Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 June 1892 — REPUBLICANS MEET. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

REPUBLICANS MEET.

THE BIG CONVENTION NOW IN SESSION. FASSETT IS CHAIRMAN. STRUGGLE OF THE PEOPLE FOR ADMITTANCE. Lively Scenes Outside ami In the Convention Hall—The Crowds Are Impartial and Cheer Roth Blaine and Hurrlsin Indiscriminately. Opening; Session. Minneapolis special: The tenth National Republican Convention was called to order at 12:36 o’clock Tuesday by the Chairman of the National Republican Committee, James Sullivan Clarkson, of Dos Moines, lowa. Considerably before 11 o’clock the crowds of delegates and spectators began to luove from the hotels over the

magnificent suspension bridge that spans the Mississippi toward the convention hall. It hail rained during the early part of the day, but was clearing when the progress toward the hall began. Besides the waving of Hags and the fluttering of gorgeous

badgeß and the nodding of banners and tri-colored plumes, which were to bo seen In vast profusion everywhere, therq were the inspiring strains of many bands and the beating of more than 500 drums, the shrill whistling of the fife, the shouts of marshals commanding the marching clubs, and the cheers andjhurrahs.of the organized and uniformed marchers. There was considerable delay in seating the thousands Who possessed tickets of admission, but Sergeant-at-arms Meek and his army of assistants were fully up to the great responsibility of their task, and did the work intrusted to thorn with promptness and great courtesy. When the vast hall had been filled it presented a most impressive scene. The galleries contained many ladies, all attractive in bright colois. The great gathering, canopied and wreathed, so to speak in a gorgeous trimming of flags, portraits, mottoes, flowers, and bunting, constitutes the most magnificent auditorium spectacle ever witnessed In an American city. It surpasses by far the Impressive picture of the interior of the Chicago Auditorium when the National Republican Convention of 1888 was in session at its most brilliant

gathering. It is a congregation of the great leaders of a mighty political organization. and with its thousands of brave, serious, intelligent, careworn, yet hopeful faces turned toward one the impressions received were entirely out of the ordinary Course of life’s experiences. But there Is no time for these interesting contemplations, for listen to Clarkson, lowa’s favorite Republican political manager, who is beginning to address the vast audience. He speaks in a clear, pleasant voice of considerable volume and force, and may be plainly heard as the sweep of the humming sound of 10,000 voices is hushed. The call for the convention has been read by M. H. De Young of California, and the machinery that is to give the people*a candidate for the greatest office within their gift has been put in motion, and the spirited lowan is reminding the delegates of their solemn duties. The blessing of Almighty God has been invoked by Bev. Dr. Brush, Chancellor of the University of South Dakota at Mitchell, and now all is solemn and silent, with only the voice of the Natlbnal Committee Chairman ringing out upon the ears of the anxious

multitude. Clarkson speaks well ana convinces all that he is a man full of courage and energy. There is a practical business tone to his address. He reminds his hearers of victories won in

the past and of an impending cont est, and he Ims alreudy convinced every heart in tho great flail that the welfare of the nation is indissolubly interwoven with tiie success of the Republican party. The lowa man Ims performed his task well. HeVonelude3 amid an outburst of applause that would awaken pride in a heart of stone. Now he presents J. Sloat Fnssett of New York for temporary Chairman, and once more the multitude breaks into a roar of cheering that marks the advanco of tho New-Yorker with approval. A' formal motion and Fassett is confirmed as the temporary Chairman by nearly a thousand “ayes.” Mr. Fassett looked perfectly self-pos-sessed as he gazed about the vast hall. In his hand was a type-written manuscript to which he referred occasionally as ho spoke. Mr. Kaiwtt'i Speech. Mb. Chairman And Fellow Republicans: For the dlstintpiished honor whioh you have conferred upon me lam very grateful. I approach the duties of preeidlujf officer with cx-

treme diffidence, and am sustained only by a reliance upon your generous forbearance and co-operation. It Is eminently fitting that a ltepubflcan convention should be held In a temple erected for the display of the products of protection to American Industries, and In this beautiful city of Minneapolis, also, the Joy and the pride of the great West. This cfty,

which Just about equals In age the Republican party, with Its prosperous mills and factories and workshops and its generous and happy homes, abounds In object lessons teach*ing more clearly than In any words the sound wisdom of Republican doctrines when epitomized In facts. We are met to exercise one of the highest privileges of our citizenship. As trusteesVjf seven millions of voting Hepuollcans, gathered from every State and Territory In the Union, It becomes our duty to formulate for the Inspection of the people the beliefs and purposes of our party relative to all the living political questions of national Importance, and to choose that man for leader under whose guidance we feel we shall be most sure of establishing those beliefs in the form of laws. We are here not as warring factions, struggling to win supremacy under favorite leaders, but as comembers of one great party, seeking to select from the shining roll of our honored great men that type of statesman which shall be regarded as the soundest apd most complete embodiment of the cardinal doctrines of our party. There Is not a Republican In this convention whose heart does not bum with ardor for triumph in the Impending campaign. We are all eager for success; we are here to make the necessary preliminary arrangements and wo all propose to make them in the right spirit. If there Is ever a time when It is proper for Republicans to differ It Is preclceiy on such occasions as this, when they are met tofrether for the express purpose of reacting ultimate unity through the clash and contest of present differences. In the wlde-

reaching and delicate business of agreeing upon the standard bearers for a great party there Is abundant opportunity for honest men to hold and express honest differences of opinion, and the more earnest the men and the more honest the opinions, the more determined will be the contests and collisions

and the more complete the final unanimity. The air le always the sweeter and purer after a storm. It is our right now to oppose oaoh other; it will be our duty to unite tomorrow. Our differences should end at the convention doors, and will end thero. When this convention shall have concluded Its labors we shall have.but one choice, and that tho nomlnoes of this convention; but one purpose—their election. Tho nomination doea not end the campaign; it begins it. The campaign which Is to be made will not be the campaign of the candidates, by the candidates, and for the candidates, but of all the naijy, by all the party, and for all the party, In the interests of the whole people. With malice, then, toward none, but with affection and.respeot toward all. each of us, according to his light, as God gives him to see the light, should subordinate all merely local and itersonal considerations to an earnest endeavor to sooure the best Interests of the Republican party throughout the entire sisterhood of States. None of our trusted leaders is

woak; all of them are strong, jjomo may be stronger than others. If, as each delegate views the field, there Is some one into whose 1 figure soems to him larger, whose stature higher, whose famo and following more commanding. whose name more inspiring than that of any other man, then the pathway of each delegate should be broad and easy. The eyes of all the Kopuhltoans at home and the eyes of all our adversaries everywhere are intently fixed upon this convention. A nation Is watching us—our enemies to criticise, our friends to ratify. The responsibility Is enormous, hut you will meet it wisely. The Republican party has never yet made a mistake

In its choloe of candidates; It will not make any mistake here. All over this broad land the bonfires are sot to be lighted, the Hags ready to be unfurled, and the Republicans at home aro waiting to show approval of your choice. Tho history of our party since lsjfl Is the history of our country. There Is not a single page but shines brighter for some act or some word of some great Republican. Count over our chosen heroes whom we are teaching our children to love, emulate, and revere, and you shall name Republicans. Lincoln, Reward, Grant, Sherman, Garfield, Logan, Harrison, and Hlatne— these are a few of our jewels, and wo may proudly turn to our Democratic friends with the defiant challenge: "Match them." These men became great and remained great through their belief In and advocacy or the ennobling aud Inspiring doctrines of the Republican faith. Name me over the great masterpieces of constructive and progressive legislation, enacted since the civil war, and, one by one, their authors and finishers will be found Republicans, I have not the time even to calculate the long list of good works undertaken and performed. You aro all familiar with the story—the Irrepressible conllict undertaken and concluded, slavery abolished, public credit re-established, the Constitution ami the Union restored asd reconstructed, the old Hag washed cleau of every stain and new stars added to Its glory, the wide West thrown open to easy access and settlement, the policy of protection to American labor and American Industries established, developed and vindicated; the markets of tho world opened by tho persuasive logic of reciprocity to the products of the American workshop and the American farm, until to-day the nations of the world are paying tribute to our sagacity In millions and millions of Increased purchases, and Lord Salisbury has been driven to the significant confession that even in England free trade has proved disappointing. Rivers and harbors have been opened to commerce; the white hulls of our now navy are

ploughing the waters of every sea; peace has been maintained and respect secured abroad, and so the list might be extended and expanded while your patience might endure to listen. Our political adversaries, though perpetually opposing every measure of our new Republican policy, are compelled to admit the wisdom of our course and to confess that we have been right and they have been wrong. Thy have Just about exhausted in the Fiftyfirst Congress one year of Congressional life In vain assaults upon three Items In a tariff bill made up of 300 Items. At this rate of progress they would have to be trusted for about 800 years in power before we could see a tariff reform upon lines agreed upon by our conflicting Democratic friends. But we cannot hope to win merely upon the recital of the achievements of our past, brilliant as they have been, any more than our adversaries can hope to succeed upon platforms of glittering promises. The past is chiefly useful to us In so far as It demonstrates the vitality of the party to redeem its pledges and its ability to govern In a broad and enlightened way a free and progressive people. Our pledges have been kept all save one, and I greatly mistake the temper of the Republican party if 1t will ever be contented until that pledge Is made good. Our manhood and honor is pledged to continue the contest for a free and honest ballot until this vital question is settled in the right. That a free people should cast a tree vote and have it honestly recorded and returned is the dream and determination of the Republican party and the despair and nightmare of Democracy. It Is the pride of the Republican party that it never yet baa

■ 1 7" i ■ committed an assanlt upon the freedom! of the ballot. The entire vocabulary of political crimes has grown out of attempts to describe assaults of Democracy upon the freedom of the ballot and fair play in the exercise of the elective franchise. And the Individual words have been made Intelligible by Democratic practices. No question has ever been permanently settled and never will be* finally determined until It Is settled in the! right; and until every citizen, white or black; East or West, North or South, can approach the ballot-box with absolute seourlty and have bis vote counted with absolute honesty, none of us can rest assured that our liberties are safe. Unless the votes of all men are safe the vote of no man Is safe. It Is not the negro alone who Is disfranchised. It Is every American. The contest before us assumes all Its difficulties from the fact that we enter the Presidential race handicapped by the certainty that in an electoral college of 444 members 166 votes are now already absolutely secured in advance to the Democratic nominees, and these 166!

votes come from tho Bouth, which Is kept permanently solid through a norpetual broach of the guarantees of ttie Constitution of the United mates. Sometimes wo are told that the mission of the Republican party is ended; we have met our destiny and fulfilled it. Hut the destiny of a progressive party Is uover fulfilled In an advancing and expanding national life. Ho long as thero remains a wrong to be redressed, so long as thore remains a right to bo enforced, so long as all the privileges of citizenship are not freely enjoyed under the guarantee that tho Constitution gives to all citizens of this Union, Just ho long will there bo a mission for tho Republican party. Ho long will there be a great work bofore us and oaoh Republican may exclaim: "1 llvo to greet that season, By gifted men foretold, When men Hhal) live by reason And not aloqe by gold. When man to man's united' And every wrong thing's righted This whole world shall be lighted As Eden was of old. I live for every cause that lacks usslstanco. For every wrong that needs resistance, For tho future in the distance, And the good that I can do." At the close of Mr. Fassett's address flic convention adjourned until 11) o'clock Wednesday morning.

Thomas C. PLATT, Blaine's Commander-in-chief.

THE CONVENTION IN SESSION.

TEMPORARY CHAIRMAN FASSETT

GEN. LEW WALLACE, one of Harrison's lieutenants.

THERESE A. JENKINS (ALTERNATE), WYOMING.

CHAUNCY DEPEW , commander of Harrison's forces.

THE BIG CONVENTION HALL.