PRINCIPLES OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. 
 
 S I* E E O H 
 
 OF 
 
 General JOHN A. LOGAN 
 
 OF ILLINOIS, 
 
 Delivered in the House of Representatives, 
 
 JXJLY 1C, 1868. 
 
 •) 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE UNION REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 Mr. LOGAN. Mr. Chairman, the Demo¬ 
 cratic platform is a “whited sepulchre, full of 
 dead men’s hones.” It is a monument which 
 is intended to hide decay and conceal corrup¬ 
 tion . Like many other monuments, it attracts 
 attention by its vast proportions, and excites 
 disgust by the falsity of its inscriptions. 
 The casual observer, knowing nothing of the 
 previous life of the deceased, who reads this 
 eulogy upon the tomb, might imagine that all 
 the virtues, the intellect, and the genius of 
 the age were buried there. Hut to him who 
 knows that the life had been a living lie, an 
 incessant pursuit of base ends, the stone is a 
 mockery and the panegyric a fable. 
 
 It is my purpose to show, sir, that^iis 
 Democratic platform is mockery of the pafc, 
 and that its promises for the future are hollow, 
 evasive, and fabulous; that it disregards the 
 sanctities of truth, and deals only ir^the lan¬ 
 guage of the juggler. It is like the words of 
 the weird witches, who wrought .a noble 
 nature to crime and ruin, and then, in the 
 hour of dire extremity— 
 
 “ Kept the word of promise to the ear, 
 
 And broke it to the hope.” 
 
 What are the pledges of this platform, 
 made by a party which now asks place and 
 power for themselves, and retirement and 
 obscurity for us ? They pledge peace to the 
 country. Well, sir, the country should have 
 peace. They pledge a uniform aud valuable 
 currency to the country. Sir, the country 
 desires such a currency. They pledge econ¬ 
 omy in the administration of the Government. 
 
 Judicious economy is among the first maxims 
 of government. They pledge payment of the 
 public debt and reduction of taxation. I 
 agree that the public credit must be preserved 
 at all hazards, and that taxation should be 
 reduced by all means. They pledge reform of 
 all abuses. Sir, when once an abuse is dis¬ 
 covered, no man will deny that it should be 
 at once reformed. They pledge the observ¬ 
 ance of the laws, the guarantees of the Con¬ 
 stitution, the rights of the people, and the 
 promotion of the public weal. Nothing more 
 could be asked of a party than that it should 
 do everything which is good, and abstain 
 from all that is bad. Happy indeed, sir, is 
 that country whose rulers are all wise, all 
 virtuous, all patriots, and all without ambi¬ 
 tion except to excel in worth and wisdom. 
 
 When such a party is found, Mr. Chairman, 
 I shall support it, no matter by what name it 
 may be called; but until it is found—and I 
 may be permitted to remark that it never yet 
 has been found in history—I shall support 
 that party which does the best it can for tin. 
 country with what materials it has, and 
 makes up in good deeds what it may lack in 
 polished speech. 
 
 Now, Mr. Chairman, as I am an anxious 
 inquirer after truth, and as I agree that the 
 promises of this platform are many and seem¬ 
 ingly fair, and likely to catch the eye and the 
 ear of some who arc unsuspecting, I am de¬ 
 sirous of showing the basis upon which they 
 reti, in order that I may determine first how 
 t'ajr, I may trust te their performance. It is an 
 
2 
 
 inquiry that concerns not only me, but all of 
 us; but more particularly does it concern 
 those who are to come after us—the young 
 men of this nation who are now about to 
 cast their first vote, and who will ultimately 
 occupy the places we now hold, and be 
 affected for good or for ill by the policy we 
 may now adopt. No man has a right to 
 treat this question lightly, and when we see a 
 convention held by an adverse party, it is our 
 duty to criticise fairly but rigidly its acts, 
 and to ask of what personnel it is composed. 
 
 If we find that its proclamations of princi¬ 
 ples are only a bait for votes; if we find that 
 its resolutions are inconsistent, the one with 
 the other, and all contradictory of the resolu¬ 
 tions of previous years; if we find that, 
 instead of being a party promoting the pros¬ 
 perity of the country, it is the party who 
 attempted the life of the country; if we find 
 that it is a party whose policy was suicidal in 
 peace and fratricidal in war ; if we find that 
 it is a party which has adhered to no principle 
 in times past except the principle of perpetuity; 
 if we find that the men who now lift their 
 voices as its leaders are unworthy men who 
 bared their blades in rebellion; if we find 
 there a gathering of all who are wildly am¬ 
 bitious, thoroughly unscrupulous, and dan¬ 
 gerously discontented, then we may safely say 
 their pledges are all false, and we may warn 
 not only the soldiers and sailors, but all good 
 men, and particularly all young men, to avoid 
 their snares and flee from their delusions. 
 
 It requires an unusual condition of public 
 affairs to produce such an unusual platform, 
 and we require to know what that condition 
 is before we can judge of it. Let us see what 
 is the condition, and what produced it. A 
 very few years ago the Democratic party were 
 in power. They had been in power for many, 
 many years before Whatever of good there 
 was in their policy, they had had time to 
 develop it. Whatever of evil there was, they 
 had had opportunity to correct it. They did 
 neither the one thing nor the other. There 
 were no hostile armies then. The people 
 imagined that there was peace. A few only 
 believed that there could be war. But war was 
 imminent. Under the surface of peace that 
 party was preparing for war. In the council 
 chambers of the nation they howled for war. 
 In the different Departments of the Government 
 where they were trusted and uncontrolled they 
 were preparing for war. In the minds of the 
 young and unsuspecting they sowed the seeds 
 of war. In their newspapers they threatened 
 
 war. In the lecture-room, in the college, from 
 the pulpit and the rostrum they invoked war; 
 and finally, when they judged the time had 
 come when the nation was most helpless and 
 the weapons of defence most useless, they made 
 war—and war of what kind? Actual war, 
 treasonable war—war against those who had 
 loved and fostered them—upon co-dwellers 
 under the same roof and brothers by birth 
 and blood. How did war find us? It found 
 us as the ship is found when pirates scuttle 
 her—open to the mercy of the waves, and 
 ready to be ingulfed. 
 
 "We had made no preparation for war. The 
 military and naval establishments were on a 
 peace footing, and even the skeleton had been 
 disjointed. Treason was in the high places, 
 and consternation pervaded everywhere else. 
 That which might have been efficient in a 
 pinch had been weakened by treachery oi 
 paralyzed by surprise. We had few troops, 
 few guns, few forts, few sail, and few com¬ 
 manders. Scarcely a man in the North out of 
 the regular service knew the first movements 
 in the school of the soldier. The knowledge 
 of arms had not been sought, and material 
 and munition of war had sparsely been pro¬ 
 vided. We had no money to carry on a war. 
 We had no policy declared to carry us through 
 a war. But war, bloody, dreadful, disrupt¬ 
 ing, came upon us, and we had to meet it as 
 best we could. The first thing was to get 
 money. We issued the greenbacks. Whether 
 that was the wisest thing to be done is not 
 the question. At that time it seemed to be 
 the only thing we could do, and therefore we 
 did it. 
 
 But greenbacks were not sufficient. We 
 issued the bonds of various kinds because we 
 needed more money, and we had to offer secu¬ 
 rity of some kind for it, and that seemed to 
 be at that time the best that could be offered. 
 Whether it was so in fact or not is not now 
 the question. They were issued, and are not 
 3 r et redeemed. Spite of all this we got heavily 
 in debt. The war was a gigantic one. Armies 
 were raised whose numbers astounded the 
 world. Battles were fought whose slaughter 
 saddened the world. Destruction of property 
 followed whose amount might bankrupt a 
 nation. But we were fighting for the life and 
 liberties of this people, and to solve the prob¬ 
 lem of man’s capability for self-government; 
 we could not stop. We were compelled to go 
 on ; and debt followed us as fast and as far 
 as we went—heavy, crushing, appalling debt. 
 Laws were defied, and we compelled their 
 
3 £- 7 . 
 
 obedience. When the civil power was too 
 weak we took the strong arm with the sword. 
 States were insurgent, and the people threw 
 off their allegiance. We took the Govern¬ 
 ment from those who cast it off, and we gave 
 it to those who fought to maintain it. Our 
 debts were falling due, and we taxed the 
 people to pay them. The taxes were heavy; 
 but the debts were heavy, and the army 
 expenses were enormous. 
 
 In so far as we could we struggled to keep 
 down our debt and to keep up our credit. 
 What else? We found slavery had been a 
 cause of war; but we found also that war 
 abolished slavery. What next? We found 
 those who had been slaves were true; and 
 those who should have been true were false. 
 We gave the slave a musket because we found 
 he was a man ; and we gave him a ballot that 
 that he might be a citizen. And so, sir, under 
 these disabilities and against all these disad¬ 
 vantages we fought out that fight. We sub¬ 
 dued the rebellion—we ended the war. And 
 then, Mr. Chairman, what was the condition 
 of affairs? We found the South exhausted, 
 impoverished, and starved. We found her 
 white male population fearfully thinned by 
 battle; her black laboring population freed, 
 but without opportunity to labor, and no 
 resources for a livelihood. 
 
 Everything was dark, gloomy, and dismal. 
 There was no money, no commerce, no traffic 
 there. The races were embittered against each 
 other, the whites threatened to exterminate the 
 blacks. We gave rations to the whites, and 
 the Freedmen’s Bureau as protection to the 
 blacks. We afforded opportunities for employ¬ 
 ment ; and we regulated the relations of the 
 employer and the laborer. We protected the 
 one and we eucouraged the other. And when 
 we could not keep the peace by the civil arm we 
 resorted to the military, because we have had 
 enough of war, and we determined that the 
 peace should be kept. What next ? We found 
 that there were no governments in the rebel 
 States which we could recognize; and we pro¬ 
 vided plain and merciful means by which new 
 governments could be established. 
 
 This was the condition of the South. How 
 was it in the North? We were oppressed with 
 our debt; we were borne down with our taxes; 
 we were perplexed how to pay the first, and 
 how to reduce the latter. But our hearts were ( 
 all glad notwithstanding, because we had 
 saved our country. We mourned for those we 
 nad lost, but we rejoiced for those who were 
 lo come, for we had solved the problem of 
 
 liberty and the destiny of our people. We 
 set ourselves immediately to repair the ravages 
 of war. At the close of the war, by the 
 official, report of the Secretory of the Treasury, 
 dated December 3, I860, our indebtedness on 
 the 31st day of August, 1865, was $2,846,021,- 
 742 04 ; on the 1st day of June, 1868, by the 
 report of the same official, our indebtedness 
 was $2,510,245,886 74, being a reduction of 
 the national debt since August 31, 1865, to 
 June 1, 1868, of $335,715,855 30, showing a 
 reduction of our national debt of one hundred 
 millions per annum. Under a Republican 
 Congress could we have had an Executive and 
 Cabinet in harmony with Congress so that 
 frauds and robberies of the revenues could 
 have been stopped, in my judgment the whole 
 country would be at peace, and our debt re¬ 
 duced at least $500,000,000. We now propose 
 to reduce the army and navy as rapidly as can 
 be done with safety to the country, and all 
 other expenses of the Government. We have 
 also, as fast as State after State organizes its 
 government, abolished military authority and 
 subordinated it to the civil, and abolished the 
 Freedmen’s Bureau, to take effect the 1st of 
 next January. 
 
 This, Mr. Chairman, is a brief statement of 
 the condition of our country since I860. I 
 have been brief in stating, because I did not 
 wish to tell an oft-told tale. I have only 
 sketched those events which have given rise to 
 the pledges and complaints of the Democratic 
 platform. Now, sir, when a nation finds itself 
 thus suddenly engaged in an unforeseen war, 
 and thus unexpectedly is called upon for all 
 its resources, and emerges from the struggle 
 victorious but fatigued, strong but wearied, 
 it is certainly entitled to some forbearance, 
 and its supporters should meet with some 
 encouragement and praise. This remark brings 
 me to my first allegation against this platform. 
 I allege against it that it makes a spacious and 
 a false complaint against us for doing the only 
 thing which it was in our power to do, and the 
 only thing which any other party, Republican 
 or Democratic, could have done, unless they 
 made an ignominious peace with the rebels ! 
 No other set of men, be their politics what 
 they might, could have done aught other than 
 we did do, if they were patriots and fought the 
 battle of the country ! I allege against it, also^ 
 that the very men who now make this com¬ 
 plaint were either the identical men, or else 
 the partisan friends and adherents of the. iden¬ 
 tical men who brought on this war, who fought 
 the flag, who caused the 
 
4 
 
 the immediate occasion of all our sorrow and 
 of all our burdens ! 
 
 It is not true, then, that the Democratic 
 party will give peace to the country. They 
 have been the party of war, and by the written 
 declarations of their candidate for Vice Presi¬ 
 dent they propose more war unless they can 
 undo all the victory we have achieved, and re¬ 
 new rebellion where we have quieted it. I read, 
 Mr. Chairman, a letter written by Maj. Gen. 
 F. P. Clair to Col. Broadhead, of St. Louis: 
 
 Washington, June 30,1SGS. 
 
 Dear Colonei. —In reply to your inquiries I beg 
 leave to say that I leave to you to determine, on con¬ 
 sultation with my friends from Missouri, whether 
 my name shall be presented to tho Democratic con¬ 
 vention, and to submit the following as what I con¬ 
 sider the real and only issue in this contest: 
 
 The reconstruction policy of the Radicals will be 
 complete before the next election; the States so long 
 excluded will have been admitted, negro suffrage 
 established, and the carpet-baggers installed in their 
 seats in both branches of Congress. There is no 
 ossibility of changing the political character of the 
 enate, even if the Democrats should elect their 
 President and a majority of the popular branch of 
 Congress. We cannot, therefore, undo the Radical 
 lan of reconstruction by congressional action; the 
 enate will continue a bar to"its repeal. Must we 
 submit to it? How can it be overthrown! It can 
 only be overthrown by the authority of the Execu¬ 
 tive, who is sworn to maintain the Constitution, and 
 who will fail to do his duty if he allows the Consti¬ 
 tution to perish under a series of congressional enact¬ 
 ments which are in palpable violation of its funda¬ 
 mental principles. 
 
 If fhe President elected by the Democracy enforces 
 or permits others to enforce these reconstruction 
 acts, the Radicals, by the accession of twenty spuri¬ 
 ous Senators and fifty Representatives, will control 
 both branches of Congress, and his Administration 
 will be as powerless as the present one of Mr. Johnson. 
 
 There is but one way to restore the Government 
 and the Constitution, and that is for the President¬ 
 elect to declare these acts null and void, compel the 
 army to undo its usurpations at the South, disperse 
 the carpet-bag State governments, allow the white 
 people to re-organize their own governments, and 
 elect Senators and Representatives. The House of 
 Representatives will contain a majority of Democrats 
 from the North, and they will admit the Represent¬ 
 atives elected by the white people of the South, and 
 with the co-operation of the President it will not be 
 difficult to compel the Senate to submit once more 
 to the obligations of the Constitution. It will not be 
 able to withstand the public judgment, if distinctly 
 invoked and clearly expressed on this fundamental 
 issue, and it is the sure way to avoid all future strife 
 to put the issue plainly to the country. 
 
 I repeat that this is the real and only question 
 which we should allow to control us: Shall we sub¬ 
 mit to the usurpations by which the Government has 
 been overthrown, or shall we exert ourselves for its 
 full and complete restoration ? It is idle to talk of 
 bonds, greenbacks, gold, the public faith, and tho 
 public credit. What can a Democratic President do 
 in regard to any of these, with a Congress in both 
 branches controlled by the carpet-baggers and their 
 allies ? He will be powerless to stop the supplies by 
 which idle negroes are organized into political clubs 
 —by which an army is maintained to protect these 
 vagabonds in their outrages upon the ballot. These, 
 and things like these, eat up the revenue and 
 resources of the Government and destroy its credit— 
 make the difference between gold and greenbacks. 
 We must restore the Constitution before we can re¬ 
 store the finances, and to do this we must have a 
 President who will execute the will of the people by 
 trampling into dust tho usurpation of Congress, 
 known as the reconstruction acts. I wish to stand 
 before the convention upon this issue, but it is one 
 which embraces everything else that is of value in 
 its large and comprehensive results. It is the one 
 thing that includes all that is worth a contest, and 
 without it there is nothing that gives dignity, honor, 
 or valuo to the struggle. 
 
 Your friend, FRANK P. BLAIR. 
 Colonel James O. Broai/head. 
 
 Is this the language of peace? Is this the 
 pledge of security to the county ? Is this the 
 return to the settled pursuits of civil life and 
 the calm routine of trade, which shall reassure 
 our people and restore our prosperity ? Docs 
 it not rather suggest the clarion-stump and the 
 clash of arms—the neigh of steed and the 
 shriek of death ? Are our taxes to be lessened 
 under these threats ? Will our credit be made 
 better by these means ? Gentlemen shall not 
 tell me that this is not an utterance of the 
 party nor a binding declaration. The letter 
 was written before the convention met, in view 
 of its meeting, and in order to bring the writer 
 and his doctrines before that convention as a 
 candidate. Both aims were attained. The 
 letter was published—the writer was nomi¬ 
 nated. The doctrines are his and his party’s, 
 and are embodied in the platform by the decla¬ 
 ration that ‘ £ we regard the reconstruction acts 
 (so called) as usurpations, and unconstitu¬ 
 tional, revolutionary, and void.” It seems, 
 then, from this that all we have done is to 
 be undone. No matter that the voice of the 
 country in election after election, year after 
 year, has sanctioned it and said it was well 
 done, the Democratic party says it must be 
 undone, or that the swords shall be unsheathed 
 and desolation sweep over the land. 
 
 Where, now, are the pledges of specie pay¬ 
 ment, of redeemed bonds, of equal currency, 
 of wise legislation, of amicable feeling, of re¬ 
 stored confidence, of judicious economy, and 
 reduced taxation ? Gone ! gone ! The loud 
 note of insurrection has dispelled them all, and 
 the possibility of our national Parliament being 
 dissolved by the sword, as in Cromwell’s day, 
 ha3 put all lingering hope to flight. We are 
 promised a uniform and valuable currency— 
 one currency—which is to be sufficient “for 
 the Government and the people, the laborer 
 and the office holder, the pensioner and the 
 soldier, the producer and the bondholder.” 
 We are promised “paymentof thepubliedebt 
 as rapidly as practicable.” We are notified 
 of “equal taxation of every species of prop¬ 
 erty,/including bonds and other securities.” 
 We are to expect “economy in the adminis¬ 
 tration of the Government,” and the “aboli¬ 
 tion of the Freedmen’s Bureau.” How isTill 
 this to be brought about? For fear I may do 
 injustice to the platform, I wish to quote some 
 extracts from the World newspaper of July 8, 
 the day after the platform was made. I may 
 add that the World is the authoritative expo¬ 
 nent of tho views of the distinguished gentle¬ 
 man, I-Ioratio Seymour, who has been nomi¬ 
 nated for President by that party, and there¬ 
 fore this interpretation is his interpretation : 
 
 “The declarations relating to the finances are 
 scattered through different sections of the platform. 
 They need to he brought together before we can get 
 an intelligent view of their scope. The platform is 
 explicit enough upon each particular point, but its 
 several declarations so limit and modify one another 
 that it would be very misleading to consider any one 
 of them apart from the rest.” 
 
 It is somewhat singular, if this document 
 was all fairness and honesty, that its different 
 subjects could not be put close enough together 
 to afford an “ intelligent view ” of each, and 
 “its declarations are so misleading ’ ’ as to 
 require an expert like the World to bring them 
 
together ia harmony. Why is i. ,hat “its 
 several declarations limit and modify one 
 another ” if these are the declarations and the 
 principles upou which our people are asked to 
 stake their happiness? 
 
 But, says the World, this is what it means : 
 
 *‘ Payment of the principal of the five-twenty 
 bonds in greenbacks will easily be found in the plat¬ 
 form, if searched for. The language is that ‘ when 
 the obligations of tho Government do not expressly 
 state upon their face, or the law under which they 
 were issued does not provide that they shall be paid 
 in coin, they ought in right and in justice to be paid 
 in the lawful money of the United States,’ that is to 
 say, in greenbacks. This is explicit enough so far 
 as it relates to the medium of payment; but how 
 does the platform propose to provide the means ? 
 In other words, where are the greenbacks to come 
 from '! On this also the platform is explicit. They 
 are not to be manufactured by the printing-press, 
 but to be raised by taxation. By this method the 
 payment ot' the public debt cannot be very rapid. 
 The bondholders need have no fear that their prop¬ 
 erty is to be swept away by a new inundation of 
 paper money. Payment of the public debt in green¬ 
 backs without increasing their present amount, pay¬ 
 ment in greenbacks out of the proceeds of a reduced 
 taxation, will leave the greater portion of the debt 
 standing for many years to come.” 
 
 Two things appear from this : first, that the 
 payment of the public debt cannot be very 
 rapid ; and second, that the greenbacks where¬ 
 with to pay it are to be raised by taxation. 
 This is a novel way indeed to “ equalize the 
 currency ’’ and to 11 reduce taxation.’ ’ We are 
 to be taxed additionally to pay the public debt, 
 and to be taxed a long time to come before 
 it can be discharged, and the Democracy call 
 this “ reform of an existing abuse.” There is 
 another fact concealed in this statement which 
 it were well to bring to light. We hare heard 
 that much of our miseries are due to the 
 “ bloated bondholder.” They are lepers who 
 have infected us in our persons and tainted our 
 financial atmosphere. But they are assured 
 by this platform that “ they need have no fears 
 that their property is to be swept away by a 
 new inundation of paper money.” 
 
 If these bonds are vile as they say, why 
 should they not be swept away under a Demo¬ 
 cratic dispensation? We do not think they 
 are; but if we are to rely on Democratic testi¬ 
 mony they are the gangrene of our body- 
 politic. Again, if there is to be no “ new 
 inundation of paper money,” how arc the 
 greenbacks to be raised, which, levied in tax¬ 
 ation, are to pay off the national debt ? First, 
 it is said, they will raise greenbacks by tax¬ 
 ation and pay off the bonds. It must be ad¬ 
 mitted that the greenbacks already in circula¬ 
 tion are not adequate for this, and so more 
 must be issued. But next it is said that there 
 will be no more issued. Then how are the 
 bonds to be paid ? It may be that this is all 
 clear to other eyes, and that the end will cer¬ 
 tainly be reached by the means; but I trust I 
 may be pardoned if I confess at once that I am 
 notable to take that 11 intelligent view ” which 
 shows me how it is to be done. It seems, too, 
 that the World has the same opacity as myself 
 if its vision is confined to this point, and so it 
 takes another stretch. 
 
 “ There is another part of the platform which has 
 a pertinent bearing on this subject. It is tho decla¬ 
 ration in favor of^one currency for the Government 
 and the people, lor the bondholder atnl the producer.’ 
 
 Now, although nothing is expressly said upon 
 that point, we suppose "the platform contemplates 
 the payment of the duties on imports in coin as here¬ 
 tofore. This seems to us a justifiable, nay, an ine¬ 
 vitable inference from what is said about paying in 
 coin such obligations of the Government as stipulate 
 for coin upon their face. The interest upon bath 
 the ten-forty and the five-twenty bonds is payable in 
 coin by the very terms of the law, and also the 
 principal of the ten-forties. If the Government 
 keeps this express engagement, it must by sorre 
 means raise the coin, ana no other method issug- 
 
 f jested than by collecting it, as now, at the custorti- 
 louses. Now, as the platform pledges the party to 
 pay specie to the bondholders to meet ibeh interest 
 and that part of their principal which the law 
 requires to bo paid in coin, it seems evident that the 
 ‘ one currency for the Government and the people, 
 the bondholder and the producer,’ must contemplate 
 an early return to specie payments. The ‘ one 
 currency’ must mean either a uniform good currency 
 or a uniform bad currency. It is inconceivable in 
 itself and inconsistent with the platform, that t!:e 
 old, liard-money Democratic party should promise a 
 uniform currency of bad money. The one currency 
 means a sound currency ; a currency equivalent to 
 coin and at all times exchangeable for it. One cur¬ 
 rency of depreciated greenbacks would be ineem 
 sistent with the payment in coin of that part of the 
 public obligations which are acknowledged by the 
 platform to be due in coin; inconsistent wild the 
 collection of the revenue from imports in gold; 
 inconsistent with the idea that we are ever to return 
 to specie payments. 
 
 “ Another declaration, in still another section of 
 the platform, evinces an intention to make an early 
 return to specie payments. After calling fora le- 
 duction of the public expenses and a reform of the 
 system of taxation, the platform proceeds thus: 
 ‘ So that the burden of taxation may be equalized 
 and lessened, the credit of the Government and t he 
 currency made good.’ The credit of the Government 
 is not ‘ good ’ so long as its promises sell for less 
 than their face ; the currency is not ‘ good ’ so long 
 as it is inflated and irredeemable. 
 
 “ The platform proposes to pay the five-twenties 
 in greenbacks ; proposes to raise ihe money for this 
 purpose by taxation; promises unequivocally that 
 ‘the burden of taxation shall be lessened;’ the 
 credit of the Government made good; the currency 
 made good ; and that that good currency shall be 
 the same for all classes, including the bondholders. 
 We do not regard these several declarations as con¬ 
 tradictory, but as mutually explanatory, perfectly 
 consistent and harmonious^ The Democratic party 
 is pledged by the platform to appreciate the green¬ 
 backs to par and use them for the payment of that 
 part of the public debt which is not by express pro¬ 
 vision of law due in coin.” 
 
 Now, having got all the light of which the 
 subject is capable, let us see exactly what it is 
 that is promised by these reformers. They 
 say to the people, “The bloated bondholder 
 is eating out your substance, and we will tax 
 his property just as we tax yours.” They 
 say to the bondholder, “Have no fear3 for 
 your bonds ; we will issue no more greenbacks 
 to depreciate them; and we will pay them iu 
 a good and lawful currency. If it is not gold 
 it shall be as good as gold.” They say to the 
 people, “We will reduce your taxes.” They 
 say to the capitalist, “ We will pay our debts 
 by taxation.” They say to the people, “ Wc 
 will have but one currency for all alike, and 
 that shall be greenbacks.” They say to the 
 creditor, “We will pay you in gold, as tLe 
 law requires; but wc will make the greenback 
 of the value of gold if wc can.” And then 
 they say to all, to the bondholder and the 
 people, the pensioner and the soldier, the la¬ 
 borer, the office-holder, and the producer, 
 “We will reform all abuses ; wc will equalize 
 taxation by a uniform currency ; we will pay 
 the bonds in gold, or greenbacks at par ; and 
 
6 
 
 vre will pay off our debts.” When? After 
 many years to come ! 
 
 So, Mr. Chairman, admitting that all this 
 is to be brought about in the very letter and 
 spirit of the promise, it appears that the first 
 condition of its fulfilment is, that the demo¬ 
 cratic party shall have unlimited power for 
 many years to come, or else it cannot keep its 
 word. If it should be asked what recourse or 
 remedy will the people have if, after having 
 given that power to that party for many years 
 to come, those promises should not be kept, 
 these pledges should not be fulfilled, I am at. 
 a loss to reply; I do not find any remedy 
 stated in the platform; I am not aware of 
 any recourse. Still, however, it may be im¬ 
 pertinent and useless also to make the inquiry 
 or to seek for redress. A ruined debtor, 
 bankrupt to the last farthing, need trouble 
 himself but very little as to the disposition of 
 the assets which he has not got. This, then, 
 sir, is the much-vaunted financial policy which 
 is to be inaugurated by the Democratic party, 
 and through which this country is to be res¬ 
 cued from all her present difficulties. This is 
 the key-note of their complaint and the battle 
 cry of their campaign. 
 
 It is a platform which was made to suit a 
 candidate who was defeated for the nomina¬ 
 tion. The platform was made for one man, 
 but that man is not the one who is standing 
 on it. The man who wanted that platform 
 did not get the nomination, and the man who 
 did get the nomination did not want that 
 platform. It is not of record that like another 
 memorable candidate of by-gone years, “he 
 spit upon it.” Indeed, his well-known habits 
 of decorum and aristocratic breeding forbid 
 the possibility of such a thing. But it is of 
 record that he made two earnest and powerful 
 speeches to prevent the enunciation of a doc- 
 rine which he knew was absurd in the present 
 and would be falsified in the future. If, then, 
 heir financial declarations are vague and 
 false, how can we trust aught else they say ? 
 The country wants peace; through peace will 
 come prosperitj'. Prosperity thrives under a 
 Government of fixed principles, and principles 
 are most firmly fixed when they are most 
 generally and best understood by the people 
 at large. If their finances fail all else fails. 
 Now, what do they say upon another most 
 essential and remunerative branch of the nat¬ 
 ional finances—.that branch which is now and 
 must continue to be the only gold-yielding 
 portion of our revenue—I mean the tariff? 1 
 quote again, sir, from the World: 
 
 44 There is only one other subject embraced in the 
 platform which seems to call lor any remark, and 
 that is the tariif, or 4 protection.’ This part of the 
 platform is a muddle. The language is: ‘a tariff 
 for revenue upon foreign imports,’ which is good 
 sound Democratic doctrine, but it is immediately 
 followed by this unintelligible jumble: 4 and such 
 equal taxation under the internal revenue laws as 
 will afford incidental protection to domectic manu¬ 
 factures.’ We are here treated to the paradox of a 
 revenue tariff and protective internal taxes. But 
 the wonder does not end here. A protective tariff 
 discriminates, but internal taxes are to protect 
 without discriminating. It is 4 equal’ internal taxes 
 that are to accomplish the feat of protecting domestic 
 manufactures, if ail interests are taxed alike, how 
 can any be protected? What are they to be pro¬ 
 tected against ? Not against foreign rivals by 
 internal taxes ; not against domestic competition by 
 
 equal taxes. The promise of ‘ a tariff for revenue 7 
 is excellent; all beyond that is nonsense.” 
 
 You will observe, Mr. Chairman, that it is 
 not I who says that this is a muddle, an 
 unintelligible jumble, a paradox, and non¬ 
 sense, but the leading Seymour paper in the 
 United States. 
 
 I turn now to another topic, and still I quote 
 the “ World:” 
 
 44 All that the Democratic party promise to do in 
 relation to negro supremacy is comprised in these 
 words: 4 The reduction of the standing Army and 
 Navy, the abolition of the Freedmen’s Bureau, and 
 all political instrumentalities designed to secure 
 negro supremacy.’ Tiie Freedmen’s Bureau, with 
 the Army to back it, is a tremendous electioneering 
 machine intended to control the negro vote. When 
 it is abolished, the negro vote will fall under the 
 control of the white citizens of the South, and there 
 will then be no difficulty in carryihg all the southern 
 States for the Democratic party.” 
 
 That is, the Freedmen’s Bureau is an out¬ 
 rageous institution, because it prevents the 
 Democratic party from controlling the negro 
 vote and getting supremacy in every southern 
 State; that is to say, the Freedmen’s Bureau 
 would be all right if it were in Democratic 
 hands, and the negro will be a good enough 
 man to vote so soon as he can be got to vote 
 the Democratic ticket. The World further 
 adds: 
 
 44 The platform promises to smash the political 
 machine called the Freedmen’s Bureau and all other 
 Federal agencies for controlling tiie southern elec¬ 
 tions—but beyond this it wisely promises nothing 
 in relation to negro suffrage. It promises that the 
 Federal Government shall not interfere to cajole the 
 negroes into voting against the interests of then- 
 section, and trusts to the natural ascendancy of 
 white intelligence to accomplish whatever else may 
 be deemed expedient. In this matter the platform 
 is equally wise in what it promises and in what it 
 abstains from promising.” 
 
 In other words, it is admirable, because it is 
 so happj r in suppressing the truth to an extent 
 as great as in suggesting a falsehood; and 
 this, sir, is the whole of it beyond the usual 
 quantity of empty phrases. “Foil of sound 
 and fury, and signifying nothing,” with 
 whichT'rom time immemorial the Democratic- 
 party have been in the habit of garnishing 
 their platforms. I might make a closer analy¬ 
 sis of it all; and 1 think I might make a 
 stronger show of its utter worthlessness : but 
 I am content to accept the rendition of the 
 World , in order that I may not be charged 
 with partisan prejudice. I take the World 
 because it is the toord. 
 
 It explains the deed for him who is to per¬ 
 form it; and surely where we decide evidence 
 of intention and of faith, we can ask for noth¬ 
 ing stronger than the word and the deed com¬ 
 bined. But I have not done yet. I desire 
 with your indulgence to go a little behind the 
 promise to inquire as to the character of those 
 who make the promise. It is an axiom with 
 all business men that the value of a note is 
 determined not at all by what it promises to 
 pay, but wholly and exclusively by the char¬ 
 acter of the makers and indorsers. I wish to 
 inquire, Mr. Chairman, who are the men that 
 made up that Democratic convention, and 
 who are the men who indorsed its candidates? 
 I have already referred to the men who in the 
 time of peace plotted war. 1 have shown how 
 
7 
 
 it was that this country became charged with 
 its load of debt. I have dwelt upon the strug¬ 
 gles and the difficulties of that hour, and the 
 wails and the woes of our mourners. I have 
 stated how we did all that we did, because it 
 was the only thing to do. I have shown how 
 we wrestled with our adversity, and finally 
 how we overcame our enemies. We bore the 
 brunt of arms for the sake of our country, 
 and to uphold its Constitution, its laws, and 
 its liberties. We had but one desire, and that 
 was “Peace to our country.’' We had but 
 one anxiety, and that was to preserve intact 
 this chosen land. Well, sir, as I said, the 
 war was over and the victory was ours. 
 There was no longer a rebel in arms. They 
 had dispersed, as we suppose, never to meet 
 again. 
 
 But, sir, we were mistaken. They have 
 met again. Where? Why, this time upon 
 northern soil, and in a northern city, in the 
 city of New York, the great metropolis of this 
 country, in the Democratic convention. I do 
 not say that every man who met there had 
 been a rebel; but I do say that all the rebels 
 met there who are now leading in public life, 
 and who hope for public position. It was the 
 same old story over again. The same old 
 faces to see. The men who had held this Gov¬ 
 ernment for years and plotted to destroy it 
 while they held it were there. The men who 
 fought to destroy this Government when they 
 tould no longer hold it were there. The men 
 who though they had never plotted to destroy 
 it or fought against it, yet quietly acquiesced 
 in the designs of those who did, were there. 
 The men who have always given blind allegi¬ 
 ance to the behest of party, regardless of the 
 good of the country, were there. The men 
 who have always been the praters and croakers 
 and false prophets of the country were there ; 
 and a few men who had once served their 
 country, but were lured off by fatal ambition 
 and the hope of spoils, were there. Good 
 men may have been there; but bad men were 
 most certainly there; and just as certainly the 
 bad outnumbered the good ; and these are the 
 men, sir, who complain of us. These are the 
 men who say we have violatad the law and 
 have usurped the Constitution. We have told 
 them to the contrary many and many a time. 
 In these very Halls, before the}’ deserted their 
 places, we assured them that we desired noth¬ 
 ing but the law and the Constitution. After 
 they had erected their first batteries, and be¬ 
 fore they fired on Fort Sumter, they were 
 again assured that the law and the Constitu¬ 
 tion should be kept inviolate. Even after 
 they had waged their fiercest war upon us the 
 President of the United States once more pro¬ 
 claimed that we fought only to protect the 
 Constitution and the laws. 
 
 Again and again, by the camp-fire, under 
 the flag of truce and in the hospitals, and in 
 exchange of prisoners, and in parleys and com¬ 
 munications, they were made acquainted with 
 the fact that we had but one object, and that 
 was to enforce the Constitution and the law’s. 
 And yet again, sir, when the battle was at a 
 white heat, and strong arms and strong hearts 
 wrought wounds and death, when the air was 
 filled with lamentations and pierced by cries 
 
 of agony, when the greedy earth drank up the 
 gushing blood of our bravest and our best, 
 we still advanced but the one standard, which 
 was the old starry banner, emblematic of the 
 Constitution, the laws, our unity and strength. 
 Ah, sir, it must have been a humiliating scene 
 at that convention. Were the loyal soldiers 
 and citizens of this country looking on when 
 the rebel General Preston nominated the former 
 Union General Blair? Did the loyal sailors 
 and soldiers hear the rebel Wade Hampton 
 second the nomination? Did the rank and 
 file of the loyal men listen to the butcher of 
 Fort Pillow—Forrest? Where were then the 
 memories of former treacheries, of a nation 
 undone and a Constitution usurped, of laws 
 violated and civil slaughter instituted? 
 
 I have no desire to keep alive old animosi¬ 
 ties or to recall the past with a view to let it 
 rankle. I am willing that the lessons of the 
 war should be their own monitor to those who 
 learned them. But when I hear those who 
 risked their lives to save our country; when I 
 hear those whose shorn limbs and maimed 
 trunks are witnesses of their devotion to the 
 laws charged with breaking the laws ; when 1 
 hear those who are now lying in their prema¬ 
 ture graves for the cause of the Constitution 
 charged with usurping that Constitution, I 
 cannot help it if my indignant heart beats fast 
 and my utterance grows thick, while I demand 
 to know “ Who are ye that denounce us?” 
 
 It is for this reason, Mr. Chairman, that I 
 say the present issue is one which concerns our 
 young men greatly, because it contains the 
 question whether in any future war it is worth 
 while for our young men to embark in it. 
 Heretofore it has always been held in all ages, 
 ancient and modern, that he who defended his 
 country was entitled to the gratitude of his 
 country. But if it shall be decided by this 
 election that he who defends his country is to 
 be aspersed by his couutry, then the sooner it 
 is understood the better it will be for those 
 who would have otherwise periled their exist¬ 
 ence at the call of their people ! That issue is 
 involved in this campaign, and no artifice or 
 chicanery should be permitted to bury it out 
 of sight. But what right have those to com¬ 
 plain who were in the Democratic convention, 
 but yet were not in the rebel ranks? Did 
 they aid us to suppress the rebellion? Were 
 they prompt with men and money in our 
 need? Were they hopeful in our dark days 
 and joyful in our bright days? Did they 
 cheer our soldiers and give them the strength 
 of their blessings and a God speed ? Did they 
 nurse them when sick and succor them wh,en 
 wounded? No, sir; they did* not, or else 
 they would not be found to-day in such com¬ 
 pany. The civilian who supported the mili¬ 
 tary in the day of the war has never yet com¬ 
 plained that we have done great wrong, or 
 never yet desired to take the reins of govern¬ 
 ment from the Republican party. 
 
 This is no schism in our own ranks. This 
 is no falling off of those who once were with 
 us because of our misdeeds. This is no branch 
 of the Union party saying that we are tyrants 
 and usurpers and robbers and destroyers, and 
 that therefore they can support us no longer. 
 Not at all. It is simply onr old enemies who 
 
8 
 
 nave l ought us in the Halls of Congress and 
 on the battle-field and in campaigns for years, 
 never winning, ever failing, but always fierce 
 and hateful. It affords me sincere pleasure 
 that I may look again upon those who met so 
 lately in convention at the city of Chicago. 
 What a sight was there. Mr. Chairman, there 
 were gathered together the men who had 
 served their country in every capacity to 
 to which duty called them. The men whose 
 devotion had been as unswerving as their 
 fidelity was unquestioned. Men whose sole 
 thoughts and whose constant thoughts were 
 for their country’s good, and how best and 
 soonest to make it manifest and permanent. 
 Men from the closet, men from the camp, men 
 from the public station, men from private life, 
 men of destination, men unknown ; but men, 
 all of them, whithersoever they came and 
 whatsoever they were, all of them men who 
 came on the one thought of how yet to aid 
 their country. 
 
 Whom did they select, and how were they 
 selected? Not after days cf balloting and 
 nights of intrigue; not upon bargains by 
 politicians and tradings by tricksters; not 
 upon appliances of questionable morality and 
 through stimulants of debasing tendency. In 
 a moment, as it were, and by one spontaneous 
 accord, the hearts of all these men came to¬ 
 gether, and their judgments approved their 
 nistinats. With one unfaltering acclaim they 
 selected the hero whose valor had been re- 
 resplendent in the field, and the statesman 
 whose wisdom had been acknowledged in 
 Congress. The popular judgment is seldom 
 wrong, but never was it so right as when it 
 asked^that this Government should be put in 
 the hands of Grant and Colfax. They had 
 seen Grant clothed with the powers of a dic¬ 
 tator, and seen him use them with the mode¬ 
 ration of a patriot. They had seen him at 
 the head cf an irresistible Army, and had 
 seen him disband it as from a dress-parade. 
 They had watched him achieve victory after 
 victory, and yet quietly put off all the shows 
 and trappings cf war. They had found him 
 sagacious as a counsellor and safe as a chief¬ 
 tain. He had proved himself to be honest, 
 and they knew he could be trusted. 
 
 Sir, on that day three hundred thousand 
 sainted martyrs to the cause of liberty, for 
 whom the earth had bared her bosom to re¬ 
 ceive their manly forms, and heaven opened 
 wide her gates to receive their noble spirits, 
 looked down approvingly upon our action, 
 because it was the action of true and faithful 
 men. intending the honor, prosperity, and 
 ’.Ktppiross of their country. I have ltd doubt, 
 sir, of their election. To doubt it would be to 
 impugn the judgment of my countrymen. The 
 country demands that the political power for 
 that “'many years to come” desired by the 
 Democrats shall be intrusted to the Republi¬ 
 can party. They have faith in the Republi¬ 
 can party. They judge it by what it has done, 
 and hence they know full well what it will do. 
 They know that the Republican party is in 
 fact the only party of peace and prosperity. 
 It was that party which led the hosts of the 
 Union to the haven of peace through the red 
 
 ordeal of war. These questions which nort 
 embarrass us are but the debris of war. We 
 have cared for the wounded, we have buried 
 the dead. We have disbanded our armies, as 
 part of the work remaining after the war. 
 To give stability to the currency, to equalize 
 taxation, to harmonize States, and to insure 
 prosperity, is still another and probably quite 
 as difficult a portion of that same labor. Hut 
 the party which did the one is unquestionably 
 equal to the other. 
 
 I am not an enthusiast when obstacles are 
 to be overcome and when intricate questions 
 are to be solved. I do not wish, therefore, to 
 be called visionary or enthusiastic when I 
 predict the results which will certainly follow 
 from the administration of the Republican 
 party in four years more. We will see, sir, 
 then the admirable results of having all the 
 different Departments of the Government 
 acting in entire unison and accord. Hereto¬ 
 fore, during the eight years that our party 
 has been in power, we have had to give four 
 of them to stay the tide of rebellion, and the 
 rest have been rendered nearly useless to us 
 by the obstinacy, the perversion, and the 
 machinations of a designing Executive. When 
 we marched into the field our foe was before 
 us. We knew what we had to meet. There 
 were no surprises in store for us. It was the 
 dread arbitrament of battle. Dut after that 
 we had another foe to meet—a dangerous foe, 
 powerful and insidious—one whose assaults 
 were made in the garb of peace and under the 
 pretexts of law—one who sought to check 
 every step' of our progress and retard every 
 advance of our civilization. Our time has been 
 occupied in detecting the hidden ambushes of 
 this enemy, and saving ourselves from his 
 surprises. But soon he will pass away. 
 
 Like the armed foe whose accessory he was, 
 he will disappear from the public gaze and 
 become impotent for further harm. With the 
 Executive to encourage the Congress, and with 
 a Congress which will respect and hearken to 
 the Executive, then, indeed, the fruits of our 
 legislation will be visible and gratifying. 
 Commerce will revive, for the country will 
 have stability. Our ships shall once again 
 multiply upon the seas, for our flag will de¬ 
 note security. Cur name shall be respected 
 abroad, for we shall have demonstrated the 
 doctrine of self-government. Our bonds will 
 be sought for investment, for we shall have 
 vindicated our integrity. Cur currency shall 
 bo unsuspected at home, foi^ we shall have 
 proved its value. Cur revenue shall be in¬ 
 creased, for the country will have become 
 inspired with confidence. Bad men "will be 
 hurled from power, and honest ones put in 
 their places. Cur taxes shall be diminished, 
 for all will unite in yielding them. The 
 Southern States will be re-organized and 
 recognized, for they will have seen that 
 therein lays their welfare. 
 
 We will go on, sir, as a nation hand in 
 hand, treading the broad pathway which 
 leads us up to prosperity and progress, with 
 our march unimpeded by the difficulties which 
 now surround us, and posterity shall bless 
 our work unceasingly forever. 
 
 if 
 
 Gibson Brothers, Printers, Washington, D. C.