Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 October 1879 — SPEECH OF HON. THOS. A. HENDRICKS, [ARTICLE]

SPEECH OF HON. THOS. A. HENDRICKS,

OF INDIANA, Delivered at Eaton, Ohio. Fellow-Citizens: I need not remind yon that during the years following the cloee of the war your minds were disturbed by the most profound anxiety for the public welfare. There was no more work for the sword. Overcome and disbanded, the troops of the South had returned to their homes. Acquiescence in Federal authority was complete and universal. Yet yon feared that the reconciliation might not be thorough and perpetual; that dangerous causes of alienation might still remain. But compelled, and perhaps content, to 4w*at as you did trust—the possibility of fraternity and union to the wisdom of public policies, and to the good sense and patriotism of the people; and, notwithstanding the follies and crimes of some, and the wicked demagogjsm of others, arousing dangerous passions that were sleeping, I feel assured that your reliance upon yourselves and your fellow-coun-trymen will not fail you, but that fraternity and union will grow with the growth and strengthen with the strength of the country. You were also solicitous for our material welfaie, because of the exhaustion caused by and following the tremendous struggle. The production of our important and great staples could not be maintained in quantities sufficient to meet the demands upon our resources. Our embarrassment and the hindrance to production were greatly augmented by the unfortunate policy of reconstruction, whereby for awhile the relation of the States to the Federal Union were confused and confounded, and the white and black races were involved in distrust, hatred, and strife. The mad policy and passions of the times excluded capital from an entire section of the country, and disturbed labor in its employment. The direct, the inevitable, consequence was that our foreign trade was heavily against us. May I state the facto as an illustration ? During the two years and eleven months from July 1, 1865, to May 31, 1868, our imports, valued in our own currency, amounted to <1,597,410,055, and our exports, under the same valuation, amounted to <1,411,(.89,195. During that period of two years and eleven months, after the close of the war, our purchases exceeded our sales abroad by the enormous sum of <186,000,000. 1 suppose that balance against ns was met largely by sales of our public securities abroad, but during that same period, we exported over »nd above our imports of gold and silver <183,077,691. I then thought, and to expressed the opinion, that our future prosperity must depend upon an increase of production and more advantageous foreign trade; that, when our sales should exceed our purchases abroad, our financial difficulties would rapidly disappear, and we would soon stand upon a specie basis, and that to such end we wanted peace, reconciliation, and harmony. I thou lit, and said that a statesmanship worthy this country and adequate to the necessities of our condition would seek every opportunity to foster and increase lhe production of the staples that command foreign markets. And "I ventured the opinion that “ an increase of 20 per cent, would turn the balance of trade in our fa aor, and the current of gold toward our own shores, and contribute more than any enactment of Congress to an early- resumption of specie payment. ” I need not remind you, for it cannot lie effaced from your memories, that no beneficent change in policy or administration took place, but that in 1869 aud thence to 1873 and 1874 the sympathies of the administration and the policies of Congress were altogether favorable to those who le et needed favor, and hard upon the masses, who have the Durdens to carry. The changes in the public contracts were such as made the obligations harder aud the burdens heavier, save only the provision for a reduction of interest. Favoritism, extravagance and corruption pervaded and poisoned the public servicej and went unrebuked and unchecked. Unnecessary and extravagant expenditures burdened the people with oppressive taxes, and withdrew large volumes of currency from the channels of trade, and added to the evils of contraction. Finally, in the fall of 1873, the evils of vicious administration and of unequal and unfair legislation culminated in a financial panic and disaster that struck and paralyzed all the business pursuits and useful enterprises of the country. At once the people realized the extent and magnitude of the calamity. They abandoned faith and hope in the Republican party, and trusted to themselves for the recovery of lost prosperity. Promptly and earnestly the work was undertaken. Eighteen hundred and seventy-four became a memorable year. A Democratic House was chosen, charged with the duty of retrenchment and reform. In evety household an economy was adopted more rigid than ever before known. Labor was active and diligent to the utmost extent of possible employment The results are now seen and realized. Individual economy, practiced everywhere throughout the country, had the effect to reduce our purchases abroad as follows: From 1873 to 1874 the reduction was <74,729,868; from 1874 to 1875 it was <34,400,906; from 1875 to 1876, <72,264,245; from 1876 to 1877, <9,418,065, and from 1677 to 1878 the reduction was <14,271,594. The economy; of the people in 1878 as compared with 1873, in the consumption of foreign goods, was about <200,000,000. During the same period the diligent industry of the people so increased our agricultural productions, and such was the condition of the foreign market, that our exports for sale abroad in 1878 were <172,369,139 more than in 1873, and in the year 1878 our exports of merchandise exceeded our imports by the sum of <257,796.964. It is a striking fact that in ' 1873, the year before the Democratic House was chosen, bur purchases exceeded our sales abroad by <119,656,288, and that after three years of Democratic control of the House the figures were reversed, and, as I have said, the exports in the year 1878 exceeded the imports by <257,793.964. The balances against us in 1872 marked the increase of our indebtedness, and the figures of 1868 indicated its reduction. Our exports of merchandise during the years 1874, 1876, 1877 and 1878 exceeded our imports in the sum of <508,449,536. I am not able to give accurately the excess of the present year, but I suppose it is safe to state it at <240,000,000, making <748,449,236 for the five years named. In these statements I rely upon the tables-prepared by Mr. Spofford, the Librarian of Congress The effect of the favorable condition of our foreign trade upon our supply of gold and silver is shown in the fact that in 1873 the export of specie exceeded its import by the sum of <63,127,637, and that m 1878 the excess was only <3,911,911. Our favorable foreign trade has not only turned the current of specie toward our shores, but it has caused the return of large volumes of public securities that had gone abroad to meet the balances when they were against us, thus reducing the export, of gold to meet the accruing interest. The effect of a foreign trade during the past five years, favorable to us beyond all aud brought about by the economy and diligent industry of the people, hat been to increase our supply of gold and silver and to make it permanent and reliable, and to make the resumption of specie payments a possibility. Mr. Sherman claims for himself the credit of resumption, and that the policies of bis party have given us assurances of better times. I have made a summary of events that passed within your own observation tn aid you in passing upon the fallacy of that claim. What had he or his party to ao with resumption? How have they conty-ibuted to a return of prosperity? In the winter of 1875 Mr. Sherman, as the representative of a party caucus, reported and urged the Resumption bill It became a law by the vote of all the Republicans, and over the vote against it of all the Democrats in Congress. Who now claims for that measure that it facilitated resumption or in any degree alleviated the calamities of hard times, or that its tendency was to place the business of the country upon a firmer and surer foundation? Is any man so credulous as to believe that resumption, permanent and reliable, could rest upon borrowed gold? “Public confidence and financial stability cannot be made to rest upon borrowed gold.” When trade and commerce gave assurance that the supply of ths precious metals was permanent and would constantly increase, then confidence became established and the paper currency took its place by the side of gold and silver. You all now know that resumption has come of trade and commerce, the result of foreign balances in our favor, and not at all because of any Congressional declaration or requirement. The resumption c’ause was properly denounced by the St. Louis Convention as a hindrance to | resumption. It was as well a hindrance to prosperity. It was a terror to capital, and i stood in the way of the employment' qf labor. Our money, paper and coin, is now of equal

value and readily convertible, and we indulge the hope of better times in spite of the Resumption law and of ita kindred party devices. All along the pathway of that measure are strewn broken fortunes and ruined enterprises. Do you believe our country needed to have been the scene of a financial and commercial panic? Our lands are rich, our people intelligent and industrious, and the world’s markets have been open to our products. Yet the panic did come; and its continued and terrible hold upon the country for the long period of five years, in spite of the greit effort of the people, showed that its causes were to be found down deep in bad public policies and in maladministration. I may not state what sufferings it in - flicted, nor what hopes of happiness lie buried amid its ruins. May I give you an illustration? When the war was over, was it not a most obvious duty to reduce the public expenditures by a rigid economy? It was not done. From 1865 to 1875 the expenditures continued enormous and extravagant Then the Democrats came into power in the House, and at once established the fact that the public service could as well and efficiently be administered with an annuil reduction of <30,000,000. At their first session, that was the reduction. Now, please tell me, had that reduction been commenced in 1865, and continued for eight years, and until 1875; had <30,000,000 of the texes been left hncollected, to circulate in the channels of trade, giving life and energy’ to business and commerce, do you believe there would have been a panic and such financial disaster as covered the land with ruin? Reform in that one particular would have saved us. Mr. Sherman tells you that prosperity is nowcoming, and that he is its author. You and .1 are, then, mistaken in supposing that economy on the part of the people reduced the purchases abroad It was not the diligent labor of the people, the riih lards, the abundant rains in their season, and the great crops that enabled us to supply the extraordinary foreign demand, such a demand, indeed, as we never knew before. Mr. Sherman did it It was his tears of sympathy over the suifferings of the people, and not the rains falling from the clouds, that moistened the earth and caused it to yield so abundantly. Never was claim made ‘so bold and brazen, and yet so false. To him and his party we reply: You squandered the public money; you continued extravagant appropriations; you hindered production by promoting the strife of sections and the hatred of races; you legislated for favorite interests and against the people; and now, when the rigid economy and diligent industry of the people, and propitious seasons, and a favorable condition of the foreign market, combine to give us better times, and to gladden us with the nope of returning prosperity, you can not claim merit or support. The equality and convertibility of our currency is iu spi'te of the hindrances of the Resumption law, and we cherish the hope of better times, in spite of the evil influences of bad policies and maladministration. The great difference between us was that we insisted upon reaching specie payments by an increase of the precious metals, and you l>y a reduction of the paper money—by contraction. You provided for your policy m the Resumption act, in violation of the pledge made to the country in the act of June previous, that the legal-tender notes should not be reduced below <382,000,000. Under your policy resumption was impossible short of universal ruin, for contraction injured production. It was a Democratic demand that remonet - ized silver and provided for its coinage. It was a Democratic House that modified the Resumption law and stopped contraction by the act of May 31, 1878, which forbade the Secretary of the Treasury to cancel or retire any more of the legal-tender notes, a nd required him to keep them in circulation. The remonetization of silver (over a foolish veto), and the protection of the legal-tender circulation, and our immense crops North and South, and the great demand ’abroad have brought all classes of the currency to par and give promise of returning prosperity. The contest in which you are engaged is characterized by reckless accusation. Wby charge the Ohio Democracy with a purpose to inflate and depreciate the currency?" They have been and still are opposed to contraction. Is that inflation? They demand that treasury notes shall take the place of national-bank currency. For that do you dare attribute to them a purpose to issue bad money? Is it the banker that gives credit and character to the bank bills? Nay, you know it is the Government’s obligations pledged as security that gives them favor and currency everywhere. That security withdraws, the bills become as worthless as falling leaves of autumn. Is the security less if the issue and the promise be direct from the public treasury, and not through the medium of banks? Have the bank bills not been always at par—neither above tor below the treasury notes, and that only because they were redeemable in treasury notes? The demand for treasury notes as a substitute for the na-tional-bank notes is a demand for money always ’and everywhere of equal value. But pleise observe that in the platform in which this policy is asserted the Ohio Democracy demand that the issue of treasury rotes shall be regulated by legislation or constitutional provision, so as to secure the greatest possible stability of vclues. Can you find no good motive for the support of this policy? In deciding upon its merits is it not to be considered that in any possible view the substitution will save to the people and their treasiuy over <lO,000,000 every year? And you and I cannot be indifferent to the fact that the enormous wealth brought by the national banks une'er harmonious management now seeks to control the politics of the countrv in defiance of the will of the people, flease tell me how it was that in this State, but one year ago, the Chairman of the Republican State Committee did venture to demand of the banks money to control the election. Is it not enough that enormous sums of money are raised for each election by the detestable practice of taxing the immense army of officials? Must there be added contribu tions from the profits made upon <400,000,000 of bank capital? When these t.vo streams unite to corrupt public morals, the party in power will be secure in its hold upon the’patronage and treasury of the nation. It need not th n again resort to returning boards, and the attendant crimes of perjury and forgery. The anxiety ot the Ohio Democracy was reasonable; it became a patriotic sent me: t when here, and against themselves, the banks were calls 1 upon for money. Who blames them, that in such a crisis they bend theeirto he teachings of Jackson and Leed his admonitio to guard well the rights and liberties of the people when the banker is found in league with the partisan? His admonition was the expression of anxiety at a consolidation of wealth inconsiderable as compared with the enormous millions now under harmonious management. What say you to tho cry: “A solid North against a solid South?” Is it not. the cry of hatred, of separation, of treason? It should startle ns as a “fire-bell in the night.” None should u ter it who love a united country better than partisan rule. Leave that cry, my countrymen, to those who seek wicked gains, and who for gain would barter the love of country. Party policy made the attitude of the South inevitable. You Republicans would despise the men of the South did they not resist you. You established and sought to maintain over them the worst Government in the world. You first taught the colored men to distrust and hate them, and then to rule them. You gave the ballot to the colored men and took it from the whites. And you placed the colored people themselves under the control and management of adventurers. Thus the control of public affairs came into the hands of bad men,'who were in no way identified with the people or section, aud were strangers in sympathy and purpose. The public good ceased to be the object and purpose of government Plunder of the people reigned supreme. The increase of State indebtedness became frightful Taxation threatened to swallow up not only the earnings but the accumulations of the people. Men contemplated approaching ruin with horror. At leng h large bodies of colored voters turned against the demoralization and misrule, and State after State was recovered, reclaimed, restored. The restoration of the Democratic party in those States became indispensable to the recovery and protection of popular rights, the security of property, and the welfare of labor. Political union for protection and safety against plunder and ruin made the South a political unit, and at once the price of wages and the price of lands advanced, and valuable productions increased. Is there any man among you whose hatred toward the South is so malignant that he would tear down the present authority and restore the vampire Governments of ten years ago? Your fears aud prejudices are now addressed because of the character of the representation in Congress from the South. You are told that in a large degree it is made up of Brigadiers from the Southern army. Is that disagreeable to you ? Then perhaps you will find comfort in the fact that the evil will decrease as the years roll by. The older men will pass away, but I dare not say that the young men who will take their places will be more agreeable to you. I think they wiil not be. Bnt the offense to you is not that they were Brigadiers. It is only that they are Democrats, and stand in the way of the partial aud unfair purposes of your party. You

know this to be true. It does not offend you that Brigadiers are now in the Cabinet, in the Federal courts and in high offices of Government. They are of your party, and you are content. But if there be an evil of which yon have a right to complain in this matter, it is found ih the constitution itself. Yea, Lack of that—in the principle of popular representation. It is because under the constitution each. State shall choose its own Senators, and each district shall select its own Representative thatwe find the houses of Congress constitut id as they are. If we are to have a free republic, thou each S’ate and district must be absolutely free it its choice, and without any restraint whatever. Will von mon of Ohio allow New Ergland, or the Gulf States of the Pacific slope, to question your elections? Because your delegation in Congress may be unfriendly to some measure greatly desired by one of those sections, are you to be called to account? Shall it be regarded as a cause of offense, or as a ground of antagonism against yon ? Because Ohio will not suppoitwbat she lieiieves to be a heresy in doclr.ne, or a corruption in measure, can another State, or section, in the spirit of our Union, assunn a hostile attitude towatdher? As you are true Union mon, answer me that question. For four years the Democrats have had a majority in the House, and yon say that the South has controlled that majority, and therefore yon will array the sections in hostility. The step you propose is too responsible. You cannot take it It is toward renewed strife and disunion. Let me assure you that yon have been misled; that the Democrats North and South constitute one party, and that within the organization neither section dominates the other. But please tell me to what do you object? What measures has the House adopted that were partial toward the South or unfair toward the North? The payment of Southern claims, that had grown into a giant evil and national fraud, has been checked and almost entirely suspended. The public expenditures have been reduced, so that the saving in the four years of Democratic control, as compared with the prior four years, exceeds S]CO,OtJO,COO. The saving to the State of Ohio is nearly S7,(XX),(XX), and to each Congressional district nearly $-350,000. The saving each year has been more than the average annual expenditures during the administrations of Adams and Jackson. What does the reduction of $30,000,000 in the yearly appropriations by Congress signify? It means that in the public expenditures there shall be economy and honesty. It means that that much money shall not be collected from the people, bnt shall be left in the channels of trade and commerce, there to stimulate business and enterprise, and to give employment to labor. Will you bear in mind that these great reductions have been made over the opposition of a Republican Senate and administration ? A Republican House demonetized silver; a Democratic House restored it. The silver money now flows into the channels of trade and commerce, and, like red blood in the veins and arteries, gives life and strength. For a while there was the curse in the Federal courts of juries organized for partisan verdicts. That was through the law permitting the test oath. A Democratic Congress repealed the law, and now the juries may be of “good and true men.” Of these four leading and important acts, do you condemn either? Would you again open the doors of the treasury to trumped-up war claims, in favor of trumped-up loyalty? Would you drive honest economy out of our temple of legislation and restore extravagance and the waste of S3O,(XX),(XX) each year beyond the needs of the public service? Would you degrade silver again and declare itnolmoney? And would you again humiliate and degrade the juror, compelling him to stand among his fellows with stooped head as he takes the testoath? If you ■would not reverse any one of these great acta, I demand your approval, and that in respect to them you say to the Democrats in Congress, from both North and South, “well done.” We want the troops taken and kept away from the polls. We want the elections to be free and fair, and without the corrupt influence of Deputy Marshals and Supervisors. In the name of fair play we demand it. The Federal election laws were adopted as party machinery. They serve no good purpose. Their only design is to keep the party in power. Do you know what occurred at Philadelphia at the last Presidential election? That city is under absolute Republican control, and is known far and wide for the corruption that rules the elections. I believe the courts, prior to the last Presidential election, struck off above 20,(X 0 names from the register of voters, upon evidence that they were false and fraudulent. It was not enough that the city was under party control. Resort was had to the party advantages under the election laws. Seven hundred and seventythree Deputy Marshals, and 3,332 Supervisors were appointed, at a cost of $41,170, The city was peaceful and quiet. Why, then, were four regiments of party brigands placed in rule over the people when they went to vote? The Republican Marshal of that district, under oath, said they were not needed to secure a fair and free election. The outrage, under the pretense of law, was far greater in New York. The vilest characters wereappointed Marshals and Supervisors. Thousands of voters were arrested for no crime and without warrants. Fright and terror prevailed, and large numbers of voters were thus kept from the polls. Do you desire this to be continued ? For party advantage do yon ask that our elections, heretofore free, shall be placed under such partisan machinery? Are the people, in going. to vote, to be placed under fear of unlawful arrests ? Shall clubs be held over our heads as we vote? The free American voter is a noble spectacle. Erect, bold, unterrified, he exercises the right of a freeman, and the power of a sovereign. When he shall be made to crawl in the presence of Supervisors and overseers, the end has come to that liberty of which we have been so proud. I said we demand that the troops be taken and kept from the polls. I would rather die with the ballot in my hand than that one of them should strike me with his sword. Let us be at least as free as the subjects of Queen Victoria. Popular rights have advanced slowly in England, bnt surely, and have never been pushed backward. So," when it was settled that the trooper should not lord the voter; should not strike him nor jostle him, nor even stand in sight of him when voting, it was settled forever.

The legislation that provides for the use of the troops at the elections is a blot upon onr record that must be effaced. At the called session of Congress the Democrats labored faithfully to remove every hindrance and obstruction in the way of fiee and fair elections. They were opposed at every step. They passed the bill-*. The President resorted to the extraordinary power of the veto to save the party machinery. On what side of the issue do you stand? For or against free elect.ons? Do you not enjoy the s : ght when the men of the neighborhood are assembled at the polls? All are there—old friends and new friends; old men and young mat; .tome to cast their first and some their last ballot. They argue and debate; they joke and laugh. It is election day, and that revives old memories, and many a story of the early settlement is told. Some old gent emen are telling about their first votes, that they were cast for Jackson. Just then a smooth-faced lad offers his vote and it is challenged. The debate and the story stop. All attention is given to the question of the vote. The old men consult. 'they compare their recollections—when the parents were married and the child was born. Some are very positive, fer he went to school with their own tJoys. It is soon settled, and the right decided. And so the day goes on until in the evening the window is shut down upon the ambition of all the candidates. Upon such elections, and upon such men our institutions must rest At the next election a shadow is over the scene. The Deputy Marshal and the Supervisor are there as the paid agente and bull dozers for the party. Why are they arresting men and dragging them away without warrants? No crime has been committed and there is no disturbance. It is to excite fear, and thereby keep men from voting. The law of force and violence has taken the place of local self-government Good cheer and confidence among the neighbors is gone. Anxiety, distrust, and hatred have taken their place. Do you justify the vetoes? The bills were carefully considered by Congress, and, after great deliberation, were passed. They involved no question of constitufionalpower on the part of Congress. For nearly 100 years the elections had been free from Federal supervision. It was not questioned that Congress had the power to repeal the offensive laws. It was a question of judgment and discretion, and that question Congress decided by the repeat Such legislative discretion belongs to Congress and not to the President. The veto power was given not to defeat and destroy, but to protect and preserve; to preserve tho constitution from invasion, and te protect the rights and powers of the Executive from legislative encroachment “It is not a sword, but a shield.” The men have tanght as this who made the constitution. And it is in accordance with usage almost uniform. I think the people of this country will never consent that the President may defeat the popular will as expressed by Congress, merely because it does not agree with his individual wish

and preference. It would enable him to stand in the way of all reforms, and to defeat wholesome regulations of the public service. It is intolerable that the will of one man may defeat the will of the majority of Congress, upon a question of judgment and discretion. And it becomes indecent and an outrage upon public rights, when the power is exercised io continue party machinery that is used to de feat free and fair elections. Coming in as the present Executive did, it would seem that he should wear the robes of office modestly. He and his countrymen know that he was not elected. Full 300,0CX. majority of the popular vote was against him, and a decided majority of the electors duly chosen.. In his promotion, by agents and agencies the most detestable, the rights of the people were defied and trampled under foot. Must that be followed by the repeated defeat of the w ill of the people in the exercise of the veto? On what side will von stand? I appeal to yon stand for free legislate n, and against such an abv. se of a constitutional power; to stand for free and fair elections, and against all party supervision for corrupt ends. My countrymen, are you prepared for a material change in our system of government? We are in the habit of speaking of it as the best Government in the world. Our fathers lived under it and were prosperous and happy. Under it we have grown to bo a numerous, rich and powerful people. A large class of partisans are now dissatisfied with it. They want a stronger government I suppose that is a general tendency. It was so with the Jews when they asked a King. The proposition to change our institutions fills mo with great anxiety. Ido not want to see the States broken down. I fear for our liberties when all the powers of Government shall be concentrated in a central authority. We have loved the States. They have been to us home governments. They protect our persons, our characters, our children,-our property, our homes and our graves. In their courts our wrongs are redressed and our rights vindicated. Under their guardian care and support our free schools exist, and our highways are constructed and maintained. And by their authority “justice shall be administered freely and without purchase; completely, and with out denial; speedily, and without delay.” Whoever advocates the rights of the States and the importance of maintaining them is charged with holding the doctrine that the Union is but a compact, and that the States may secede at their pleasure. That charge is one of the means used to prepare the public mind for the overthrow of State authority Now, I wish to denounce it in the most positive manner. In the light of the constitution there is no conflict of authority between the States and the United States. Each is sovereign within its sphere. The United States is a Government, with its powers defined in the constitution ; entitled to the allegiance of every citizen, and having the right to enforce, against each individual, obedience to its authority. The constitution of the United States, and the laws of the United States made in pursuance thereof, and the treaties made under the authority of the United States, are the supreme law of the land. Each State is also a Government, to which its citizens owe allegiance, and possesses the right to enforce obedience to its authority. It has all the powers that properly belong to a free State, which have not been delegated to the United States, nor prohibited to the States by the constitution. Each State is a member of the Federal Union, and has no right to secede therefrom, nor has it any right to disturb the harmony of that Union. To promote the Union, and to seek to make it perpetual, is the duty of every State, as it is of every citizen. Speaking upon this subject to the people of my own State, last year, I said: “It is not true that our Government is weak and incapable of giving us the most complete protection. If we but maintain the authority of the Federal Government, as defined and limited by the constitution, and preserve the States in the enjoyment of their rights accord ing to the constitution, and in the absolute control of their domestic affairs, and if our laws be so honestly administered as to command the approval of the people, our political structure will become the strongest in the work! In times of peace it has been over the people to protect and bless them, and in periods of wig it has been adequate to every necessity and emergency." Upon this I would desire to speak more earnestly than upon any other subject whatever. Upon the tariff, the revenue and the banks we may make mistakes, and afterward recover the lost ground. But in respect to local self-gov-ernment any mistake is a disaster. In respect to that, lost ground is never recovered. The power that is strong endugh to tako from us the management of our domestic affairs; to wrest from our neighborhood and county courts and juries their rightful jurisdiction ; and to strip the State Legislatures of their legitimate authority, is powerful enough to hold and keep them. Already great additional powers have been given to "the Federal courts, and I have seen parties go away from tl.o a e courts stripped of lands, and chattels, and homos Le the overwhelming costs and expense, when the matters in controversy could as well hava been settled in the local courts w.tiiont impoveii hing either. Every consideration affecting the rights and welfare of the citizen requires that we maintain our system of government with all the rights and powers unbroken and intact

Is the time ever to come when the disturbances and bloodshed in the South will be attributed to any other cause than political passion? The influences that produce crime in other localities exist to a like extent in that section. Ambition, avarice, jealousy, revenge, drive men into crime everywhere. But you assume that they do not exist as evil influences in the South, and that men are false and cruel only in the midst of political strife. I appeal to your own consciousness that you aie a a good andtiue and honorable men, then, as ever. Crime should be denounced and punished, whatever the circums'ances. whether commit ted in the midst of political excitement, or in stealth and secret. I make no apology for it. But when it is attributed to Democratic principle or to Democratic organization, I denounce the falsehood of the accusation and the meanness of its author. The great and leading sentiment of Democracy is equality and justice, and crime cannot spring from such a source. If Dixon, of Yazoo City, was killed to prevent his candidacy for place, it was more than a local outrage. But if he and another candidate came into a controversy, and the killing resulted without such purpose, then the homicide belonged to the locality, like any other case of grave offense. Yet Northern prejudice has been appealedjco and excited about it as a political case. His character, if correctly described, was not such as to excite a personal interest and sympathy on the part of good men anywhere. It is stated, that he had been tho author of a number of deaths, and killed one man fiom Indiana because of his political associations. If you will make a note of the crimes committed in the North, as reported every morning in the enterprising newspapers, you will be shocked at their number and enormity. May I refer to one case? It occurred in your own State. It was reported in a special telegram to the Chicago Touch on the 15th of this month.’ The town of Westerville Is in the county of Franklin, near by your capital. Henry Corbin kept a hotel and saloon in that town. His business as a saloon-keeper was offensive to a class of partisans quite numerous. I understand that he had the lawful right to prosecute his business under the laws of the State. But they did not like the laws which gave him that right. On the night of the 14th of this month, while a number of persons were sleeping m the hotel, at a late hour, kegs of powder were placed in the cellar, and, as is supposed, immediately under the room in which Corbin and his wife and three small children were sleeping. The powder was ignited by a fuse leading from the street. The explosion shook the entire village, destroyed the hotel, an 1 in{ured some of the parties, especially Corbin, >adly. Can you conceive a crime more stealthy, treacherous and cruel? The purpose was to destroy an entire family, and the passion that prompted it was hatred of the liquor traffic and of the laws that permit it. The probable death of the innocent mother and the babe at her side, and of the two little boys Bleeping in the trundle-bed, was contemplated by the murderers with malignant pleasure. Now, what think you of the “ powder plotj 5 of the stealthy steps, and of the horrible explosion in the night-time as compared with the Yazoo homicide ? But shall Westerville be made a type and representative of Northern society ? Shall our civilization be brought into judgment by tho powder plot, and the humanity of our people be brought into comparison with the cruel'v of the wretches who would murder sleeping children? Let us judge of one another fairly. Let us strengthen and not .weaken the bonds that hold the people of the United States together. The Chinese keep grapes a long time fresh by cutting a hole in a pumpkin, cleaning it out, and, after filling with I ripe fruit, replacing the cofer.