The Nation's Peril Part 14

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 b.l.o.o.d.y riots of '63?

Was it not the Democratic party that opposed emanc.i.p.ation, 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 Const.i.tution, 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 inst.i.tuted 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 emanc.i.p.ated and a.s.sume 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 a.s.sa.s.sins, 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 cla.s.ses have been maintained; the status of the newly emanc.i.p.ated 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 leaders.h.i.+p might and right joined hands in solid union, and the Nation drew the long and refres.h.i.+ng 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 ma.s.ses, 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 ma.s.ses rather than the political aggrandis.e.m.e.nt 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 Hamps.h.i.+re, 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.