regiments of unusual size have been raised and stationed on the Texan frontier. It is an open secret that not long ago much ex­ ertion and alertness were needed to keep us out of another Mexican war. Without violating the constitution or transcending the usages of the republic, at least seven now States could be brought iu. and in the case of some of them a very plausible ease could be made. The project w ould become a high party measure ; its suc­ cess would assure complete Democratic ascend­ ency iu the nation for a generation at least. It wpuld put the Government not in the hands of thi> Democratic party, but of the Southern Democratic psrty. Why should not this bo done? Who and what is to prevent it ? If tlie Democratic party is elected, the .Northern wing could never ieti-it the Southern wing in Con­ gress were these States brought forward lor admission. The Northern wing never could, never will and never can withstand the pressure of the far stronger Southern wing. Gravita­ tion and arithmetic make such resistance im­ possible, just as a pound cannot outweigh a ton, just as one man cannot outnumber a regiment The past is pitiful in its waraii.ira -n this behalf. Despite pledges and Northern indignation, Northern Democrats in Congress united in voting down the Wilmot proviso in or­ der to maki; California a slave State ; united in voting for the Fugitive Slave law ; nnited in the mighty perfidy winch overthrew the Missouri compromise in order to fasten slavery on Kan­ sas and other. States a ud united in defeating the Homestead law, ail at the behest of the Southern majority. Mr. Van Bureti at last, like Macbeth, would "go no further m this bloody busiBcsg," and political destruction was Ins reward. Mr. Douglas at last made a brave staud against sectional aggression, and ho was hunted to his grave. Caucus is King, and the avenging angel is hardly more inexorable in decree, or more unerring in retribution. One of the main bulwarks of the republic is the judiciary. Tho courts of justice are umpire, conservator, citadel. The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of many mo­ mentous controversies. This great tribunal is very obnoxious to the Southern leaders iu Con­ gress and out. It is in their way. It does not always decide as they think. The halls of Con­ gress rung last year with assertions uttered with passionate vehemence that tlie laws for protecting elections are unconstitutional. Soon afterward a case ou the docket of the Supremo Couit, involving tho validity of these laws, was reached, and the court decided tliero valid. A Register in Bankruptcy, not long ago, overruled tlie Chief Justice on the con­ struction of a statute, and so it often happens that the courtis not able or recondite enough to get at the "true inwardness" and profound depths of tho law as understood on the hustings, where the moonshiners, thieves, aud the fire- eater reigns. Mutterngs deep and loud breath- ingsof dire longing* to "gofor" thecouithave, , for years, l>een gathering in volume. In the House of Representatives for two ortliree years this feeling has now and again fourd harsh voice in unseemly, sinister words. Not only in Kentucky, through the Cliairman of tlie Judi­ ciary Committee. Mr. Knott, but Missouri, North Carolina, and other States assisted. I regret to say, by a Representative from this citv, have uttered language gross and oaluuinious of the court, asi>ersing its integrity and its decisions as "mere drivel," "plausible sophistry," "packed, partisan, and demoralized," "packed tribunal," " decisions to be observed pro tempore " only, "dirty work of its misters,' "made a political decision to order," "fiery indignation of an in­ flamed people." These are some of the buffet- lugs to L>e found in the Congressional lirct/rd, delivered sometimes from carefully written speeches and sometimes received, the Record savs, with "loud applause." To.what does all this pave the way ? The Consjr< sshmc I liccord will inform you : On the 2-.th of January, 18S0, Mr. Manninggof Mississippi, a State we'll known to be jealous,y sensitive t > the pure ad- •nimsiratiou of justi'-c and the rigorous pun­ ishment of crimes, es|ieciailv liideous, cowardly murder and massacre, introduced a bill to 'place twelve new additional Judges on tho -iupreuie bench. What an easy, eCectual and withal plausible disposition this would make of the court. Increased business would bo such an iunoevnt excuse. The coiut could sit by sevens for some purposes, aud meet in banqne for large pur­ poses, when State sovereignty and State- rights amendments to the constitution and cotton taxes and the like were at stake. Tho hill passed to a second reading, and was referred to a committee, whose Chairman, a fow davs afterwar l, came into the House and denounced • he court, and said that a majority of tho present Judges were "hoiielessly lost in the io<_'. I'or tbe present it would be premature and bundling to pass such a bill. A veto might spoil it, and it might spoil tho result in some of the close Northern States, but let the Demo­ crats elect their President, or rather their party, Tor tbe party is running, and who wMl say that this bill will not find its way to tio statute book V You can all say what kind of J udges tlie twelve new ones would be, but no new law is needed. Nature's law, and the statutory limit of age at which Judges muv retire, will, during tbe next four years, vacate at least four seats on the Supreme bench. These four appoint­ ments will decide the political complexion of the court. With what Judges would the Dem­ ocracy fill them? The Circuit and District Courts are obnoxious also. They are stdl more easy to deal with. Like the Judges of the Su­ preme Court, these Judges hold their places during good behavior, but legislation, as has often boen seen in States isd in the nation, has ways to plow around this stump, a bob isliing a circuit or district, or adding to it, another takes his seat out from under a Judge and gets rid of him, and finally he is "legislated out" Thus the wliolo judicial establishment of the republic is at the disposal of tlie law-making power. With courts revolutionized to conform to reactionary no­ tions and dogmas, prejudices and interests, what may be the fate of the question affecting oommerce among the several States, revenue, bank and legal-tender currency, the taxation of Government bonds, the currency iu which these bonds are payable, the civil-rights acts, election laws, claims growing out of the war. claims for funding the war tax on cotton, the late amend­ ments, and many other grave matters, no man can predict. The army, too, is envied, its "offense is rank." Less than four lines of the Revised Statutes aits all that denies commissions in the army to men who, educated at the country's cost, and presented with their country's sword, drew that sword against their country's life! A bill to repeal these foiu- lines is now pending in tlie Senate, already passed to a third readiu" by the solid Democratic vote. On tbe 25th "of February last, Mr. Herskell, of Maryland, was relieved from the operation of this exclu­ sion, and a Senator from Arkansas moved, as ku amendment, its total repeal. The aves and noes were demanded, and thirty-six Senators, every Democrat who was present, voted ave ; Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York contributed their Democratic votes to this Southern proposition of "reform." Subsequently the mover and all con­ cluded to reconsider and drop the amendment. A sagacious conclusion ina " Presidential vear!" Mr. Tucker, of Virginia, moved in the House the repeal of this safeguard to the armv as a rider to an appropriation bill, but it was hud­ dled out of sight on a point of order. A judi­ cious point in a "Presidential year." The Democratic majority put in the army bill a pro­ vision that officers now in the army might re­ ceive advanced rank and pay if they would re­ tire. A benevolent, thoughtful provision cer­ tainly, but if a body of army officers could thus be coaxed out of the service there would be so many vacancies to be filled, and filled by the President by and with the advice and consent of a Democratic Senate. When this free-will offering was presented a cry arose about "gift-bearing Greeks," ond other ungra­ cious symptoms were manifested on the Re­ publican side, and so brevet rank aud brevet pay stand over at least till the season of Santa Claus. Meanwhile the army has been reduced to a skeleton, and whenever a scare, a pretense, a speck of war on the Mexican border or else­ where shull be discovered or invented, tbe army must be increased and filled up. Pilled up by whom ? That depends on the approaching clec- lioru If Garfield and Arthur are chosen, by Union men. men always for the Union to the core ; if Hancock and English aud thj Demo­ cratic party get in, by the men who " went with their states." Confederate soldiers would flock to the standard of military as well as of civil service reform, and flock in a fervor of magna­ nimity. Rank in the army should be given to those who fought in that army rather than to those who availed it in the dread extremity of tlie nation's life. The present tariff and revenue laws are deemed very bad by the dommaut element of tlie Democracy. They want to change them. '1 hey will change them radically whenever the way is clear. There is a whisky rebellion now : in several States, and the officers of the law are powerjess to suppress it. In Alabama the law is resisted and the process of tho courts de- | stroyed and defied. Recently a warrant was j issued for the arrest of one Pinto, charged with • such an offense. A Deputy Marshal went with ] a posse to execute the warrant In his report I to the Marshal, he says Pinte assembled from I twenty-five to fifty armed men. and set him and the law at defiance when cautioned to desist Pinte replied, " When Hancock is elected this d--d foolishness will stop." The thing to stop, | thus piously predicted, is the collection of the I tax on wliisky, that mild beverage so ] sacred to tho Democratic heart, so grateful i to the Democratic stomach, and so nourishing j to Democratic principles. The law is defied iu j Arkansas, and the officers apply to the Governor I for the use of the arms of the United States | loaned to Arkansas, and the Governor replies j that lie dare not permit the arms to be used, be- i cause if he should, and if a moonsliiner should be killed, ho would have to leave the State, j Washington raised an army when he was Presi- j dent and marched at its head to put down such i lawlessness, and he kept the army in Pennsyl- , vania three months alter it was put down to see ! that it did not get up again. Now there are , thirty-two soldiers of the United States in Ala­ bama and fifty-seven in Arkansas, and if 100 ! more should be ordered to either State the | country would not be big enough to hold the j noise. Hancock's order No. 40 would leap from j the Democratic scabbard, an we hear j how "the military must be alway subordinate j the civil power," and how the courts aro open. | These obnoxious laws are marked reform and I a change whenever the Democratic hand can reach them. The recent amendments to the constitution, and the laws made in pursuance thereof, are the object of unabated Demo­ cratic wrath--a wrath going to such excess as to compel the belief that free fraud in elections is deemed the only adequate means to party success. These amendments of free­ dom, especially the thirteenth and fourteenth, were established in the constitution against the most desperate opposition tho Democ­ racy could make. As they gained power in tlie States which had already ratified them, in impotent passion the farce was enacted of formally resci uding and withdrawing the irrevocable assent which had been finally given. This was done in Indiana and New Jersey, and Mr. Tweed did it in New York. From first to last the organs of Democratic doctrine have declared these amendments illegally car­ ried, illegal because Democratic Stales that were out fighting were not in to vote. Thev never yet had said or admitted that the amendments were legally adopted. Thev did say in National Con­ vention in 1872 that {hey opposed the reopening of questions settled by tlie amendments, and they did say in 1876 that they would accept them but that they were legally valid they have never said. These amendments are constantly and flagrantly defied in more than half the Democratic States, and have been for years. The laws enacted under them have been de^ nounced m every form, and denounced es null and void, even since tlie Supreme Court lias solemnly decided otherwise. It was to get rid of these laws that the revolutionary plot was laid last year to stop tbe wheels of Government, to close tho courts and postoftiees. and put out the beacon lights on the sea and on the lakes, un­ less a repeal was yielded. With a thoroughbred Democratic President, whatever mav happen in form to the amendment they will become more a dead letter than a quickenmg spirit, and the laws made to enforce them will be swept like loaves before a gale, Should those laws be swept away, and should the spirit which assails them in the South, and which called them into being continue to rage mildew will follow in the wake. When Lincoln issued his Proclamation of Emancipation men and women in this city were maddened by being made to believe that the slaves set free would swarm to tlie North, crowd out the white labor, and cut down its wages. Tbe draft riots were largely incited bv this wicked, insane pretense. Throughout tlie Noi tli this was the appeal to tlie workingman. and many members of Congress who had supported Lincoln wore defeated at the ensuing election. Vainly we pleaded for reason. Wo said, " No. Men do not flv from liberty; they fly from slavery and wrong." Events have vindicated tho logic of freedom. Once more I re­ peat the argument and warning. The black man wants to remain by the graves of his fathers, but let persecution go on and tlie storv of Pharaoh and of Egypt will be repeated.' An exodus, not of a few despairing souls, but a real exodus, wiil begin, depriving Southern fields of tho hands that should aud would till them, and bringing both North and West a population not inured to Northern climes and not adapted to usefulness and advantage hero, which fairly treated, w ould not come from them in the South. Tho national-hanking system is another eyesore to the ojJponition. Their Ni- tional Conventions have denied all power of Congress to authorize banks. By votes and 8|x*echeB in Congress, by declarations of con­ ventions and leaders, by studied amendments offered to the bills under which tho national debt has been refunded, tho national-bank­ ing system has been struck wherever a blow could bo put in. This fabric of banking is now inwrought, not only writli tho business of the eountr-.-, but with the main­ tenance of specie payments. It stands » lion in the path of fiat monev, inflation and all the long trai'i of financial heresies which possess the De mocratic mind, especially in the South. Iu unnumbered ways, dirt>ct and indirect, this vast interett is constantly exposed to the action of Congress. The Cincinnati Convention seems to have felt this ntted of caution on this point w hen it nominated Mr. English for Vice Presi­ dent. Ho is President of a national bank. They nominated a Union General as a blind to tlie soldier, and a bank officer as a blind to the bankers. Evidently it is thought the Northern Democratic team fdrive better with blinders, but even blinders do not alwj.vs answer. Iu 1864, after solemnly asserting, jii*» wheu tlie rebellion was gaspiug fts last, that Uia war for tJ le Union was a failure, tlie Democratic Convention, at an instigation coming then from the sheltering refuge of the Canadian shore, the same instigation which prompted a like ex­ pedient now, put up a Union General That General did not issu® Order Ne. 40 in the midst of lawlfssness and butchery which civil au­ thority could not arrest. No, he issued orders arresting the Legislature of Maryland, a State which had not seceded, and he issued orders rounds of party journals. The fashion of tfrfJk assertion seems to have been set bv Mr. Bio*- dall, the Speaker of tbe House of fteprefifnta-Sr-' fives. Mr. Randall is one of the ablest anc most intelligent, as he is one of tho inos £ courageous men of his party, and I sneak of"-, him with much respect In 'several speeeheghJf has taken up the matter of Southern claiais|% always to say that they are barred by the Four*. teenth amendment of the constitution. I|ip puzzles me to see how as discerning a man cai|l have fallen into such an error. The proceed-^ ings over which he presided constantly refut<# the assertion. In the Fourteenth amendment^" stand these words: "Neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pajF any debt or obligation incurred in aid of tiwfe. i insurrection or rebellion amiinrf s-the UnsfcwjpL" States, or any claim for the loss or enmncipa-S- tion of any slave ; bnt all stich d|f>ts, obJigafe' tions and claims shall be held illegal and void.'* The claims which stand in staggering totnis ite. bills already before Congress, and in other bills said to be waiting, are not touched in *4ns se3*i tion of the constitution. For example, it ijfe insisted that the direct tax imposed bv thdb nation on all States in 1861 should, as to thdfc- secaded States, be refunded. The ^ amount clauued is *2,492,110. Again, it is said the war - tax laid on cotton should be refunded,. Tlitt- argiuuent is that cotton, like wheat ana cornj • is a product of the earth, and that wheat and corn were not taxed, and therefore cottoi* should not have been taxed. There is plausi- bihty in this; bnt petroleum is a product or the earth also, and that was heavily- taxed, not only during the war but afterward and yet Pennsylvania has rower claimed that the money should be refunded. The amount of cotton tax claimed is *170,180, 220, Again, buildings were occupied, crops were tramped fences and wood were burned, provisions were- consumed, edifices were demolished and regions were laid waste by the armiej of the union. The total of such claims dizziea arith* metic. These are not debts or obligations in­ curred in aid of insurrection or rebellion. De­ cidedly not in favor of rebellion. They are • claims because of acts done to crush rebellion. The constitutional amendment does not. come within gunshot of them. The error of tfce distinguished Speaker is the mo e puz­ zling because as reported he said in another- part of liis address recently tliat the Republicou- majority in Congress had paid $100,900,000 of such claims. Ttiis, I presume, is true, if he - means the Republicans have voted to pay' Uniom men whose property was taken for public, use • the value of the property so taken. But whether * correct in the amount or not, he is certainly correct in saving that a vast sum has been so* paid. Does not this fact clearly show that such claims are not extinguished by the constitution ?' If they were so extinguished, surely tbe law­ making power would not have been so stupid: or wicked as to pay them vear after year, and - this without any member of either house : ever suggesting that the constitution stood ia* the way, These approprintions for Southern* claims also throw light on the question whether Republican action m Congress has been hostile- - and cruel to the South. Tlie statutes en the subject, enacted by Republicans, make the loy­ alty of the claimant a sine qua non, and the- Democrats have repeatedly voted to repeal the- loyaltv test, and bills for this puipo.se are now pending. There can be no doubt that tho way ' is wide open to all the Southern claims which a- majority can be found to vote for and a Presi­ dent to sign. There is as little question that large and ever- increasing sums aro plucked from the treasury m the river and harbor bills to dredge small | Southern streams aud runs entirely local and or j no possible use as channels of national com- I tnerce. The creeks and bayous and ponds thus - [ improved at the general expeiLse, some of thorn; . j cannot be found named on the map, and all of" | them are put into appropriation bills for tlier pecuniary or political advantage of individuals and corporations. The erection of public build­ ings, f or courts, postofiiees and the like, at the- national cost, is another serious and increasing- drain on the treasury. From small places,, where no such expenditure is needed, come ap­ plications for public buildings. Many of them* have recently passed the Senate. One place in North Carolina where a public building was- voted has not more than 2,500 inhabitants. No one at all familiar with the facts can doubt- that with full Democratic swing the doors of the treasury will open, and copious streams will run South and empty into the pockets of no' tfnd of expectants. Whichever way wo turn, reasons rise up before us for keeping the staff" in the hands of those who have vastly most at stake in the wholesome preservation of the- Govemment, its revenues and its laws. Those with the least at stake fought for one-half of the Government, and now tlie question is. whether we had better vote them both halves. The Democratic party has had possession of one house of Congress for four years, and of' both bouses for two years. What "useful thing has been done or proposed ? They have strick­ en millions of tax from whisky and tobacco. They have attempted, bv revolutionary means, to put the Executive under duress, and to crip­ ple the Government, in order to overthrow just and timo-honored laws. What else I do- uot know. It is said that the Democracy have reduced appropriations. 1 do not so understand it The ' claim of economy is no better than a juggle. Here are the exact figures, year by year, Re­ publican and Democratic ; of Burns annually Ap­ propriated for current expe,nsea stated in cur­ rency and gold for fiscal year. 1874--Republican: Currency Go'd 1875--Republican: Currency Go!«l 1871V--Republican: Currency Gold 1S77--Democratic: Currency Gold MVS--Democratic: Currency Gold... 187H--Democratic: Currency : Gold l8Bo-- Democratic: Currency Gold 1H81--Democratic: Currency Gold $172,290,700.82* 153,855,595.88 155,017,758.20' 137,655,769.28 147,714,940.81 129,693,718.03 124,142,010.9a 115,061,104.12 88,856,983.18 86,286,415.53 172,016,809.21 171,672,775.59 162,404,1547.7<t 162,404,047.76 154,118,212.64 154.1 proclaiming martial law and suspending the habeas corpus at election time, and plaoed soldiers as supeivieort of the polls. But even with such a Union General the disguise waa too thin. War claims upon the treasury have been and will lie subjects fruitfid of much agitation. I am moved to refer to it by the wholly ground­ less assertion in regard to it now going the i It will be seen that wider a Republican major- j it.y appropriations steadily decreased down to tho ; Democratic accession in 1877. In the first year" I the Democrats continued tlie reduction, omit- | ting, however, needed appropriations. In their' | second year, the vear preo-eding the Congres- j sional elections, tiiev badly neglected to provide • for many obvious aud indispensable appropri-- atioii". This was exposed on the s]>ot as au electioneering device, but the figures went forth rnd had their effect. There thev stand in the tables of 1878. The great apparent savings,, loudly bragged about at the time, but as every­ body familiar with the workings of the Govern-- meiit knew beforehand, must l>e the pretended Havings, which had been purposely left out of' the appropriation bills, came in as deficiency bills afltr the election at the next session. There stands the proof in the tables of 1879. The appropriations that year were greater than in 187G, tlie last year of Republican rule- greater in currency by *24,301,868.40, greater in gold by fS41,!17!>,057.56. For last year the appropriations exceeded the last Republican , year more than 615,000,000; for this vear they are considerably larger, and in both years ap­ propriations were purposely omitted in cases in which they are siuo to be supplied at the next session. In the face of the fact, bold and arrant as the claim is, the country is gravely told of wondcr- ous Democratic economies, and it now begins to be str- ted tliat resumption of specie payments was really brought about by the frugality of » Democratic Congress. If a nice was to be sailed on the sea of fiction, the inventor of that state­ ment would surely take the cup. The resump­ tion of specie payments was a transcendent achievement. Tbe credit of it belongs to some party, and to that party future generations will look back with grateful admiration. Whoever would know the truth about it can easily do «o. After the war we had afloat well toward £1.000,- 000,000 of paju-r currency. It flucfunted in value from 88 to 70 cents on the dollar. Tlie public debt was more than 12.800.000,- 000, and more than t2,3(>0,000,000* of it bow interest. The annual interest char"o was *15:),OOG,000. The first Presidential elec­ tion afterward was in 1868. The two parties, of course, arrayed themselves on the greatest financial issues which had ever arisen in this country, or, perhaps, in anv country. The question wns what should lie done with the colossal debt inflicted by the rebellion, and with the sea of paper promises we had' been compelled to put out V The Democratic partv pronounced for repudiation. The declaration was covert aud indirect, but it meant repudia­ tion. They resolved that all debts should be paid in paper promises, unless the obligation expressly on its face said otherwise, or unless the law mentioned tliat coin should be paid ; they resolved that Government bonds and all other securities should all be taxed ; they re­ solved that every speoies of property shouid bo taxed, aud taxed at its real value; they resolved that there should be but one currency for the Government and tlie bondholder. Taken to­ gether, these declarations were plain repudia­ tion. Nobody pretended that the obligations of the Government were payable in honest money for the reason wliich alono could allow them to be so paid under the Democratic resolution. Had their payment in honest monev been speci­ fied literally and technically in the way re­ quired by the resolution, there would havr

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