Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1878 — THE POLITICAL FIELD. [ARTICLE]

THE POLITICAL FIELD.

Extract from the Speech of Hon. Daniel W. Voorhees, Delivered at South Bend, Ind. When we look plainly and candidly at the present position of political parties, we are at once forcibly struck with the fact that the party now in power in national affairs is totally destitute of a single issue in tfie interest of the great mass of the American people on which to go before them for their confidence and support. I ask your careful consideration of this proposition. In whatever direction you view the political field you will find absolutely nothing offered by the leaders of the Republican party calculated to promote the public welfare. In a period of great corruption and debasement of the pnblic service ; in the midst of official scandals and debancheries, connected both with the last and the present administration, and bowed down as the people are by the most appalling business distress ever known in a civilized commonwealth, I challenge the production of a single measure, by those who now lead and control the Republican party, which has in it elements of popular relief. It is true, when the present administration was placed in power, lofty promises of purity and roform in the civil service of the Government were proclaimed to the world. It appeared.then to be the purpose of Mr. Hayos and his advisers to institute a contrast with the administration which had just expired. It was given out in formal official declarations that those who were engaged in the service of the Government should not be the mere henchmen of the administration in power, but that they were to discharge thenduties to the puulic on an independent and self-respecting basis. You all remember how the public ear was captivated by statements of this kind, that no man should be displaced as long as he honestly and efficiently discharged the duties ot bis position. You also have not forgotten the repeated announcements made by Mr. Hayes and hid Cabinet, that the odious and corrupt practice of assessments levied on Government office-holders for the purpose of carrying elections, was thenceforth to be utterly and entirely abandoned. The proposition, in substance, was that the offices of the Government belonged to the people, and that while the duties in which alone the people are interested were faithfully performed, the incumbent should not be molested; nor should he, like a slave, be compelled to pay tribute to party managers for his place, nor was he required or permitted to seize upon the control of local politics by virtue of the influence of his office. How long, however, did this virtuous impulse last? In less than six months after its proclamation the old arts and devices of unscrupulous politicians were again in the ascendant. The Federal office-holder again resumed his practice. He was again the chief of the caucus, of the ward meeting, and the controlling spirit of County and State Conventions. The teachings of the administration were openly disregarded and despised, and it had not the courage or self-respeot to make them heeded. Among the best officers, also, many were displaced or sought to be displaced, without cause and in defiance of tho rules laid down, while those who have violated every principle of the code of civil-service reform have in no instance been punished or even rebuked. Worse than this, however, what do we next behold ? The following circular has been issued at Washington, in the immediate presence of Mr. Hayes and his Cabinet, and with their knowledge and consent, as it plainly states : “ Washington, D. C., May 27, 1878. “ gin: This committee, charged with laboring for the success of the Republican cause in the coming campaign for the election of members of Congress, call with confidence on you as a Republics!* for such a contribution in money as you may be willing to make, hoping it may not be less than $ . The committee deem it proper in thus appealing to Republicans generally, to infoim those who happen to bo in Federal employ that there will be no (bjectiou in any iffi-ial quart-, r to such voluntary contribution.” This circular, after giving some false reasons for such an extraordinary measure, closes with the following significant admonition : “Please make prompt snd favorable response to this letter, and remit at once, by draft or postal money order, to Sidney F. Austin, Esq., Treasurer, etc. * * * “By order of the committee. “George C. Gorham, Secretary.”

It lias been ascertained that the amount being levied upon Federal office-holders is in no instance'less than 1 percent, of the salaries, and it oftener equals 2 per cent. There are now not less that 80,0C0 persons holding office in the civil service of the United States, and it is very safe to assume that their salaries will average SI,OOO per annum, making an aggregate (f $80,000,000. An assessment of 1 per cent, on this amount yields the enormous sum of SBOO, 000, to be used in the approaching elections. The mission of this money is to corrupt the ballot-box. to debauch, as far as possible, the virtue of the people, and to fasten on the country a policy contrary to the will of the majority. It is raised by extortion to be used in jobbery and bribery. A more dangerous movement than this can hardly be conceived. It is full of peril and menace to the very existence of popular liberty. On the one hand it seeks to reduce the entire force in the public service to a species of servitude, and on the other it attempts to poison the very fountains of all free Government. There are over 40,000 Postmasters in the United States, and tfiia great army of officials, together with Collectors of custom, of revenue, and all thoir subordinates, as well as the helpless, trembling clerks in the departments at Washington, whose wives and children depend upon their places for bread, are all, this hour, writhing under the party lash, under this cruel demand for party tribute, which means a compliance with its terms or a discharge from office. It appears that within a few days past some reluctance to comply with this demand has manifested itself in certain official quarters. We therefore find this same Republican committee issuing a new order still more imperative in tone, and more significant of danger to such as refuse its mandates. This order closes by saying : “We nave, therefore, arranged with the treasurer, Mr. Austin, to attend at the National Bank, corner of F and Seventh streets, from 4 to 5 o’clock p. m., to receive contributions from those in yonr department who have not already responded.” The salaries of clerkships under the Government range from S7OO to $1,500 per annum, and, in a few instances, higher. It requires, therefore, no stretch of the imagination for us to behold, each evening of these days, between 4 and 5 o’clock, the clerks nnder this administration, male and female, old and young, white and black, wending their heavy and sorrowful way to meet this Mr. Austin, the Corruption Agent of the leaders of the Republican party, there to contribute the per cent, of their earn ings so sadly needed in their stinted and barren homes. Honest voters of Indiana, do yon not turn with loathing from such a spectacle as this? Men of the Republican party, where is the high spirit of your once great organization? Has it sunk so low that it has no other means to sustain itself, to continue in power, than to extort from the helpless and dependent of both sexes, all ages, every color and every condition in life? Fallen and miserable, indeed, must be its once high estate when it is compelled to come before the pnblic with so disgraceful an issue; with its broken pledges of civil-service reform, with its shameless disregard of public morality, leaning for its support, as it totters to its downfall, on those who are so unfortunate as to hold official place nnder it. I arraign the leaders of the Republican party at the very threshold of this canvass as the organizers of corruption, the assessors of blackmail to be used in destroying the purity of elections, and in the overthrow of the rights of the people. If their schemes can be made successful and prevalent thronghout the country; if the policy of controlling elections by the use of money, now openly proclaimed by the party in power, shall receive no condemnation at the hands of the people, then oar institutions of free government will perish, and ©nr name will become a hissing ana a bvword in all the four qoarters of the globe. A claim is sometimes put forth in behalf of the present administration by a portion at least of the Republican party that it has what is known as a Southern policy, which commends it to fair-minded people. The fact that the Southern States are no longer, governed by military power; that their elections are no longer deteimined by the bayonet; that they have been restored to their places nnder the constitution, has been heralded to the world as an evidence of the statesmanship of those who are at the head of our national affairs. It is difficult to treat such a false pretense with patience. When, where, in what State, and before what audience, from Maine to Ore-

gon, was this policy ever announced as Republican doctrine? The war doted more than thirteen yours ago, and I challenge the proceedings of every convention of the Republican party,-from that hour to this, to furnish a single speech or a single resolution in favor of such a Measure. On the contrary, we find one campaign following another, political contest succeeding political contest, all forming an unbrokih record of hostility to the constitutional fights of the Southern States and people. Two years ago in Indiana the Republican candidate for Governor announced with bitter emjjfitasis that the ensanguined symbol of perpetml hate was the banner under which he made whis canvass. Every subordinate speaker in the State followed in the same strain. Ajipeech made at that time in behalf of the poftcy since pursued by Hayes would have at onjje excluded the Bpeaker from membership ia» the Republican party. The entire battle of |876 jras fought everywhere by the leaders of that party on their old doctrine of rancor, etne and blood. The Democratic party confronted it, as it has done from the close of the war, with the constitution as the only measure of power and warrant of Government for States South as well as States North. We have held from the hour of Lee’s surrender that the sorest and speediest method of restoring the Sonth to peace and prosperity was to extend to her people the equal protection of the constitution and the laws. It was thought then, as it is now, that an appeal to the honor and manliness of a conquered Deopleof oar own race and blood would be met by a renewed and faithful allegiance to the Government. The wisdom of our faith has been so fully exemplified, and has grown so strong in the pnblic opinion of this and all other countries, that a Republican administration, oarried into office in hostility to it, has at last been forced to accept and to administer tho Government on its principles. The so-called Southern policy of Mr. Hayes is simply a forced concession to the power of a public opinion created by the courage and devotion of the Democratic party. When inducted into an office to which he was not elected by the people he placed himself upon a platform on which neither he nor his party had ever before stood. In fact, neither the office which he holds nor the principles on which he administers/t. in his dealings with the South belongs to hini or his party. He has appropriated them both without right. Inmost powerful and stalwart leaders of his own party do not hesitate to declare his Southern policy to be of Democratic origin, and that the true title to it is in the Democratic party. What Republican State Convention has given it unqualified indorsement? When an indorsement has been attempted at all, as in the late Republican State Convention of Indiana, it has been in a timid, half-hearte*. and distrustful manner. On the other hand, such bold, strong men as Conkling, Blaine, Cameron, and, indeed, a large majority of the recognized leaders of the party, miss no opportunity to disclaim for the Republican party all responsibility for the Southern policy of the administration.

In the midst of its widespread demoralization, however, a strange and violent attempt has recently been made to revive the waning fortunes of the Republican party by a sensational attack on the investigation now being made into the alleged frauds by which the present adm nistration was placed in power. When this investigation was ordered by a Democratic House of Representatives a sort of hysterical scream burst out from tho entire Republican press. To dispassionate ears, however, it sounded more like the cry of oonscious guilt and fear of detection than of partriotio apprehension for the oountry. A new word was coined, prophetic of evil to our Government. We were informed with oracular emphasis that our Government was to be “ Mexicanized.” Mexicanized ! Do those who have hurled this word into our political vocabulary have any conception of its real meaning and application ? From the conquest of Cortez to the present hour Mexico has been a land of revolution and lawless turbulence. One of the leading features of her history has been the usurpation of power by those who were not entitled to it. Fraud and violence have controlled her highest official positions. The question there has not been who was not elected President of the republic, but who had the means of chicanery or force to obtain the position. Lerdo was but yesterday driven from the place, and Diaz now holds it in violation of the Mexic.n constitution, and without the sanction of popular suffrage. But does the evil example of Mexico apply to the conduct of a party which investigates fraud and seeks to ascertain the true expression of the popular will? Does it not rather apply with oru-hing force to that party which, having procured control of the Government by the openly confessed means of false returns, now seek to stifle all inquiry on the subject? Which policy would soonest and most certainly Mexicanize the American Government? What party is on the plainest road to that bad end ? Is it the Democratic parly, which aims to discover fraud, and to hold its criminal perpetrators up to public execration, or is it not, in tact, the Republican party, whose leaders have desecrated the ballot-box and sapped the very foundations of popular government, through the instrumentalities of the Andersons, the Webers, the McLins, the Dennises, the Jenkses, and that brazen gang now so conspicuous before the public ? Who can be harmed by investigation ? None but the guilty. Who dreads investigation ? It is my experience that the innocent have no fears, while it is the experience of mankind that tne guilty flee even when no one pursues. How much greater, then, must be their fear aud flight when they are hotly pursued by the indignation of a free people burning with a sense of wrong! I do not wonder, therefore, at the notes of alarm which filled the land when it was proposed to sift this great political crime of the nineteenth century to the bottom. It was right that it should be done. When the Electoral Commission was created the entire American people, with the exception of a few leaders who were in the conspiracy, expected it to make a thorough investigation of the facts, and to ascertain who in reality was chosen President. Its refusal to perform this plain duty was a surprise and a disappointment to every honest man of every political party. The Electoral Commission decided the great question of the popular will in the choice of a Chief Magistrate upon a meager, barren technicality. When it decided not to go behind the returns, it gave a legal title to Mr. Hayes,' binding in law, but entitled to no more respect than the liberty which an offender in court obtains by relyiug on a flaw in his indictment rather than a trial of the merits of his case. In view of this state of factß, could the House of Representatives do less than order an investigation ? But further: The Electoral Commission had not only failed to do its duty in this regard, but in a brief space of time the instruments which were used in the great conspiracy to defeat the popular will began to reveal the whole plot. This was to be expected. ShermaD, Matthews, Stoughton, Noyes, and others who visited Louisiana and Florida, are now undergoing the same fate which has always attended those who do unlawful things by the hands of others. History is simply repeating itself on this point. The tool of the conspiracy is always swollen with a sense of his own importance by reason of the guilty secret which he shares with men of position and character. Sooner or later he seeks to make this secret a source of profit to himself, nor will he ever be satisfied. The result is inevitable; he first threatens, and then those who are in his power, finding themselves unable to appease his constant and insatiate demands. he reveals everything, as if thereby he atoned for the original crime. Such is the philosophy of the coarse pursued by MclAn and Dennis in Florida, and by Anderson and others in Louisiana. Nor is there anything new in the maimer in which high officials at this time bear themselves toward those who are giving testimony against them- John Sherman and his associates are not the first who have drawn themselves up' in well-affected disdain, and disclaimed all knowledge pf the tools they once used and cast aside. Others before him have exclaimed to their former confederates, who returned piagne them : “A vaunt, I know you not!” But when was the world—tho great thinking, intellectual world—ever imposed on by'such conduct? Who is McLin, of Florida? Soon after the inauguration of Mr. Hayes he was appointed Chief Justice of the great Territory of New Mexico. There are many future States in that Territory as large as Indiana. The influence of the administration of . her laws reaches far into the future, and becomes a matter of the highest importance. This solemn duty was intrusted to Mr. McLin. Who will say that the President made so important an appointment in ignorance of the character of the man he appointed ? The Senate, however, being properly advised, rejected the nomination. McLin waited for something else, but waited in vain. Doubtless it was thought the debt due him was paid. At any rate, whether from motives of revenge, or moved perhaps by a quickened conscience, he has told the story how by his own instrumentality, and that of others, a clear ancj distinct

majority for Tilden aud Hendricks in FI irida was, by perjury and forgery, wiped out. and the electoral vote of tb t State given to Hayes and Wheeler. He cited the records at various precincts in corroboration of his statement. Then came a man by the name of Dennis. It appears that he has been an ol ject of the tenderest care and solicitude on the part of the Government. He held office and drew his salary without discharging a single duty for many months. Mr. Hayes himself personally recommended him to the Secretary of the Treasury as a first-class person for a position in the revenue department. He too, however, guided bv that law, vague and undefined thongh it may be, which sooner or later reveals wroug-doing, added his statement to that of McLin. Anderson, in whose behalf Senators, Secretaries, Collectors of Customs and the President himself, were sorely anxious for more than a rear, laid open the conspiracy by which a Democratic majority of between 5,000 and 10,000 in Louisiana was obliterated, and a majority of between 3,000 and 4,000 placed to the credit of Hayes an* Wheeler, This state of affairs in Louisiana and Florida was made known, and an investigation ordered by the House of Representatives. Is there a man in TnrH«.nft who says the House could have done less? It is asserted that this investigation may result in disturbing the title of the present occupant of the White House. My answer is plain and simple : By the forms of law he was inaugurated. * He has a legal right without the eqitable right. He will remain where he is to the end ot the constitutional term, unless he should be removed by virtue of that provision of the constitution wfiich has applied to every President from the foundation of the Government. He is liable to impeachment, and to no other process for removal. If lam reminded that the President can only be impeached for acts while in office, my answer is that that is true with this qualification: If it should be proved in this investigation, ot any other, in reference to Mr. Hayes or any future President, that he was an accomplice in the commission of unlawful acts by which he nrocured his place, he would undoubtedly*be liable to impeachment for such acts. In the present instance, Ido not apprehend such result, whatever the real facts may be. The great wrong will be redressed at the ballot-box. The investigation will emphasize the crime which has been committed against the American people. It wilt go iuto history as a warning to future times, and the fate of those who committed it will make it less l kely to ever occur again. There are some it is true, that make it appear probable that Mr. H ,yes shared with John Sherman aud others a knowledge of the kind of services that were rendered him in Louisiana and Florida. It is difficult to account for his strange distribution of patronage on any other hypothesis. Of those who are implicated by the proof, and who are stigmatized in the judgment of the world as participants in the frauds in Louisiana and Florida, soaroely one has failed to receive rich rewards. This feature of the conspiracy is filled with startling significance. The choicest places in honor and emoluments iu the Government have been bestowed upon, and are now enjoyed by, the principal actors in falsifying'the votes of those two States. John Sherman, the bosom friend of the President, heads the list of those who visited Louisiana. He was rewarded by the place of most power in the Cabinet. He was made Secretary of the Treasury, and is now cursing the country in that position. Stan’ey Matthews received the direct and open support of the President of the United States in his election to the Senate as a recognition of his services. Such an interference on the part of the National Executive was unheard of until then. Mr. Stoughton, of New York, added his support, and received the magnificent Ministry to Russia as his reward. Kellogg, of Louisiana, in consideration of his services, received his seat in the Senate by the vote of Mr. Matthews. Packard was a part of the general plan, and he has his remuneration ia being made Consul at Liverpool, the richest Consulate in our service. Every one of the .memorable Returning Board, Wells, Anderson, Cassanave and Kenner, have been recognized and rewarded by the men in whose interests they committed perjury and forgery. To these might be added a number more who glayed their part in minor capacities, and who ave been taken care of accordingly. Turning to the State of Fiorida, we find another intimate friend of the present incumbent of the White House, another Ohio man, heading the list of those who changed the vote of that State. Mr. Noyes, for his services, was speedily appointed to the very high position of Minister to France. Mr. Kasson, of lowa, a coworker in Florida, was at the same time made Minister to Spain. Gov. Stearns, who performed important services, was made one of the Hot Springs Commissioners; and Mr. Cowgill, who put the finishing touches upon tho whole transaction, was made a United States Marshal. Of McLin and Dennis, and their rewards, I have already spoken. I venture to say that such recognition of special and doubtful services was never before given by the head of any enlightened Government. It carries with it the self-evident proof of corruption, of bargain and exchange, of base services and peculiar rewards. The question of economy in the public expenditure is the one which next claims our attention. In connection with a false and oppressive system of finance there has been under Republican administrations a most reckless extravagance in the use of money raised from the hard earnings of the people. In proof of this fact it is only necessary to make a few brief and plain comparisons. The ordinary expenditures of the United States for war, navy, Indian, civil and miscellaneous list, exclusive also of pensions from the commencement of the Government up to and including the fiscal year of 1861, the yeir the war broke out, embracing a period of eighty-two years, amounted to $1,506,726,146. Passing by the extraordinary expenditures during the war, and computing the public expenses tor ten years from June 30, 1867, to June 30, 1876, inclusive, we find that they amounted, exclusive of the national debt, interest thereon, and pensions, to the sum of $1,528,917,137 a sum greater by over $20,000,000 during ten years of peace under Republican administrations than daring eightytwo years before that party obtained power. If we estimate the expenditures of ten years under Democratic administrations from June 30, 1852, to June 30, 1861, we find the amount to be $527,872,260, being $956,044,875 less than the ten years of Republican administration already computed. A reliable exhibit on this ■ abject is as follows : Net ordinary expenditures of the United States, exclusive of public debt, premiums, interest and principal, and exclusive also of pensions, for ten years, from June 30, 1852, to June 30, 1861, both inclusive, and for ten years from June 30, 1867, to June 30, 1876, both inclusive :

t6’9lß‘no‘99B* 59’0A8’H8‘m$ 18’t60*606’859‘I$ ' ’ ••spqoi 08'18l‘9f8‘008 50’f5l‘&69‘itB 58'SSS‘88t‘8S9 ••snoamripo -Bjm pns ijajo ii'969‘9ol‘oß 9r9Bf‘U9‘rß 59’881‘8i9‘59 smnpni 66'19i‘t69‘011 ort9>‘9if‘esr ol'6U‘tU'tßs 88’CI ez‘l6e‘fZft S9'Bfß‘sßß*69l* 8V61f‘659‘86S * i-a’S.s's! g-S* » 5 a § g'ce ? - If l| 1 2 IV S p ‘ a ' IXII 7 f §II |gg|f sill

This shows an incieaseof 167.59 percent, for ten years since the war over ten years previous to the war. Taking as a basis the census of 1860, the cost per capita for the net ordinary expenditures above named for ten years before the war was $18.21, while the net ordinary expenditures for the ten years since the war on the basis of the census of 1870 was $39.65. There are other facts, however, which are even more conclusive, if possible, than those already cited. The Democratic party has had a majority in the lower house of both the Fortyfourth and Forty-fifth Congress. For the first time since 1861 that party is justly chargeable with apart of the responsibilities of the Government. Let us, therefore, compare its works with those of its opponents. There are eleven great appropriation bills usually considered and passed by each succeeding Congress. They embrace the expenditure of the public money for the following objects: The army, the navy, the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive Departments of the Government; the Military Academy, fortifications, Consular and Diplomatic Service, the Postoffice, pensions, river and harbor improvements, and sundry civil. By an examination and comparison of the official rev

cords it appears that the appropriations made in these Dills by Demcoratio Houses for the years 1877, 1878 and ISSFJ, show a redaction of $88,270,236.47 under the appropriations made in similar bills, and for the same purpose, by •Republican Congresses for the years 1584, 1875 and 1876. The reductions were much greater wheat the bills originally passed the House, hut the Senate, in every instance, largehf increased the sum appropriated, and the House was sometimes, in committees of conferences, compelled to make concessions. These important facts, fall of significance for the future, will not be successfully disputed. They are beyond the reaoh of controversy; they are imbedded in the legislation of the country, Mid they appeal strongly to the people in behalf of those who have placed them there. Economy in public affairs was the cardinal doctrine of the Democratic party in the days of its greatest power, and it is encouraging to witness the exercise of the same great virtue as soon as it obtains even a partial control over the public moneys. Such a record, made under Jto verse circumstances, with the Senate apd t»’ Executive in opposition, will sustain those who made it against all assaults. An over-taxed people will readily yield their confidence to a party which furnishes acts of relief rather than mere empty professions. Had the guides sent forward by Joshua to explore the Promised Land returned emptyhanded, the Israelites would have listened with impatience and distrust to their report, however glowing and enticing it might nave been. But when they showed the rich fruits which they had gathered, the grapes, the figs, and the pomegranates, a weary, anxious people believed that the country before them was good, and they pressed forward to enjoy it. And so now the Democratic party does not come before you with mere promises of something in the future; it exhibits the fruits of its labors, and on them invites your confidence.