Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 October 1882 — A BRILLIANT SPEECH. [ARTICLE]

A BRILLIANT SPEECH.

Address of Henry Watterson to the Toledo Democrats, A Scathing Arraignment of the Republican Party, Fellow-Citizens of Toledo: The present situation of public affairs in the United States is something more than anomalous. It is in the highest degree whimsical and picturesque. I should insult your intelligence and discredit my OWn if 1 Should perpetrate the cOnceit of attempting to overreach your credulity with the pretense that there is a crisis. There is no crisis. Dangers there axe, indeed, as always; for amid toe prevail ng incertitude and indifference the absence of organized conviotion indicates a rank, unwholesome gfrdM'tli, which, while giving a show of current prosperity, is calculated to deceive the short-sighted, superficial observer. Our body politic, however, is not going to the dogs. It has at least escaped the dogs of war. Our national unity is stronger than ever it was. Among the people them fife ilo longer any irrepressible conflicts. Peace pervades the States and the sections which compose our Federal fabric. The war is over, anil the issues that begat it are settled irrevocably and forever. 8 avery is no more thought of or regretted in ike Soutli than in the North, and secession ra se." a sini'e even in its Very llauiits. The frictions nhd collisions growing out of the war have passed ini o history. Our Government has survived the deluge. Unshaken and untarnished, our constitutional system lias emerged from an era of mischievous theory, which, beginning With fttl£o iiotiOils in reconstruction to end with illusory notions of finance, for a long time threatened it. All the while the people have got on somehow, in spite of their demagogues. And now, witJi Gen. Butler as the Democratic standard-bearer in Massachusetts and dell (JbdiniGfs as the lidpub lean standard bearer in Mississippi, Surely the country is safe; it is more tnan safe, because what those great warriors and statesmen lack of making it so we may confidently look to see supplied by Gen. Mahone. THE TIME-SERVING POLITICIANS. I congratulate you, #ellow-.eiti«dng; upon this ccnSutiliilatlon so devoutly to be wished and shall not mar it by any forebodings that do not spring from the most ordinary suggestions of a prudent sagacity. I rejoice in being able to feel and I o say that we are fel-low-citizens; that we have a rich, prosperous and common country, and that, coffin what may, the future of tile ilejfilbliu is lull of a splendid promise. But we have not leached the millennium; not even here in Ohio, albeit the home of the Truly Good. We possess a great property, and to the wise and just and fruitful administration of this beloiig certain obligations and duties. It is these which bring us together Oli this Occasion. There used to lie two parties in the country. To-day it is a question requiring the nicest casuistry, a field-map and an eyeglass to determine whether we have one big party divided Into a dozen factions, or. a dozen little parties, all professing miich the same thiiig, and each wrestling with the other, To got some on ’em offls, An some on ’em votes. We have hard-money Democrats and softmoney Republicans. Wo bare fixt-tfcadt) Republicans and high-tariff Democrats. Fortunately, however, we have one question on which there is no disagreement at all. Everybody, from Jay Hubbell to Jay Gould, including the fusionlsts of Maine and the st: aigh’out stalwarts of Boutli Carolina, i? for civil-sorvice reform, so that whoever i 4 tormented W.tll an apprehension that there Is a crisis anywhere has only to array himsTf under the banners of the two Georges, Senator George H. Pendleton and Editor George William Curt's, to find surcease for his sorrow and a reme.ly for every ill. It is true the Senator cal's himself a Democrat, and the editor has sometimes been mistaken for a Republican. But what does that matter? In our politics as in our decorative art, the lily and the sunflower may be made to pool their issues without affront to the laws of a true esthetic taste or outrage to the understanding of a well-ordered political conscience. Allof which, fellow citizens, means that the people are foot-loose and fancy free —that the country is passing through a period of transition, and that, for anything t':at any party proposes in its organized capacity to *do or not to do, differing essentially from what everybody or nobody proposes, it is a matter of practical indifference Which is preferred. We hear a deal of loose talk about intentions. We hear sortie hot talk about antecedents. But, at this moment, thta difference between the two political orSanizations, which are labeled respectively emocratic and Republican, may be summed up in the single word—tendencies; for neither, as a party, has the hardihood or the honesty to step out from the shadow of yesterday into the sunshine of to-day, to lay down specifically a series of public measures relating directly to the public business, to elevate these into party laws, to compel obedience to them, and, inspired by common interests and cheered by a sense of duty, and dignified and emboldened by the courage of conviction, to say to the world, “Here we stand or fall.” If this be so, you will naturally ask me why I am a Democrat and why I do not favor the organization of a new party. The reason is not far afield in either case. lam a Democrat because I was horn a Democrat and have not yet despaired of bringing the old party back to where it was when I came into the'world. I am not in favor of organizing a new party, because parties do not grow on blackberry bushes, and, 1 >erhaps, because the Democratic party, though Jike the shepherdess in the play, an “ill-favored thing,” is “mine own.” But, the di- contented Republican may say,why should you ask me to quit the R“publican party and join you, when you admit that the one party is as unsatisfactory as the other? L don’t. I say that ilie two great parties arc dillycl i Hying with thepublio questions and shillyshallying with the people I say that neither is wholly true to it* convictions; but when I exsnvnethe bins of each, and consider the possib Ttiesof the one and the other —taking them hist as they are—my mind cannot escape two conclusions: First, that the Republican party. 1 cing in power and relying on mechan'cal agencies to keep there, is incapable of reforming itself and will go on with one expedient after another, from bad to worse, until its refection may cost tho country a revolution; and, Second, that there is good hope of reviving in the Democratic heart the simple, free-born sp rit of its founders. aid of applying th s to the practical uses of.our political life. THE DEVIL OF PARTY SPIRIT. lamafraii of t o long a domination of any party. I saw how that was and what it means un ier conditions favoring my partisan prejudices and predilext on& I saw a noble party, like a noble ship, full-riggci and carrying the ensign of the republic, sail out upon the broad, open waters of American politics. The mission of this party was human freedom and national development. It was the defender of the consti'ution. It was the friend of the Union. It was tiie enemy of close corporations, class legislation, patriciarrsm, oligarchism and sumptuary laws. It was for honest money, home rule and free trade. It was the party for progress and national honor. It represented the aspirations and needs of the people. It grew and grew and grew in popularity and power. At last it elected its national ticket by the votes of all the States except four, and returned to power after a brief interval upon pledges which constituted tho issue of the campaign which it had won by such an am izmg rmjoritw I saw this great party disregard those pledges, yet still retain its power. I saw it, maddened by the arrogance of success, abandon its honest principles. I saw it throw over the doctrines of Jefferson and the precepts of Jackson. I saw it become the organ of oligarchism, the advocate of slavery, the promoter of a weak, costly, splendid and corrupt Government And finallv, I saw it so powerful that it was able to make its exitfrom power—which had only been brought about by division in its own ranks—the signal for the greatest and most useless war of modern times. I saw all this. I was a vict'm to it; for I loved the Union and hated slavery, and vet, with thousands of other young men of the time, I was borne

down in the vortex and mad«—not by Democratic principles or traditions, but by irresiste ible condition!created by the devil of party spirit—to raise a sacrilegious hand against the flag and the hdiior of my country. Thank God, i anl hefe to-night to coiifess itt and thank God I can say, with a full heart, standing on a soil which, when Virginia gave it to the Union, she stipulated should be forever free, that it is mine again no less than you s, and that though you, who have never parted from it, may prize it, I, who know what it is to he a-.i exil* 1 and an alieu in my own land, love it, and would willingly defend it with my life. A WARNING TO YOUNG REPUBLICANS. I warn the young Republicans of the present generation by the fate that befell the young Democrats of the last. They were brought up to look upon the Republican party as the light of the world. In their eyes ft abolished slavery, it restored the Union and it saved the public credit. I shall not stop to question these claims or to consider how far any one of them may be qualified or abridged. The Republican party came wh- n it was calle'l Oririnallv an inspiration and a sentiment—hardly mo'ro than an emotion, though a generous and good emotion —there Came to ,it ail opportunity, which the emiheiit arid astiltp lrierl who led in were not slow to see and Maize. Thd folly of the Democratic party laid the foundation, as it has since made the fortune of the Republican party. The repeal of the Missouri compromise, anticipating the guns which opened upon Sumter, gave the cue to the Republican chiefs. Tho Democratic party had, in H, maimer laid aside the garments of Jefforfidh arid Jadkgdit The Republican leaders picked them up, put them on and appealed, not in vain, to the people to vindicate the principles of liberty and Union which they symbolized. There were Lincoln and Seward and Chase and Sumner and Greeley, and a host of aiile and true men. Why, the Republican platform 1801 contains as good Jeffersonian doctriiie aA iilay ltd fOtiiid, and, by a few verbal alterations, might be adopted by Democrats as a protest against the proceedings of the Republicans during the whole period of reconstruction. But, pardon me, I do not mean to go into ancient history'. . . . .. REPUBLICAN SHORTCOMINGS. In the rep' rt of a speech delivered tho other evening by Senator John Sherman, for whom, let me say, I have very great respect, I find the following passage, which, as I can well remember the Senator's first appearance lii the ilatiflilrtl Capirtfl pa f» Representative in Congress, is to me not without a touch of pathos. Senator Sherman said: ‘I am already getting old and my hair is turning gray, but my attachment to the Republican party is all the stronger, and it is so because I believe that party is the bulwark of bur country’® liberties and Wxgtess., If I could believe' that the Democratic party was fitted to be intrusted with the power of this great nation, I would not be here making speeches to you. I am here because I believe the Democratic party cannot manage this country of ours. ” I have no doubt the Senator is sincere, fie declared, tt little while ago that, in Ins opiiiiOil, ailjtliiiig justifiable to keep tiie Democrats out of power. This is precisely the spirit which brought on the war between the States. It is the spirit which sees nothing wrong within, everything wrong without, the party lines. Yet there is scarcely a criticism which I might pass upon the jaiesciit iiulllinistration with which Senator Sherman would not concur. Does he indorse tho alliance with Mahone in Virginia? Does he indorse the alliance with Chalmers in Mississippi? Docs lie indorse tho course of the President Hi forcing his Secretary Of the Treasury upon tiie Republicans of New York? Upon iwo leading measures at lea«t in the last Conpress he voted aga'nsb the admin stration, and lie is everywhere saying: “I will stand by and defend the River and Harbor bill’’ which the President vetoe 1. Now, fellowUitizOiis, I dm hot g low i tig did mid my hair is u >t.turning gray, but I will love no party better than I love my country, honor, justice and truth. I have seen the Republican par : y violate its obligations to each of those c l'dinal virtues, and because it did so Iliave seen one after another of its fathers and founders ieavG it', oewtird, ChilSe; lUitiT; Srimnerj Greeley, all died outride the party fold. Fessenden and Trumbull were on the eve of quitting it when, the one went to Iris grave and the other went into retirement. Just as the Democratic party did before it, the Republican party has been do ng the last few' years. The work Appointed tti dd it did thoroughly. It gave freedom to the slave It united the people in defense of the Union. Somebody had to save the national credit, and, being in power and having the fiscal responsibility of the Government on its hands. 1)r a sort of God’s mercy, it did not take the wrong shoot, though many of its foremost leaders, notably Senator Sherman and the late Senator Morton, started out originally as wrong as the Democrats whom they afterward denounced. And what has it been doing since? Disregarding all its traditions, it lias been conspiring and respiring to keep itself in power. By a stretch of State lights, which would made the slxo-t of John 0. Calhoun open its eves, it has counted and refused to count Electoral votes. Trdfessing td be the sole guardian of the national honor, it has leagued itself with repudiationists, and l>ecame a vehicle of repudiation in flic States. Up to a very recent date Mr. Jay A Hubbell was its one official civil-service reformer, and a likely specimen lie was, Ido admit. But, as if jealous of Mr. Hribbell’s naifie and fame, the Republican President of the United Stat s—although as Vice Pres dent he had won some civil-service laurels at Albany and elsewhere —resolved to submit iris claims to a competitive examination. With tiie treasury at iris heels he appeared, in the person of Judge Folger, at Saratoga where, by the aid of Gould’s millions, and the opportune and undetected interposition of forgery and fraud, he was able to Rocure tiie last and greatest triumph of c Vil-sOrVice reform, the defeat of a Governor who had ma le himself obnoxious to corporations, and the nomination of a Governor d dated by the ad mi nistration. These arc rough words, fellow-cit-izens, but they are true ones, and they expose the Republican tendency, which, if it be not checked, will ultimately wreck our admirable system of checks and balances. THE REPUBLICAN TENDENCY. That tendency is undoubtedly the consolidation of interests designed exclusively for the many in tho hands of the few; the concentration at Washington of powers hitherto divided among the States, and the elevation of the Stock Exchange into a department of the Government I do mt mean that there is any present purpose to create a new place in the Cabinet for Mr. Gould or Mr. Vanderbilt under the tit e of Secretary of the Loaves and Fishes and Keeper of the President’s Pocketbook. In politics, as in private business, there may be such a thing as a silent partnership, which, as we have just seen in New York, can lie relied on to work with effect. Rut Ido not mean to say that tiie policy of the Republican party has steadily courted the money power; that it is shaped to produce aggregations of vast wealth, ami that it looks for its perpetuation to the union it has achieved between tiie politicians and the capitalists. There are two railways lrom Washington to New York which are known to the public. But there is a third which has not yet appeared on any of the maps or in any of the guidebooks, although it is the most important of all. It is a narrow-gauge ait-line connecting the White House with Wall street This is not a mere figure of speech. Just consider for a moment what money- can do, and how much money the policy of the Republican party has enabled corporations and individuals to amass. Forty years ago the most florid imagination among the writers of extravagant romance, racking its invention for a fable of untoward riches, put the entire fortune of the Spada family, co looted through generations, concealed for ages, and finally unearthed by the Count of Monte Cristo, at 100,000,000 francs -$20,000,000. With this sum that redoubtable hero worked miracles, almost a social revolution in France. Later, another French novelist, of what the critics ca’l the realistic school, produced a colossal millionaire, whom he christened the Nabao. Still, he did not venture to put the figures beyond the limit set by his illustrious predecessor. One hundred millions o L francs—twenty millions of dol ars! Why, there are fifty men in and about New York worth more than that, who don’t consider themselves very well-to-do either, and are work ng, toiling, slaving, suffering day and night to earn a competency for themselves, cheered by the single hope that, whatever happens to them, they may in tiie end be able to leave something behind to keep the wolf from the door of the widow and the orphans. If he were living now the Count of Monte Cristo would be a beggar beside Jay Gould, who has 500,000,000 francs; so much money, indeed, that, not satisfied with his millions, he must carry the redress of his private wrongs into the public business of the country, and make accom-

pliecs of Chief Magistrates and Secretaries of the Treasury in the punishment of recalcitrant Governors. I instance this case merely by way ot illustration. Mr. Gould may be within himself harmless enough. His recent operation may be merely ail fipbode. It may have been necessary to protect himself. Iffit we have seen how a great capitalist, joining force! with a weak President, may stifle the voice of the people and direct the destinies of a party in the Empire State of the Union. What might not be accomplished by a g eat capitalist haring the ambition and the genius of Julius Caasar r THE RECORD OF CLASS LEGISLATION. Fr im 1862 to 18S2 th ! whole power of the Republican party has been bent to the creat on and multiplication of great capitalists It b gan its career of robbing the poor t? enrich the rich with a war tariff it has never modified or reduced, and one of its last acts was to raise and pack a Cflrhtn ssion to trot about the country at the people’s expense, making materials and arrangements for the continuation of th : s masterpiece of injustice, oppression and rapine. It has driven our flag from the high s as in order that a sow domestic ship-builders may plunder What little commerce wo have left, and grow fat off the r eounirt'fl honor. The ra Iroad monarch* have bad only to tickle it W th a bar of iron to make it lau«h a harvest of land-grants. All thewhleitbas chucked the worfcingriiafi und r the cbin, whispered sweet words to him about the Jumper classes of Europe, given him $ 150 a day Wages, when it didn’t suit it to close shop, and charged him $2.59 for a suit of woolens worth sl. And this, we are told, is protecting “our infant industries.” fH» new slavery. Ido not mean to enter rijlofl a long and wearisome discussion of the tariff. There is one among you(Frank Hurd) who has brought its wanton hypocrisy and its vicious features to your familar knowledge more pointedly and more luminously than lean hope to 00. lam speaking the rather of collective forces, as they apply in their general forms and relations to the busifieSS and bosoms of men, and of political tendencies as they take their rise and impetus in party organization. The tendency of the Republican policy is not on'y to enable a few favorite classes to build up disproportioned fortunes, but it has fiy Its subserviency to the power of money, its truckliflg to corporations, and its disregard of the simple precepts on which its fathers founded it, done not a little to enervate American manhood and break down the spirit of fratofttiiy among the people- It has quite forgotten the homely Wisdom, of the couplet, once quoted so forcibly and sO appositely by Mr Seward,when speaking of the degrading influences and oligarchic character of slavery, he sad, with a solemnity that gave a prophetic reach to the lines: 111 fares t.iiS lXfld to haat'ninsr Ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates arid then decay. African slavery has gone. The oversedf with his lash has gone. But tiie Republican party is setting up a new slavery. It is slowly but surely transferring the seat of power from the people to the politicians and the cfijlif’riiirtS; afiJ preparing the way for a great commercial empire aiitl moneyed aristocracy, and a race of Medician Princes, masquerading as Presidents of the United States. We have, already had a President who was beaten by a quarter of a million votes. Why may wo not have, under the inspiration of money, and by the’ operation of mechanical agencies, a succession of Presidents representing the ruling principle of our political life ? It* is a habit of the apostles of the new slavery, who have a design in all they say and do, to belittle tho office of President, as if it were a mere flgoifeitOad Yet in his letter of acceptance, just issued, e very line and word of which we'may be assured were deliberated and have their meaning and purpose, Judge Folger, the President’s Secretary of the Treasury and nominee for Governor of New York, “Vivs: “It would be my aim, if elected, to be the representative of tho whole party, subservient only to my duty to tlifl Chief Magistrate of the whole people,” a somewhat confused confession of faith, hut sufficiently intelligible to disclose two things —first, tho purely partisan spirit of Republican candidates 'fof OflW; and, second the real Republican estimate of the overshadowing power of the President of the United States. THE NEED of A CHANGE. Fellow-citizens, is it not time to try the Virtue of a change in the political complexion of the Government? Senator Sherman says that none but Republicans are fit to goveril the country. It used to be a maxim in business that when an employe got to thinking himself imdispensable that was a good time to discharge him; for that man might die. This ought to he “quaily sound doctrine in politics, though in what I lifiVe sfild Of dan--gerous possibilities you will bear in mind that I have been sneaking solely of Republican tendencies. I do not believe they will be realized, because I believe the people will recognize the menace in time to arrest the danger. Rut to conffi down to current, ev-ery-day affairs, could we, as a matter of l adt, do much worse than Robeson and Keiler? Unless, indeed, we should stumble upon Charley Foster for President and Mabone for Secretary cif the Treasury—certainly not. At any rate you will agrei With tnc that dierc ought to be a change in the political complexion of the next national House of R >pre entatives, and if secured it wall do for a beghuiiitg.