i Class i^^^ HON. OrP;^"AiOET(3]S['S i c^^ TERRE HAUTE SPEECH, DELIVERED JULY 18, 1870, AT TERRE HAUTE. JXDIAXA. Ladies and OeTttlemen : I .<1ki1I bea^in \vh;it T imvo to say to-ni;2;lii IjY congratiilatins; tliis large aiulieiico and till' country upon the general eondiiion of ]iro-pority that prevails lliroiiglioi;' oiii- latKl. 1 think I may say with perfect truth there never \^■as Itefore since our government wa^s formed a condition of >uc!i universal proi*i>erity as ]>rev:ii!s tl'.l.-, day. Every condition of society is pros- ]>erou.s. There never was a tin»e A\hen lal)or was better revvardeil (haii it i^ nov,. or when the wages of lahoi- Avould jtur- cliast,' more of the necssarie*; and the luxuries of life than now. There never was a time when labor was so hono!"able as i'„ is now, and .so universall}' recoijnized •»s (lie •'oundation of all national growtli ,ind prosix!rity. And a.s it h witli labor, so it is wit!i I'very other de};artment of tlie body jwli- tic. The mechanic, t!ie n)ercha4ii, t!ie inanufacturer. the professional mai; a.jd the capitali.st — all, to speak in general terai.s, are now llourl.shing — are now grow- ing apace a.s they Itave never done betbre. J u.-.' strong language, l)nt I am justilied in doing it. Look at t!ie prosperity of your own beautiful city. I am told it is growing more rapidly aiuJ actpiiring weait'i more rapidly than ever befoi'c. A ,1(1 as it is with Terrc Haute so it is with liidianapolis, and almost every town in llie SUvte of Indiana; and as i" is in Indi- ana .so it is in Ohio and tln-oughout oui' A\'lL0le countrj'. Now, of coarse, there are some persons wlio are in embarra:^sed circumstances, and always will be. There never was a ti ne, and there never will come a time, Av'.icn there is not some particular indus- try or some pacticular line of business xl'.at perhaps is suffering, as compared svltii otaers. But I am speaking !io\v c-" tiie mass-of the community and the genera! ea:idit!0:i of business ; and I desire to call vour attention to the great bles-ings by ^•.;lici! j'ou are surrounded. Wiiether you looiv at the development of our country j:i't!i' West, th» growtii of oni- cities, tl;c iiuprovement of ou-r farms, the building of raiiroais and turnpike roads, an-J e.verv sijccies of public im])rovemcnt ; whether you look at the general consolidation of th.e business of the country — that it is nov,' placed upon solid foundations — that it is now escaping f?om that element of infla- tion and speculation which always disor- ders and in time will destroy business— bear in mind that the business of the coun- trj- i.-; settling down upon solid and endur- ing fouinlations, and that, though our ai>- parent i)rosperity may not be as great as when p/ices were higli and wlien there wa; a general spirit of sj)eculatiou — yet our j)rosperity now is steady ; it is onward ; it is regular. And I ap|teal to gentlemen of all parties to say if the thing ^^'e most de- sire and which Nve most need at tlie present time is not stability— stability in bu-sincss, stabilitv in tlie linances, .sta))ility in all those things that men must .study and un- dei>tand and calculate upon v.-lien engaged in individual enterprises, and imderstaad well what they shall do the next year or the next montli. CROAJCER.S AND OKUMBLERS. But, notwithstanding our unwonted prosperity and growth, tliere ai-e croakers, there aregnunblers; and there always v.il) be. You have sometimes si'cn men v/lio, when they were in perfect health, v.'ould strive to make everybody about them mis- erable by pretending tliat they \verc about to die. And so you will find politicians, in the midst of this great prosperity and tills great affluence, v/ho tell us the coiui- try is on tlie very brink of ruin— on the very eve of bankruptcy— and that if tliey are' not placed in power, or t'leir party, everything will go to destruction. Now you know these things arc not so, and there is no intelligent lady or gentleman here to-night — and I care not Avhat party t'.iev belong to— v/ho, if they will take a deliberate "su.rvay of the condition of this coniiiiunlty, of this State, antl of ikh na- tion-, v.'lii "ii«t corns to the conclusion that, as a iieopie, v.-e are more prosperous in t-iis year ^1370 than in any former jicriod of our national life. I spoke, o? stability ; .'ake, for (>xarapl',\ auTvin of course ; to use .-i common expros-j sioii, it ^voiild "go up like a rocket andi come iloun like i s^Lick." We -.voukl liavje! the same gloomy and terrible course to' travel again. ,Wc ;ire now approaching a I conditio;'- of .solid prosperity. Onr cnvren-; cy 'i.-\l-ai)idly bocoiaing good ; bu.t if we is-, sae iikG^ii or !5i?:tccnjiiindved millions ofj grec'-ibACks", tV) pay oCf these bonds, we! woviljii .first i-ob our' creditors, an.d then rob; IlK-yebplo by leavii!,^- tinsraoncyjn tiiciri hands s« depreciated Uiat it would take ai lia't Inll of it t<^ buy a i^at ; it migiitbehad,! as it wa.s'^in France, for a dollar a bushel. TIFE KEPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE ! TARIFF. i Pas'^iiig tVoni liiat, f conie now to the| (fiii'stion' of the taiitf. There is a greati deal said by Democratic politicians about: llielarifi. Wiiat is a tariff? Adiitylev-i ii'd ;;pon foreign goods imported into the- Ignited States. "^ \Ve have always had. a tar-j ilf in this eoimtry ever since the Govern-! meiVi was formed. It began with the ad-! minis;t ration of George Washington; and; befove the irnion was formed tlie several! States. !:ad their respective tai-ifls. Wej have ainays raised revenue by a tariff, and! ;:.hviiys shall. It has been done under evc-j ry Htimiaistratidn. Wlien tise war camel Oil v/e could not raise enough money by a! tariff. We had to raise it by a tariff in! part. ^Ve have l)een reducing it as \ye could, but we still have to raise a hundred| and fifty-live or a hundred- and sixty-fivel million dollars a year by a tariff. Now if you abolish the ' tari T, "how will you get inoney to carry on the government ? , Will yon get it by direct taxiition ? Is th.e De- moci'atic party in favor of that? Certainly not ; nobody "is in favor of that. Then we must h.ave a tariff to get revenue. It is idle to talk about repealing it, unless you can carry on tlie Government without money. Then free trade is on.t of tlie question ; wlien a man talks about it he talks about ;i tiling that is impossible. I do not care in wluit manner yon adjust the tariff, if you have a tariff at all it will aflbrd some protection ; yon must have a tariff for revenue, and free trade is out of the ques- tion as long as you have a tariff. j THE VARlOrS KINDS OF TARIFF. j Tiiere are several kinds of tariff. IMierc is what is called a prohibitory tariff— that! is an obsolete idea, i laiow of nobody who iiiii favor of it. Then there is a tar- i if for protection merely that differs but litUc from a prohlbitoiy tariff in principle ; tliat is not the kind of tariff that we vv-ant. lint as a tariff I'or revenue will afford some protection, and as we must have a tariff for revenue, we propose thi^t Ure protection .shall result in favor of our own producers, and not in iiivor of foreign produc(;rs. There are two or tlu-ec ways of levying a tariff. One way, advocated by Mr. Kerr, is to levy it liighcst upon .articles that v/e do not produce at all, such as ter., sjigar and coffee. If you do that, of course it must come lightest upon articles that vc do produce in 6ompetition with foreign countries, so as to attbrd to our own pia- dueers the least possible protection aral encouragement. There is auother plan called theliorizon- tal tariff, v/hich is levied at an equal rate I of i)er cent, on all articles without regard to wliether tlieyare lu.Kuries or necessaries. It has been said to be a tariff of strict neu- trality between the home producer andtl^e foreign produ.cer. If you flunk that neu- trality in that respect between home pro- ducers atid foi'cign producers should pre- vail, llieu 3'ou VkOuld be in favor of the horizontal tariff; but there ai-e very few people V, ho are in favor of that. In levy- ing a tariff" for revenue, we should in the first place put the tax higher upon luxuries tlian upon necessaries, and tiien, if there must be a disci-imination, let it be in fa-ior of our home producers. Then there is another method of levying a tariff; put it lovvcst on articles tliat we- do not produce, e. OUR GREAT FIXANX'IAL MEASURES. I come now to the Funding Bill. Wc have passed a Funding Bill. What is that? We mean by a Funding Bill, a bill by which we will be able to reduce t!ic rate of iatere^t on the public debt. Our bonds now draw six per cent, and five per cent. We could not get money at any less rate during the war, but the time is come now when we think we can borrow money at lower rates. How do we pro- pose to do it? Not by violating the con- tract by trying to swindle our creditors — the men who loaned their money to tiie Government — but by an honest aad lagiti- mato method, such as hij been practiced by every honorable government in the world. Wc passed a bill authorizing the Goveraaieat to issue three kinds of new bonds. First, bonds to the amount of two hundred millions, drawing five per cent. ; second, bonds to tiie amount of two hundred millions, drawing 4i per cent. ; thin], bonds to the amount of one thou- sand millions, drawing four per cen.t. AVe aatiiorized oar Secretary to sell these bonds, if he can, at par.- If lie can sell a bond at par that draws only four per cent, interest, then he can take the money he gets for that bond and buy Avith it another bond that draws six per cent., and thus save to the Government two per cent, per annum. If he sells a bond drawing four and a half per cent., and buys a bond of like amount drawing six, he saves to the Government one and a half per cc;!t. per annum. Tiiat is v.-hat we call fmiding the debt, and we propose to put the debt into new bonds that draw a lower rate of inter- est, by wliich vrc caii save from U^n to > twenty millions per annum. Do you not think that is a good purpose — an honorable and an honest purpose? We have been trying to get such a bill for two yeai-s. We have got one secured ; it is signed : it is the law of the land to-night. And yet this bill could not secure the vote, so far as I know, of a single Democrat, although they have been complaining so much about the great burden of interest the people are paying. They complained about our pay- ing interest. 'J'hey want to stop the inter- est by uajing olf the bonds in irredeema- ble paper money, but when we get an hon- est, honorable ai\(l proper method of put- ting down this interest, and reducing the expenses of the Government, it was not able t6 secure the vote of a single Demo- cratic member or Senator. No. They talk .about these things, but Avhen the time for action come.s — when the time to acom- plisl'. it comes — they are jiot thei-o. So m,uch, then, in regard to the Fuiuling bill. We expect that we shall 'fund this debt. We expect that we siiall be able to sell low priced bonds, and buy up those • bearing a%iigher rate of interest, and thus save millions every year, until the wiiole debt is finally funded, and the money thus eaved in the way of interest can be applied to the payment of the bonds. RDPUBLICAN HONESTY — GRANT'S AND JOHNSON'S ADMINISTRATIONS CONTRASTED. Now, the question may present itself to yeiir mind, how is it that we have been able to repeal eighty millions of taxes ? Why was that not done before? You have liad a Republican Congress all the time ; w-hy could you not do it before ? I will teil you. We have had a Republican Congress, but not a Republican Adminis- trat'ion until the last sixteen months. The last three and a 'lalf years of President .'oliuson's administration was as thorough- iV Democratic as was th.at of J.am€s Bu- chanan or Franklin Pierce. 1 want to tell you how we are able at this time to repeal eighty millions of taxes, and still have sur- plus money coming into the Treasury. First, by cconomj' — by reducing the ex- penses of the Government, and wc reduced them, as compared with President John- son's administration, over fifty millions or dollars. They have been curtailed b.ere, and curtailed there, .md in the other place, and the expenses of tiic Government hav(>, been greatly reduced. Then we liave gained a large .amount in another way — by the honest collection of the revenu.e. [ wish to show you a statement I obtained from the S-.^cretary of the Treasury only three or four days ago. I sav.- Mr. Bout- well the day I started from AV'ashington, and asked him to send me a statement, over his own signatm-e, as to the amount of the gain by the honest collection of th(; revenue since General Grant came into power. Here it is, aiul I shall read it to you : ''Treasury Department, Washington, D. C, Jidy (5th, 1870. Hon. 0. P. Morion : In reply to your verbal inquiry I ijavc the honor to state tha.t there has been an increase of thirty-two millions six hundred, and seventy-live thousand dollars in the Internal Revenue receipts during the iu'st sixteen montlre of President Grant's ad- ministration, as compared with the last sixteen months of President Johnson's administiation." There, yoo have it. On the same rate of taxation — even with less, because binder Johnson's administration the tax on v/his- ky \va3 two dollars per gallon, while it is now fifty cents per gallon, Ave have an \n- crease of more than thirty-two millions in tlie receipts of Internal Revenue in sixteen months. Mr. Boutweil goes on : "And an increase of nineteen millions four iiunch'ed and six tliousand nine hun- dred and tifty-three dollars in custom du- ties for the same period and upon the same comparison, making an aggregate of fifty- one millions four hundretl and eight thous- and six hun(h-ed and ninety dollars." Just resulting fi'om an honest adminis- ti-atlon ! "VVihen you add this to what v/u jhave gained in the way of economy by re- iducing the expenditures, you will undor- I stand how wo are able to reduce taxation I eighty millions of dollars by one single blow. ! L read again from iiis statement : "Tiu' decrease of the public debt for the last sixteen months is one liundred and thirty- nine millions one hundred and four thous- and six hundred and sixty dollars." THE WAR DEBT MELTING AWAY. Since Grant came into power, and up to the oth day of July, nearly one hundred and forty millions of the i)ul>lio debt have boon paid off. and 1 1'.avo just got a dis- liatcli showins; (hat iij) to to-night the pub- lic (lol)t Avill have beeu ?-educed over one liiiiidred and Ibrtj^-six millions since Gen- fi-al (Jrant came into pov/er, while during the hist sixteen nionth;^ of President John- son being in jiower only eight millions of reduction was made, or a little over; cer- i;iiiil.V less llian nine millions. At this rate the public debt will b? paid off in less I iian fifteen years. It is true you have all been ground down by taxation ; all perish- ing with it. You are all })Oor, badly dres- sed and half starved, as you ali know ; but Avc have paid off" nearly a lunidi-eu and for- ty millions of tJiis debt since Grant came into power. Here is another great re;5uit. Ls it not better to pay off the debt in this way than to attempt to s\«-invlle tiie creditors out of it by using irredeemable paper ibr the whole amount.-' To hnw. them lose the debt and the jieople lose the currency? And nobody gain an3'tliing by it but the SA\indlers and shavers? I say. in the l)resenee of these great i-esnits, all Demo- cratic arguments fall to the ground, and come to nothing. And what has been done in these .six- teen mouths will be increased iu the next .sixteen months. The administration is getting better uioutli after month, and will get better year after j'car. The machinery is only fairly in operation now. TtiE TRUE "'labor" PARTY OI-' THE COUNTRY. I .said the Republican piirty is the great labor party of the country, and so it is. Another thing: it is tlie great reform ]»arty of this country. We have made the greatest reforms that ever were made, and .shall continue to make them ; but we only do one big thing at a time. Peo- lile that undertake to do everything at onco, nearly always fail as to e\erj-thing. You can see how we have ad\anced .step by step, until fche country is brought to its j)ivsent condition. There are other great reforms to be accomplished, and the Ke- l)ublicau party is the party to do it. I tellj my friends if they want i-eform to stay with that party (iiat lias made reforms, "and that is imbued Avitli the spirit of re- farm r.ow. Somehow or other, whei:iever a man fails to get an office that he wants, I','.' i.-^ \ery apt to become a reformer. He discovers all at once that he is taxed to <]eath. It may turn out, upon inquiry, 1!;at he never paid a dollar poll tax in his lil'f. lie becomes ail at once greviously ()::p!-c^sed and adUcted by taxation. The i;r;-'.!l)lican party eatsiot give all it? hon- .>r;'.b;c memb'-!rs oltic;'.^, nor one in a ioi!>and of tiiem. T'.ie party was not created for the purpose of creating offices, but was created for the benefit of the nation, and whenever it ceases to be for the benefit of the nation it siiould be d!-- solved. No party should live an hour long-er; aiid wiienever t!;e Iteijublican party becomes corrupt and demoralized, and ceases to be a reform i)arty. it is iiigh time for it to give v.ay (o some other party ; not the Democratic ])arty ; oh no ! but for some nev>- part}" that v^ ill come ^vith reform in its hands, and do tho.^e things that it has failed to do. DUTY Oi'^ EVERY i'ATRfOT. The old saying is: ••Praii-e the bridge that carries you safely over." Stiuid by the party that saved the country in the dark hours of t!ie i-ebci'lioa ; that abol- ished slavery. Stand by the party that will restoi'c iJtability and solid business foundations; tiie party tiiat has given to this coinitry a prosperity and glory it iias never liad " before. Stand by that party, and in so doing you will stand l)y the Re- publican party. The Republican party has not \kv- formed its uii.ssion — not until tlie work o'' reconstruction is completcHl. Nov.- wc have admitted all the States. Georgia has been admitted; she lias taken her place once more ia the Union ; she has been admitted upon cori-eot i>riiicii)les. upon principles tliAt I contended fui- throughout this session of Congress, a.nd for the advoc:ioy of wliicli I received some censure. The wovli. of ivconstrnciiou is i^erfect and complete so f.ir as that i> on- ceriied, I)ut there is much to do yet in tho ^Southern States. There is a dwp fef ling of hostility to Union men on tiie t'"' ^•'" rebels yet, and esix'clally to tlie cokH-ed men that Isavo l)eeu enfranchised. V,\' have got to rake care of tiiose jx'wplc. ^'W' are bound to take care of tiie Union nieii of t!ic South, and we will do 1'. Tlie Republican {)arty is committed to that iu lionor ; to the payment of the national debt, and tiso pret'iervation of the ccd.'; of the luition; and for other irasous I might mention, but iiave not time, (!)e Republican party siiould be preservetl. I thank you kindly for your attention. I have endeavored to speak to yoti plaiidy and freely, and in conclusion i exhort you not to be governed by the prejudices of party, but to stand "by those men and those principles tliat ha\e ]:)reservcd, fos- tered, and maintained yo:u- intercsU politi- cally, ix^cuniarlly, and i;i vyi^ry r.o'mt of view. I claim t!iat this has been do:i'.' I)y the Republican party of this nation, and I a>k you, therefore, to continue to give it your support , riibllshedhy \ •i) -iiM , Rcnublhan Congressional Committee, "VYashingLon, D, C. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 'III III niiiiillilijiiilliiijj, 013 786 592 ^