Duncan Stewart's Speech

We givo below the spesoh of Dcncan Stbwart, delivered at tho immensu Opera Houso ratificaron meeting held in Detroit. Mr. Stewart is known as a business man rathor than a politician, though he has alwaya been a Kepublioan. He speaks front hig own knowludge, and his wordg are tho words of truth and sobernoss. We oommend thom to businets men and the farming community : Mr. President, Lames and Gentlemen - I think it ië rather too bad after hearing a Cabinnt Minister, and ons who has bsen a monibor of Congre, and Oovemor of the Sta.10, Ytho have gone over all the ground, io put up a pertou connectod with tho Board of Trado (laughte and applauoe). I think under the jiresent cirourastanota, that I lion'd inform you that witUiu the last 30 day wheat has gone down from Í2.3Ü to 1.6ó (laughter and applauae), and thorofors you oannot expeot me to discus public affnirs with the samo aqunnimity a rny frionds who iiave juit ot down hare done. A great inany har askttd me the same question a ha been aaked öov. Blair, " xrhy, you cau't support öreley V" Well, there was a by-way that has led me in that direction for tho past two years. 1 will teil you where tho turning point wiib. Two yt'itrs ago, foeling a littlo unwell, I thought I would go down South, and I went there full of prejudice There novar wat a man from the North that wont South with guch a prejudice against the Southern psople as I had. I thought they were what the Northern preis had reptesented them - a land of ruffians - every man iwaggoring, with his pookots full of bowie knires and pistola. (Lüughter .) And when I got out of the cara at Norfolk I begtin right off to look arountl for tho bowie-kniros and pistols, hut I did not seo ono (iaughter). I sat down in the et with o gentleman and had ome oonveraation there, añil he turnod out to bo an old trooper in Wade llampton's oavalry, and ho dumned all Yankees oud all Jowa and everybody elio. Wall, I thought that waa going it pretty strong ; but ho tts vory civil. Frum Xorfolk to Kaleigh I found every one oivil and polite. I heaid ho blasphetny ; I saw no drunhen men ; saw no pistois ; no bowie-knivei. TViien we airived at tho at vtion at RfJeigh' ft gentleman thero was very mach chagrined beaause thoru was no omnibas to tttke ui to tha hotel. lío aaid he w exooudingly sorry thot th'is ueglect had taken ploue. He never had known it to tako plftoe bffore, and s we were strangura there bo would tako u to tha hotffl himeelf, and this goutleinn, a man Bereiityfive yenrs of ugo I ihould judge, walked through those streott fnr a mile and a qusrter until ba brought us to the hotel, ■ uiid I khooght after that that tha Southern people wcro not so bad aftor all, even iï they had been rebellious. This trs on Suturday nigbt. On Monday rnorning I weut to see the sort of lgieloture they had at Kaleigh. I can tall you eoraething about theso men, and eomethhig about thoir actione. I atayed there for a wcuk or 8o, to soa how they conduoted thbmselvoa ; and here wai tho firat thing tbat made me think whothei we were rigiit or whethor we were wrong ot the North. On Monday they were ditcuasing a bilí to give some ten or twelvo millions of dollar to aome railroad fellow, Holden and others, the groatest rillains that ever lived, Bouth or North. I asked thom how they oipectod to soll these bonds, seoing that thore had been no provisión for paying thu interest on the old 3tte dobt. Xhey gaid thy cared nothiug at all bout thnt, they were bound to hare the money. Woll, they got the money i " Sweitzer went to Kow York with them and sold them for 65 oenta on tho dollar, and from that down to 25 conti), and then pooketed the ïuoncy and wont to Washington, and Grant gave liim an office to rewrd Lim for his dishonesty. That Lsgialature was oomposod of Bonlwags and orïTpst-Viijjgera, the great niajority of them. (Lughter and pplauae.; My indignatiou was aroused, and ii I had beun a nativa of tliat Btute, and had had any iuilueaoe or powor there, I teil you that none of those maa would havo 6G9n tho uoxt iïondfty inoming. Soaii: 2.3 or ',ii) of them wcro renegado miuistcT that bad taken to politics, and taken to iiquor, and you may know what sort of a man a minister is who takes to politics and theri to Iiquor and thsn takes to steaiing, and thtm tk8 to outrageoua blaepheming. (Applauie and laugiitor.) Ty vrere tho sort of men who coinpuaed the majority of that Legieiaturo, aiid on evory ono oi' thoiv iaoos was written villaili, roguo, ioo'jndrol, swindlsr - very man of thcm. (8eusation.) I went through the South, and I eav a grent many thinge of thtit ort. Go down to Loiisiana and you fiud tho Preeident'e brothor-in-law in jiowor and lol of his frionds, and they wore robbing the pooplö right and lutt. They had managed to iiiguo $6,000,000 in bcnds ot' tho city of New ürloans, and tlio oity ot' Jfow Üileana hud not inut them, md hu uot mot one single düllur of them ; that is the vray the peoplo of the South are troatod. (Applause.) One of the laws 1 down thero vhile I was there - showing; what extremes these people would go to and how they were bound to tramplo the people of th South under their feet- was that iio csttlo hould o kilitíd wit'uin the oorporato limita of the City of New Orleans - thty had to be killed over at Algiers, whieh is situntd as Windsor is to Detroit, and they ps3ted a law giving a number of Oafloy's frinnds a licansi; to kill these eittlí and nobody else was allowed to kill cattle or pxovide bet f for tho oity of New ürloans, and nobody vras allowed nnder a heavy poualty to sell meat in the oity of New OrleanB unlesd it camo from these butuherg. The resiüt was that for theso cattle, worth but three cents a pound in Algiers, on foot, taken aerosn to New Orloans yon oould not buy u steak for les than 'Zó cents a pound. (Seniation.) Now, Mr. President, do yon suppose that men guilty of such infainous thingB aa that could hare livod in Detroit ? 1 teil you no ! Thoy could not havo livd in one of these Northern States. (Appliuue.) They got upa great ado about theso bonds that wero i.tsucd the civrpet-bag Legislature at Raleigb; then, in order to ïr!üv the public ottntion from them, all at once, we liuar that the county of AUmanoe and unothcr oounty in Noïth Carolina wore in a stato of insurreotiou. It vriis a lie from b?gmuing to ead. They w. re as quifit as ny spot in tho city of Detroit to-uight, oioept where these villaiiis were. (Apphvute.) And what waa the retult of thut? Colored soldier wore sent thoro under tho oonimaud of a villuiíi, and Araarioau oitizens wero taken and hnngo-l, ai tbey need to do in the middle oges, tied up by the thumbs and hung up in order to luuko thom coafets. That thing was not done four or live hundrod yoars ago ; it was done uighteen months ago in the State of Norih OHrolini, and the general governrnent supports tliem in their infernal doings. (Oreat applnueo ) Whcn these things were being done ths President of the United States was airing himself at his " cottago by the gea" (laugbter), haviug % good time gsnorally. (Renewea langhter.) He was having a fírat-olags timo with Tom Murphy. The man who pasted the soldiere' clothes together inttoad of eewing them. lia was he boaom friend of the Prosident at Long Braneb. And to raako a bad mattor worBe, instead of the President taking forty-eight houri to ga to North Carolina to investígate mattere, hc sont four comimiioa of artillery from Fortress Bionroe to aid their infernal jame ; to put down n insurreetion that did not exiet. (Apjlauae.) That was oraniming a lie down ae throats of the Amorioan poople. I found when I went through the South )aco and quiot ; that I could talk as freey aa whon in the city of Detroit. I ound that instaad of the ppople being ash, ui they had boen representad by the Northern preBs nd Northern editorsdurng the war, that we wore entirely iuislea. I found peoplo of great intulligence, people of grest gauvity, people of unjounded kiudneis, and I sid to myself, how is it tht we canuct bo on good term with thia poople ? Are we to hate them forever t And I ak the same quostioa here to-uight, when ia thia trouble betwRen tho North and South to cease P Are theae poüticians like Mr. Chandlor, Mr. Morton, Mr. Hyward and thos men, to continuo thia ill-feuling to the end of time? Itwllyouno! as Gov. Blair has smid, "We must have peuco" (great applause), and I gay further, that if we were ao cowardiy aud 30 afraid to punish these men when our blood wu up - and I feit that we ought to have puniahed them, perhapg - but atill we did not, and I say it is muan and oowardly and doteatablo and unmanly to keop. up this thing. We ought to have punished theao man oompletely or pardoned thom fully, and for 1117 port, I go in for froe forgiveuese. (Qrent applauge.) Now, on great hope of tho Republiean party in carrying this oounty and a portion of tbe State i so do it by thooolorod vote. These uien set themselvea up ae the friends of the colored man. Now, if there are any oolored man hore, I will show you how muoh frieudihip they have foi you. I was walking down st""eet with a prominent Eepublican, and 6ays he : " The only thing that tho Ciucinnati Convention laoked to oompleto tho absurdity of the nomination was to hava put on Fred Douglaes for Vioe President" sneering a Fred Douglasa. Now, they mar suuer as muoh as they liko, although they think thoy have oaptuxed the oolorod vote by giving thom offices in the ;usiom-house, and around, they will fiud themselvos mistaken. (Applause.) They will find when balloting day oomea that these men will vote prstty much as they picase. Now, I dou't go for buyiug the oolored vote, or auy other vote, with money ; I go for praising these men np, miiking tliüm ambitioug, and making them think thoy have an interest at stake in the laad, and inttead of putting ,them into custom-houses, inatead'of buyicx tbem ur with nionüy, I think it would be a good thiug at the ooming eleotion just to eeleot one of the most iii:Uigant among tbem and iry hiin in the Legiulaturo and see how thoy would like that. (Great applanso.) I would like to take another ouo of tbem at tho coming oity elcotioii, whenever we Laye one, oud try him for au Alderman. I would niako these men ambitious to bo good citizeng, to play theiv port well, but uot to play a purt in th custoui-houne. After htiving been de ws South, I beB[an to look at sonie other thiigi, and I fouud that tho Kepublioan party had given tho lio to aliuost every prinoiple that they had enunoiated. You take thia matter of oivil servioe. Xhero hag not been for tho lnst threa years one iingle Republican convention aasembled iu the whole United States but has indorsed and demanded oivil service reform, and Gov. Blair has ahown you whot kind of ciyil servioe reform it haa been. The bribery of Senaton, rewarded by the fat offices in Washington. Gen Qrant may be an honost man hiutself, but ha has a stmngo idoa of what the country considera should be an honest administration of the offairs of GoTeramont. (Laughter and applauee.) If ho had dono nothing elie than retain Portr and Croawell in office ha had done enough to oondemn himsulf before tho American people, but ha has done worse thingi. Look at Loet and Btocking. Thero is not a single man who goe to tho polls and deposita a voto for Grant who does uot dopotit a voto for Lt and Stooking. Grant knew of these iniquities in th custoin-houe. ïhey had been brought to lus knowledge two yoars before, and he wonld not interiore, and when an inrestigating comrnittoe wts demtinded in tho Scnato, what wa tho losult? ïhe men that asked for thttt investigting committee have boen treate.l na if they (tole tho raoney, instead of these men in New York ; thcy have boon blackgnarded and abused, . and tiually obliged to leave the party on acoount of itá being o rotton and corrupt. (Applauso.) Every one knowa theso to be t'actg. And thun look at the want of dignity of Genoral Grant. Wh there ever a President of tho United State3 who 80 fut forgot tho dignity of bis offioe, who ao far forgot his self-respect, as to placo his own father in a littU postoifioe in Covington, Kentuoky. (Applause.) It was an outrage upon doceucy and an in■nlt to tho Ainoiioan people. Then, again, in this oivil service reform matter, Fe süö that tho oifices havs been crowdf'd with incompetent msn all over the country, ani every aort of crime and corriiption has been earried on. Tnke it in the oity of Nw York alono, where this irivestigiiting oiimmittea brought somo things to Hght, and out of nearly four thousand fraudi that wero oommittod upon tha govornment there were only about a conple of dozen of tbem ever prosoouted. Upwards of 3,'iOO of them were jttl-d. Ño man oan teil how that settlenicnt was mudo, but thro ie na sort of question about it that upwarda of $2,000,000 went into the pockets of the men who made the settletuontu, and I suppoee very littlo went into the Treasury o' the United States. (Sensntion ) Thoy talk about tho franksag privilege. They had a fair opportunity, jusi at the olose of Congreaa to abolish it, but wiien it caiuo into the Senate, thoy did not intend to aboHeb it or anythingof tho sort. Thoy intend to keep up these iniquilies and tbcao ovil practioes. At tho conclusión of the war it was leolared that all the officos ir. the srifts of the goTernment should go thoao who had sustnined the tlag of our country in ita }iour of ptiril. Look nround and eoa how many of tbo soldiyrs of this rtmt republio aro in office. You oan Bee :ble-boi1ied men who nerer bore a gun and never got within five hundred miJos of camp, iu office nll over the country. You o.iu seo tbo miserable p'irtiean growing rioh out of tho wages and stealings of ofíico, and you oau eeo praotinal patriotism grinding a hand-orgsn on tho corner of the gtreet. (Oxtes of "Har, ht'sr," nd cboors.) Now, having sisid omuthiug about one mn, it would bo woll to s&y sumethiiig about tho othor man on the ticket. A fow years ago Mr. Gaorgo Bagley, a strong Grant man, mysslf, nd Mr. Dorr, the President of the Chambei of Commeroe, wero sont to Washington to lay boi'orc the Sonate certain inforinatiou with regard to the necessity of a Niágara ehip canal. We woro treatod with tho greatest courtesy and respect by overy Senator eicopt Honry Wilson. TL? told us. sneeringly, that he would not ■wasto bis time tnlkin about it ; that there waa no commercial necessity for it. Tbero were not landgrabs onough in it to interest him. It was not like the Pacific Railway, that grcat grub, whero Jay Cooko and Tom Hoott got millions of ucroa of land. And seuing I have mentioned Tom Scott, I will teil you something further about him. and thoin. I will como baok to Henry Wilson again. Yon seo, I don't get my ideas just exactly in a stiing liko thcso chapa that havo been praoticing law ftU their lives. (Laughter.) A gentleman says to mo the other day, " It i impowsiblo t'or Greeley to carry thia election." " Why ?" said I. " Why," said he, "Tom Scott has subsoribed $100,000 to support Grant." I eaid to him, if Scott did do that, it was no moro than he ought to havo dono, and he oould afford to do it ; and it is men liko Tom Scott who are stripping the laboring men of this oountry, of every foot of land. Tom Scott can afford to do it. (Cries cf hear, hear, and cheera.) Tom Scott can afford to give $100,000 to got the right eido of a President, and the right side of a Congres thftt will givo him 50,000,000 or 100,000,000 acres of the publio land in return for wliat he hss subscribed. It il a simple method of swindling from beginning to end. (Cries of hear, hear, and cheors.) I said 1 was coming back to Henry Wilson again - I am back to him. There are a great many fortigncrg here to-night. The Ropublican papers all over the country have donied Wilson'i oonnuction with theKnow-Nothing moveuieiit. Ilenry Wilson walked through the doors of a Know-Nothing lodge into the Senute of the United States, and he never could havo got thtire in any other way. When Henry Wilson first went to the Senate of tho United States the 8onatorship of JiIasBaohusetts was óiierrd by the Know-Nothing Legislature of Massachusetts, who were strong at that time, to 14obert C. Winthrop, if he would simply walk into the Know-Nothing Lodge. They did uot roquire him to take the otith, but if ho would ouly make his appearanoe inside the door of the KnowXothing Lodge they would elect him Senator of tho Unitod States. Bobort C. Wmthrop gpurned th offer. Honry Wilson, the leader of the Know-Nothing fratoruity, was elected Senator of the United States. That was tho offer that waa acorned by liobert 0. Winthrop. (Applauso.) I know these factg from a Know-Nothing member of the Legislature of that day, and a member of the Ktiow-Nothing Lodgo in which Houry Wilson graduated and walked from that lodgo to tho United States Sonate. Now, I would like to know what Irishman, or Gorman, or Sootohman, or any other foreigner, is goiag to support a man who tried this proscriptiou with them. He is just as muoh at heart a Know-Nothing to-day aa when ho took the seat that was offered to Eobert C. "VYiuthrop. (Applauso ) Now, another great point is made in favor of the administration. They say that Geneial Giant and ilinister well re paying the nutional asot. row, gantleraun, they have dono nothingof the sort. vJeneral Graut and Mr. Boutwell, through other, have pridod themselres upon paying tho national dabt, but they have not done it. They have eimply overtaxed the people. They are taking the credit of paying the debt when in reality the peoplo are paying it. Now, I don't believe Boatwell ia half as big a man as tho world thinlss he is. You know he made a great fuss with a lot of thoo sharp fellows bout taking out the $200,000,000 United States bonda and turning thom into fivo per cents, so as to save ono per cent. The two hundred millions of bonds were placed in the hands of McCullough and Ccoke, and the interest run on thein ft great many inonths without paying anything baok. Gold has gone up within tho last few inonths frora 110 to 114. Somo attiibute it to Mr. Greoley. I woudored very muoh how that thing was, because these bonda were olaimed to have boen gold for gold, and if thoy wcro sold for gold in Londor. the government would have had $200,000,000 of exchango to draw against and the result would have boen that gold would not have been worth moro than 107 or 108. (Applause.) I would lik to know whether tht monoy haa been paid yet, and I would like when CongrtBS moot to have the matter inquired into, nul seo when Jay Cooke and McCullough began to pay that money, and how it wm paid. Than, again, look at the public lands and nee how the publio has ben plundwed. 1 maintain that in a republioan gOTernment, whsre the landa are vested in the government, no man- I don't cara how rioh he is - has a right to own a ringla í'oot of land ho doe not cultívate. (Applause.) And I teil you, gentlemen, we are ooming to that - we are not far from that titne- when Jay Cooke and Tom Soott, and the men who refuse to pay inteest on the Central Pciflo Kailroad bonda, will have to diigorge evory foot of that land they have not sold. The land belongi to tho peoplo. It doee not belong to the government, and they have no moro right to rob the people of it than a guardián has to rob an orphan that is placed in his oharge. (Applauee.) I teil you, landlcss men here to-night, that it is time for you to riss up against thi iniquity. Look at Europe. Look at Busgia, whoro the land is iu groat noblea' hands - thousands of miles of it ; look at Austria ; look at Prusaia ; look at Prance ; look at Italy- how the people of overy oountry are dcgraded in every country whore the land has pasaod out of thoir t ilrnxf "Rriain umi the oase is not much better. Agricultural laborers in Devonshire and other parta of England are not us wcll off bb tha $luves in the South bsforo the abclition of elavory. (Applause.) And the day will come whon you will bo no bettor here. They niay êny it íb a vested right. Is it right that the United States Congroos, or the President of the Unitod Statas, or anybody else, should giv away pieoos of land largor tban great oounties in Europe - pieces of land as largo as tho whole New Bngland States ? I teil you thero must bo another plank in tho platform before we ure through with these vülains. (Applauso.) Every man who owns land must cultívate it. I should liko to eso Jay Oooke culiiratlng a farm ten timos as big as New Bngland ; and I would lite to sea Tom Scott as plowman. They would havo n good timo oí it. (Applause.) That is one of tho gje'tert aud órneles wrong that has evur beun dono to tho peoplo uf tïiia country. Every foot of land that wosleft onght to be preserved for tho people. Xo more gre.uta, either to oauals or railways, orany other projaot ander heaven, slionld be mado ; and if Congraaa ia goiug to givo mybody anything, pay the cash down ; and the moment you corae to py the oaih down, and tiiki; it froui the pooylo in hard taxeg, they will 8to thö infernal viliaiuy of the thing aud stop it. But they do not thiuk of it when it is stripping them of thoir landt. I want you, Germana, and erery man that has no landí - I want eTerybody that has no farm- to thiuk of it. Oíd Horace won't allow anything of that kind. (Great applause.) Mr. Stowart oloied by saying : I seo a great many ladiei heru to-nigh and I find among my ltopnblican frii-nds thttt a vast number of their wivos aro for Horace. I want you to go home and keop at them until they aro all right. Now if you have a hunband, or a swnothert, or a brothrr, or anybody else that is not very euro about it, mako them go for floraoo. (Laughter.) 'I am going to appeal to the ladies; they are a power m the land. If it was not for tnom thero would not havo been ono of us hero toniaht. (Laughter,) I will toll you what to do If you have any male relativo that will not go for Horaco, you are bouud to go for him ; try coaxing, and 11 that won't do try tears, and if tears won t got him, give hiua iits and you are surc to sucoeed. (GTcat applaus.) Sundry journuls aro disousaing th rjuostion, "Can wo cultívate rain':" Doubtful ; but wo can " raise thundv