While thanking you for the honor conferred upon me, I make haste to say
that in my judgment Massachusetts has one duty, at the coming election,
to which all local interests and local questions must be postponed, as
on its just performance all else depends; and this commanding duty is,
to keep the Commonwealth, now as aforetime, an example to our country
and a bulwark of Human Rights. Such was Massachusetts in those earlier
days, when, on the continent of Europe, the name of “Bostonians” was
given to our countrymen in arms against the mother country,[97] making
this designation embrace all,--and when, in the British Parliament, the
great orator, Edmund Burke, exclaimed, “The cause of Boston is become
the cause of all America; every part of America is united in support
of Boston; … you have made Boston the Lord Mayor of America.”[98]
I quote these words from the Parliamentary Debates. But Boston was
at that time Massachusetts, and it was her stand for Liberty that
made her name the synonym for all. And permit me to add, that, in
choosing a presiding officer entirely removed from local issues, I find
assurance of your readiness to unite with me in that _National Cause_
which concerns not Massachusetts only, but every part of America, and
concerns also our place and name as a nation.
The enemy here in Massachusetts would be glad to divert attention
from the unassailable principles of the Republican Party; they would
be glad to make you forget that support we owe to a Republican
Administration,--also that support we owe to the measures of
Reconstruction, and our constant abiding persistence for all essential
safeguards not yet completely established. These they would hand over
to oblivion, hoping on some local appeal to disorganize our forces,
or, perhaps, obtain power to be wielded against the National Cause.
Massachusetts cannot afford to occupy an uncertain position. Therefore
I begin by asking you to think of our country, our whole country,--in
other words, of _National Affairs at Home and Abroad_.
* * * * *
It is now four years since I had the honor of presiding at our annual
Convention, and I do not forget how at that time I endeavored to remind
you of this same National Cause, then in fearful peril.[99] The war
of armies was ended; no longer was fellow-citizen arrayed against
fellow-citizen; on each side the trumpet was hushed, the banner furled.
But the defection of Andrew Johnson had then begun, and out of that
defection the Rebellion assumed new life, with new purposes and new
hopes. If it did not spring forth once more fully armed, it did spring
forth filled with hate and diabolism towards all who loved the Union,
whether white or black. There were exceptions, I know; but they were
not enough to change the rule. And straightway the new apparition,
acting in conjunction with the Northern Democracy, aboriginal allies
of the Rebellion, planned the capture of the National Government. Its
representatives came up to Washington. Then was the time for a few
decisive words in the name of the Republic, on which for four years
they had waged bloody war. The great dramatist, who has words for every
occasion, anticipated this, when he said,--
“Return thee, therefore, with a flood of tears,
And wash away thy country’s stained spots.”
Such a mood would have been the beginning of peace. How easy to see
that these men should have been admonished frankly and kindly to return
home, there to plant, plough, sow, reap, buy, sell, and be prosperous,
but not to expect any place in the copartnership of government until
there was completest security for all! Instead of this, they were sent
back plotting how to obtain ascendency at home as the stepping-stone
to ascendency in the nation. Such was the condition of things in the
autumn of 1865, when, sounding the alarm from this very platform,
I insisted upon irreversible guaranties against the Rebellion, and
especially on security to the national freedman and the national
creditor. It was upon security that I then insisted,--believing,
that, though the war of armies was ended, this was a just object of
national care, all contained in the famous time-honored postulate of
war, _Security for the Future_, without which peace is no better than
armistice.
To that security one thing is needed,--simply this: All men must
be safe in their rights, so that affairs, whether of government or
business, shall have a free and natural course. But there are two
special classes still in jeopardy, as in the autumn of 1865,--the
National Freedman and the National Creditor,--each a creditor of the
nation and entitled to protection, each under the guardianship of the
public faith; and behind these are faithful Unionists, now suffering
terribly from the growing reaction.
* * * * *
For the protection of the national freedman a Constitutional Amendment
is presented for ratification, placing his right to vote under the
perpetual safeguard of the nation; but I am obliged to remind you that
this Amendment has not yet obtained the requisite number of States,
nor can I say surely when it will. The Democratic Party is arrayed
against it, and the Rebel interest unites with the Democracy. Naturally
they go together. They are old cronies. Here let me say frankly that I
have never ceased to regret,--I do now most profoundly regret,--that
Congress, in its plenary powers under the Constitution, especially in
its great unquestionable power to guaranty a republican government in
the States, did not summarily settle this whole question, so that it
should no longer disturb the country. It was for Congress to fix the
definition of a republican government; nor need it go further than
our own Declaration of Independence, where is a definition from which
there is no appeal. There it is, as it came from our fathers, in lofty,
self-evident truth; and Congress should have applied it. Or it might
have gone to the speech of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, where again
is the same great definition. There was also a decisive precedent. As
Congress made a Civil Rights Law, so should it have made a Political
Rights Law. In each case the power is identical. If it can be done in
the one, it can be done in the other. To my mind nothing is clearer.
Thus far Congress has thought otherwise. There remains, then, the slow
process of Constitutional Amendment, to which the country must be
rallied.
* * * * *
But this is not enough. No mere text of Constitution or Law is
sufficient. Behind these must be a prevailing Public Opinion and
a sympathetic Administration. Both are needed. The Administration
must reinforce Public Opinion, and Public Opinion must reinforce the
Administration. Such is all experience. Without these the strongest
text and most cunning in its requirements is only a phantom, it may be
of terror, as was the case with the Fugitive Slave Bill,--but not a
living letter. It is not practically obeyed; sometimes it is evaded,
sometimes openly set at nought. And now it is my duty to warn you
that the national freedman still needs your care. His ancient master
is already in the field conspiring against him. That traditional
experience, that infinite audacity, that insensibility to Human Rights,
which so long upheld Slavery, are aroused anew. No longer able to hold
him as slave, the ancient master means to hold him as dependant, and to
keep him in his service, personal and political,--thus substituting a
new bondage for the old. Unhappily, he finds at the North a political
party which the Rebellion has not weaned from that unnatural Southern
breast whence it drew its primitive nutriment; and this political
party now fraternizes in the dismal work by which peace is postponed:
for until the national freedman is safe in Equal Rights there can be
no peace. You may call it peace, but I tell you it is not peace. It is
peace only in name. Who does not feel that he treads still on smothered
fires? Who does not feel his feet burn as he moves over the treacherous
ashes? If I wished any new motive for opposition to the Democracy, I
should find it in this hostile alliance. Because I am for peace so that
this whole people may be at work, because I desire tranquillity so that
all may be happy, because I seek reconciliation so that there shall be
completest harmony, therefore I oppose the Democracy and now denounce
it as Disturber of the National Peace.
The information from the South is most painful. Old Rebels are
crawling from hiding-places to resume their former rule; and what a
rule! Such as might be expected from the representatives of Slavery.
It is the rule of misrule, where the “Ku-Klux-Klan” takes the place
of missionary and schoolmaster. Murder is unloosed. The national
freedman is the victim; and so is the Unionist. Not one of these States
where intimidation, with death in its train, does not play its part.
Take that whole Southern tier from Georgia to Texas, and add to it
Tennessee, and, I fear, North Carolina and Virginia also,--for the
crime is contagious,--and there is small justice for those to whom you
owe so much. That these things should occur under Andrew Johnson was
natural; that Reconstruction should encounter difficulties after his
defection was natural. Andrew Johnson is now out of the way, and in his
place a patriot President. Public Opinion must come to his support in
this necessary work. There is but one thing these disturbers feel; it
is power; and this they must be made to feel: I mean the power of an
awakened people, directed by a Republican Administration, vigorously,
constantly, surely, so that there shall be no rest for the wicked.
* * * * *
If I could forget the course of the Democracy on these things,--as I
cannot,--there is still another chapter for exposure; and the more
it is seen, the worse it appears. It is that standing menace of
Repudiation, by which the national credit at home and abroad suffers
so much, and our taxes are so largely increased. It will not do to say
that no National Convention has yet announced this dishonesty. I charge
it upon the Party. A party which repudiates the fundamental principles
of the Declaration of Independence, which repudiates Equality before
the Law, which repudiates the self-evident truth that government is
founded only on the consent of the governed, which repudiates what is
most precious and good in our recent history, and whose chiefs are now
engaged in cunning assault upon the national creditor, is a party of
Repudiation. This is its just designation. A Democrat is a Repudiator.
What is Slavery itself but an enormous wholesale repudiation of all
rights, all truths, and all decencies? How easy for a party accepting
this degradation to repudiate pecuniary obligations! These are
small, compared with the other. Naturally the Democracy is once more
in conjunction with the old Slave-Masters. The Repudiation Gospel
according to Mr. Pendleton is now preaching in Ohio; and nothing is
more certain than that the triumph of the Democracy would be a fatal
blow not only at the national freedman, but also at the national
creditor. There would be repudiation for each.
The word “Repudiation,” in its present sense, is not old. It first
appeared in Mississippi, a Democratic State intensely devoted to
Slavery. If the thing were known before, never before did it assume the
same hardihood of name. It was in 1841 that a Mississippi Governor, in
a Message to the Legislature, used this word with regard to certain
State bonds, and thus began that policy by which Mississippi was first
dishonored and then kept poor: for capital was naturally shy of such a
State. Constantly, from that time, Mississippi had this “bad eminence”;
nor is the State more known as the home of Jefferson Davis than as the
home of Repudiation. Unhappily, the nation suffered also; and even
now, as I understand, it is argued in Europe, to our discredit, that,
because Mississippi repudiated, the nation may repudiate also. If I
refer to this example, it is because I would illustrate the mischief
of the Democratic policy and summon Mississippi to tardy justice. A
regenerated State cannot afford to bear the burden of Repudiation;
nor can the nation and the sisterhood of States forget misconduct so
injurious to all.
I have pleasure, at this point, in reference to an early effort in the
“North American Review,” by an able lawyer, for a time an ornament of
the Supreme Court of the United States, Hon. B. R. Curtis, who, after
reviewing the misconduct of Mississippi, argues most persuasively,
that, where a State repudiates its obligations, to the detriment of
foreigners, there is a remedy through the National Government. This
suggestion is important for Mississippi now. But the article contains
another warning, applicable to the nation at the present hour, which I
quote:--
“The conduct of a few States has not only destroyed their own
credit and left their sister States very little to boast of,
but has so materially affected the credit of the whole Union
that it was found impossible to negotiate in Europe any part
of the loan authorized by Congress in 1842. It was offered
on terms most advantageous to the creditor, terms which in
former times would have been eagerly accepted; and after going
a-begging through all the exchanges of Europe, the agent gave
up the attempt to obtain the money, in despair.”[100]
As the fallen drunkard illustrates the evils of intemperance, so
does Mississippi illustrate the evils of Repudiation. Look at her!
But there are men who would degrade our Republic to this wretched
condition. Forgetting what is due to our good name as a nation
at home and abroad,--forgetting that the public interests are
bound up with the Public Faith, involving all economies, national
and individual,--forgetting that our transcendent position has
corresponding obligations, and that, as Nobility once obliged to great
duty, (“_Noblesse oblige_,”) so does Republicanism now,--there are men
who, forgetting all these things, would carry our Republic into this
terrible gulf, so full of shame and sacrifice. They begin by subtle
devices; but already the mutterings of open Repudiation are heard. I
denounce them all, whether device or muttering; and I denounce that
political party which lends itself to the outrage.
* * * * *
Repudiation means Confiscation, and in the present case confiscation
of the property of loyal citizens. With unparalleled generosity
the nation has refused to confiscate Rebel property; and now it is
proposed to confiscate Loyal property. When I expose Repudiation
as Confiscation, I mean to be precise. Between two enactments, one
requiring the surrender of property without compensation, and the other
declaring that the nation shall not and will not pay an equal amount
according to solemn promise, there can be no just distinction. The two
are alike. The former might alarm a greater number, because on its
face more demonstrative. But analyze the two, and you will see that
in each private property is taken by the nation without compensation,
and appropriated to its own use. Therefore do I say, Repudiation is
Confiscation.
* * * * *
A favorite device of Repudiation is to pay the national debt in
“greenbacks,”--in other words, to pay bonds bearing interest with mere
promises not bearing interest,--violating, in the first place, a rule
of honesty, which forbids such a trick, and, in the second place, a
rule of law, which refuses to recognize an inferior obligation as
payment of a superior. Here, in plain terms, is repudiation of the
interest and indefinite postponement of the principal. This position,
when first broached, contemplated nothing less than an infinite
issue of greenbacks, flooding the country, as France was flooded by
_assignats_, and utterly destroying values of all kinds. Although, in
its present more moderate form, it is limited to payment by existing
greenbacks, yet it has the same radical injustice. Interest-bearing
bonds are to be paid with non-interest-bearing bits of paper. The
statement of the case is enough. Its proposer would never do this thing
in his own affairs; but how can he ask his country to do what honesty
forbids in private life?
Another device is to tax the bonds, when the money was lent on the
positive condition that the bonds should not be taxed. This, of course,
is to break the contract in another way. It is Repudiation in another
form.
* * * * *
To argue these questions is happily unnecessary, and I allude to them
only because I wish to exhibit the loss to the country from such
attempts. This can be made plain as a church-door.
The total debt of our country on the 1st September, aside from
the sixty millions of bonds issued to the Pacific Railway, was
$2,475,962,501; and here I mention, with great satisfaction, that since
the 1st March last the debt has been reduced $49,500,758. The surplus
revenue now accruing is not less than $100,000,000 a year, and will
be, probably, not less than $125,000,000 a year, of which large sum
not less than $75,000,000 must be attributed to the better enforcement
of the laws and the economy now prevailing under a Republican
Administration. And here comes the practical point. Large as is our
surplus revenue, it should have been more, and would have been more but
for the Repudiation menaced by the Democracy.
If we look at our bonded debt, we find it is now $2,107,936,300,
upon which we pay not less than $124,000,000 in annual interest, the
larger part at six per cent., the smaller at five per cent., gold.
The difference between this interest and that paid by other powers is
the measure of our annual loss. English three per cents. and French
fours are firm in the market; but England and France have not the
same immeasurable resources that are ours, nor is either so secure
in its government. It is easy to see that our debt could have been
funded without paying more than four per cent., but for the doubt cast
upon our credit by the dishonest schemes of Repudiation. “Payment in
Greenbacks” and “Taxation of Bonds” are costly cries. Without these
there would have been $40,000,000 annually to swell our surplus
revenue. But this sum, if invested in a sinking fund at four per cent.
interest, would pay the whole bonded debt in less than thirty years.
Such is our annual loss.
The sum-total of this loss directly chargeable upon the Repudiators
is more than one hundred millions, already paid in taxes; and much I
fear, fellow-citizens, that, before the nation can recover from the
discredit inflicted upon it, another hundred millions will be paid in
the same way. It is hard to see this immense treasure wrung by taxation
from the toil of the people to pay these devices of a dishonest
Democracy. Do not forget that the cost of this experiment is confined
to no particular class. Wherever the tax-gatherer goes, there it is
paid. Every workman pays it in his food and clothing; every mechanic
and artisan, in his tools; every housewife, in her cooking-stove and
flat-iron; every merchant, in the stamp upon his note; every man of
salary, in the income tax; ay, every laborer, in his wood, his coal,
his potatoes, and his salt. Many of these taxes, imposed under duress
of war, will be removed soon, I trust; but still the enormous sum
of forty millions annually must be contributed by the labor of the
country, until the world is convinced, that, in spite of Democratic
menace, the Republic will maintain its plighted faith to the end.
People wish to reduce taxation. I tell you how. Let no doubt rest upon
the Public Faith. Then will the present burdensome taxation grow “fine
by degrees and beautifully less.” _It is the doubt which costs._ It is
with our country, as with an individual,--the doubt obliges the payment
of _extra interest_. To stop that extra interest we must keep faith.
* * * * *
As we look at the origin of the greenback, we shall find a new motive
for fidelity. I do not speak of that patriotic character which
commends the national debt, but of the financial principle on which
the greenback was first issued. It came from the overruling exigencies
of self-defence. The national existence depended upon money, which
could be had only through a forced loan. The greenback was the agency
by which it was collected. The disloyal party resisted the passage of
the original Act, prophesying danger and difficulty; but the safety
of the nation required the risk, and the Republican Party assumed it.
And now this same disloyal party, once against the greenback, insist
upon continuing in peace what was justified only in war,--insist upon
a forced loan, when the overruling exigencies of self-defence have
ceased, and the nation is saved. To such absurdity is this party now
driven.
The case is aggravated, when we consider the boundless resources of
the country, through which in a short time even this great debt will
be lightened, if the praters of Repudiation are silenced. Peace,
financially as well as politically, is needed. Let us have peace.
Nowhere will it be felt more than at the South, which is awakening to
a consciousness of resources unknown while Slavery ruled. With these
considerable additions to the national capital, five years cannot pass
without a sensible diminution of our burdens. A rate of taxation, _per
capita_, equal to only one half that of 1866, will pay even our present
interest, all present expenses, and the entire principal, in less than
twenty years. But to this end we must keep faith.
* * * * *
The attempt is aggravated still further, when it is considered that
Repudiation is impossible. Try as you may, you cannot succeed. You may
cause incalculable distress, and postpone the great day of peace, but
you cannot do this thing. The national debt never can be repudiated. It
will be paid, dollar for dollar, in coin, with interest to the end.
How little do these Repudiators know the mighty resisting power which
they encounter! how little, the mighty crash which they invite! As
well undertake to move Mount Washington from its everlasting base, or
to shut out the ever-present ocean from our coasts. It is needless to
say that the crash would be in proportion to the mass affected, being
nothing less than the whole business of the country. Now it appears
from investigations making at this moment by Commissioner Wells, whose
labors shed such light on financial questions, that _our annual product
reaches the sum of seven thousand millions of dollars_.[101] But this
prodigious amount depends for its value upon exchange, which in turn
depends upon credit. Destroy exchange, and even these untold resources
would be an infinite chaos, without form and void. Employment would
cease, capital would waste, mills would stop, the rich would become
poor,--the poor, I fear, would starve. Savings banks, trust companies,
insurance companies would disappear. Such would be the mighty crash;
but here you see also the mighty resisting power. Therefore, again do I
say, Repudiation is impossible.
Mr. Boutwell is criticized by the Democracy because he buys up
bonds, paying the current market rates, when he should pay the face
in greenbacks. I refer to this Democratic criticism because I would
show how little its authors look to consequences while forgetting the
requirements of Public Faith. Suppose the Secretary, yielding to these
wise suggestions, should announce his purpose to take up the first ten
millions of five-twenties, paying the face in greenbacks. What then?
“After us the deluge,” said the French king; and so, after such notice
from our Secretary, would our deluge begin. At once the entire bonded
debt would be reduced to greenbacks. The greenback would not be raised;
the bond would be drawn down. All this at once,--and in plain violation
of the solemn declaration of both Houses of Congress pledging payment
in coin. But who can measure the consequences? Bonds would be thrown
upon the market. From all points of the compass, at home and abroad,
they would come. Business would be disorganized. Prices would be
changed. Labor would be crushed. The fountains of the great deep would
be broken up, and the deluge would be upon us.
* * * * *
Among the practical agencies to which the country owes much already
are the National Banks. Whatever may be the differences of opinion
with regard to them, they cannot fail to be taken into account in all
financial discussions. As they have done good where they are now
established, I would gladly see them extended, especially at the South
and West, where they are much needed, and where abundant crops already
supply the capital. It is doubtful if this can be brought about without
removing the currency limitation in the existing Bank Act.[102] In this
event I should like the condition that for every new bank-note issued
a greenback should be cancelled, thus substituting the bank-note for
the greenback. In this way greenbacks would be reduced in volume, while
currency is supplied by the banks. Such diminution of the national
paper would be an important stage toward specie payments, while the
national banks in the South and West, founded on the bonds of the
United States, would be a new security for the national credit.
In making this suggestion, I would not forget the necessity of specie
payments at the earliest possible moment; nor can I forbear to declare
my unalterable conviction that by proper exertion this supreme object
may be accomplished promptly,--always provided the national credit
is kept above suspicion, or, like the good knight, “without fear and
without reproach.”
* * * * *
Thus, fellow-citizens, at every turn are we brought back to one single
point, the Public Faith, which cannot be dishonored without infinite
calamity. The child is told not to tell a lie; but this injunction is
the same for the full-grown man, and for the nation also. We cannot
tell a lie to the national freedman or the national creditor; we
cannot tell a lie to anybody. That word of shame cannot be ours. But
falsehood to the national freedman and the national creditor is a
national lie. Breaking promise with either, you are dishonored, and
_Liar_ must be stamped upon the forehead of the nation. Beyond the
ignominy, which all of us must bear, will be the influence of such a
transgression in discrediting Republican Government and the very idea
of a Republic. For weal or woe, we are an example. Mankind is now
looking to us, and just in proportion to the eminence we have reached
is the eminence of our example. Already we have shown how a Republic
can conquer in arms, offering millions of citizens and untold treasure
at call. It remains for us to show how a Republic can conquer in a
field more glorious than battle, where all these millions of citizens
and all this untold treasure uphold the Public Faith. Such an example
will elevate Republican Government, and make the idea of a Republic
more than ever great and splendid. Helping here, you help not only your
own country, but help Humanity also,--help liberal institutions in all
lands,--help the down-trodden everywhere, and all who struggle against
the wrong and tyranny of earth.
The brilliant Frenchman, Montesquieu, in that remarkable work which
occupied so much attention during the last century, “The Spirit of
Laws,” pronounces _Honor_ the animating sentiment of Monarchy, but
_Virtue_ the animating sentiment of a Republic.[103] It is for us to
show that he was right; nor can we depart from this rule of Virtue
without disturbing the order of the universe. Faith is nothing less
than a part of that sublime harmony by which the planets wheel surely
in their appointed orbits, and nations are summoned to justice.
Nothing too lofty for its power, nothing too lowly for its protection.
It is an essential principle in the divine Cosmos, without which
confusion reigns supreme. All depends upon Faith. Why do you build?
Because you have faith in those laws by which you are secured in person
and property. Why do you plant? why do you sow? Because you have
faith in the returning seasons, faith in the generous skies, faith in
the sun. But faith in this Republic must be fixed as the sun, which
illumines all. I cannot be content with less. Full well I see that
every departure from this great law is only to our ruin, and from the
height we have reached the tumble will be like that of the Grecian god
from the battlements of Heaven:--
“From morn
To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,
A summer’s day, and with the setting sun
Dropped from the zenith like a falling star.”[104]
It only remains, come what may, that we should at all hazards preserve
this Public Faith,--never forgetting that honesty is not only the best
policy, but the Golden Rule. For myself, I see nothing more practical,
at this moment, than, first, at all points to oppose the Democracy,
and, secondly, to insist that yet awhile longer ex-Rebels shall be
excused from copartnership in government. Do not think me harsh; do
not think me austere. I am not. I will not be outdone by anybody in
clemency; nor at the proper time will I be behind any one in opening
all doors of office and trust. But the proper time has not yet come.
There must be security for the future, unquestionable and ample,
before I am ready; and this I would require not only for the sake of
the national freedman and the national creditor, but for the sake of
the country containing the interests of all, and also of the ex-Rebel
himself, whose truest welfare is in that peace where all controversy
shall be extinguished forever. In this there is nothing but equity
and prudence according to received precedents. The ancient historian
declares that the ancestors of Rome, the most religious of men, took
nothing from the vanquished but the license to do wrong: “_Nostri
majores, religiosissimi mortales, … neque victis quicquam præter
injuriæ licentiam eripiebant_.”[105] These are the words of Sallust. I
know no better example for our present guidance. Who can object, if men
recently arrayed against their country are told to stand aside yet a
little longer, until all are secure in their rights? Here is no fixed
exclusion,--nothing of which there can be any just complaint,--nothing,
which is not practical, wise, humane,--nothing which is not born of
justice rather than victory. In the establishment of Equal Rights
conquest loses its character, and is no longer conquest;--
“For then both parties nobly are subdued,
And neither party loser.”[106]
Even in the uncertainty of the future it is easy to see that the
national freedman and the national creditor have a common fortune. In
the terrible furnace of war they were joined together, nor can they be
separated until the rights of both are fixed beyond change. Therefore,
could my voice reach them, I would say, “Freedman, stand by the
creditor! Creditor, stand by the freedman!” And to the people I would
say, “Stand by both!”
* * * * *
From affairs at home I turn to affairs abroad, and here I wish to speak
cautiously. In speaking at all I break a vow with myself not to open
my lips on these questions except in the Senate. I yield to friendly
pressure. And yet I know no reason why I should not speak. It was
Talleyrand who, to somebody apologizing for what might be an indiscreet
question, replied, that an answer might be indiscreet, but not a
question. My answer shall at least be frank.
In our foreign relations there are with me two cardinal principles,
which I have no hesitation to avow at all times: first, peace with
all the world; and, secondly, sympathy with all struggling for Human
Rights. In neither of these would I fail; for each is essential. Peace
is our all-conquering ally. Through peace the whole world will be ours.
“Still in the right hand carry gentle peace,” and there is nothing we
cannot do. Filled with the might of peace, the sympathy we extend will
have a persuasive power. Following these plain principles, we should be
open so that foreign nations shall know our sentiments, and in such way
that even where there is a difference there shall be no just cause for
offence.
* * * * *
In this spirit I would now approach Spain. Who can forget that great
historic monarchy, on whose empire, encircling the globe, the sun never
set? Patron of that renowned navigator through whom she became the
discoverer of this hemisphere, her original sway within it surpassed
that of any other power. At last her extended possessions on the
main, won by Cortés and Pizarro, loosed themselves from her grasp, to
take their just place in the Family of Nations. Cuba and Porto Rico,
rich islands of the Gulf, remained. And now Cuban insurgents demand
independence also. For months they have engaged in deadly conflict with
the Spanish power. Ravaged provinces and bloodshed are the witnesses.
The beautiful island, where sleeps Christopher Columbus, with the
epitaph that he gave to Castile and Leon a new world,[107] is fast
becoming a desert, while the nation to which he gave the new world is
contending for its last possession there. On this simple statement two
questions occur: first, as to the duty of Spain; and, secondly, as to
the duty of the United States.
Unwelcome as it may be to that famous Castilian pride which has played
so lofty a part in modern Europe, Spain must not refuse to see the
case in its true light; nor can she close her eyes to the lesson of
history. She must recall how the Thirteen American Colonies achieved
independence against all the power of England,--how all her own
colonies on the American main achieved independence against her own
most strenuous efforts,--how at this moment England is preparing to
release her Northern colonies from their condition of dependence; and
recalling these examples, it will be proper for her to consider if they
do not illustrate a tendency of all colonies, which was remarked by
an illustrious Frenchman, even before the independence of the United
States. Never was anything more prophetic in politics than when Turgot,
in 1750, speaking of the Phœnician colonies in Greece and Asia Minor,
said: “Colonies are like fruits, which hold to the tree only until
their maturity: when sufficient for themselves, they did that which
Carthage afterwards did,--_that which some day America will do_.”[108]
These most remarkable words of the philosopher-statesman will be found
in his Discourse at the Sorbonne; and now for their application. Has
not Cuba reached his condition of maturity? Is it not sufficient
for itself? At all events, is victory over a colony contending for
independence worth the blood and treasure it will cost? These are
serious questions, which can be answered properly only by putting
aside all passion and prejudice of empire, and calmly confronting the
actual condition of things. Nor must the case of Cuba be confounded
for a moment with our wicked Rebellion, having for its object the
dismemberment of a Republic, to found a new power with Slavery as its
vaunted corner-stone. For myself, I cannot doubt, that, in the interest
of both parties, Cuba and Spain, and in the interest of humanity also,
the contest should be closed. This is my judgment on the facts, so far
as known to me. Cuba must be saved from its bloody delirium, or little
will be left for the final conqueror. Nor can the enlightened mind
fail to see that the Spanish power on this island is an anachronism.
The day of European colonies has passed,--at least in this hemisphere,
where the rights of man were first proclaimed and self-government first
organized. A governor from Europe, nominated by a crown, is a constant
witness against these fundamental principles.
As the true course of Spain is clear, so to my mind is the true course
of the United States equally clear. It is to avoid involving ourselves
in any way. Enough of war have we had, without heedlessly assuming
another; enough has our commerce been driven from the ocean, without
heedlessly arousing another enemy; enough of taxation are we compelled
to bear, without adding another mountain. Two policies were open to us
at the beginning of the insurrection. One was to unite our fortunes
with the insurgents, assuming the responsibilities of such an alliance,
with the hazard of letters-of-marque issued by Spain and of public
war. I say nothing of the certain consequences in expenditure and in
damages. A Spanish letter-of-marque would not be less destructive than
the English Alabama. The other policy was to make Spain feel that we
wish her nothing but good,--and that, especially since the expulsion of
her royal dynasty, we cherish for her a cordial and kindly sympathy.
It is said that republics are ungrateful; but I would not forget that
at the beginning of our Revolutionary struggle our fathers were aided
by her money, as afterwards by her arms, and that her great statesman,
Florida Blanca, by his remarkable energies determined the organization
of that Armed Neutrality in Northern Europe which turned the scale
against England,[109]--so that John Adams declared, “We owe the
blessings of peace to the Armed Neutrality.”[110] I say nothing of the
motives by which Spain was then governed. It is something that in our
day of need she lent us a helping hand.
It is evident, that, adopting the first policy, we should be powerless,
except as an enemy. The second policy may enable us to exercise an
important influence.
The more I reflect upon the actual condition of Spain, the more I am
satisfied that the true rule for us is non-intervention, except in the
way of good offices. This ancient kingdom is now engaged in comedy and
tragedy. You have heard of _Hunting the Slipper_. The Spanish comedy
is _Hunting a King_. The Spanish tragedy is sending armies against
Cuba. I do not wish to take part in the comedy or the tragedy. If Spain
is wise, she will give up both. Meanwhile we have a duty which is
determined by International Law. To that venerable authority I repair.
What that prescribes I follow.
* * * * *
By that law, as I understand it, nations are not left to any mere
caprice. There is a rule of conduct which they must follow, subject
always to just accountability where they depart from it. On ordinary
occasions there is no question; for it is with nations as with
individuals. It is only where the rule is obscure or precedents are
uncertain that doubt arises, as with some persons now. Here I wish
to be explicit. Belligerence is a “fact,” attested by evidence. If
the “fact” does not exist, there is nothing to recognize. The fact
cannot be invented or imagined; it must be proved. No matter what our
sympathy, what the extent of our desires, we must look at the fact.
There may be insurrection without reaching this condition, which is
at least the half-way house to independence. The Hungarians, when
they rose against Austria, obtained no such recognition, although
they had large armies in the field, and Kossuth was their governor;
the Poles, in repeated insurrections against Russia, obtained no such
recognition, although the conflict made Europe vibrate; the Sepoys
and Rajahs of India failed also, although for a time the English
empire hung trembling; nor, in my opinion, were our slave-mad Rebels
ever entitled to such recognition,--for, whatever the strength of the
Rebellion on land, it remained, as in the case of Hungary, of Poland,
of India, without those Prize Courts which are absolutely essential
to recognition by foreign powers. _A cruiser without accountability
to Prize Courts is a lawless monster which civilized nations cannot
sanction._ Therefore the Prize Court is the condition-precedent; nor is
this all. If the Cuban insurgents have come within any of the familiar
requirements, I have never seen the evidence. They are in arms, I know.
But where are their cities, towns, provinces? where their government?
where their ports? where their tribunals of justice? and where their
Prize Courts? To put these questions is to answer them. How, then, is
the “fact” of belligerence?
There is another point in the case, which is with me final. Even
if they come within the prerequisites of International Law, I am
unwilling to make any recognition of them so long as they continue
to hold human beings as slaves, which I understand they now do. I am
told that there was a decree in May last, purporting to be signed
by Cespedes, abolishing slavery; then I am told of another decree in
July, maintaining slavery. There is also the story of a pro-slavery
constitution to be read at home, and an anti-slavery constitution to be
read abroad. Nor is there any evidence that any decree or constitution
has had any practical effect. In this uncertainty I shall wait,
even if all other things are propitious. In any event there must be
Emancipation.
On the recognition of belligerence there is much latitude of
opinion,--some asserting that a nation may take this step whenever it
pleases; but this pretension excludes the idea that belligerence is
always a question of fact on the evidence. Undoubtedly an independent
nation may do anything in its power, whenever it pleases,--but
subject always to just accountability, if another suffers from what
it does. This may be illustrated in the three different cases of war,
independence, and belligerence. In each case the declaration is an
exercise of high prerogative, inherent in every nation, and kindred to
that of eminent domain; but a nation declaring war without just cause
becomes a wrong-doer; a nation recognizing independence where it does
not exist in fact becomes a wrong-doer; and so a nation recognizing
belligerence where it does not exist in fact becomes a wrong-doer also.
Any present uncertainty on this last point I attribute to the failure
of precedents sufficiently clear and authoritative; but with me there
is one rule in such a case which I cannot disobey. In the absence of
any precise injunction, I do not hesitate to adopt that interpretation
of International Law which most restricts war and all that makes for
war,--believing that in this way I shall best promote civilization and
obtain new security for international peace.
* * * * *
From the case of Spain I pass to the case of England, contenting myself
with a brief explanation. On this subject I have never spoken except
with pain, as I have been obliged to expose a great transgression. I
hope to say nothing now which shall augment difficulties,--although,
when I consider how British anger was aroused by an effort in another
place,[111] judged by all who heard it most pacific in character, I do
not know that even these few words may not be misinterpreted.
There can be no doubt that we received from England incalculable
wrong,--greater, I have often said, than was ever before received
by one civilized power from another, short of unjust war. I do not
say this in bitterness, but in sadness. There can be no doubt, that,
through English complicity, our carrying-trade was transferred to
English bottoms,--our foreign commerce sacrificed, while our loss was
England’s gain,--our blockade rendered more expensive,--and generally,
that our war, with all its fearful cost of blood and treasure, was
prolonged indefinitely. This terrible complicity began with the
wrongful recognition of Rebel belligerence, under whose shelter pirate
ships were built and supplies sent forth. All this was at the very
moment of our mortal agony, in the midst of a struggle for national
life; and it was done in support of Rebels whose single declared object
of separate existence as a nation was Slavery, being in this respect
clearly distinguishable from an established power where slavery is
tolerated without being made the vaunted corner-stone. Such is the
case. Who shall fix the measure of this great accountability? For the
present it is enough to expose it. I make no demand,--not a dollar of
money, not a word of apology. I show simply what England has done to
us. It will be for her, on a careful review of the case, to determine
what reparation to offer; it will be for the American people, on a
careful review of the case, to determine what reparation to require.
On this head I content myself with the aspiration that out of this
surpassing wrong, and the controversy it has engendered, may come some
enduring safeguard for the future, some landmark of Humanity. Then will
our losses end in gain for all, while the Law of Nations is elevated.
But I have little hope of any adequate settlement, until our case, in
its full extent, is heard. In all controversies the first stage of
justice is to understand the case; and sooner or later England must
understand ours.
The English arguments, so far as argument can be found in the recent
heats, have not in any respect impaired the justice of our complaint.
Loudly it is said that there can be no sentimental damages, or damages
for wounded feelings; and then our case is dismissed, as having
nothing but this foundation. Now, without undertaking to say that
there is no remedy in the case supposed, I wish it understood that our
complaint is for damages traced directly to England. If the amount is
unprecedented, so also is the wrong. The scale of damages is naturally
in proportion to the scale of operations. Who among us doubts that
these damages were received? Call them what you please, to this extent
the nation lost. The records show how our commerce suffered, and
witnesses without number testify how the blockade was broken and the
war prolonged. Ask any of our great generals,--ask Sherman, Sheridan,
Thomas, Meade, Burnside,--ask Grant. In view of this transcendent
wrong, it is a disparagement of International Law to say that there is
no remedy. An eminent English judge once pronounced from the bench that
“the law is astute to find a remedy”; but no astuteness is required
in this case,--nothing but simple justice, which is always the object
of a true diplomacy. How did the nation suffer? To what extent? These
are the practical questions. No technicality can be set up on either
side. _Damages_ are _damages_, no matter by what artificial term
they may be characterized. Opposing them as _consequential_ shows
the disposition to escape by technicality, even while confessing an
equitable liability,--since England is bound for _all the consequences_
of her conduct, bound under International Law, which is a Law of Equity
always, and bound, no matter how the damages occurred, _always provided
they proceeded from her_. Because the damages are national, because all
suffered instead of one, this is no reason for immunity on her part.
Then it is said, “Why not consider our good friends in England, and
especially those noble working-men who stood by us so bravely?” We
do consider them always, and give them gratitude for their generous
alliance. They belong to what our own poet has called “the nobility
of labor.” But they are not England. We trace no damages to them, nor
to any class, high or low, but to England, corporate England, through
whose Government we suffered.
Then, again, it is said, “Why not exhibit an account against France?”
For the good reason, that, while France erred with England in
recognition of Rebel belligerence, no pirate ships or blockade-runners
were built under shelter of this recognition to prey upon our
commerce. The two cases are wide asunder, and they are distinguished
by two different phrases of the Common Law. The recognition of Rebel
belligerence in France was wrong without injury; but that same
recognition in England was wrong with injury, and it is of this
unquestionable injury that we complain.
Fellow-citizens, it cannot be doubted that this great question, so long
as it continues pending, will be a cloud always upon the relations of
two friendly powers, when there should be sunshine. Good men on both
sides should desire its settlement, and in such way as most to promote
good-will, and make the best precedent for civilization. But there can
be no good-will without justice, nor can any “snap judgment” establish
any rule for the future. Nothing will do now but a full inquiry,
without limitation or technicality, and a candid acceptance of the
result. There must be equity, which is justice without technicality.
* * * * *
Sometimes there are whispers of territorial compensation, and Canada
is named as the consideration. But he knows England little, and little
also of that great English liberty from Magna Charta to the Somerset
case, who supposes that this nation could undertake any such transfer.
And he knows our country little, and little also of that great liberty
which is ours, who supposes that we could receive such a transfer. On
each side there is impossibility. Territory may be conveyed, but not
a people. I allude to this suggestion only because, appearing in the
public press, it has been answered from England.
But the United States can never be indifferent to Canada, nor to the
other British provinces, near neighbors and kindred. It is well known
historically, that, even before the Declaration of Independence, our
fathers hoped that Canada would take part with them. Washington was
strong in this hope; so was Franklin. The Continental Congress, by
solemn resolution, invited Canada, and then appointed a Commission,
with Benjamin Franklin at its head, “to form an Union between the
United Colonies and the people of Canada.” In the careful instructions
of the Congress, signed in their behalf by John Hancock, President,
the Commissioners are, among other things, enjoined “in the strongest
terms to assure the people of Canada that it is our earnest desire to
adopt them into our Union as a sister Colony, and to secure the same
general system of mild and equal laws for them and for ourselves,
with only such local differences as may be agreeable to each Colony
respectively”; and further, that in the judgment of the Congress “their
interest and ours are inseparably united.”[112]
Long ago the Continental Congress passed away, living only in its
deeds. Long ago the great Commissioner rested from his labors, to
become a star in our firmament. But the invitation survives, not only
in the archives of our history, but in all American hearts, constant
and continuing as when first issued, believing, as we do, that such
a union, in the fulness of time, with the good-will of the mother
country and the accord of both parties, must be the harbinger of
infinite good. Nor do I doubt that this will be accomplished. Such a
union was clearly foreseen by the late Richard Cobden, who, in a letter
to myself, bearing date, London, 7th November, 1849, wrote:--
“I agree with you that Nature has decided that _Canada and
the United States must become one_ for all purposes of
intercommunication. Whether they also shall be united in the
same Federal Government must depend upon the two parties to the
union. I can assure you that there will be no repetition of
the policy of 1776 on our part, to prevent our North American
colonies from pursuing their interests in their own way. If the
people of Canada are tolerably unanimous in wishing to sever
the very slight thread which now binds them to this country,
I see no reason why, if good faith and ordinary temper be
observed, it should not be done amicably.”
Nearly twenty years have passed since these prophetic words, and enough
has already taken place to give assurance of the rest. “Reciprocity,”
once established by treaty, and now so often desired on both sides,
will be transfigured in Union, while our Plural Unit is strengthened
and extended.
The end is certain; nor shall we wait long for its mighty fulfilment.
Its beginning is the establishment of peace at home, through which the
national unity shall become manifest. This is the first step. The rest
will follow. In the procession of events it is now at hand, and he is
blind who does not discern it. From the Frozen Sea to the tepid waters
of the Mexican Gulf, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the whole vast
continent, smiling with outstretched prairies, where the coal-fields
below vie with the infinite corn-fields above,--teeming with iron,
copper, silver, and gold,--filling fast with a free people, to whom
the telegraph and steam are constant servants,--breathing already with
schools, colleges, and libraries,--interlaced by rivers which are great
highways,--studded with inland seas where fleets are sailing, and
“poured round all old Ocean’s” constant tides, with tributary commerce
and still expanding domain,--such will be the Great Republic, One and
Indivisible, with a common Constitution, a common Liberty, and a common
Glory.