4 ‘ '

“‘f~;hf°«.1;:.inted A by WYN KOOP &  HAL'LENBECK,y 1.3 A Fulton s~’c_ree‘l“E,I 

  Maw York; té whom orders % may_ be: addressed,_or to Derhow

     

«

*\

 ~ cr1atic»A Congressional Executive Comrni’c<’cee; Washington, AA

fa

 

;‘__ar

  
  
  

‘N
m

 

 

OAF KAZNSAS,    V 

M‘: my

  LDIERS’ ND‘ SAILORS’ NATIONAL CONVENTION,      

  
 

   

    
   
 
   
   
     

 

REPORTEDA

 

, ‘, 4"
3 “

 

I

    

Mr.% %.l3’m.9?iclmt muzamzzemm cy”%t}’z%eiCcmmztion: A A %%   _
V  ‘   Weft  f'being4-%7'céJl1e%kd 
   A gLd1¢s<s~t1%1is vas‘ba.ssembI4age of %so§%1iera and %%saiA%‘orsmt ya
4 A A 1arfAT e3tyevergathered‘oénwthe A continent since film   grand 
viewin Washi4nggto4n   close of the War, of,¢the Victori

   

1-‘
<4 %
: *3’
D"
g,
as
5
<4
‘S3
IS“
1'1
cf?
5*
Q
:2-'
0 L
:3
O
,3 
Q;

   

 

W.

   
      
   

     
  

    

   

1

       
  
   

   

t%e;c6mrad‘es W  aepa each to his % A
A A h¢om“e$a,nd civic OOCIJ]‘C)i3L1Z?'lOI‘1,=A2Zl}IlfI1O8f3 every 1*egiment% has‘ V»hew  , 
   %A itsrépresentative. Why haivew ,so1diers ahdA sailors;    

 
   
      

 
      
 

fi1e1nc1Aed A action. A _ 

On the 4th‘ of July, three years ago, the War for the sup-
pression of the rebellion had wholly ended. Greneral Lee

had srurrenderedrito General Grrant the Army of Northern

Virginia, and its oflicers and men were plowing the fields of

the Old Dominion, drenchediwith the blood and scorched by A

the fires of four years or devastating war. Joe Johnston

i had surrendered to Sherman (applause) the daring and stub-

S born troopsiwhich our Western army had driven inchby

inchfrom Belmont to Raleigh; and Shelby’s frontier com-~

  lmand was scattered over the hemisphere from Montana to A A
, Brazil. (Laughte.r.) i There was not inarms a Confederate

soldier, mounted or on foot ; not a dockyard, fort, or arsenal,

r in which [there was a rebel ship, cannon, or Inusket; not at

rood of land on earth, or a foot of deck on sea, over which
a Confederate banner waved. The last rebel privateers were
being dragged for condemnation from the Indian Ocean and

the North Pacific A; and the hauglitiest leaders of the rebel-
lion were vha11de1'ing outcast over the earth, or seeking ‘par-

donof a Preeideiut who was a noble type at once of the loyal
Soutlrernerthey had hated, and the laboring white man they

had despised. (Applause) A Never was there a rebellion

more utterly overthrown, ora cause rnorehopelessly lost,

. A , H The people of the Southern States, with wonderful A
proirnptness, quiet, and unanimity, submitted to the result. A

A l , You all know it was commonly predicted and believed, North
it ’anA(l“S5outh, thatrvrhein lthegrelat armies of rather Confecleraey

  iiirlfer

 iiWerAc*rr conquered,dispersing,they would fill the land with,

guerrillas, and wage a Vendean warfare more destructive
 th A 'egularA war out of which it grew.

    

  ‘Within sixtydaysrafterthelastigreatbattle or the war, the

  S     Iivéfiplifi cf

A r less,  siojrrows,  

 

A Fed°era1i marshals and ltaio-‘giatrherers executed their processes  

   ed.’ A

unarmed and unattendedthroughout the Soutl1ern,,,.,States‘,”’i”if1”i

 thr*e jungles lately srwarming with guerrillas, and over fields A

lraitejlyrsihakenr Witht7he_ roarof rebel artillery; The  S

 

“her South'lrbowcd lathe authority of  72 A  A A
‘e     *d 0‘ ulst-

heartsliirrrwhich, as they werehuman, tlrer

    

 

     

   ents,

 

3

rand undying attachments to the cause they had dearllylmod
rand bravely maintained, butmvvhich yielded implicitly all that
the people, the President, or the war party had ever told
«them were the purposes of the War. And by the Constitu-
tional Conventions and Legislatures, chosen by the electors
«of the Southern Statesthe year the rebellion ended, their seve~
ral constitutions and their State laws were amendeohabolishing
slavery and the harsh codes founded on it, abandoning the
doctrine of secession, repudiating the rebel debt, recognizing
the national debt, and, in short,‘ giving every guaranty which
men could give, that in a spirit of concord they 1~ecorg;nized
and accepted, as accoinplished, every avowed object of the
war. A A i a l A
, » Now, the Republican party was bound, in loyalty, honor,
and good conscience,to accept this submission, and at once
restore the Union by admitting the Southern States to repre-
sentation, so far as they presented senators l and lirepresenta
tives personally qualified. t ; (Appilause.), It was bound to do
»it,out of obedience to the Constitution, in the sacred name of
whicli the vvar was waged, and which, vvhile allowing each
House to judge of the qualilications of its own members,
prohibits the exclusion from represelitation of any Stateias at

State. And it was bound to do it, because the War was

nvowedly vvagedfor the sole purpose of effecting the uncon~—
‘ditional restoration of the Union, immediately upon the run»-

ii «conditional A submission« of the Southern see he, tlirourrlr
, i p I e

mamelndmeants of‘? their constitutions and laws, to the nationialj

authority. Said Shermanto the South, inhis Atloantletterz
"“ ”l’i7eid'oin’t‘*tirai1tyouriiegrocs or your horses, your houses
or your lands, or any thing youhave; we only want, and will

.]z(zve,,ajustrobeclicncc to £7142 Constitution and laws of the United‘

.8z«zIcs.7’ ,(.Applause.) r * And in that cleclzlroaition he expre*ss7eltl*o

   

the sole?  as d‘eclarle?di by the 

and understvd byi‘ navy oand,peo’*i,p‘le the A A,

Union. Th e" Rep ubl icanf  in «itis rivention

sin 1-864--—j ust =af'te'r HoraceGrreeley had  fto'iefI"ec’t " a dil‘iIs-4%

ihonrorable peace through, Georgoei  and R Beverly

, "{[‘uck»r,,(hissesioand laughter)—-cleclared lthat tlaeiwar vvias,.i“ A

 

. H4.

and should be waged only,toiorce “ an nniconditiional‘ snrre~~n~=«-

ider of hostility by the rebels,a’“nd a return to their just aller-

giance to the Constitution and laws of the. United States.”
And from the beginning to the close of the war, there stood,
and still stands, on our statute books, a law declaring thatthe

war shouldybe waged “ in nospirit of oppression, but solely‘ V
to restore the Union with all the dignity. equality, and? i
rights of the several States unimpaired.” , (Applause) That»
law was the pledge of the Republican p arty made in 1861,,
and reiterated in National Convention in ‘L864, that the tre-~«

mendous powers confided to it by the people, without re-~
gard to party, for the vindication of the national authority,

j should never be used for party or sectional dominion. And:

on the faith of that pledge were given every dollar of money
and every drop of" blood% spent in the war. (Applause)
_ But the Republican party had not the wisdom or patriot-V-

A ism to accept this subrnission of the Southern people, and

promptly restore the Union. It recollected that before the
warjit was a minority party, and came into power, in 1861,.

a through a division of the Dernocratic party, by much less

than half the )0 oular vote; Yet, with the )resti<re and moral
, p ’ I ‘ l: to
power resulting from a successful prosecution of the war,.

and a prompt and cordial restoration, of the Union, it could

have retained poweruntil this generation of voters had passed
away or had forgotten the anti-war follies of the Democratic

party. I But ittook counsels of its fears, doubted its own

destiny, forgot the inextinguisliable love in the hearts of the
Northern people for the Constitution and the Union, and

, therefotrerrefused to takeytiwliat the war was alone waged to
get----a prompt and cordial pacilication ‘and reunion under

the Constitution. It did this in the vain hope‘ of controlling

the Southern States by mak_ing voters of the negroes, and 
  proscribingall the intelligent white men whom Congress and
l the tFireedman’sBu,reau could not bribe, or coax, or kick, or

cufi’ into Republicanism. But wh.ile destroying, the ten

? Southern States, and building in ltheirstead tenrotten bor- ,

ouglis, to berepresented inCongress in the interestslof, the
Northern radicals bywhite adventurers and plantation

5

rnegroes, the party is losing its strong hold onthe Northern

r »?:“States---and, like the dog, in the fable, drops the substance to .

~»snatchat the shadow. (Laughter and applause.) A
pThe first step toward postponing reunion until the

Southern States could be subjr.1gated by the radical party, A

was the offer, in 1866,01” the Constitutional amendment. It
{contained declarations of the results of the war, which the
Southern States had already inserted in their constitutions
and codes under the advice of President Johnson, and to
“which they freely assented; and an alternative of negro
rsuffrage or reduction of representation, and also important
saclrlitions to the power of the Federal Grovernrnent, to which
itliey would have assented reluctantly for the” sake of reunion.
But, inseparahly coupled with these, and making with them
~~one proposition, which had toibe accepted or rejected asa
whole, was the clause of daisfranchisement, which they could

not accept without dishonor. Itidisqnalified from holding

any office, petty or exalted, “State or Fedeml, in effect, every

man whoiwasof, age when the War hroke out and was fit to i

hold an ethos. So swee"»in’o~ was the are osed roscrition
1 tr: 1

that, after it was adopted into the reconstruction acts, Generals

r-Meade, Schofield, and Oanby successively reported that it was

‘impossible to administer the governments of the Southern
States while enforcing it, because, in many communities, there r

was really not a man lit to hold any office who was not dis-t

qualified by it. The ‘Southern people did as the radical

leaders wished and knew they would--rejected the amend-

” rnent. Theyacted like rnenin doing so. (Applause) Let us i

ask oursrel?ves,gentlen1en, t*whether,if the North had rebelled
and been conquered, and the South had offered us reunion

on condition that we should ourselves vote to disfran‘chise 3 r
and degiiade every Northern man who could read and write _
, and cipher to the rule of three, aslpunishment for t.hre?l,reshre1lion,, r

‘in whichall had participated, andtocommit theigsovernnient

  and destinies of A our States tohthe hands of only the most A

A ‘igl'lOl'€t11l3 of our people, or to the canipfollrowers of the ‘con-
mqueringiarmy, we would have voted for down rdisgrayce and .

A . edi“s~franchis»ement? (Voices, “Nee, 110.”) »Nopeoplewho are  

6

fittolbe free would thus with their own hands put on their“-

own necks the yoke of political slavery. ‘(Great applause.)
And so far from the rejection of that clause and the proposed
amendment of the Constitution with which it was inseparably

connected, being a just" causeof complaint against therw

A Southern people, they would have merited the scorn and
contempt of i all high—minded men had they accepted it. A

But the amendment served its purpose in the campaign

of 1866. It was, to the careless or superficial observer, an:
effort in good faith by the radical is party to efi'ect reunion...

The Southern legislatures, unanimously and promptly, but

respectfully, declared that they could not accept it; and?
were therefore violently denounced by the radical press and»

orators, as still defiant and rebellious. 'Just then, the most
mischievous men of both parties in New Orleans contrived;
to bring on a bloody riot ;, and the radicals rode the tempest
it created, and swept the North. C

Since then, with three-.fourtl1s "of both Housesof Congress «
on their side, and animated by a thorough contempt of the-
'Constitution, the radical*party has been omnipotent. It

has protracted disunion nearly as long as the rebels did---and‘

I done more to destroy our form of Grovernment than all the-

, parties that ever controlled its destinies.
it ‘On the 8th of July, 1863, in a debate in the House of“)

Representatives, Old Thad Stevens (hisses) bluntly and boldly
announced the doctrine that the Southern States werenot

States of the Union, and that Congress could legislate over“ 4

them as over conquered territory. If this doctrine be true,

is it is the acts of secession were constitutional, and.

in legal effect took the States out oftlie Union~i—--that is, that

under the Censtitution,” the States had a right to secede, and,,.
therefore the United States had no right to make war on thern
for seceding. i This rebel doctrine, when thus announced by

Stevens, wasviolentlyassailed by Owen Lovejoy, and othierw
fierce radicalsof the House, and repudiated in the name of

the war party.

In the year following, in, the National Union Convention

.atrBal.timore, Stevens againproclaimed this doctri.ne,dec1ar--

7

ing that Tennessee was but a subject province, and Andrew i

Johnson an alien enemy. But the Convention conternptu--
ously repudiated his theory, and gave emphasis to its decu
laration by nominating Mr. Johnson for Vice»-President, and
indorsing Mr. Lincoln’s reconstruction policy. i All this,

i however, was while the war was going on, and while soldiers

were being called for to fight in the holy cause of the Con-
stitution and the Union, and not for conquest. (Applause)
But when the rebellion ended, and the elections of 1866 gave
the radicals a new lease of power, this infamous dogrna,

which, if true, makes the war for secession Constitutional

and just, and the war for the Union a wicked and unprovoked

teonquest---a doctrine, which three years before haz:.l been,

like the hateful *l.icl1ard~------

, “Sent before its time, .
Into this hreatltiing world, scarce half made up,
And that so larnely and unfashionable, i i
i That dogs barlted at it as it halted by them,‘’’ ~ %
was now adopted by the Republican, party as the fnnda-
fnoental theory of’ reconstruction and the shibboleth of loy~
Etlty. ' ‘ i

V Having; fully adoptedthis rebel theory that the Soiithrn ,
States were out of the Union, and,,unsl1eltered' by the brozid

V mgis ofthe Constitution, Congress declared invalid the g'OV€l"é1l-l‘

ments chosen by the electors of those Statesunder the advice
Presidents Lincoln and Johnson, in conforrnity with State con--

stitutions and laws, and estabilishedpver them military dicta- A‘
torships, through which to inaugurate the rule of the negrolels

~ and theirlhlorrthern allies. But here at new. rent in theiripro-V

gramme was discovered, requiring to be patched by a newly-

invented dogma. The Calhoun-Stevens theory of the validity ,
of secession was good as far as it stretched; butl,1il;e,,,a, A
sheltertent,wasneither broad nor long .enough.,i»lrt: took A
the States out. andrnade thern conquered provinees,but did *

not increase the power ofCongress, nor depriWe»thte inhabi-—'
‘tents of the conqu’eredterritory of thosefgugaranties of life,liib-l

A erty, and pr<)}_oe1'ty which the Constli,ti<ution extends to ilcietizem

, dart n:/ions (1,/r’./we on every footof’gi*ou,1"nl withiri the j1.1%riisdiotio§fn l

 

n 8.

of the United States--—-the right ofexemption-from punishrnent
by ea: poszffaczoi laws; the liberty of speech and of the press ;
the right to keep and bear arms; the right to be free from
unreasonable searches and seizures, and from deprivation of
life, liberty, or property Without due process of law r; the
right of trial by jury ;,"and, above all, the privilege of the
writ of habeas C'02“puS--S--i3l’,18,i3 shield of liberty, in possession of
which the people ofa monarchy are free, and without which
a Republic is a despotism. (Great appl_ause.) These consti-—
tional guaranties were in the way of coercive reconstruction ;
and Congre;ss was forbidden, in peace, to touch any one of

A them. Unless these ancient and sacred liberties could be

destroyed, vigorous military dlespotisms could not be estab-
lished--and without such despotisms, radical reconstruction
was impossible.‘ Wliile tlipse guaranties remained in the
Constitution, and were obeyed, the whole g0=V8I'l1llTg talent
of the South couldnot be disfrauchised by a sweeping eazpost
fizcto law :, Grovernors of States duly chosen by the electors
in accordance with State constitutions and laws could not
be removed by district commanders as impediments tore-
coustruction ; State legislatures could not be prorogued at
the point of the bayonet; State treasuries could not be

A r robb‘ed,Vand widow and orphan creditors defraudedl of their
A ‘divdidendis, to pay plantation negroes eight dollars at day for
imakingi constitutions (Applause): new codes of laws,

_ ‘framed by Solons and dmoralists like Dan Sicl<.les(l1isses),
. could not belproclaimed ‘and enforced over the Oarolinas; a

Judge conducting a murder trial could not be pushed from S
 the bench and the trial carried on to conviction, sentence,

_ A ariidi ieiiecut1diii,i”lbyaicoflonel ”  uniform, ; Aymerican citizyens

it-1-5-citizens of oneofthe original thirteen States--—charged A it

with no crime,could not be arrested by scores, on lcaimzs ale

scac/zetsignedlbyda post-adjutantfimmured in loathsome dun- '

r jygeons, and torturedto the point of death with the boot and
~sweat_box,to malse them swear to what a militarycom-
A iylmander suspeczedrthey knew’ touching the murder  some
  iwretch like Ashburni (applause) ;yjand, military coiir~missions,

those courts, orgariizyledyy to coy1y1yvict,at  doors nlolrnan » it

   



can lay a charge of uncertainty as to the law, or doubt, or
delay or undue clemency in its execution, which adopt the

eeflicient rule that'it‘is better that ninety-nine innocent men
should be punished, than one guilty rnan escape, could not

inspire respect for the radical party and its rneasuresby

being prepared at a rnornent’s warning totryany citizen for
any act, which, in the opinion of the officer convening the
court, was a “ crime against reconstruction,” and to sentence
him for months, or years, or life, to the dungeon or the Dry
Tortugas, beyond the reach of Executive pardon or reprieve.

It was indispensable, therefore, to getrid of these constitu-

tional provisions, which are at once guaranties of the liberties ,

of the people, and proliibitims of power to Congress. To

a avoid an avownl of a purpose to trample on the Constitution,

the party, with decent hypocrisy, claimed a new derivation
of Congressional power. a They said that ha forrnidablelrebela
lion was never contemplated by the frarners of the Constitu-

tion, and no powers were conferred in anticipation of such an

emergency. 'Congress, therefore, was compelled, in the
matter of reconstruction, to act outszde ofrhe ”C'o12,s232'trutrio9z.
'l‘he framers of the Constitution were the sons and grand»-

sons of the Puritans and the Cavaliers who l<;ept~England

smoking with ,civil‘wars for half a century (applause) : and
who knew by personal experience how despotic was power

rwhentioflamed by the passions of domestic war—---whetherf ;

that power were theilegitimate Sovereign, the 13’retencler, or
';Parliament. A And with recollections of this recent English

l historyh, -and traditions of faniily persecutions, fresh in their

.rninds—7—~a1iticipatirig that the hold spirit of their sires would
be transmitted to their children, and break out in occasional A

revoltsagainst the national authority—--~the framers of the

ilonstyitution not only withheld from Congress the power or ;

inflicting, inpeace, punishments, at will for po1iticrl~"oii"enisels,
but also inserted those guaranties of personalr liberty rm
inrlaszriagl asexp1'ess prohibitions, in order? to prevent :3.
“Congress driving the people to renewed war, or to flight by

rneasures of revenge such as senttheirforefathers froin I
lilnglarld to 0ursi1<)rcs.l (Great applause.) l C C’ C r ‘

vii‘

10

As to Congress deriving power in any contingency .
outside of the Constitution, it is enough to say that Congress"

gets all its powers from the Constitution, and outside of it:
has no powers, and is no Congress (applause) : and that all its

acts not authorized by the Constitution, are more usurpa-~

tions, Whether agaiinst express prohibitions or not. If you
present this argument toradicals, they will reply that the
Constitution in not giving Congress such authority, is therein.
defective, and Congress needs, and must exercise it. A.

French philosopher once propounded to Professor Faraday,

a new theory of the transmission of light : which the English

philosopher heard patiently, and then objected to it, that the» l
theory was inconsistent with certain establislied facts of

a natural science. ‘‘ So much ze worse for ze facts,” was the

ready answer of the confident tFrenchrnan. So, ifyyou
prove the reconstruction plan unconstitutional, the radicals,
in effect, answer, “So much the worse for the Co72sz£t2rzz'on.”“
(Grreat applause.)

Thus, to secure a reconstruction giving the ra<:l:icals of
the Northabsolute control of the ten States of the South, not»
only were the State governments abolished and military des—-
potisms built on their ruins, but every revered guaranty of

life, liberty, and property, which the Southc;;1'x1people and to

ourselves inherited frorn at free ancestry, andwhich our fore»-
fathers, and Z/zeir foreiathers, placed in the Constitution to be

i beyond? the reach of the rude hand of faction, were ‘boldly
destroyed. No civilized people on this earth are as wholly

a Without ‘legal, protection from the capricious oppression of" A

their rulers as the Southern people under these military des-
 a1naizinglhoW passively the people, North and

A South, have borne this gross, dangerous, insolentusurpation. A

But it has been quietly subrnitted to because of the belief-M
A no W, thank God! almost certainty—etliat the Northern people
vwill,in Novernber, seize this radical party and its halif-lexe--C
‘ A A outed usurpations, and dash them to pieces (prolonged cheer» , 

lingo); and because many of the rnilitary cornrnanders have

tempered the harsh rule they were sent to inflictout of that

i rlovetiifor our ancientliloertieswhichis bQ1"ni11eVery_true

ll

Arnerican, and which so shone through the administration of"

A at least one of those connnandersi as to cover with new
and fadeless glory the twice-illustrious name of Hancock...
(Tum ultuous cheering and waving of hats.) A

Grentlernen, I do not understand how any whiteArneri-»-
can, proud of our race and of our free systems of governw
ment, can behold, without mingled disgust and iridigriation
the methods and results of Congressional reconstruction, and
the pretenses by which it is sustained. It is claimed to be»
in the interests of ;peace---while fornenting deadly strife and
rancor between the two races, arraying them into coiiflictirlg
parties, subjecting the superior to the inferior, and then

leaving them to st1'L1ggle tor dominion! In the interest of” N

liberty and ;g)r0¢g;'2‘0ss--Wl'.1ile tearing down ten free, eriliglitened

‘States, four of the old thirteen that founded the Republic,
and establislriing in their stead ten despotisrns, in which the ‘

intelligent and cultivated white man is made subject to the
ig11orat'1t and brutal negro---desportisms niitigzilted only by the
fact" that tlieinegroes are but the oszfmzsible rulers of the
Southern whites, while the“Northern radicals are the real ones
----tl1at the negro acts only the part of the auzonmzon clwss-~
player, while the Northern radical party is the unseen intel-
lect wliieh directs the senseless hand that fing;e1"s the pawns...
It is claimed to be in thefinterests of muioaal pr0spcrity~—~Wl1ile-
ywastinglthe wealth and paralryzingthe industries of the South
on the one hand, and doubling the burdens of the Northern
taxpayers and destroying the eager markets for their manu-

factures and breradstuffs on the other. What a_ specta“cles£or' it
‘ goals and rnen‘does not this reeonstructin present! See the-

black laborers of the South, fed in idleness out of moneys
wrung from the toil of Northern white men (applause), filled:
with ambition to rule the whites, and to grow rich by con»
fisciati-ons, and beicomriing eachp year more  

clairnably idle and t’hriftless.v The splenidiid siugar,,cottien,

and rice plantations, at oincethe «evidenceigan l3i1BpI'0(i11Ctr0f' A
a century of civilizattion, overgrown weeds; idle rnar by
chinery rustirmg in thesugar-houses  thefloods of the l\i[1SSlS-s--p

sippi sweeping over neglected levees an abanpdoned rplautam

tions, and theboorish negro field-hands sittingl’in coinren;-«M l A

12

tions! , Behold Virginia, the Niobe of States, the mother of
Presidents and illustrious statesrnen--—-her at whose call our i
great free Republic was formed----her by "whose free gift the A

Republic acquired the territory of the six great, States of the
Northwest! , See the civil government founded by her
Washingtoii (applause), Madison (applause), J efiierson (ap-
plause), Lee (applause), the foremost statesmen of their (day

i on the earth, destroyed, supplanted by a military despotism,

and that, in turn, about to be supplanted by a civil government
framed by infamous whites like Hunnicutt, and a rabble of‘
Ahalf-civilized negroes (hisses). If this be prosperity, progress,
and liberty.,;Grod send us misfortune, reaction, and despotism
‘forever! (Prolonged applause.)

The radicals endeavor to smooth the hideous visage of
this reconstruction by asserting that it is indispensable to

  prevent the Democracy getting power and repudiating the

lhlationalfdebt. In other Words, to prevent repudiation, some
device must be arranged by which a majority of the legal
electors of ten states shall not be permitted to rule
them. If that necessityreally exists, the dire event can not
belong postponed by devising in the interest of the national
creditors, a scheme of reconstruction which violates the Con-
stitution and the fundamental theory of our government ;
breaks pledges of infinitely more sacred (obligation than the
moneydebt; cripples‘ every industry of the land, and while

i reducing one-half every, man’s ability to pay taxes, doubles
[hisshare of the publicbu1'den----the essential condition of which

scheme is to secure the perpetuation of the rule of a party which
now represents not one-third, of the white people of the nation.

1   ty does not exist ! The credit of

S ‘ ,i,the,Republic,astheunion of the States, rests secure in the
hearts qfthe people. (Applause) ‘(A vast majority of all parties a

will preserve and defend it, as they did the Union. But if A A
 the national credit could be shaken, it would be by the;pub—
lic creditors flocking intoone party, and, under the panoply r
of the national honor, schemingto. perpetuate the “power of A
«that party atthe cost of the established Constitutions and

libertieslof the States and _;the;;n,atiron., (Great applause-m
cries of ‘‘That’sso.’’) , V    l A  T )1 i

M ‘ii

13

To accomplish this scheme of’ reconstruction, the Consti-
tution is not only abrogated so far as the Southern States are
concerned, but the form of our government is being de-
stroyed by the absorption by Congress of the chief powers of
the National Executive: A A  i A i

Congress has assumed to take from the President the con-
trol of the army which the Constitution gives him,and to com-
mit that partrof it employed in the South to Greneral Grant and
five district commanders (hisses), independent of the orders of

the President. By this bold assumption of power, it has con»: A

verted manyihigh oflicers of the regular army to radicalism,
and made them zealous instruments of its usurpations.

It has usurped the pardoning power, which the Consti-
tution gives solely to the President,and by sweeping bills of"
pains and penalties, proscribed the intelligent white men of
the South, notwithstanding the pardons of the President.
And it now shamelessly avows that it will give Acorzgrcssionrzl
pardon only to those whoeat the leek oi radicalism. (IrIisses.)
All such are ‘loyal, though, like Governor Brown, of Creorgia,
they drove and dragged their people into rebellion, and, cow--
ard-lil4e, seized our arsenals and navy yards. while yetlwear--
ing the mask of loyalty; while men like George  Jones,

df’1‘e,nr1essee, who stood by the Union from the first, but
A who opposed negro isuflirage and white disfrancliisement, are;
, stigmatized as S“/zerzrt mczZig7zlarzzs,” deservingonly prescription

at thehands of the Summers, and Kellys, and Butlers of Con-
gress-------~ . d ' l l

“ ATl1ose pseudo privy-councilors of eta,
Who write clownfiudgrnents with a pen hard-nibbed."

  (Great. hisses. Cries, “Who stole the spoons‘?”“
“ Dutch Gap.’’) .

S A It took, too, from the President, thepower of d
thus fomenting insubordination in the civil service as it had‘

done in the military---prohibiting, even the removal of his own

cabinet officers, the” adjutants through whom he gives orders

and receives reports.

A. it A And it crowned its usurpationsbyan impeachment A ‘W V
A founded on ‘a statute it had passed, enacting the glaring and  Af A 

‘A

 

14

t ‘flagitious lie that it is ahigh crime for the President to dis-

charge theduties of removal imposed on him by the Consti-.

‘tuition, as interpreted by the uniform usage of government
from the administration of Wasliiiigton down (applause) ; or
even to so far attempt to exercise it, as to bring the question
of his C'onstitutiona:lr power of removal to decision by the Sn-
preme Court-—-—that high arbiter fixed by the Constitution, to
settle every conflict oveii boundaries of power between the
States and the United States, or between departments of the
general government. And, after having impeached him,
and while giving him a lynch-law trial, the party, with a
ferocity unparalleled even in the violent controversies of the
day, brought its almost-irresistible power to bear through its
leading men, its press, and its conventions, to force Repub-
lican Senators to commit moral perjury by an insincere ver-
dict. So foul an act was never before attempted by ‘a party
in this nation.   u

Had Andrew Johnson consulted his own interests, and
become the instrument of a lawless faction, these essential
executive powers would not have been disturbed, nor he ar-
raigned asa criminal at the bar: of the Senate. But, to his
eternal renown (applause), he stood by the Constitution when
it wasassailed by his party, as boldly and grandly as he had

A A stood by the Unionwhen the storm of war burst over and

arounel it :i i
S .‘,‘Uns'haken, unseduoed, unterrified,
His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal;
Nor number nor example with him wrought,

, 3: 1 To swerve from truth or change his constant mi__nd.”i

A hm  for Andrew J ohnson._ Three cheers for
Fresiden»tmJoh:nson. Tunuiltuovius cheering,],

Grentlemen, in any government but ours,’ usurpations so

it flagrant and fundamental would result in revolution ;in ours

 they on be overthrown by» the people at the ballot box; ,

The appeal to the people this fall will decide wlietherp the
radicals shall retain or surrender the power t,h»e,ypl1iaver;ytl1us

usied,,and are using, for the Cl6Sl3l‘l.IOlil0I1_ of the Union v and of i

, -our iform of National iGr‘ioverurnent.jm

 

15

T If wecould so take our appeal as to present to the people it

“the living issues between the parties free from the rubbish of‘

past issues, Who could doubt the result? If the Democracy’
could give us a candidate who would unite as thoroughly the
-fiopponentsof radical rule as General Grant unites its sup-
porters, that candidate would carry nine-tenths of the elec- c
toral college.‘ (Applause) The strength of the radicals is not i

in their cause, but in the divisions of their adversaries.

The war was a success--not a failure. It settled the
theretofore disputed and doubtful question of‘ secession
against the right to secede. . It settled, too, the subject of’
slavery. (Applause) These, hovvever,were unsettled questions
in 1864, and were thought to be involved in the political
contest of that year. Now, the passions of the War and of
that political controversy arenot as dead as these issues in
which they played their part. Frorn them came all the

~ hopes of the radicals, and all the fears of the friends of the

Constitution and the Union. A Rousing these slumbering pas-
sions of thevvar, and led on by one of its foremost generals,
the radicals hope to fight over again the political battle of’
1864. Shall they do it? (“ No, no.”‘) Ah,gentlemen, I iivish

’ this convention could decide that question----b7ut it is for the A

Democratic Convention to decide. By itschoiccof lleader 

"it will determine the battleground, and decide vvhetheri the

A Democracy shall triumph on living issues or be routed, on A

“dead ones (Applause) 3 wart/tar the radicals shall be arraigrzrd

, «and met] /or what may are .d0ir2g, or the ,Dcmocrac2y for rrizar 2:/my
did or failed to dorfour years ago ? T i T at ‘

OF a mrilglioln and a half of present voters who served in
the Union army or navy, this Oonve-ntion represents at least a

half. (Voices, “More than one-half,” “ Two-thirds,” “Three- 3
fourthsf’) Of these sorepresented, a half or more (among is T



 

sand voters, will bepwon orlost tothe ca11se,.asrthe nornina~

,   to   bet  as on e). will supportan;.;.l.’the  r , it
A A Democrats whose lnarnesq have rreernlmentionrrd tgorlthe Pre7si~ T
i dency ; but the riemainder, numbering severalhundred thou-g

tien proves wise or gzlzerwise. (Lanrgthter stand applause.) . 9

 

y r   Convention has aissemblledinlnospririt ofd'ictatin,but  
T A j ganimatedbyx «devotion to the Constitution land.the.rUr1iloln,ll  y  T
T ' T tid<“i,ndiners:s.to all whowouldpreserve them, to aidiunrisrecuringanl  

  

 

 

 

A16

 ha1mnoniousnominatAtiron, and organizing he cAert21.in victory. I
i can not suffer myself to doubtthat the DernoicraticAA party has -
i  assembled thisday in thesarne patriotic spirit, and will pore.-4
A  sent a ca.ndiAcA;lateVvho,vvhetl1er he foughtforthe Union or
IA nAot,l tl1orAoAughly sustained the war (great applause), and"
A r whom all thesol   sa,ilAorsAof the Union'c.a.nA support
A Withouteven nsistenlcy. A ' A l “  i
c A-31 The Republics pAartA*‘represenAts no principle for which 
A we fought; We tiAlA:$l‘"ouccg,r\h%:ot of negro sufFra.ge(np'pla.use and
cries of ‘A‘ No, 11 i~?\);«A,l..or (3A’fff;.AWhlt8 disFra,nchise1nenAt ; of forcing
_ A A on the_SAouthern§tstes "iinequal fellowship in the Union A
*  (re1\Tevergneire1s:i)qrrr§lf' clmngiiigour beneficentfolrmofAAgoVe:1:n-» “ A A
i met (“No,AneVer”), or of perpetuating; the lRepubAAlAifcnnr
A A party (“ Never,nev:§r’’). A Outof the five hundred tl1or1Apsa.r:_d of
Union soldiers, D’AAnocra,ts and RepubliAcn11s,tvl1osleep on
AAfieldsAA washed by t1;1AA e Waters of the Atlantic and the Griilf, snot‘
one laid down  for any such end.» Of the fifteen hun-
pcgred thousand of  sir surviving comrades, not one will say A
he vyotilcl have r~islseg§AhisAlAifeA forA.A.either of these objects. Ahfllxlfllcl
i;AlZI—‘At‘3AS§j;g Arneasures of theRe~piihAlicm1ArAp7arty nre not on1yA11otAthe
objects of the yvarflnut are so prosecuted astute  A iiiifie r is A A A AA
objects, anclto inflict on the riatioii evilsns grent estliAos7e~i I A
A vvarwas wagecl to prAevenAt.m(S1*1outsA,: ‘A‘ TAhnt’s so.”) A « AA AA A A A
A TAheemocraticAApa;Arty is now the only pnrty true to the
AA Constitution andthe Union. (ApAp1Aa.use.) If We WouldAAnAcconi-
A mplish other purposes of our services and sacrifice, if welwouldh AA 
A ‘ s~s1Arret”73r_‘erUnioAn, the rStatAes, their lAiberti‘es,l anclA1aws,_we Lrnust» r A At»
A  Llnite with tl'1eADemocrncy.i (Long continued applause.) lWe~ A A r A
  A   s  ntmen Ah/raw Abce2z,AA bAAutA whsttl1ey%MreA;pl not
     A           j    
l     p   t i         
oes of the revolution; of  A ‘IAA 

  
 

   

 

   
 
  

 

  

    
   
    
  

   
 

   

    
 
    

  
     

      

A *A  Adarns,andjl all the her
 eilgison,Clny,lVVr%igl1t,and all theginnts of the generati
 AA AA””b3eCEOrB**»uS ; stand AwhAilAeA keepfis tAhAatlrineo:AfiA AA   AA
    Aconstitutioncll   A A