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The Rule Of The Republican Party

The Rule Of The Republican Party image
Parent Issue
Day
23
Month
August
Year
1878
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

[Kxtract froLu Ki nator TliiiniinirK Speech, at Ham ilion, Ohio.J The claim of a party iu power to a prolongation of its rule necessarily involves an inquiry into its policy and government in the past. If its past rulo has been vicioun or nnwiie, prudencs obviously dictates that au end. for the time being at least, should be put to itu doinination. Now, has tlie rule of the llepublican party since the closo of the civil war, thirteen years ago, beon wise and beneficontV I think tlmt this questiou must bo answered in tho negative. It is not uecossary to go into a detailed ex&niination of all its moasures ; nor eould that be done in tho limit of a speech, or, indeed, of niauy speeches. Nor ia it uecossary to aseert that all its moaaures have been bai and injuriouh. Lt is sufticient to look at the general result, and see vhether that is good govornmeut and prospority, or tho reverse. Now, oertalnly no one wlll deuy that this country bas for luo last live yeara suftered, as perhaps no other country ever did suffer, trom deprossion in every brauch ef budines i, iu every industrial occupation. The cutiré body of tho producing elastcs- cmployers, employee, and niiddkmen - have been affected. Bankruptcies ai e numberod by tens if not by hnndreds of thous&nds, and the aggrogato of lossoa almost defioe com pntation. Tbe number of laborera thrown out of employment or reclueed to half-time and diniinishbd wages has beeu estimatod by million ; and, howover exaggerated the estímate m&y be, the oxtent of tho evii has no parallel ín this, if, indeed, it has in the history of any people. Starüing is tho f act, and at first view almost incomprehensible, that, in a country whose population averages bvit eleven persons to the square ruile, there have been, and thero yet iire, thousands deslitute of bread. A singlo interest - the moneyed interest- bas flourished, and yet ilourishes; and that, it is to bo remembered, is procixely that interest that laas received the fostering care of lïepublican legisJatiou. Now, my friends, so far aB this deplorable etate of thmgs in tho reaultof vicious legislation or of the omission of wise legislation, the Itepublican party, or at least thote who have controlled it, are rcsponsible. From the 4th day of Marcb, 1801, to the first Monday in December, 1875, more than fourteeu yeaiv.lhat party had uncontrolïed power iu every dopartment of the Federal Government ; and since then it has continued to hold the Henatc and the Tresidency, and fo have the conBequent power to negativo any measure of relief a Democratie House of Representativos might propoBe. Is thcre, theu, any injustiee iu calling that party to account for the evils the country has snff ered aud yet suffers V Can it with truth be said tbat these ev.ü could not be foreseen, or, if foreseen, could not have been avoided or diminished ? He would be a bold man who would mako that assertion. For, although no Government ever was, or ever will be, onmiscient and omnipotent ; although disasters have happened that no rulers, however wiae, could have fere;-een or averted - yet the disasters of which I am speaking are not of that character, and niight have been foreeeen, and, to a great extent, provented. It is bul ju'tice, theu. to say to our Republicau rulers, You havo had every opportunity to do good and avt-rt evil, and you have failedto do either. You have had opportunities such as no othei party over enjoyed to benefit your country, an yon havo, by want of intolligence or virtuo, or both, brought it to the verge of ruin. It is time, high time, that you surrouder the reins of Government. I now turn to another topic, the expenditnres of the Government, to whieh too Jittle attention bas been paid. I propose to compare Democratie expanditure with Kopublican (ïxpenditure, iu order that you may judge whioh of tho two parlies is the belter entitlcd to praise for honest aud oeonemical government or, to put it ia another form, which party ought to be condemned for dishonet and wasteful extravagance. The last liecal yearof Democratie administration was that ending Juno 30, 1800. Tho ordinary expenses of tbc Government for that year, exclusive of pensions and interest on public dubt, were $58,955,952. Thepo e'xpensee, stated in detail, were (omitting cente) : FortheWar Dejiartment $10,472,202 For the Navy Dnparttaent 11,514,611 For the Interior Djpartpncut 9,991.121 For miFcellaneoUB, or civil 27,!t77,978 Nöw, comparo these expenditures with these of the last year in wMch the Repuhlican party had U'jlimitcd control, the fiscal year onding June y0, 1875. The ordinary expenses of the Government for that year (exclusive of pensions and interest on the public debt) were $112,I 078,682, being $8a,117,682 in excess of the last year of Democratie administration ; or, m other words, tho itepublican expendituros wore nearly two and a half times as great as the Democratie expenditures. But it may be said that our population was mueh greater in 1875 than in 1800, and that this accounts for the 'ncreased expenses of Government. The explaDation wiil not tuffice. The population in 1800 was 31,413,321, and the expenditures were at the rate of $1.87% per capita. In 1875 the population, as nearly aa it eau be eslitoated, was 43,000,000, aud the expenditnres were at the ratO of $3.30 per capita. Again, it may be said that the inerease of oxI nenses errew out of the war. This oxrlauation will not ansiver. By the figures I have givea, and thoso I shall hcreafter give, I exeludo the exponditures occasioned by the war, natnely, peutions, the public dtbt and interest thereon, and confine niy comparisou to the ordinory expenses of Qov&rnment, uatnely: the coetof the War, Navy, Iudian aud Civil departments in time of peaoe. Tho inercaao ia these departmeuta is showu ia detail in the followingtablo: DKTAILB. 1800. 1875. Increase. War Dipartnent.$lfi,472,202 $11.120.615 $24.618,443 Xavy..." ]1,514,G4!) 21,497,628 9,982.977 Indian 2.901,121 S;88Ï,6S 6,393,535 MifloeUaaeoiis, or civil 37,977,978 71,070,702 43,1)92,724 rucrt aso fS3,117,676 But it may be said that the comparison shoukl not be of a ingle yoar with a cingle year, because speoial circumstances inight mako sueh a comparison unf air, and that the only fair modo is to compare a period of overal years with a liko period. Very well; let us seo the result of snch a comparisni). Lot us take a period of seven years of Democratie administration, and compare it with a like period of liopublican admiuistratioo - botli periods being years of profound peace. Let us take the soven fiscal years eommencing Jnly 1, 1853, and ending June 30, 1860, wticn ihe Democracy were in power, and compare them with the neven ñí-cal yoars commencicg July 1, 1868 (three years al'ter the close oí the war), and euding Juno 30, 1875. when the Iiepublicans had unlitnited control, aud what is tho resul t? The following table shows it: July 1, 1833. to June :0, 18C?, seven years. 08DIKABT FXl'KNDirilHKS, LKSS PENt-IONS. Fic! yoar n'liug June 30, 18:4 S 60,134,868 Fiscal year pndmg June 30 18f 54 888,585 Fieo il year ending Jimo 30, 18T 5 370.2' s Ficil year iniling June 8, 187 (4,730,763 Fiscal yoar oiün June : 0, 1858 71 110,66!) Fiscal year eniHng June 30, IS'ít 65,133.728 Fiscal ycar end&ng June 30, 1800 68,855,1 52 Total 080,880,868 Average anuual expeuditurc, $íil,"54,4o'J. l'xp; TitlHuro, per capita, $1.94. July 1, 18ÍÍ8. to Jiml 80, l7.rj, nrvon years. OEDINAIIY EXPENJUIUHKP, LKFS PENSIONS. Fiecal ycar endiug June so, 186? ? 162,019 7:':i F.scal ycirciKlinj; Jone 3U, Ihto ]3;),cl,30S Fiecal year enditig June 3U. 1871 128)189,983 l'ipcal yoar ci.ding Juno 30, 1872 124 )S,4r,l Flactl year onding June 80, 1873 151,129,210 ■!S!ü year endlog June 30, ik;i 165,080,671 Fiscal yoar onding Juno 3!), 1875 142,073,032 Total 11,01)4,192,838 Average annual oxpcnditure, $143,466,119. Kxpondituro, per capitti, $3.45, All these figures are derived froni olticial sources, and it appears by them that the average annual ordnmry expenpes of the Governmont. in even ycars of l)oniooratic rule, wcre 161,624,409, winli! (he Uke average annual exI (üiges in seven years of llopublicau rule were $143,150,119. being uu average annual t xcesa undcr itepubl i admiuistration of {81,901,710. Aud lhw cxoc8S eannot bs explaiuod by the ineease of popuHtion, for the exyienee per capita in the fcvm itepublican years waa ?3 45, while ii the seven Democratie years it was only $1.94. Nor oan it bo oxplained as nec-Kiiarily resnlting from the war ; for. as I have said, 1 bave excludcd from the oomparieon expenses oansed by it, nantely : peniiious, public d(bt aud interest thereon ; and tno lirst of the seven Republican yearn I have taken wils tlte tbird ycar af ter tin war. Of the eorruptiou that has brouglit ilifgraee up.iu the republic. aud furuibhed the advuCRtesof dospotim, tlic world over, with aitinicnts agaiost popular governnieut, it is not for moto sneak in detail. Uufortnoately for Uie credit of tlie nation, the instaucos are ho notorious that a bare rcference to ther briug íorth a picture from wliicli the niind tiinu with loathing and indignatiou. The Credit Mobilier, the Pacilic Mail, the BelUnap trial, the villaintes of the Custom House, the straw bids of tho Postoffloe, the ludían aud whisky rings, and the long lifit of defaulters in every dopartment, havo beeome ma.tters of history, aud attest too elearly for controversy the need of reform. But no substantial reform, you may rest assured, will tiilto place so long as ltcpublican rule shall provail. The ovil is too deep-seated to be reached by anythiug short of au ontire change of acUnislstranon. But, fellow-citiüens, thwre is onegroat drama of fraud, one huge blask spot upon tho national escutcheon, that eannot bo paseed by with a mero alluaion. Tho seat of the Chief Magistrale- that seat that in times past ha been, and in all tiuxt Bhonld be - an emblem of pnrity aud honor i occupied by a man who was nevcr elec'.od (o t, and whose elevaliun vu accompiishcil by the groBsest framls and boldest usurpalions that ever disgraced the history of a freo people. I havo no timo , day to go iuto a detailod statement of theso iraudn aud utmrpations. I have no timo to show you how the Returning Board of Florida, in plaiu violation of the law of the State, in equally plain violation of the iiolemn decisión of the bigbent oourt of the Stato, throw out a unnibor of Democra'ie hallots to give the voto of the Stato to the Hajea üluctors. iustcad of to tho Tilden electoiv, who had been chosen bj thepeople. Nor how, in like manner, the lietuming Board of Lonisiana threw ont from C.OOO to 8.000 votes givcn to the Tilden lectors - thoreby dinfranchising the people of whole preoincts and counties, and completely reYersin; the voto of the Ktale. Xur how, by a vote of eight te soveuiu the Electoral CommiBsion, all inqiiiry into these frands and usurpatious was precliuled, and the doctrine solenmly annonnced aud aeted npon that, no matter ly what fraude, no matter by what illogalities, no matter by what mmrpationp, a neturnin or Cauvassing Board may dcfeat the will of the people, tbo wrong is rcmedi!03s, the constitution is powerlers, the peoplo aro helplesu, and UBurpation must triumpli and provail. These, fellow-citizeus, are now all matter of history : but, although the erroneeus decisión by whicb CongreBS counted in Hayea and Wheoler may not be reversible, that fact only makes it the more incumbent upoii the people to coudemn the decisión, and the means by which it was bronght about. If sueh an usurpation can pass without rebuke, it will soon be in vain to talk of constitutional modes aud honeet elections. If the will of the people can with impunity be overthrown by opMSore oud corrupt returuing boards and there is no remeciy for the wrong, it will soou be the voice of euch boards, and not the voice of the people, that will nnkeyour Presidonts. And hów long, I pray you, could your Gov( rnmout stand under such a system, "ov what claim would it have to be called a goverumout of the peoplo ? My f nends, if the peoplo over condone this greatsin; if they ever pardon the guilty men who perpetrated it - and nearly overy one of whom ha been rewarded by office under tho administration - the most saDguine advocate of popular government will havo renston to hang hU hoad in shame and doubt the poseibiUty of its succesa. Yes, my fellow-citizeuB, the very existence of popular governmont, tne queation whether it is possible to maintaiu it, ana to maintain it in purity, is now on trial before you. As you love the institutious bequeathed to yon by tbe fathers, as you reverence your couslitution and value your freedom, as you estcem virtue and detest wiclitdness, you are bound, in no uncertain tones, to manifest your abhorrcnceof thogreat usurpation. Follow-citizens, nothiug in politica seems more eertain to mo than that the Kepublican leaders rest their hopee of a prolongation of their power npon the success thit may attend a studied and energetic effort on their part to excito and perpetúate nectional feeliug. And nothing seems to me more unwarranted, unpatriotic and d( testable than this scheme. It is uot enough that the South ha frankly and manfully accepted the resulta of tho war; that, waivingall questions as to the mode of their adoption, no voiee is raised againstthe binding f orce of the constitutional amendments; that every law passod by a Radical Congress, however doubtful its constitutionality, or manifest its injustxe and impolicy, is uevertheless oboyed ; that a desire for harmony and peaoe, and a determination to aid in tbo preservation of tho UnioD, are unmistakably and plainly the dominant sentiment of the Southern people- all this is not euough to deter the Republicm managers from resorting to all the weapons in the arsenal of the demagogue, lv which sectional hatrod eau bo aroused and perpetuated, aud a folid North thereby created to rule with a rod of iron n prostrato South. It is thirteen years sinco the close of the war - thirteen yoars sinco a hand was raised or a word spoken against the preservation of the Union- and yet artioles are written and speechen aro iiow made by men prominent in t lie ltopnhlicin party, the bttterneas of whieh ia searcely partí lleled by anytbiog that was written or said when war was flagrant and the Union was in danger. Fellow-citizens, nothing more uujnut, nothing more unpatriotic, nothiug more injurious to tho peace, welfare and prosperity of the republic, no'hing more clearly demon itrative of Ue uecessitj f or a chango of rulers and tho inaugnration of an era of justice and frateruity than i aíforded by tbesc f act can be imagined. Do youwish the Union preserved? Thon support those who would bind it together by tho ties oí fraternal feeling and a coinmou interest, as well as by OOOStitutious and laws. Do you reveré juslice and advocate equality of righta f Then support the party on whosc bauner " Justice and Equality" are indelibly inecribed. Do yuu wisn to soo tho countiy strong and prosperous ? Then support the' polioy that i .thedding lts benign influence upon every part, gives irresistiblo strength and universal well-being to the whol.

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Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus