Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 January 1887 — “The Union, the Common Heritage of the People.” [ARTICLE]

“The Union, the Common Heritage of the People.”

At the banquet of the Columbus» Ohio, Jackson Club, held January Bth, eve, ex-Senator Allen G. Thurman responded to the above sentiment in the following appropriate language: Mr. President— We have assembled to-night, not to make a platform for the Democratic party of the United States; not to set at work any party machinery for the political advancement of any person whomsoever; not to sit in judgment upon, or to ostracise, true men of our party, because in some particulars they may differ from us in regard to men or manners; but we are here assembled to do what we can to reinvigorate the fundamental principles of our party; to bring about, as far as possible, unity of sentiment aud of action; to renew our devotion to the union of the States, and to gather inspiration from the example and teachings of great men whose valor an>. whose virtues we this night celebrate. And what better homage can we pay to him who fo’t, when a child, to achieve our independence; who fought, when a man, to maintain and preserve it; and who, when at the head of the Government and at a dangerous crisis in our country’s history, utter d the ever memorable sentiment: ‘The Union: It must and shall be maintained,’ than to declare, as we do, in the toast just r' ad, that the Union is the common heritage of patriots? Yes, Mr. Pre.-ident, it is so; and ought to be so. Men may have been misguided and gone wrong in the party; but, whate er may be a man’s history, if he is to-day, and means to be in the future, a true, devoted friend of the. Union, that Upjqp if a part of Lib heritage. It can not be necessary to speak to an audience like this of the advantages, nay, the nec ssity, of the Union, but it maybe proper to say something of the means b which it can be preserved. For, although the Union may be, and I think it is, stronger to-day than it ever was beb re, yet it would be a mistake to suppose that it will never in the long course of time encounter danger: that will require the utmost w i sdom and patriotism to meet and counteract. We ha\*e now a population of G0,000,00u people. If the Union lasts another 100 years or.r population, at th *, rate of increase that has hitherto prevailed, will be nearly or quite 500, 000,000 —nearly 200,000,000 more people than now inhabit the whole continent of Europe. 80 numerous a population —intelligent, active, industrious, ( educated— has been seen under the rule of one Government on the face of the globe. But if such shall be our condition 100 yeas Pence, what will it be when two or three or more centuries shall have rolled away? Manifestly, hold such a vast population, with a|prodigious diversity of interests and occupations, feelinhs and opinions, firmly united under one flag, will require a degree of wisdom, knowledge and patriotism that has never yet been displayed in the Government. Some persons suppose that the Union can be preserved only by the consolidation of all substantial powers in the hands of the Federal Government; thus in effect practically destroying the home-rule of our State Governments which has been productive of so muck content. For myself, I am of the {opinion entertained by the father of the Democracy that such consolidation, instead of being preservative, would be certainly deetructive of the Union. Whi e I fully agree with those who assert that the General Government should be cheerfully sustained in the exercise of all the powers conferred upon it by the Constitution, I it the same time think that no feature in our complex system of government is more deserving of preservation, more necessary for the security of liberty and the promotion of the best interests and happiness of the people

than the home rule of our State Governments. And because this home rule is the cherished doctrine of the Democratic party, I think that the preservation of the party is almost a synonym for the preservation of liberty and the liuion. I think that the Democratic party isth 4 natural party of free institutions, and that it will be indestructible so long as freedom exists in America. If lam co.reet, then to say that we are Democrats is to say that we nre Union men and unswerving friends of liberty nnd home rule. There is no time to-night to discuss so grand a theme, the most interesting that could be presented to the mind of an American citizen. All th.t I can do in concludingjmy brief remarks is to conjure you to cherish a deep and unfaltering love of your free institutions, to inculcate this love m the minds of your children, and never, under any circumstances, however appalling, to despair of the republic.