First.How far the present administrators of the Government have fulfilled the duties and responsibilities confided to them by the people?Second.What has been done to remedy the evils that have made life in Southern communities intolerable and unsafe?Third.What steps are necessary to prevent a recurrence of these evils in the future?
First.How far the present administrators of the Government have fulfilled the duties and responsibilities confided to them by the people?
Second.What has been done to remedy the evils that have made life in Southern communities intolerable and unsafe?
Third.What steps are necessary to prevent a recurrence of these evils in the future?
Happily the first two questions have been amply answered in the acts of the administration.
A careful study of the necessities of the case, the enactment of appropriate laws, applicable thereto, and their vigorous, but humane enforcement, constitute a plan, the successful elaboration of which gives answer to the third question, of “how a recurrence of these evils may be prevented in the future.”
To those who may have entertained the idea, that the work of restoring order and securing toallthe citizens equal rights, nothing can be more comprehensive than the language of the committee of investigation. In alluding to this point, the report says:—
“Looking to the modes provided by law for the redress of all grievance—the fact that Southerncommunities do not yield ready obedience at once, should not deter the friends of good government in both sections of the country, from hoping and working for that end.“The strong feeling which led to rebellion and sustained brave men, however, mistaken in resisting the Government which demanded their submission to its authority; the sincerity of whose belief was attested by their enormous sacrifice of life and treasure, this feeling cannot be expected to subside at once, nor in years. It required full forty years to develop disaffection into sedition, and sedition into treason. Should we not be patient if in less than ten, we have a fair prospect of seeing so many who were armed enemies, becoming obedient citizens?”
“Looking to the modes provided by law for the redress of all grievance—the fact that Southerncommunities do not yield ready obedience at once, should not deter the friends of good government in both sections of the country, from hoping and working for that end.
“The strong feeling which led to rebellion and sustained brave men, however, mistaken in resisting the Government which demanded their submission to its authority; the sincerity of whose belief was attested by their enormous sacrifice of life and treasure, this feeling cannot be expected to subside at once, nor in years. It required full forty years to develop disaffection into sedition, and sedition into treason. Should we not be patient if in less than ten, we have a fair prospect of seeing so many who were armed enemies, becoming obedient citizens?”
During the Three Brief Yearsin which the present administration has held sway over the destinies of the nation, what has been accomplished? Upon its accession to power, the people of the South were struggling under political disabilities, and a consequent social condition that had detached them from the onward march of civilization, and was hurrying them back to anarchy and ruin. They had become morose, bigoted, violent.
The law of revenge had usurped that of order. They writhed under the results of the war and the downfall of their cherished institutions, and they had sworn that what could not be gained by a war upon the nation at large, should be had by a local war of extermination upon the—to them—offensive portions of the races, black and white, that opposed, or would not coincide with them.
It was a delicate question; but the wisdom of the newly chosen leaders of the nation have been equal to the emergency, and, to-day, light begins to dawn in the dark places; the supremacy of the law is being established, and by a continuation of the same wiseand humane policy in the future, the people ofallthe States may abundantly hope for the restoration of peace and harmony in the South, where, but so recently, all was chaos and confusion.
In view of what has thus far been said, I call upon my countrymen, everywhere, not to be deceived as to the real issues of the hour.
ADDENDA.
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 theiractsand not by theirmachinery. 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 theUnited 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 giveriseto 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 loyalNorth 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 anopportunity 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 solidunion, 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 politicalaggrandisement 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.
Footnotes:
[1]The Night Hawk is an attache of the Ku Klux Camp, whose business it is to scour about, and locate the victims upon whom visitations are ordered to be made.
[2]Alluding to the shooting of a Mr. Cason a few days before.
Transcriber’s Notes:
Punctuation has been corrected without note.
Other than the corrections noted by hover information, inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from the original.