INGERSOLL'S
Great Speech at India
napolis, A SUPERB SAMPLE OF POLITI
CAL INVECTIVE.
Wit, Sarcasm, Eloquence, and Reason
Combined,
The following 1 a verbatim report of Colonel
K. Q. Ingersoir address before the " Boys in
Blue" gathering at Indianapolis :
Ladies and Gknti.emen, Fellow-citizens,
and Citizen Poi.niEns: I am opposed to the
Democratic party; and I will tell you why.
Every State that seceded from the United
States was a Democratic State. Every ordt
nance of secession that was drawn was drawn
by a Democrat. Every man that endeavored
to tear the old flag from the heaven that It
enriches was a Democrat. A voice" Give It
to them." Every man that tried to destroy
this nation was a Democrat. Every enemy this
great Republic lias had for twenty years has
been a Democrat. Every man that shot Union
soldiers was a Democrat. Cheers "That's
so." Every man that starved Union soldiers
and refused them iu the extremity of death a
crust was a Democrat. fRencwed cheerintr.l
Every man that loved slavery better than liberty
was a Democrat. The man that assassinated
Abraham Lincoln was a Democrat. Every man
that sympathized with the assassin every man
glad that the noblest President ever elected was
assassinated was a Democrat ; every man who
wanted the privilege of whipping another
man to make him work for him for nothing
and pay him with lashes on bis naked back
was a Democrat cheers ; every man that
raised bloodhounds to pursue human beings
was a Democrat ; every man that clutched
from shrieking, shuddering. crouching mothers,
babes from their breasts "and sold them luto
slavery was a Democrat. Cheers. Every
man that impaired the credit of the United
States ; every man that swore we would never
pay the bonds ; every man that swore we would
never redeem the greeubaeks : everv maltrner
of his country's credit ; every calumniator of
nis country's Honor, was a Democrat. Cheers.
Everyman that resisted the draft; every man
that hid in the bushes and shot at Union men
simply because they were endeavoring to en-
joixe me laws 01 meir country, was a Democrat.
Cheers. Every man that wept over the corpse
of slavery was a Democrat. Every man that
cursed Lincoln because he issued the Proclama
tion of Emancipation the grandest paper since
the Declaration of Independence every one of
mem was a uemocrat. iinecrs.j Every man
that denounced the soldiers that bared their
bosoms to the storm of shot and shell for the
honor of America and for the sacred rights of
man was a democrat, luiieers.j Everyman
that wanted an uprising In the North that
wanted to release the rebel prisoners that they
might burn down the homes of Union soldiers
above the heads of their wives and children,
while the brave husbands, the heroic fathers.
were in the front fighting- for the honor of
me om nag every one or tnem was a Demo
crat. Cheers. I am not through yet. Laugh
ter and cheers. Every man that believed this
glorious nation of ours is a confederacy, every
raau that believed the old banner carried by our
fathers through the Revolution, through the
War of 1812, carried by our brothers over the
fields of the rebellion, 6imply stood for a con
tract, simply stood for an agreement, was a
ueinocrsi. sneers, j Every man who believed
that any State could go out of the Union at Its
pleasure, every man that believed that the grand
fabric of the American Government could be
made to crumble instantly Into dust at the
touch of treason, was a Democrat. Cheers.
Every man that helped to burn orphan asylums
in the city of New York was a Democrat;
every mau thHt tried to tire the city of New
York, although ho knew that thousands would
perish, aud knew that the great serpents of
;uimes leaping irom Duuoinge would clutch
children froiutheir mother's arms everv wretch
that did it was a Democrat. Cheers. Recollect
it ! Every man that tried to spread small-pox
and yellow fever in the North as the instrumen
talities of civilized war, was a Democrat. Sol
diers, every scar you have got on your heroic
bodies was riven to you by a Democrat.
Cheers. Every scar, every arm that is laok
ing, every limb that is gone, every scar is a sou
venir of a Democrat. Cheers. I want you to
recollect it. A voice "We will." Everyman
that was the enemy of human liberty in this
country was a Democrat. Everyman that want
ed the fruit of all the heroism of all the ages to
tutn to ashes upon the lips every one was a
Democrat. Cheers.
I am a Republican. Laughter and cheers.
I will tell you why : This is the only free gov
ernment in the world. The Republican party
made it so. The Republican party took the
chains from 4,(100,000 of people. The Republi
can party, with the wand of progress, touched
the auction block, and It became a school
house. Cheers. The Republican party put
down the rebellion, saved the nation, kept
the old banner afloat in the air, and declared
that slavery of every kiud should be extir
pated from the face of this continent. Cheers.
What more I I am a Republican because it is
the only free party that ever existed. It is
a party that lias a platform us broad as hu
manitya platform as broad as the human
race a party that says you shall have all the
fruit of the labor of your hands a party that
6ys no rhains for the hands no fetters for the
soul. A voice " Amen!" Cheers.
am a Republican because the Republican
party says this eountry is a nation and not a
confederacy. I am here in Indiana to speak,
and I have as good a right to speak here in
Indiana as though I hud been born ou this
siand nut because the flag of the State of
Indiana waves over mc. I would not know it
if I should tee it. You have the same right to
speak in Illinois; not because the State flag of
Illinois waves over you, but because that ban
ner, rendered sacred by the blood of all the he
roes, waves over me and you. Cheers. I am
in favor of this being a nation. Think of a mau
gratifying his entire ambition iu the State of
Khodu Island. I Laughter. We want this to
be a nation, and you cau't have a groat, grand,
splendid people without having a great, grand,
spleudid country. The great plains, the su
blime mountains, the great, rushing, roaring
i. cm, eu.jics msneu Dy lWo oceans, aud the
grand anthem of Niagara, mingle and enter as
it were in the character of every American citi
zen, and make him, or tend to muke him, a
great and graud character. 1 am for the Re
publican party because it says the Government
has as much right, as much power to protect
its citizens at home as abroad. The Republican
party don't say that you have to go away
lroin home to get the protection of the Gov
ernment. The Democratic party says the
Government can't march Its troops fiito the
South to protect the rights of the citizens.
It is a lie. Great cheers. The Government
claims the right, and it is conceded that the
Government has the right to go to your house,
while j'ou are sitting by your fireside with your
wife and children about you, and the old lady
knitting and the cat playing with the yarn, and
everybody happy and sweet the Government
claims the ritfhl to go to your fireside and to
take you by force and put you into the army ;
take you down to the valley of the shadow of
hell ; set you by the ruddy, roaring guns, and
make you tight for your flag. Cheer. Now,
that being so, when the war Is over and your
country is victorious, and you go back to your
home, and a lot of Democrats want to trample
upon your rights, I want to know if the Govern
ment that took you from your fireside and made
you fight for it, I want to know If it is not
bound to fight for you I Cheers. The flag
that will not protect its protectors la a dirty rag
that contaminates the air in which it wave.
The government that will Dot defend Its defend
er is a disgrace to the nations of till world.
A voice : " Amen I" I am a Republican be
cause the Republican party savs ! " We will
protect the rights of American citizens at home,
and. If necessary, we will march an irmv Into
any State to protect the rights of the humblest
American citizen In that State." Cheers.
a am a nepumican. Laughter. I am a
Republican because that party allows me to be
free allows me to do my own thinking in my
own way. Cheers. I am a Republican be
cause it Is a party grand enough and splendid
enough and sublime enough to invite every hu
man being in favor of liberty and pro
gress to fight shoulder to shoulder for the
advancement of mankind. Cheers. It in
vites the Methodist ; It invites the Catholic ; it
invites the Presbyterian, and every kind of sec
tarian ; it invites the free-thinker; It invites the
innciel, provided he ts in favor of giving to every
other human being every chance and every
right that he claims for himself. Cheers. I
am a Republican, I tell you. Laughter.
There Is room In the Republican air for every
wing ; there is room on the Republican sea for
every can. itcpunncanlsm says to every man,
" Let your soul be like an eagle ; fly out in the
great dome of thought, and question the stars
for yourself. Cheers " That's so." But the
Democratic party says : " Be blind, owls ; sit on
the dry limb of a dead tree, and only hoot when
Tilden A Co. tell you to." Laughter. In
the Republican party there are no followers.
We are all leaders. Cheer. There Is not a
party chain. There Is not a party lash. Any
man that does not love this country ; any man
that does not love libcrtv ; anv man that is not
in favor of human progress ; that Is not In fa
vor ot giving to others all he claims lor him
self we don't ask him to vote the Republican
ticket. Cheers. You can vote it if vou
please, and If there is anv Democrat within
hearing who expects to die before another
election we are willing that he should vote one
Republican ticket simply as a consolation
upon his death-bed. fGreat laughter. 1 What
more! I am a Republican, because that party
believes in frae labor. It believes that free
labor will give us wealth. It believes in free
thought, because It believes that free thought,
will give us truth. A voice " That's so."
You don't know what a grand party you be
long to. I never want anv holier or grander
title to nobility than that i belong to the Re
publican party and have fought for the lib
erty of man. Cheers. The Republican
party, I say, believes In free labor. The
Republican party also believes In slavery
Vthat kind of slavery? In enslaving the
forces of nature. We believe that free
labor, that free thought, have enslaved
the forces of nature and made them
work for man. We make old Attraction and
Gravitation work for us; we make the light
ning do our errands ; we make steam-hammers
and fashion what we need. The forcess of
nature are the slaves of the Republican party
Cheers. They have got no backs to be
whipped ; they have got no hearts to be torn
no hearts to be broken ; they cannot be
separated from their wives ; they cannot be
dragged from the bosoms of their husbands ;
they work night and day, and they never tire.
You cannot whip them, you cannot starve
them, and a Democrat even can be trusted
with one or them. Laughter. J I tell you I
am a Republican. Lauehter. I believe, as
told you, that free labor would five us these.
Blaves. Free lubor will produce all these things,
ana everyming you nave got to-day lias been
produced bv free labor, nnrhtntr hv lum 11.,.
Slavery never Invented but oue machine, and
that was a threshing machine in the shape of a
wuip. oatignier.i free labor has invented
all the machines, we want to come down to
the philosophy of these things. The problem
of free labor, when a man works for the wife he
loves, when he works for the little children he
adores the problem is to do the most work In
tho shortest space of time. The problem of
slavery is 10 ao tne least work in the longest
space of time. That is the difference. Free la
bor, love, affection they have Invented every
thing of use to the world. Cheers. lama
Republican. I tell you, my iriends, this world
Is getting better every day. and the Democratic
party is getting smaller every day. See the ad
rancvmeiu we nave maae in a lew vears : jee
what we have done. We have covered this na
tion with wealth and glory, and with liberty
This is the first free Government in the wnrb)
The Republican party is the first party that was
not founded on sonic compromise with the devil.
Laughter. It is the first party of pure, square,
honest principles ; the first one. And we have
got the first free country that ever existed. And
right here I want to thank every soldier that
fought to make it free cries of "good!"
" good I" aud cheers ; every one, living and
dead. I thank you again and again and again.
You made the first free irovernmrt'nt In th wnrM
cheers, and we must not forget the dead he
roes, ii iney were iiere they would vote the
Republican ticket, every one of them. I tell
you we must not lorgct them.
The past, as it ;ere, rises before me like a
dream. Again we are in the great struggle for
national life. We hear the sounds of prepara
tionthe music of the boisterous drums the
silver voices of heroic bugles. We see thousands
of assemblages, and hear the appeals of orators ;
we see the pale cheeks of women, and the
nuenea races oi men, and In those assemblages
we see all the dead whose dust we have covered
with flowers. We lose sight of them no more.
We are with them when we enlist in the great
army of freedom. We see them part with those
they love. Some are walking for the last time
In quiet woodv places with the maidens tliv
adore. We hear the whisperings and the sweet
vows of eternal love as they lingerlngly part
forever. Others are bending over cradles, kiss
ing babes that are asleep. Some are receiving
the blessings of old men. Some are parting
with mothers who hold them and press them to
meir nearu, again and again, aud say nothing;
and some are talking with wives, and endeavor
ing with brave words spoken in the old
tones to drive from their hearts the awful
fear. We see them uart. We see th
wife atanding in the door with the babe in
ner arms standing in the sunlight sobbing at
the turn of the road a hand waves she answers
by holding high in her loving hands the child.
1 1 i j
iic ib guue, auu lorever.
We see them all as they march m-oudlv ivnr
under the flaunting flags, keeping time to the
wild grand music of war marching down the
streets of the treat cities through the.
and across the prairies down to the fields of
glory, to ao, and to die tor the eternal right.
We go with them one and all. We are by
their side ou all the gory fields In all the hos
pitals of pain on all the wearv marches. W
stand guard with them in the wild storm and
under the quiet stars. We are with them in
ravines running with blood in the furrows of
old fields. We are with them between contend
ing hosts, unable to move, wild with thirst, the
life ebbing slowly awav amoug the withered
leaves. We see them pierced by balls and torn
with shells In the trenches by forts, and iu the
whirlwind of the charge, where men become
iron, with nerves of steel.
H e are with them in the prisons of hatred
and famine ; but human speech can never tell
w nat, iney endured.
We are at home when the news comes that
they are dead. We see the maiden in the
shadow of her first sorrow. We see the sil
vered head of the old mm bowed with the last
grief.
The past rises before us, and we see four mil
Hons of human beings governed by the lash
we 6ee them bound hand and foot we hear the
strokes of cruel whips we see the hounds
trucking women through tangled swamps. We
see babes sold from the breasts of mothers.
Cruelty unspeakable ! Outrage iullnite !
Four million bodies in chains four million
souls in fetters ! All the sacred relations of
wite, mother, father, and child trampled be
ueath the brutal feet of might. And all this
was done under our beautiful banner of the
tree.
The past rises before us. We hear the roar
aud shriek of the bursting shell. The broken
fetters fall. These heroes fled. We look ; in
stead of slaves, we see men and women and
children. The wand of progress touches the
auction block, the slave pen, the whipping-pott,
and we see homes aud firesides aud school,
houses and books, and where all was want aud
crime and cruelty and fear, we see the face of
the free.
These heroes are dead. They died for liberty
they died for us. They are at rest. They
sleep iu the laud they made free, undor the lint
they rendered stainless ; under the solemn pine,
the sad hemlocks, the tearful willows, and the
mbraciuf Tine. Tbey deep beneath the
shadows of the rlouds, careless alike of sunshine
or of storm, each In tho wlndowless palace of
rest. Earth may run reuwitn other wars iney
are at peace. In the midst of battle, in the
roar of conflict, they found the crenlty of death.
A voice, " Glory." 1 have one sentiment
for the soldiers, living and dead cheers for the
living and tears for the dead.
There are three questions now subrr Itted to
the American people. The first Is, S isll the
people that saved this country rule it ? Cries of
" Yes, yes." Shall the men that saved the old
flag hold It! Cries of "Yes, yes." Shall tho
men who saved the ship of 8tate sail it I Cries
of " Yes, yes, yes," or shall the rebels walk her
quarter-deck, give the. orders and sink It f Crle
of "No, no." That Is the question. Shall a
solid South, a united South, united by assassina
tion and murder, a South solidified by the shot
gun shall a united South with the aid of a
divided North, shall they control this great and
splendid country ? Cries of " Never, never."
Well, then, the North must wake up. Cries of
' Wc will, we will." We are right backwhere
we were in lRfil. This Is simply a prolongation
of the war. This is tho war of the Idea; the
other was the war of the musket. The other
was the war of the cannon ; this Is the war of
thought, and we have got to beat them In this
war of thought ; recollect that. The question
is, Shall the men that endeavored to destroy this
country rul e It f Cries of "Never, never."
Shall tho men that snld this Is not a Nation,
have charge of this Nation I Cries of " Never,
never !" "
The next question, Shall we pay our debts t
Cries of " Yes I yes I and every cent I" We
had to borrow some money to pay for shot and
shell to shoot Democrats with. We found that
we could get along with a lew less Democrats
laughter, but not with any less country, and
so we borrowed the money, and the question
now is, Will we pay it J And which party is
the most apt to pay it, tho Republican party,
that, made the debt the party that swore it
was constitutional, or the party that said it
was unconstitutional! Whenever a Democrat
sees a greenback the greenback says to the
Democrat, " I am the one that whipped you."
Laughter. Whenever a Republican sees a
greenback, the greenback says to him, " You
and I put down the rebellion and saved the
country." Laughter. Now, my friends, you
have heard a great deal about finances. Nearly
everybody that talks about it gets as dry
just as if they had been in the final home
of the Democratic party for forty years.
Great laughter. I will give you my ideas
about finances. A voice. " Let's hear them."
In the first place the Government don't sup
port the people ; the people support the Gov
ernment. A voice. "That's it." The Gov
ernment passes around the hat, the Gov
ernment passes around the alms-dish. True
enough, it has a musket behind it, but
it is a perpetual chronic pauper. It passes,
I told you, the alms-dish, and we all
throw in our share except Tilden. Great
laughter. Tills Government is a perpetual
consumer. You understand mo the Govern
ment don't plough ground, the Government
don't raise corn and wheat ; the Government is
simply a perpetual consumer. We support the
Government. "That's right." Now, the
idea that the Government can make money for
you and me to live on why, It is the same as
though my hired man should issue certificates
of my indebtedness to him for me to live on.
Laughter and applause. Some people tell
me that a government can impress its sov
ereignty on a piece of paper, aud that Is money.
Well, if It is, what is the use of wasting it In
making SI bills! It takes no more Ink and no
more paper why not make $1,000 bills ! Why
not make ?1,OUO,000,000 bills, and all be billion
aires f Great laughter. If the Government
can make money what on earth does It collect
taxes from you and mc for I Why don't it
make what money it wants, take the taxes out,
and give the balance to us ? Laughter. Mr.
Greenbacker, suppose the Government issued
$100,000,000 to-morrow ; how would you get
any of it! A voice "Steal it." I was not
speaking to the Democrats. Laughter. You
would not get it unless you had something to
exchange for it. The Government would not
go around and give you your average. You
have to have some corn, or wheat, or pork to
give for It. How do you get money ! By work.
Where from ! Y'ou have to dig it out of the
ground. That is where it comes from. In old
times there were some men who thought they
could get some way to turn the baser metals
Into gold, and old, gray-haired men, trembling,
tottering on the verge of the grave, were hunting
for something to turn ordinary metals Into gold ;
they were searching for the fountain of eternal
youth ; but they did not find it. No human
ear has ever heard the silver gurgle of the
spring of immortal youth. There used to be
mechanics that tried to make perpetual motion
by combinations of wheels, shifting weights,
and rolling balls ; but somehow the machine
would never quite run. A perpetual fountain
of greenbacks, of wealth without labor, Is Just
as foolish as a fountain of eternal youth. The
idea that you can produce money without labor
is just as foolic-h as the idea of perpetual motion.
They are old follies under new names. Let me
tell you another thing. The Democrats seem to
think that you can fail to keep a promise so
long that It is as good as though you had kept
it. They say you can stamp the sovereignty of
the Government upon paper. The other day I
saw a piece of silver bearing the sovereign stamp
of Julius Casar. Julius Casar has been dust
about two thousand years, but that piece of sil
ver was worth just as much as though Julius
Cesar was at the head of the Roman legions.
Was it his. sovereignty that made it valuable?
Suppose he had put it upon a piece of paper
It vi ould have been of no more value than a
Democratic promise. Another thing, my friends ;
this debt will be paid ; you need not worry ahout
that. The Democrats ought to pay It. They
lost the suit and they ought to pay the costs.
Laughter and applause. But we are willing
to pay our share. It will be jid. The hold
ers of the debt have got a mortgage on a con
tinent. They have a mortgage on the honor
of the Republican party, and it is on record.
Every blade of grass that grows upon the con
tinent is a guarantee that the debt will
be paid; every field of bannered corn in the
great, glorious West Is a guarantee that
the debt will be paid; all the coal put
away in the ground millions of years ago
by that old miser, the nun, is a guarantee
that every dollar of that debt will be paid ; all
the cattle on the prairies, pastures and plains,
every one of them is a guarantee that this debt
will be paid ; every pine standing in the sombre
forests of the North, waiting for the woodman's
axe, is a guarantee that this debt will be paid ;
all the gold and silver hid in the Sierra Nevadas
waiting for the miner's pick is a guarantee that
the debt will be paid ; every locomotive, with
its muscles of iron and breath of flame, and all
the boys and girl beudlng over their hooks at
school, every dimpled child In the cradle, every
good man nd every good woman, and every
man that votes the Republican ticket, is a guar
antee that tho debt will be paid. Applause.
What is the next question ! The next ques
tion is, Will we protect the Union men in the
South? Voices " Yes, yes." I tell you the
white Union men there have suffered enough.
It is a crime in the Southern State to be a Re
publican. It is a crime in every Southern 8tate
to love this country, to believe in the sacred
rights of men. I tell you the colored people
have suffered enough. They have been owned
by Democrats for 200 years. Worse than that ;
they have been forced to keeD the eoinnanv nf
their owners. Laughter. It is a terrible
thing to live with a man that steals from you.
They have suffered enough. For 200 years they
were branded like cattle. Yes. for '200 veara
every human tie was torn asunder by the cruel
hand of avarice and greed. For 200 years chil
dren were sold from their mothers,' husbands
irora meir wives, brothers trom brothers, sisters
from sisters. There was not. duriner the whole
rebellion, a single negro who was not our friend.
We are willing to be reconciled to our Southern
brethren wheu they will treat our friends as
men. When they will be Just to the friends of
this country ; when thev are iu favor of allowing
every American citizen to have his rights then
we are their frieuds. We are willing to trust
them with the nation when they are friends of
me nation. vt e arc. wining to trust them with
liberty when they believe in liberty. We are
willing to trust them with the black man when
they cease riding in the darkness of night those
masked wretches to the hut of the frcedmau,
and notwithstanding the prayer and supplica
tions of his family, shoot him down ; wheu they
cease to consider the massacre of Hamburg a a
their friends, and not before. tA voice" That
is the idea.'
Now, my friends, thousands of the Southern
people and thousands of the Northern Democrats
are afraid that the negroes are going to pass
them In the race of life. And, Mr. Democrat, he
will do It unless you attend to your business.
The simple fact that you are white cannot save
you always. You have got to be industrious,
honest, and cultivate a sense of Justice. If you
don't, the colored race will pass you as sure as
you live. I am for giving every man a chance.
Anybody that can pass me is welcome. A
voice, " There can't many do It." I believe,
my friends, that the Intellectual domain of the
future, like the land used to be In the State of
Illinois, isopen to pre-emption. The fellow that,
gets a fact first, that is his ; that gets an Idea
first, that is his. Every rotind in the ladder ot
fame, from the one that touches the ground to
the last one that leans against the shining sum
mit of human ambition belongs to the foot that
gets upon it first. Applause. Mr. Democrat
(I point down because they are nearly all on the
first round of the ladder), If you can't climb,
stand ononesideandlctthedescrvingncgropass.
I must tell you one thing. I have told It so
much, and you have all heord it, I have no
doubt, fifty times from others, but I am going
to tell It again because I like it :
Suppose there a great horse-race here to dav,
free to every horse in the world, and to all the
mules, and all the scrubs, and all the donkeys.
At the tap of the drum they come to the line,
and the judges say, " Is it a go?" Let me ask
you, what, does the blooded horse, rushing ahead,
with nostrils distended, drinking in the breath
of his own swiftness, with his mane living like
a banner of victory, with his veins standing out
all over hiin as if a net of life had been cast
around him with his thin neck, his high
withers, his tremulous flunks what does he
care how many mules and donkeys run on that
track. Prolonged and deafening laughter.
But the Democratic, scrub, with his chuckle
head and lop ears, with his tail full of cockle
burs, jumping high and short, and digging in
the ground when he feels the breath" "of "the
coming mule on his cockle-bur tail, he is the
chap that Jumps the track and says : " I am
down on mule equality." Renewed and up
roarious laughterj
My friends, the Republican party Is the blooded
horse In tho race. A voice "Anything may
follow that wants to." Lnnrrhter.j I stood a
little while ago in the city of iaris whre stood
the Bastile, where now stands the Column of
July, surmounted by the figure of Liberty. In
its right hand is a broken chain, in its left hand
a banner; upon Its forehead a glittering stHr
and as I looked upon it. I said, such is the Re
publican party of my country.
The other day going along" the road I came
to the place where the road had been changed,
but the guide-board wa as they had put it
twenty years before. It pointed diligently in
the direction of a desolate field. Now, that
guide-post has been there for twenty years.
Thousands of people passed but nobodv
heeded the hand on the guide-post, and it
stuck there through storm and shiue, and it
pointed as hard as ever as if tho road was
through the desolate field, and I said to my
self, " Such is the Democratic party of the
United States." Laughter and applause.
The other day I came to a river where there
had been a mill ; a part of it was there yet.
An old sign said, " Cash for wheat." Laugh
ter. The old water-wheel was broken ; it. had
been warped by the sun, cracked and split by
many winds and 6torms. There hadn't been a
grain of wheat ground there for twenty years.
There was nothing in good order but the dam ;
it was as good a dam as I ever saw, and I said
to myself, " Such is the Democratic party."
Renewed laughter.
I was going along the road the other day,
when I came to where there had once been'a
hotel. But the hotel and barn hud burned
down ; nothing remained there but the two
chimneys, monuments of the disaster. In the
road there was an old sign, upon which there
were these words : " Entertainment for man
und beast." The word "man" was nearly
burned out, There hadn't been a hotel there
for thirty years. That sign had swung and
creaked in the wind ; the. show had fallen
upon it In the winter, the birds had sung upon
It in the summer. Nobody ever stopped at
that hotel ; but the sign stuck to It, and kept
swearing to it, " Entertainment for man and
beast;" and I said to myself, "Such is the
Democratic party of the United States."
Laughter. And I further said, " One chim
ney ought to be called Tilden and the other
Hendricks." Renewed aud continued cheer
ing and laughter.
Now, my friends, both of these parties have
candidates. The Democratic party trots out
Samuel J. Tilden. Who is he? He Is a man
that advertises his honesty and reform, the
same as people advertise quack medicines. In
every Democratic paper iu the United States he
has advertisements of his honesty and reform.
Samuel J. Tilden is an attorney alegul spider
that weaves webs of technicalities, and catches
in Its meshes honest incorporated flies. He has
stood on the shores of bankruptcy and clutched
the drowning by the throat. Samuel J. Tilden
is a demurrer that the Confederate Congress has
filed against the amendments to the Constitu
tion of the United States. Samuel J. Tilden is
an old bachelor. In a country depending upon
the increase of its population for its glory and
honor cheers and laughter, to elect an old
bachelor is a suicidal policy. Renewed and
prolonged laughter. Think of a man sur
rounded by beautiful women, dimpled checks,
coral lips, pearly teeth, shining eyes ! think of
a man throwing them all away for the embrace
of the Democratic party. Laughter. Such a
man docs not know the value of time. Laugh
Samuel J. Tilden belongs to the Democratic
party of the city of New York. That party
never had but two objects grand and etit
larceny. Laughter. They rarely elect a
man to ofiice except for a crime committed.
They don't elect on a crime credit ; it must he
a crime accomplished. They have stolen every
thing they could lay their hands on, and, my
God, yvhat hands I When they had stolen all
the people could pay the interest on they
clapped their enormous hands upon their spa
cious pockets and shouted for honesty and re
form. Samuel J. Tilden has been a pupil in
that school. He has been a teacher in that
school. He was reared iu Tammany Hall,
which bears the same relation to a penitentiary
s the Sunday school to a church. Applause.
More than this, when the rebellion began they
called a meeting at Union Square, in the city of
New York. It was of great importance how the
city of New York should go. No man refused to
sign that petition in the city of New York but
one, and that man was Samuel J. Tilden. A man
that will not lend his name to rave his country
never should be the President of that eountry.
You offered to save your lives, and he would not
give his infamous name.
now, my friends, I want you to vote the Re-
Fublican ticket. A voice, ' We will do It."
want you to wear you will not vote for a man
who opposed putting down the rebellion. 1
want you to swear you will not vote for a man
opposed to the proclamation of emancipation.
I want you to swear that you will not vote for
a man opposed to the utter abolition of slavery.
I want you to swear that you will never vote for
a man who called the soldiers iu the field Lin
coln hirelings. 1 want vou to swear thnt. vnn
will not vote for a man who denounced Lincoln
as a tyrant, l want you to swear that you will
not vote for any enemy of human progress. Go
and talk to every Democrat that vou can ?
get him by the coat-collar ; talk to him ; hold
him, liko Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, with
your glittering eye; hold him ; tell him all the
mean inmgs ins party ever did ; tell him kindlv;
tell him in a Christian spirit, as 1 do, but tell
him. Applause and laughter. Recollect
there never was a more important election than
the one you are going to hold Iu Indiana. I
want you every one to swear that you will vote
for glorious Ben. Harrison. Tremendous ap
plause. I tell you we must stand by the coun
try. It is a glorious eouutry. It permits you
and me to be free. It is the only eouutry iu the
world whero labor is respected. Let us support
it. It is the only eountry iu the world where
the useful man is the only aristocrat. The man
that work for a dollar a day goes home at ni"ht
to his little ones, take his little boy on hi
knee, aud he think that boy can aeldeve any
thing that the son of the wealthy man euu
achieve. The free schools are opeu to him ; he
may be the richest, the greatest, aud grandest ;
and that thought sweeten every drop of sweat
that roi' down the honest fee of toil. Ap
pUu.J Vet to v th country.
DEMOCRATIC OPINIONS
OF ,
SAMUEL J. TILDEN,
Expressed Prior to the St. Louis
Convention.
Tho True Character of tho
Man as Portrayed by
his own Partisans.
FROM THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER.
"There are a few facts concerning Sam T Men
which we trust will sink into the minds of Wcst
eru and Southern Democrats :
" 1. He cannot carry his own State in No
bcr. " !J. lie cannot carry any Northern State.
" 3. ITcis a hypocrite, a political swindler, hns
long been a public plunderer, and is really the
only disreputable candidate prominently named
on the Democratic side.
" 4. He has sought this high office by methods
so nnprecedentedly shameless and disreputrble
that It would be an everlasting stigma upon a
Democratic convention to nominate him, and a
reproach upon the American people to elect him
if nominated.
" Should ' God's providence, seeming estran
ged,' permit his nomination, by whom and what
would he be nominated ? By the servile, con
scienceless tools that money can purchase; by
the most corrupt influences that ever entered
into a Presidential nomination; by the system
on which all other quack medicines are sold
advertising and even respectable medical asso
ciations read out of the profession doctors that
will advertise. It would seem that the Demo
cratic party should have as high a respect for
the good name of the party and the Government
as tfie vendors of pills have for their craft. It
could not but be that a man educated in cun
ning, hypocrisy, and Iniquity, nominated in cor
ruption and shamless effrontery, even though
his millions could elect him, would give us the
most corrupt administration the country has
ever known. Neither imperial dignities nor the
gloom of solitude, says Tacitus, could save Ti
berius from himself, and Tilden could not rise
above himself, or above tho sources of his
power.
" There are many reasons why Governor Til
den should not be nominated, and why, if no
minated, he will be defeated. Ha has' been too
closely identified, socially and politically, and
legally yve will not say financially with the
Tweed regime of New York. When Tweed
escaped from the custody of the Sheriff of New
York, many months ago, the Boss was not only
a penitentiary convict, who had not fulfilled
one-fifth of his term, hut was being tried on a
civil suit to recover f 3,000,000 but a portion of
the amount he had stolen from the city. There
was every likelihood of making Tweed disgorge,
but the Sheriffs officers were bribed, no doubt,
and the Boss went on hie way rejoicing. Tilden,
the next day, with a flourish of trumpets, de
clared that the Sheriff, yvho was under bonds,
was liable for Tweed's escape; and further
more, to pay over to the city $'1,000,000, for
which Tweed was held, and yvhich suit, as a
matter of course, must go by default. Nearly
ten mouths have since elapsed. Tweed has not
been caught. The Sheriff of New York (Con
ner) still holds his post, and his bail bond and
property, and nil effort to capture aud bring
back the Boss has been abandoned. The people
of New York city hold Tilden responsible for
retaining in office a Sheriff who lets Hy the great
thieves of the Ring who nearly bankrupted the
city. Another objection to Tilden is his aristo
cratic proclivities. The common people of New
York do not like him. His money helped to
elect him two years ago. He is a bachelor,
w ith an ample fortune of four or five millions,
and spent, it freely, or let his friends spend it
freely for hiin, in the campaign of 1871. Until
his election for Governor he was hardly known
outside of Neyv York. Tilden and his friends
bamboozled the poor working men of New
York by telling them they could have plenty of
work, at good wages, if they would vote for
him for Governor. They did so. To-day there
are more idle men in New York city than when
Dix was Governor. Besides, wages have been
cut down."
FROM THE ALBANY "EVENING TIMES."
" Supreme selfishness, and a cold, unscrupu
lous, cunning nature, are his marked charac
teristics. The intensity of his selfishness has
never been relaxed even by the softening influ
ences of married life, and he seems to be as
destitute of magnetism or emotion as a mummy.
Having devoted the earlier portion of his life to
the study of the art of money-making, he prac
ticed it with a success whirb,'within a few years,
by one means and another, put millions 'in his
purse. When he. felt assured that the downfall
of his former Tammany associates yras Inevi
table, he hastened to promote that result.
Having possessed himself of the party machin
ery, he used it to secure the nomination for
Governor, and succeeded on account of the
want of any organized opposition, and the de
termined declin.-.tion of the man whom the
party really desired to nominate. Having be
come Governor, every act has been performed
with an eye single to tho next ttep. Finding
that to attack corruption and fraud was popu
lar, and that the public mind was suspicious of
uuy against whom charges were made, he hesi
tated not to promote attacks upon those in
every respect his superiors, but whom ho
thought vrcrc possible impediments in his path ;
that, as Governor, he succeeded in a single
year in rsduoing the Democratic majority over
thirty-liva thousand votes, notwithstanding the
unquestionably popular attack upon the canal
frauds and mismanagement, is conclusive evi
dence of his want either of capacity or tact to
successfully lead the Democratic party of the
Empire State. That he is an inefficient, hesita
ting, and unreliable public officer, is palpable.
He is neither prompt, nor frank, nor generous,
nor agreeable, nor popular. To say that the
Democracy of the Union really seek such a can
didate is to say that they are unfitted to select a
President."
Yet again the Timet says :
" There is a great stress put upon the ser
vices of Tilden in 'breaking up the Tweed Ring.
Tilden was a eo-worker with Tweed for years,
and did not open his mouth against him until
Jimmy O'Brien and the New York Timet had
furnished many of the leading facts to th
public. When it was discovered that an out
raged community could no longer stand the
frauds of the Kings, but were determined to
break them up, then it occurred to our great
railroad financier that the opportune moment
had arrived for him to make capital out of the
facts of fraud with which for vears he had been
familiar. Had the public remained indifferent
to the frauds of Tweed, there is no reason to
doubt that Mr. Tilden would have been a mum
a a mouse np to this very day."
FKuM Tift SKW Ylilili EXPRESS."
"While New York Democrats have not
changed their position Governor Tilden has
changed his. He is no longer for Seymour, nor
lor Church, nor for any man In the laud but
Samuel J. Tilden I Tho Tribunt wants
to know the reason of opposition iu the eountry
to Governor Tildtn. If it will read the ad
dresses made at Albany it will find its question
answered. If it will read the disreputable re
cord of public opinion, manufactured and
circulated through a large, advertising agency
in this city, It will find an answer. If it knew,
as we kuow, of the appliances used all over the
State to elect and defeat delegates for the Utica
Convention it would ask lor no other auswer
but, beyond this, there are ample reasons.
There are better men. There are more popular
men ; men just as true as reformers, just a
honest, Just u true to principles aud to tha
eouutry, more faithful to friends, of quicker
perception, of better Judgment, of more execu
tive ability, less selfish, less ambitious, and
wholly Incapablo of making the bad record
which has stirred so many thousands iu this
State either to a preference for some other man
or to a more direct opixisittou to Governor
Tilden. We nili;ht add many other reasous,
but we forbear for to-day at least."
Again, June 2'.', it says I
" A man who ha dealt so largely in railroads,
tnd proftud o largely by (htm, will sot b
trusted as a candidate. The losses have heft
too frightful upon the one hand, and the pri
vate gains too enormous on the other, to make
any mon, identified, as Mr. Tilden is, with rail
roads, the proper candidate for the President of
the United 8tates. We seek simply to avoid tho
defeat of the Democratic party In November
next by using all fair and honorable means to
prevent an unwise nomination at St. Louis."
FROM THE CHICAGO "TIMES."
" Tilden and Hendricks combined wonld be s
guarantee of the success of the Hayes party,
even in Indiana. Instead of a strong
ticket, Tilden and Hendricks would probably be
found the weakest ticket that could be made.
Tilden, without Hendricks, might carry New
York, were it not that Tilden' nomination
would inevitably give Indiana to the Hayes party
in October. Hendricks, without Tilden, might
possibly (but not probably) carry Indiana, but
certainly not New York, Connecticut, or New
Jersey. But Tilden and Hendricks combined
would be a trade-mark of political dishonesty
that all honest citizens would spurn. It would
not get an electoral vote nortL of the Ohio river.
For Tilden to swallow Hendricks and survive is
an Imaginable possibility. For Hendricks to
swallow Tilden and survive is an imaginable
possibility. But for Tilden and Hendricks to
swallow each other and survive is plainly not
within the bounds of things possible."
FROM THE PHILADELPHIA "TIMES."
" Without dealing with the question, whether
or not Tilden deserves to be elected over Hayes,
we turn to the practical and vital fact that he
would be defeated by the largest popular ma
jority ever east against any candidate, except
ing Mr. Greeley. He yvould be pitted against
tho same Mr. Hayes who owes his election over
Allen In 1875, and thereby his nomination In
ISiO, to the open defection of Mr. Tilden'a
friends and their defiant assaults upon their own
party and its candidates, aud the October elec
tions In Ohio and Indiana would be swept by
tens of thousands for Hayes, with New York,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey .and Connecticut cer
tain to follow in November by majorities second
only to Grant's in 1873."
FROM THE CADIZ (OHIOt "SENTINEL."
" Bates ifc Locke, advertising aeents, of New
York, send us some puffs of that old bull
headed Bulllonist, Sam Tilden, yvhich they want
inserted as reading matter, and for which they
offer to pay us in ' rag money.' We do not in
sert advertisements among reading matter, and
therefore decline their offer. The proprietor
of 'sugar roated' pills, who advertise In the
Sentinel, have to assume the pressure and bum.
bug the people hy shouldering the responsi
bility in the regular advertising columns. But
this Tilden matter has another objection. The
laws of Ohio forbid newspaper advertising
abortion goods."
FROM THE PETEItsnt'RO (VA.) "INDEX
API'EAL."
" What we urge Is that the public should be
enlightened as to the depth and origin of tbi
lately-born clamor for Tilden. It is meretri
cious and mechanical ; as soon as his nomina
tion is made the people will fall off from tha
ticket In disgust. Now pause and inquire,
while there is yet time, about the truth of tht
matter. Respectable journals like the Mem
phis Aftlancie, the Savannah Xevet, the Au
gusta Chronicle, testify to having been ap
proached with money In the interest of th'ia
New York candidate, and there is indisputable
and undisputed evidence that an advertising
agency in New York is running off Mr. Tilden
name as Helmbold was wont to do his buchu.
Is the strength so based a 6afc one on which to
build the Democratic canvass? If so, go on ;
we wash our hands of the responsibility."
FROM THE NEW HAVEN "UNION."
" Governor Tilden meets with admirable suc
cess In capturing Democratic conveutions in
States where the party has virtually no exist
ence. The sure Democratic States are all bit
terly opposed to Tilden, so far as public senti
ment is concerned, but Tilden's money has a
perceptible influence on tho delegates. It
would not surprise u in the least should Tilden
pull through. He is utterly unscrupulous, and
by bis lavish expenditure of money now, he i
raising hope in the breasts of impecunious
striker that money will flow like water if ha
becomes the standard-bearer."
PROMINENT DEMOCRATS
DENOUNCE HIM.
HON. AUGUSTUS SCHELL.
" I am decidedly and unalterably opposed to
Governor Tilden as a Presidential candidate.
He is bit terly opposed by some of the best known
and most influential Democrats in the State, in
the metropolis, and all through the interior. It
is idle to talk of his ability to carry New York."
COLONEL ISAAC R. EATON.
" If Tliden Is nominated, th Greenback men
will organize and nominate a candidate on a
Greenback platform in less than thirty days from
the adjournment of the convention. The Kan
sas Democrats will utterly refuse to support
Tilden." vv
GENERAL JAMES B. STEADMAN.
" Under no circumstances that eould ba '
imagined would we accept Tilden. If Tilden
should unfortunately receive the nomination,
Hayes would beat him In Ohio by 60,000 to 70,
000 majority, and in Indiana he would be beaten
by from 20.000 to 35,000. If any other man that
has been named should be nominated on a plat
form declaring iu fuvor of au immediate repeal
of tho resumption act, we can carry Ohio by
25,000 majority. We yvould not even accept
Tilden on a platform with that plank in it, be
cause the man and the platform would neutralize
each other. If the city of Toledo, in which I
live, is to be taken as at all a test of the State,
be would be beaten utterly by Hayes."
HON. AUGUST BELMONT, OF NEW YORK.
" Those who claim that Tilden Is unassailable
do not .know him,orifthey do, then they are quite
us dii-honest as he is, He has been counsel for
all the broken-down corporations with which
New York ha been afflicted for a long term of
years, and out of them he ha not come with
clean hands."
GENERAL EWING, OF OHIO.
" I am very muc h surprised at one thing.
The advocacy of Tilden comes either from State
that are innately Democratic or hopelessly Re
publican, while two gr.-at States whose vote is
the index to the final result of the tight are ar
rayed sternly against him. It is also a curioua
thing that Manning, editor of the Albany paper
regarded as Tilden's special organ, should, in
an interview in St. Louis, make the statement
that Governor Tilden is looking for the receipt
of the votes of a large number of Republican
in New York."
nON. GEORGE W. HOUK,
delegate to the St. Louis Convention from Ohio,
says :
" The party can survive a Presidential defeat,
as it has already survived three since 1864, inau
gurated under the same auspices and leadership
as the present, but it cannot survive the sacri
fice of the great principle of fidelity to tha
rights of the people which it was organized to
maintain. He Tilden has used hi
fortune with a lavish hand to promote his po
litical aspirations. He is the first aspirant for
Presidential honors in the history of th eoun
try who has utilized the provincial press by ad
vertising his qualifications as extensively and aa
successfully as Helmbold advertised his buchu.
Such a man, fellow-citizens, yvho relies upon
such instrumentalities, and who seek hy indi
rection to com pass hi personal advancement,
is not the man to lead the Democratic party to
victory in this Centeuulal year of the Re
public." GENERAL 6LOCUM
everely castigated Tilden before a crowd of
delegates at St. Louis, and said : " The greater
part of the State Is opposed to Tilden now ; a
large part of the New York delegation was op
posed to him ; and it meant something, thi op
jiosition, for the opposing faction comprised all,
or nearly all, the brain of the delegation. With
Tilden it was Impossible to carry Indiana and
Ohio iu October, and if they were not carried for
the Democratic party, there would be no cause
for rejoicing in November.
DAN VOORHEES.
" I am not surprised at all these thing com
ing out on Tilden. I knew they were all there
and were bound to appear. And," he added
uggestively, " I am expecting, every day,om
thiug still worse to be developed."
IE WITT C. L1TTLEJOHN.
" I am utterly opposed to the nomination of
Mr. Tilden. I do not think he ha the firs
qualification to make a good President. He is
ot t iUWlfllo, but I pQUUcal tnc)uW.'