A retrospective glance at the field of American politics during the past
twelve years discloses several significant facts worthy of especial
attention.
The most casual observer cannot fail to have been impressed with the fact
that there has been a growing disposition in the minds of the people to
make the welfare of the Country and not the advancement of party, the
issue, in the struggle for political supremacy.
The political opinions of the masses are based upon foundations materially
different from those usually accorded them by the would-be leaders, who
attempt to form opinions for, and force the same upon the people.
There is a spirit in politics that rises superior to party clap-trap and
unhealthy journalism, and which determines the problem of government with
far greater accuracy than any amount of machinery designed for the
accomplishment of any special end.
Political organizations live or die by their _acts_ and not by their
_machinery_. Without that spirit that seeks the greatest good of the
greatest number, they inevitably go to decay and final dissolution. With
that spirit they rise to the grandeur of well ordered governments.
Principles may be outraged and promises disregarded for a time but the end
must come sooner or later, and re-action in such cases usually means
annihilation.
During the past twelve years the principles and promises of the two great
political parties of the United States--the Republican and the
Democrat--have been more severely tried and tested than at any similar
period of time since the foundation of the Republic. Upon the maintenance
of certain principles and the fulfilment of certain promises, either party
have based their claims to the confidence of the American people. It
matters but little how seductive these principles may appear in their
enunciation, or how glowing the promises for future good, one must judge
of them, and the people will judge of them as they have been illustrated
in the acts of either party to whom the reins of Government have been
confided.
Given that both parties announce that they have the interests of the whole
people at heart, then the results that have accrued from the accession of
either to power must be the standard by which their principles must be
measured, and their good or bad faith established. These results give rise
to momentous questions. They lead thinking men to ask, if within the
Democratic ranks, slavery has not always found its ablest advocates.
If it was not the Democratic party that formed a compact and coalition
with the slave holders of the South, with the understanding that if
slavery could be maintained, slave holders would help to keep the
Democrats in power.
Was it not through the supineness of a Democratic Administration that the
rebellion was engendered and the fortifications and other property in the
Southern States belonging to the Government allowed to pass unquestioned
into the hands of its sworn enemies?
Was it not to the Democratic party that the South looked for assistance in
deed and word to carry on a war aiming at the destruction of the Union?
Did not the South rest its hope in the Democratic party to oppose every
measure taken by the loyal North in defence of the Government and the
salvation of the Union?
Did not the Democratic party in the interest of their brethren in the
South, resist the draft in the North, thus causing the bloody riots of
'63?
Was it not the Democratic party that opposed emancipation, the policy of
reconstruction, universal freedom and universal suffrage?
Did not the weakness and vacillation of a Democratic Administration plunge
the country into a contest by which hundreds of thousands of citizens were
slain upon the field of battle, their widows and orphans left to the
charities of the Republic, and the nation saddled with an enormous debt?
Is it not the Democratic party which has striven for years, and which is
still struggling, to maintain itself in power through its Tammany
organization at the North, and its Ku Klux organization at the South; the
one stealing the money of the people to sustain the other in scourging
them?
Is it not upon the success of the Democratic party that the Ku Klux Klans
base their hopes for the future? And do they not expect, through the aid
of their Democratic allies to rescind the present Ku Klux laws, and
thereafter to scourge and kill radicals and negroes with impunity?
Is it not to the Democratic party that the leaders of the Ku Klux Klans
look for help and shelter from the consequences of the numerous outrages
perpetrated by them in the Southern States?
Was it not a Democratic Administration that bequeathed to the country,
foreign complications of a delicate nature, the foreshadowings of
internecine war, a depleted Treasury, an impaired credit, a general
feeling of insecurity in business and financial circles, and an almost
dismembered Nation?
Has it not been for years the record of the Democratic party that it has
conspired against humanity and justice, aided to rivet the fetters of the
slave, sown the seeds of demoralization in politics, and by its cringing
subserviency to the slaveocracy of the South aimed a blow at the National
life?
Is the Democratic party sincere in its profession to accept in good faith
the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution,
while strenuously objecting to all laws designed for the enforcement of
the provisions of those amendments?
Does the Democratic party hope to blind the people by its shallow pretence
of a new departure from the principles advocated by it since its
organization?
Do the old Democratic party ring-masters expect to mislead the people by a
mere visionary reconstruction of Tammany, and can they hope to erase the
foul stains upon their party linen to such an extent as to have them
accepted as pure and unspotted garments?
These are some of the questions at present mooted in the silent heart of
the Nation. They are the questions of the hour and upon them the people of
the whole country are called to decide, as to which of the two great
political parties the future welfare of the Republic may be confided with
the greatest safety.
In making this decision the minds of the people naturally revert to the
records of the Republican party as manifested through its administration
of the Government, its vindication of its professed principles, its
fulfilment of its promises for the redemption of the nation. And what is
that record?
Upon its accession to power in 1861 the Republican party found the country
upon the verge of a civil war. Some of the nation's strongholds were
already in the hands of the traitors, and the incompetency and weakness of
its predecessor were everywhere apparent. Never in all its history had
such an opportunity been presented it to redeem the pledges it had made
in the interests of human justice and human freedom. True to its loyal
instincts it rose to the dignity and the grandeur of the occasion.
It at once instituted the most vigorous measures for the National defence.
By it the most wicked rebellion ever organized among men was put down.
Through the Republican party the integrity of the Union was preserved, and
its place maintained among the nations of the earth as one of the leading
powers.
By it financial measures were inaugurated and carried out that have
brought unparalleled prosperity to the country.
By it the credit of the nation has become firmly established at home and
abroad.
Through its labors in the cause of human freedom the bondmen have become
emancipated and assume equal rights with freemen.
By a wise administration in its foreign relations the country is at peace
with all nations, and the citizens of the American Republic traveling in
foreign climes are honored and respected.
By a vigorous enforcement of the laws, criminals of every degree, in all
sections of the country, have been brought to justice.
By it bands of deadly assassins, skulking at midnight behind hideous
disguises, and warring upon innocent women and children have been
suppressed and broken up. And by it they have been compelled to answer for
their numerous crimes.
Through the unwearied efforts of the Republican party Universal Suffrage
has become a law of the Nation, freedom of speech and freedom of opinion
everywhere vindicated throughout the land, and the right to exercise the
elective franchise as their consciences might dictate, guaranteed to all.
By it the States lately in insurrection have been reconstructed upon a
prosperous basis, and brought back into the folds of the Union.
By it the public lands have been opened to settlers; manufactures
stimulated through the establishment of a judicious tariff, and labor
dignified and made prosperous through an enhanced remuneration for
services performed, and a reduction in the hours of toil.
* * * * *
These are but a few only of the acts of the Republican party. They are
based upon principles through the consummation of which the Government has
been administered with more than ordinary honor and integrity. Principles
that have given birth and sustenance to an administration in which every
appearance of evil has been scrutinized, every unworthy public servant
ferreted out and punished, every effort put forth to prevent frauds upon
the Revenue and the Treasury.
An Administration in which the most trivial charges made against it by the
most personally bitter and partizan newspapers have been probed to the
bottom.
An Administration in which every law upon the Statute books has been
enforced with the whole power of the Government.
An Administration by which the rights of the laboring classes have been
maintained; the status of the newly emancipated citizens defined and
enforced; the dignity of the flag and the honor of the nation everywhere
upheld.
An Administration whose Chief Executive was, in the dark hours of civil
war, "the hope of America and of Liberty."
A Chief Executive who resolutely set his face against the enemy upon the
field of battle until victory crowned our banners. Under whose wise and
skillful leadership might and right joined hands in solid union, and the
Nation drew the long and refreshing breath of freedom.
A Chief Executive whom the nation sought out as its chosen leader, General
Grant, the hero of Vicksburg--the Wilderness--Richmond. By his bravery in
the Camp and his sagacity in the Cabinet the fires of liberty burn bright
and unextinguishable.
By his stern and uncompromising adherence to the interests of the whole
people, unbounded prosperity rests upon the country.
By the extraordinary financial policy of his administration the public
debt has been reduced three hundred millions of dollars; the people
relieved of a burden of taxation amounting to nearly one hundred millions
of dollars annually, gold brought from 133 to 109, and the public credit
restored.
Under his administration every loyal soldier of the war of the Rebellion
who served ninety days in the Union Army acquires the right to a homestead
upon the public lands, or if dead the right reverts to his heirs.
These are some of the truthful remembrances that come back to the minds of
the people, and they cast about them in vain for any measure which General
Grant has ever enforced against the will of the masses, for any act to
lessen their faith in his personal purity and official integrity, for one
solitary principle of the party that elevated him to power, which he has
not vindicated, for one single promise which he has not fulfiled.
To General Grant, the hero of the war of the rebellion, who wrested
victory from doubtful battle fields, who stood unflinchingly at his post
in the darkest days of the nation's history, the people turn instinctively
as the standard bearer in the coming political contest.
By his utter self abnegation and his preference for the welfare of the
masses rather than the political aggrandisement of a few leaders, he has
acquired the most malevolent partizan opposition ever encountered by any
Chief Magistrate of the Nation.
By the strong voices of the people reverberating over the country, and by
the more recent utterances from the granite hills of New Hampshire, the
thrifty valleys of Connecticut, the loyal voters of Rhode Island, his
policy is endorsed and his future political status insured.