The New York Herald Newspaper, October 24, 1868, Page 4

4 BLAIR. Speeches of the General at Mattoon and Chicago, Dinos. REVIEW OF THE RECONSTRUCTION ACTS, The Democracy the Saviours of the Constitution, ‘rhe Uharge of His Having Predicted the Assassination of Grant. At Matteon. ceneral Frank Blair addressed a large assemblage of the democracy of Central Illinois at Mattoon on Tuesday evening. We give the main points of in- terest in his speech. He said:— FrLLow CrtizENS—Many years ago, in the State & which I live, & great man, who had been for any years the Senator from Missouri, had been driven from his seat after thirty years’ service in that body. The people in the Congressional dis- trict in which he lived took him up and elected him to the House of Representatives; and to the multitudes of his rejoicing friends who flocked around him and congratulated him he uttered, in my opinion, the noblest sentiment that ever fell from the lips of an American statesman, He ex- claimed, “Exultation, my friends, is natural, but moderation is the ornament of victory.” In that phrase, it seems to me, there was more of political wisdom than is to be found in the same number of words tian ever fell from the lips of statesman or orator. It represents the free genius of our con- stitution—that constitution which blazes all over with the sentiment of toleration to all. It is the sentiment ihat I commend to all my fellow coun- trymen, because it dedicates the triumph of the people to the public good, and not to the malignity ofa few. MODERATION AND TOLERATION—VIOLATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION BY THE RADICALS, In the exigency which has arisen in our own af- fairs the democacy, acting In the full spirit of that sciitiment, have desired that the triumph of the gov- ernmest in the great strnggle through which tt has passed should be used with moderation and toleration towards all. In other words, the creed of the democracy represents the liberal and toler- ant genius of the constitution, without which there can be no republicanism and no republic. in onarchical countries an offence against the monareh, or @ revolt, is personally felt by him as a ersonal injury; and when victorious he lays his hand heavily aud in vengeance upon those who have revolted. ut in @ republic the people can afford to be maguaninous, They have no private grievance, itis only for the goud of ihe country that they look, because the country’s good is theirs. Pursuing this idea let me revert to the transactions which oc- curred in the great Roman repnbiic. There was on one occasion a revolt ofa city or country which had been dependent on the great Roman republic, and the prowess of tie Kowan soldiery crushed the reyou. ‘The question came up for consideration in the Roman senate, what disposition should be made of those who revolted? There were iu that assembly men who are now repre- sented in our own Senate by the Sumners and Wilsons, and men of that class. They said, “Let us exterminate them; Lew have revolted agaiust the glorious Roman republic, and deserve not to live. Let us put thein to death,” But there Was one Senator, an aged man, known for his patri- n and moderation. He rose 1a the midst of the », uM Exclaiines em Roman ¢ T and the glory of the republic.” The Koman Senate in suose days looked to the splendor and the giory of the republic, They ‘took his ad- vice; and the power of Rome grew until it over- ghadowea the world, Its giory survives to-day, to animate tie nations and nerve tie arm of patriot ism against tiat military despousia under which at titien. Nov, my irieuds, it was tue toleration, moderation and the mantmity that could joox te past, and jookea oniy to the future that wave her such transcenueot nferre: pon her such immortal play W ? In this great re- » We, too, have passed through of our brethren lately m revolt, themselves moviy i this eom- endurance, by tneir courage and which they beticved to ve excited the admi- ration Of the civi But they have fallen beneath tho power of tals great republic. They have laid dowa their arms, and, with & magnanta- ity unequatied, except by their own deeds of cour- nye upon ihe battle field, they say, “We acknowl- ede that ;our power has ome us, and we ask only to be pern our allegiance to the government, response? Is there a Senator now equal to that old Koman to rise and y Uueir deyoulon to. th be tie good cause, w eay:—“Let us make them American citizens, and thus exteud the power and glory of the republic?’ (“Nary one.”) Do not we ali kuow—do not we all feei in our hearts— to bind to us forever, by aa indissoluble bond, those men whom we lately met on tie battie- field? Dowe not know, by the manuer in which they have borne themselves before tue word, that their word ph to the support of the government wouid be li ered—as more sacred tan tueir lives? let no American Senator who, if he could give tins advice, could prevail upon the Senate to take it. They have taken far atfferent nctia, Proscription, persecution, humiliations, degradation and extel wtion ave the creed of the Sumners and (Cries of “Butler,” “spoons,” and the Wil-ous. laughter.) We ave to make friends with this brave and power- fal race o! peopie by heaping degradation upon iheir heads, They have cowmitted such crimes, in the opinion oi those people, that they ought to be humiliated beneath the feet of that semi-barbarous biack people wio were their former siaves, My feliow citizens, this is not the first time in the his- tory of the worid that the policy of proscription and persecution has been pursued. Nations for centuries have soinetinies pursued it But with what result? Look atireiwnd. That fair couatry lying in the oceane conquered by the arms of the British government- has been subjugated, and her people harrassed, per, secuted, tinprisoved and slaughteced now for mor‘ tian three centuries, Thousands and tens of thou- sands of her bravest and her best have been exiled into ali quarters of tue world, as it brought peace to Ireland’ Has it brought prosperity to that coun- try? Has it added to the giory and the power of the British govermineut? (“Not at ali.”) No, my fellow citizens, (here has never been a period in the history of those two countries, from the time this proscrip- tive and porseouting policy Was adopted, when the heart of ireland was not ready tn turn and rend the oppressor. ow, je end of more than three centuries, we goverument, so powerful, trembling f these unarmed Irish peasants, , no.”) Yes, the Fenian is to her a hor- . that disturbs the siumbers of her 4 her best, Are we not making another f Au ? Have we not borrowed their iT riptions and their persecutions? ig a race of men at the South who our enemies? Are we not rawing up men hereafter who are to disturb our chiidven and our children’s cuildren in the sion Of this repubiic’ Are we no. planting thorns to rend our mterity’ In ireland, in toland, in Hungary and B Al Courities Where this system of proscription and persecution las prevai ed, we find that instead Of giving it peacs and prosperity it has led to the natura: and inevitable cunsequence of bringing it Weakness and hostility; and so with ourselves, in the nature of binge tt must end in the subversion of our own government. We cannot practice oppres- sion anu tyranny towards the whole people of the South without familtariaing ourselves with its exer. cise or without lodging @ power in the hands of those who exercise and control the government which will in time to come enable them to exercise (he sane tyranoy towards us which they have prac. tised among the peopie of the South. ‘Fellow citi. wens, it is tie lessom of history. It is the Warning of experience. It has aiwaysbeenso, {t ps Aa be otherwise. if we become familiarized ier pt the polley of oppression towards these p ie, it will not be long before our own Goctrines will come home to roost among ourselves. ("Te Is ao." and cheers.) ever in the whole history of uth scription of nat.ous by their cohquetora hee thive been invente | such an excructaiing species of hu- malilation and degredation as that which has been prepared by tho malisuacy of the radicals for our people at” ihe South. “The nations have been buwugated, lave been harragsed and have sutie in thelr persons and their property: but never fn the lide of tne, never amned history puegan has the white race been sub. y their own brethren of the same race ‘barous and altea race of n oes, That is & hue Hou and degradation left to the matig- pant ingenuity of these radical professors of God @nd humanity. (A voice “The white people will Mever submit to it,” and cheers.) Now, my friends, we stand here to-day — the soll of this great em- ire ‘inois—1 call { an empire—with one or two iilions, perhaps fully two millions, of white People, with its noble cities, some of them rivaling the most Po opal ot the new or of the Old Worid, with its extent of fertile soll and tis salubrious climate, fit is now a great empire in itself and destined to become one of the mightiest in the world. Asso- ciated with it are the States of Indiana and Ohi ‘and on the north lle Wisconsin, Michigan and part ot Minnesota. My fellow citizens, the whole site eccu- pica by these great States, these nobie einpires, was ¢ bounty of the old State of Virginia to the con- federate government to pay the debt of the revoiu- tion. It was the gift of old Virginia. These great and maguiicent States, containing at this t = of population, are the bounty of old vite the government. ‘The soi) upon which your eaith and prosperity bave arison she gave you by the ordinance of 1767, drawa by the pon of her most fliustrious statesman, Thomas Jetferson—an ordi- Rance which dedicated to this country tee White race NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1868.—TRIPLE. SHEET, a tatt thas Illinois aid their art the an resen' ives : Senators ana fepreceiava fom nda a ite : nat La fatives. frou tost of the Basen and the reproeen! States did their share also, as did likewise the Sena- tors from the ne; States that sprang from the Pour ollowscltizens, ahall it be recorded in histo fellow-citizens, 4 01 yr that the children had st led the moter? "hat yn of Michigan and of Minnesota have turned from the bountiful mother that gave you all ex- cept your own labor, and that built up those noble empires—that you have turned upon her and strangled her? (‘‘Never.”) Her sons to-day lie prostrate in di » The chains are mn their limbs, by the of the Representatives of fais State and of all these other tes. Itis the act of the arricide. You, who have recetved everything—the soll on which you live and from which your entire wealth and prosperity have drawn—you have turned Hy the noble giver of all these bounties and insulted her sons upon their own soil them to the of being ruled by an alien and ent bere bis of bs guy) Do you can prosper that have done thes thin; ha “No, that the retribution — will come, swift gure, Your Representatives, in your name, have done a deed that will recoll upon ‘ou. It is impossible, in the nature of things, for a ving man to go about and still live with a dead corpse his body; and Tilinois cannot pros- per, nor can the northwest prosper, nor can any of ‘he States of this Union prosper, if they have tied to them the dead corpse which despotism had made at the South. Your own act, and the act of this people are sure to bring retribution back upon your- selves, Tho despotism which you have established at the South will come home to you. The destruc- tion of the prosperity of the South will destroy your prosperity. You have made slaves of them, ‘and hey, in turn, will aid in making slaves of you. fellow citizens, I have been assailed far and wide throughout the country by all the orators, great and small, at belong to the Tepublican party, and T have becn denounced to the whole people of the country 88 @ man disposed to renew this rebellion, and I have been declaimed against as a great revo- lutionist, ready to imperil the peace of my country, to destroy its prosperity and to renew those dread- ful scenes of iy which took place during the war, and why? What is the foundation of all this denunciation? Simply, because in my public utter- ances, din a deliberate letter which 1 wrote some months since, I took the round that Congress Luving violated the constitu- jon, and that the President having sworn to maintain the constitution, should keep his oath in- violate, (‘Bully.’?) In the usurpations of this rump Congress—(laughter)—it is undeniable that they have violated the constitution. They do not themselves pretend to defend the acts that they have done, ‘Their ablest leaders and their ablest advocates boast that they have acted outside of the conscitution. Where can tney point to a provision of the constitu- tion that allows them to supersede the civil govern- ments in one-third of the States of the Union and establish in their lace a military des- potism? Where is the clause of the con stitution that guthorizer it? (‘Nowhere.’) ‘The constitution says, in so many words, that these military authorities shall be always subor- dinate to the civil authorities, That is the language of the constitution. How can Congress find power under the constitution to set aside ali the State gov- ernments at the South and in their places erect five Miliary districts, authorizing the commander of each district to put their men out of ofice and put other men in their places, to try a!l cases by mili- tary commissions and court martial; to suspend the habeas corpus act against the provisions of the con- siltation, which provides that every man in this country shall be brougiit to trial by jury, according to judicial forms? Yet nobody denies that they have done all these things. They do not point to a single provision of the constitution; they do not make the sl.ghtest argtment to prove that 1 ey have not, in all these respects, violated the constitution. Again, the constituiton prohibits any attempt on the part of Congress or the State 1 atures to bilis of attainder or ex post sucto laws. It forbids ‘hem to try and convict @ man, or punish hin by legislative enactments (which is a bill of attainder), aud requires them to give the charges preferre against any individual, to try him upou the charges preferred under presentment before a grand jury, according to the laws that existed at the time the ouence charged was committed and to acquit or condemn him by the verdict of a jury. Now this Congress, in detlance utterly of this constitutional provision, have tried, condemned and punished three hundred thou- sand white men at the South by depriving them of their right to the franchise and by taking away from them the inestimable character of the American citi- zeu, and this, too, in violation not only of that pro- vision of the constitution, but of the decision of the Supreme Court deciaring that such legislation amounted to a bill of attainder and was unconstitu- tional under the constitution of the United States, Not only did they ‘9 that, but, in place of these three hundred thougs i white nen thus attainted, thus tried and punts .ed by legislative enactment, Legi.oes—the uneducated negroes of the South—as electors. They do not deny it, They say in their Chicago platform that the Staies other than the Southern States have the constitutional right to choose their electors. How can those other States be deprived of it? ‘These violations of the constitution do not end the whole chapter. In order to carry out and enforce these repeated violations of the constitution, tt has been found uecessary to strip the Executive of all the power and authority con/erred on him by the consti- tution. He is no longer the Comimander-in-Calef of our army and navy, although by the express lan- goa of the constitution Le is made Cominander- in-Chief. He has been deposed by act of Congress from that high prerogative, and if has been con- ferred upon tue Genera! of the army; their dosig- nated candidate for the Presidency, who stands at tius moment with his bayonet at the throats of the entire white people of the South, pinning them to the earth and compeliing them to submit to the dominancy of this race of blacks. (Uheers.) Nor is this all, They have taken frou the President of the United States the authority to grant pardons, given him by the express langoage of the constivu- tion, They have usurped that authority to them- selves, aud declare now that nobody in the South shall be pardoned except by a two-thirds vote of ths rump, fragmentary party known as a Congress, You know w ort of people they extend pardons to. joe Brown.”) I knew that those wo would spring to the mouth of every demo- crat, The original butider and creator of Anderson- ville prison pardoned because he is ready to vote the radical ticket, If Jet Davis himseif was mean enough to vote the radical ticket he would be par- doneu by a two-tiurds vote of both branches of this Congress. (Laughter.) RECONSTRUCTION—NEGRO SUFFRAGE. General BLAIR—Now, I say, in addition, that the leading principies—the vital principles—the only principles that give vitality to the mstruction act, have been declared to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the Unived States. I refer to the case of won and Bowles, which originated in Indiana. It 13 familiar to ali of you. It was a case where several wen were arrested in that State, in which the courts were open, chai with treason- able practices against the government. They were tried by @ military commission and condemned to die. ‘thelr case was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United states, and that court held unanimous- ly—every Judge concurring—that the courts in indiana were open, that the constitution prohibited the trial of civilians by military commission, and that the decision of the military commission was huli and void; and Milligan and Bowles live to-day, and I hope they will live long ha h to see those rsscuted who proscribed and foot. (*ihey will” and Is not this one of the vital pe upon which the reconstruction act Have tuey not by these acis authorized the military commanders in the districts of the South to try men by military commission and court martial, notwithstandin; the fact that there is no enemy there, an that the courts are open throughout that ‘entire country—United States courts and judges and State couris and judges? Did not the Supreme Court decide thon that tuat part of the reconstraction aot was unconstitutional in the case of Milligan and Bowles? It did. (“Surratt.”) Yes, my fellow citizens, and @ case arose in Vicksburg, in the State of Mississippi, the case of McArdle, who was tried for the offence of using language in a news- paper against the military commander of the dis- trict not quite as decorous as that high functionary thought he was entitled to receive irom the editors of newspapers. He arrested him and had him tried by @ court martial. sentenced to imprisonment id topayadine, The case was taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, and this radical rump Congress, knowing that it had already been decided in the case of Milli. gun and Bowles, and fearing to have the case, which came up under their own reconstruction act, passed upon by that court, passed an act surreptitiously turough poth Houses of Ci 1 depriving the Su- Court of its jurisdiction. Would they have ‘hat had they hot known that the court would hem put under their act to be unconstitutional, (‘Never,’’ “No.”) Would they not have been to have | fone before the country with the endorsement of | the Supreme Court? (‘Of course they would.”) Yea, My fellow citizens, and nothing but the knowl- edge that the court had already made a decision, Whiok Laver to be true, would have deterred them. hit oo cause came up and. = ut over ty tbe ie of the judges—Sudge Greer, of Penn- sylvania—then and there declared, in so many Words, that the case had been décided, and he ¥ on- dered that the courtedid not proceed to judgment. ihe case was decided, and decided against the con- Btitutionality of those lawa; and they, fearing and Spprebending that, as the case would be made, the Supreme Court would decide that it was void and Unconstitutional, surreptitiously @ bill through both houses of Conjress taking jurisdiction from the Supreme Court—a court made by the con- stitution for the express purpose of passing upon the Constitutionality and validity of alt acts of Cont Again, iy fellow citizens, here is another decision of the Supreme Court oY which the Principles of this act were condemned. It was @ case that arose in my own State of Missouri; that of Cummings under tho test oath imposed by othe Logislature of Missouri pi @ll citizens irom and subjected - to practice their to tise law of Jesus jag taken doing me g To- 48 no offence in the Stator Ihinois; Dut 3 but su; that, in the next Legislature, the mis should their power in this State and should past an 1 Oye man Who 13 here present to-day listen- ing to what { have to say, should hereafter and fore- ever be debarred the privitege of v« in the State, Aud that when he caiae up to present his vote, every man in this apd adjoining counties should first take ‘an oath that he never had been present, and did not and did not hear an’ observation that I made. Now, it may appear that you are doing a very foolish thing in coming here and listening to me, But it is not criminal, and there is no law against it. In the same way in which this wight be made criminal! any other act might be made so, though not criminal at tue time it was done, and each and all of you might be punished by a legisiative or Congressiona! enact- ment. No man would be safe in his civil rights, nor in his property nor in his life. And hence it was that the framers of the constitution placed in that great instrument the prohibition against bills of attaiuder aud ex post facto laws, prohibiting Congress and prohibiting ail the States from paasing any biil of Thtulader and ec post facto laws. Fellow-citizens, allow me to lilustrate my proposi- tton by an example:—You all know that Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, is disfranchised under this Reconstruction act peause he was vice president of the so-called confederacy. He was and is distran- chised, and has not now any right of a citizen in this country or in any ed of this country, He has no suifrage; whereas his body servant, the negro who belonged to him before the war, has that suffrage. I contend that, if Alexander H. Stephéns has commit- ted an offence azainst the government of the United States, he cannot and ought not to be punished until he shall have tirst been tried according to the law that existed prior to the comunission of the offence, and not until there shall have been a verdict ren- dered against him by a jury of his countrymen, Now, suppose that, instead of disfranchising this man Stephens and deprivin; at 0! frage and citizenship in the State of Georgia and the United States by legislative enactment, the govern- ment had ordered @ prosecution against him. Sup- ose he had been arraigned and tried, and suppose 6 had come in and pleaded not guilty. Tue prose- cution would goon, as a matter of course, show that he held the commission of Vice President in the so- called confederacy, and there would rest their case (and might well do tt). Stephens, on the other hand, would show that when the movement was made to secede on the part of the State of Georgia he went home ; that he was elected to a convention calied to pass upon the measure of secession, and that, in that convention, he raised his voice and used his rea- son to prevent it. And he would not say—but |, and every one who has read his speech can. ‘—that he made the ablest speech in defence of the Union that ever fell from the lips of any man, North or South. (Applause.) And I have heard, from one who was there at the time—and, no doubt, Mr. Stevens could also prove it before this court of justice—that when he had finished his speech, a Renvisting arose from the body of the convention, and read in reply to his speech an article from the New York Tribune, ited by Horace Greeley, and that article was sub- — and, I believe, word for word, as fol- lOWws:— “If the people of the South desire to they have a right to go ont. They have out that our ancestoi British rule in 1776." That was regarded as a complete answer to the noble, lofty, aud splendid argument uttered by Stephens in defence of the Union. That was not all. . Eee bene could come forward and show that the convention was surrounded by armed men, who had got their arms out of the public arsenals and armories of the United States; that these conspirators inst the government were armed with muskets, and had munitions of war furnished them out of the arsenals aad armorics of the United States; and that, when he was defending the Union and the government, that government which he was defending did not lift a finger to protect, him, but, jon the jother hand, furnished his and their enemies with arms with which to put him down and overawe him and his followers, And they succeeded. It was the con- spirators at the South, armed by the government at ‘ashington, who overawed and overbore the Union men at the South, who outnumbered in every one of the Southern States, the conspirators and secession- ists. But while this majority stood without arms, with- out discipline, without combination, the government refused assistance, not only in Mr. Buchanan’s admin- istration, but under the administrrcion of Mr. Lin- coln, until the fall of Fort Sumter, and stood idly by and permitted these conspirators to set up a despotic, arbi- trary coment at the South, armed to the teeth, who drove into the ranks of secession evory Union man at the South. Then, feilow-citizens, the attorney for Mr. Stepheus, in trial which I have supposed nim to be undergoing, would plead that the duty which a citizen owes to his government— the duty of allegiance—is Rey lpe to the duty which the government owes to the citizen—the duty of protection; that these two duties go together; that they are inseparable. ‘Ihe citizen who refuses allegiance has no right to the protection of his gov- ernment and the government that refuses protection to the citizen has no rigut to claim the aliegirnce of the subject or citizen. And that, he having been abandoned by his jovernment, that government, having not only re- fused to protect him and thegUnion men of the South, but having given his enemies arms to over- come hin, had no right to claim from hun or those Union men whom they had abandoned any alle- ance whatsoever. I would like to look into the ‘ace of the court or jury that would convict him of treason after such evidence as that. »And perhaps that was the reason why it was so much more con- venient to try, condemn, convict and attaint and i g by a legislative enactment than by a trial be- fore jury and beforea fatr judge, ‘hat may have been the motive why they have sought thts thing by this process, Now, my fellow citizens, I have been charged with being extremely lenient to the rebels; with secking to have them ali pardoned. I would pardon all whom the safety of the republic did not require should be punished. I would be willing to sce all tried and punisied whom the safety and welfare of the country required should be tried and punished, And, therefore, 1 suould not stop short with the trial of Alexauder H. Stephens. I would like to try another man or two. I would like to see Edwin M. Stanton put upon his trial. (Cheers and laughter. A votce, ‘John A. Logan.") General Biair—He is to small an affair. (Cheers and iaughter.) . 1 woutd like to see) Edwin M. Stanton tried, and I would be wiiling to be the prosecutor, 1 will tell ou what I could prove:—I could prove that Edwin . Stanton was the Attorney General under Mr. Bu- chanan, and that when tie two Senators, Jeff. Davis and Albert Gallatin Brown, made their addresses to the Senate of the United States, taking their leave of the Senate in obedience to the instruc- tions of their State, as Mr. Brown came out of the Senate door, Edwin M. Stanton, then re- ceiving @ salary from the government of the United States, having sworn to protect and defend the constitution, holding on to that oifice, his stomach filled with bread thet he had eaten’ and that came from the oftice he Qilled, went up to Mr. Brown, ag he came out of the Senate chamber, and sald:—“sir, people and maintain the position nite together, stand shoulder to shoulder, and you will com: these biack abolitionists at the North to yleid the de- mands that you make."’ That was the le ad ofa man then in the og ov A of the government; then re- ceiving his salary from bE ave with the oath suil on lus lips to maintain’the coastitution and to support the constitution of the United States. He gives this advice and encourages and gives aid and comiort to one who had declared his determination to wage war upon the government of the United BS tates, I would prove further, on another count in tho in- dictment, that after the war had been waged for several years Stevens went with his State, took the forlorn hope, yielded to the pressure, and this man Stanton took another office in the government of the United States, became Secre' of War, Lewy | the most vindictive persecutor of those whom he urged to go into the rebellion, and that when in the changing fortunes of war our men had been made prisouers of the enemy, and we had captured some of their men, and thac government, so called, at the South came forward and offered an exchange this man Stanton refused {t—refused to succor the soldiers who had been to the front and by the chances of war had been made prisoners, He refused it, although he knew they were dying Ingsring deaths in the prisons at Andersonville and elsewhere. Not only did he refuse thé éxchangé, but when the Confede- rat verninent, go called, came forward sod ote to surrendér our sick and wounded without an exchange he refused to take those men, but let them die in the Andersonville prison. It could be proved, also, that he refused even to send medicine and food and surgeons to them to succor them from impending death, although urged to do so by the 80-called Confederate authorities. What, think you, wouid be the verdict of our re- turned soldiers if some of them should sit on the jury? (Cheers and jaughter.) What, with such proof—and I believe such proof couid be brought— woald be the verdict? I would not, if I couid, to- day, by legislative enactment, reach this great felon—for | regard him asa felon. I would not do it, although I conceive him to be the greatest felon in America, because I would not strike down that shield of the constitution, which covers all the people in this country, evento reach the worst mao inthe country. But I would like to see this idence adduced, and I would like to Know what verdict and sentence a iy. would pronounce upon him. Aye, | have & curiosity to know. I would like to see these two men tried, because after the rebel- lion was closed this Mr. Alex Stephens was seized and imprisoned by this same man Stanton and put in Fort Warren in Boston harbor. And I wouid like to have the verdict of a jury of my countrymen to see, when Stanton turned the key on Stephens, on which side of the door stood the traitor, (Laughter and hg ll Maa t. the Mere ated low-citizens, use these examples sim; to tliustrate the principle: upon winter aeaee aaa have acted. I think I have shown you and have proved to you incoutestibly that thore are thou- sands and tens of thousands of cases like that of Mr. Stephens at the South; of men who have been convicted, condemned, attaluted and puniaied, de- prived of their rights as citizens, who could mot, belore any fair, impartial, honest judge and jury, be condemned and convicted, 1 Uo not think Stephens coud be. 1 do not believe therefore, In this system, I know it 1s denounced by the constitution: 1 know it is pernicious; I know that, with such @ policy existing, no human being is safe. They may go forward with their bills of attainder and strike down and punish every man who has been obnoxious to them while they were out of power. Hence, I protest against it asthe most pernicious violation of the ovustitution that 0 out of the Uni on fhe same right to so had to declare their independence of ome to your have taken. are the very ones that punishment and ation, My fellow citizens, 1 tell you democratic party should fail in contest to restore the constitution and the privileges which have been violated by our adve: the sepub is in danger of perishing. I tell you that there is danger to us all, and danger to the radical as well as to the democrat—danger to all who are to coma after us, We are fighting to-day the battle of the radicals ag well as our own; we are fighting to serve freedom for their posterity; to Gave tne well as our own children from being subjects to this military despotism that looms up at no distance in the future. {Yolce—*We will salt them down and rve them.” Applause.) My fellow citizens, what is the meaning of givi: this’ franchise to the uninstructed, uneducated an semi-barbarous black people at the South? Don’t these republicans know as well as any other human being in the world that they are unfit, unqualified to exercise the right of suffrage; that they are without education, without knowledge; that the race to which they belong never, in the tide of time, since history began, have ever created or maintained any sort Rpverament for themselves, much less a free constitutional one? Why do they give sui 0, then, these uneducated, these ignorant and in- capable men? It is not alone, my fellow-citizens, that Sey supodee that, for the time being, they will ve ihe republican ticket; that they will receive @ new lease of power for a few es longer; it is not alone that, although that has much to do with their action, but they have @ deliberate design to degrade the su and thus destroy it. They know full well that the educated white people of America do not want to exercise the privilege in common with those un- educated and incapable blacks. They know that the white peo ofthe North and South will be ready.to yield up su! and prefer infinit to ely ent white man of their own race rather than to the sway of this alion and race. And their carpet baskets who have gone down to their aid (laughter) have gone down to help degrade the suffrage. They are willl to see it degraded, be- cause they want to see It destroyed. They want to prepares @ minds of the people to reconcile them 0 ees Ireoearie and dictatorship im order to reach this disgusting rule of these ignorant, incapa- ble blacks. ‘They appeal to their brother republicans and radi- cals to stand up to them. They do not pretend that the negroes have intelligence, but they say that the negroes were loyal and that the white people at the South were disloyal; that it is g nish the white people of the South by putting the negroes over them for their treason against the governntent, for their rebellion. And they have gone about, my fellow citizens, fighting all the battles of the war over again; disinterring the bones from Andersonville in order to move tie hearts of the people; to stir up tne slumbering fires of animosity engendered in the late war, in the hope, my fellow citizens, that, in your pas sion, in your prejudice, you will forget even your own rights, and, in order to be revenged upon these people in the South, substitute the black man in their place. They not only substitute the black peo- Hd in the plece of the white people at the South, nt they give these negroes an inflnitely larger share olitical power in the federal government than eld by any of the white people of the North. Let me point you one moment to a fact; Iili- nojs, with two millions of white people, has but two Senators, and devilish mean ones at thar, ‘Loud applause and laughter.) Three millions of lack people in these ten States have twenty Sena- tors. There are but 3,000,000 of black people, bigand Uttle, altogether, in these ten reconsiructed States, and they have twenty Senators in the United States Senate, and Illinois, with 2,000,000 of white people, has but two, and one of them very seldom in his seat. (Laughter—a voice, ‘He did one good act.’’) Yes, and I do _ not forget it. 1 think if Illinois should declare her sentiments she would give him the courage to do many more acts. (Applause.) But he deserves credit for daring to do that which he did. He did not de- have the rule of one inte! sire thoroughly and entirely to disgrace the State © that he represented; and eee not a citizen of the State, but a citizen of a neighboring Siate, lam read to stand up and thank him. Yes, my fellow citizens, 3,000,000 of negroes have twenty Senators and 2,000,000 of white Ln ae Illinois have but two; 4,000,000 of white people in the State of New York have but two Senators, and 3,000,000 of negroes in ten States have twenty Sena- tors. And these same ten States have fifty resenta- tives, while this State has but fourteen members of the Lower House. You will observe, my fellow citizens, that ten of the largest States in the Union—New York, Penusyl- vania, Ohto, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and add enough to it to make ten of the largest States—con- tainlig 20,000,000 of the white people ure represented upon the floor of the Senate by no more Senators than 3,000,000 of blacks at the South. These men have made a back man at the South equa! to ten white men at the North. In their rancor, in their vindictiveness, tn thelr determination to punisn the white re of the South, they have not only put the heel of Cuffe on the neck of the white man there, but they have put iton your neck also. They, how false and perfidious it is in them to to say that they are not in favor of negro asui- frage in the State of Iilinoi when they give the negro power to govern Illinois In the Legislature of the United States. They give the negro power in these ten States to make seventy electoral votes, to elect your President, to preside over Iliinois and all the other States—seventy electoral votes, when New York has but thirty-five; as many electoral votes ag New York and Pennsylvania combined and Illinois thrown in, With nine miliion of white people in the three States, three million of negroes at the South make them kick the beam, and have more to say in the making of President or Vice President and have more to say in passing acts of Congress than they do. One negro is equal to ten men at the North. How false, how utterly perfidious, how audacious it is for these men to say that they are not in favor of negro supremacy ! At Chicago. General Frank Diatr, Jr., addressed the democracy of Chicago on the political issues of the day on the night of the 2ist inst. The following are the promi- nent points of his speech:— THR NEGRO QUESTION, I come now, my fellow citizens, to look at that which ig the essence of these reconstruction meas- ures, ipel my fellow citizens, any man who knows anything of the character of those negroes, knows that they are not ay uneducated but vicious; that they are fast relapsing into the from which they were drawn in their native jungles in Africa, ‘Applause and _ cheers.) oe a, = vere wee ve Kee themselves Inca ie Ol taining or cre: any \- ment whatsoever; that they have no ‘cuviifeation and that, in truth, they are tne very lowest of all the people that inhabit the whole world—the whole earth. These things are as well known to tho radi- cals as to) 6s They understand as well, because they aro as well read in the history of this face as we are. They are thoroughly ac- quainted with them. (A Voice—‘Better.”) As the gentleman suggests in the crowd, probably better. HIS IDA OF THE PRESIDENT’S DUTY. Fellow-citizens, I have been so denounced, but it is not go, that I @ revolutionist. I have a word to say upon this subject to which I ask the audience of my ds. As one of the candidates of the democratic party I desire to speak to that point, and repel the al ion which has been made by the enemies of the democratic party through this coun- try. I that it is the duty of the President to trample these laws in the dust, because they are un- constitutional and have been so decided by the Su- preme Court of the United States. (Cheers.) HE DON’T TAKE BACK ANYTHING. I don’t take back one syljable that I uttered upon that subject. (Volce—“Buily for you.’ But I have this to say that I did not mean, nor doI mean now that this would uire any forcible action or any military operation whateve. That was the duty of the President of United States, sworn to maintain the constitution of the United States, not to allow the constitution to perish under the tilegal usurpation of a rump Oongreas. (Cheers.) The con- stitution is supreme, and no law can stand unless it is in pursuance of the constitution, Any law that infringes the constitution is null and void, That is the doctrine of the American statesmen. (Applause.) That doctrine has never been dented. RECONSTRUCTION AGAIN. I declare here, fellow-citizens, that in this case the Supreme Court have decided tl the principles of this reconstruction act are in violation of the Con- stitution, and that When they have so declared that the President's duty, from which he cannot escape, ‘unless he viclates his oath or perjures himself, is to pe the execution of acts of Congreas which ave been decided by the Supreme Court to be un- constitutional. (Voice, “That's so." MILITARY POWER, You know, my friends, that the constitution de- clares in so many words that the military authority shall always be subordinate to the civil authority, and yet at this moment in ten States of the South the civil authority of every kind and description has been suppressed by a military despotism. I reite- rate to you that within ten States of our Union military authority has supplanted all civil au thority in deflance of ti woll known provi- sion of the constitution that declares that the military shall ways be subordinate to the civil authority, Not only that, but the President has been robbed of the prerogatives of his office, that of belng commander-in-chief of the army and navy, in express violation of another provision of the consti- tution, and its whole authority conferred upon @ general of the army, designated by them as thelr ‘candidate for the Presidency, and that he being candidate before the people for this oMce and for their suffrages, has tho mili tary power of the whole govey ment in his hands in order to coerce the people of the South to suppors him and to submit to the domination of this alien and this semi-barberous race of negroes, And yet, my fellow citizens, these radi. Cais have the audacity and the mendacity to say that they are in favor of peace. (A votoe, Talk.”) Their candidate exclaims “Let us have peace” at the very moment that he stands with the bayonets of the whole army at the throats of eight million white people at the Fog 1 coercing them to give him support for idential office to which he aspires, And when one steps forward—when any dem aises §=his voice and that the PF mt ought to put aside those bayonets from the hearts of the white peopie of the South, that those muskets ought to be turned away, and that the commander of the armies My to ordered not to coerce tho people of the ta by the suffrage, in repeat, fellow citizens, is the destruction of the edna these men un- derstand it perfectly well, You can see in every act that they have done that they are tending dir- ectly tO an arbitrary and despotic govern- I had ion to say the other day in the city in which I live and 1b which GENERAL GRANT formerly lived, that I believed that we were now fighting our last battle for constitutional liberty in this country; that General Grand aud his party look to his accession to the Presidency as simply a step- pe stone to permanent and despotic power, and hat I believe he would never leave the Presi- dential mansion while he lives. Well, some gen- tleman—not gentleman either—(laughter)—some man reported that I said that Grant ought to bo assassinated—that he would be assassinated, not that he ought to be, but that I had proclaimed that he would be assassinated, because I sald he would never leave the Presidential madsion while he lived. I meant to say, my fellow citizens, that he assassinate the liberties of the inde oy og and cries of “good”)—and I drew that from what they had gone. I said that men who had erected military despotisms in ten States would hesitate to erect itin ten more States, or, in all of the States; that those who had made themselves absolute in ten States, who had stricken down all civil government in ten States would not hesitate to strike civil gov- ernment down in all of the States of this Union. General Grant, had approved of that avtion. General Grant had taken upon himself te duty of executing that law by which civil governmont was overthrown in ten States of the Union, would he not also, would he hesitate to have done that act to overthrow civil government in ajl the States of the Union; what is the difference in principle; who can appre- ciate the difference? ‘These men pretend to say that they detest ngthind of that sort as much as the demhcrats do, They declare that care will not do it; they scout at the idea; Ca beng to be infinitely indignat at it. All that 1 have got to say 1s, that before the last election they provenaed to be indignant wnen charged with the design of giving the negro suffrage at the South; and in the previous election to that they pretended to be equally indignant when charged with the in- tention of abolishing slavery at the South. Yet they have come up and in one four years have abolished slavery. In the next four they have given the negro suffrage and deprived the white men of it, and in the same time established military despo- tism in ten States; and now I tell you that four ‘ars more will not roll over our heads, if Grant 18 elected, before we see military government established all over this land. ‘That is what I meant to say, that is what these men well understood that I meant to say. did not say that he would be inated, I said that he would assassinate the liberties of the country, and I be- Ueve that he will do tt, he plause.) You say you will not let them doit. (Cries of ‘‘No, no.”’) MILITARY DESPOTISM. My friends, | have seen military despotisms estab- lished in the free States. While the army was absent at the South fighting the battles, soldiers surrounded the polls in the free States of the Union men, I tell you they have become familiarized with the art of governing with the bayonet. Elections were car- Tied—aye, the last Presidential election was car- ried in the doubtful States by the use of the bayonet. (“That’s so.) Here, sey in your midst, newspaper were seized and destroyea— thrown into the miver; the rights of citizens were invaded, here in the free States as well as elsewhere throughout the country. These men, I say again, have familiarized themselves with the art of govern- ing by the bayonet. They have proposed to estab- lish a tyrannical and despotic military power through- out ins, country, from one end of it to the other, Well, it depends upon how the Boone, vote at this election. That is it, my fellow citizens. (Voice— “Something about a Know Nothing.” know how much of a Know Nothing knows well enough how to climb into place after other men have used the bayonet to put his enemies out of the way. No, my friends, I repeat again that if—with ail these examples before us— the people of the country can caimly look back upon what has been done by that arty 5 gee the essions which they have made upon the con- stitution and upon the rights of citizens. See the manner in which they have carried elections with the bayonet throughout the country. If with these examples before you, my fellow citizens, a majority of this le can now be found tv vote for Mr. Grant—for General Grant—for President, I tell you that the day has sed when any resistance can be made to that plan. (“Never will do it.) We are. I repeat, and I desire this time dis- tinctly to be understood—we are fighting the last battle for free constitutional government in the im- pending election. If we are overthrown—tf the demo- cratic party is defeated, the republic falls with it, We may as well say farewell! farewell forever! to the governmen? transmitted to us by our ances- tors. (‘That's so.) But, my fellow citizens, I do not desire to add anything further to this speech, I leave off at this sentence, and desiro that what I have said may be pondered by you and by all who nave heard it. It is not lightly spoken. It is spoken with the sincere conviction that we are now in the midst of the last struggle to defend and main- tam constitutional [hed omen: ere free constitu- tional government transmitted to us by our ances- (Great applause.) tors, ee SOHN QUINCY ADAMS AT HONE. I do not 6 ia, but he He Reviews His Southern Visit—A Graphic Vindication of the Rights of Southerners— A Sound Summum Bonum—“‘Let Us Be Friends.” [From the Boston Post, Oct. 23.) Df aM 22, 1968. The democratic and conservative citizens of Wey- moutn and the adjoining towns held a most enthusi- astic and su 1 ma io the Town Hall this ee a ig ohn Qui a of 3 Ed Every, of Bratt and P. W. Cron! of Weymouth. Notwithstanding tho severe storm, which rendered the roads almost im le, the people turned out in large numbers. ties te sion was formed of the Seymour gnd Blair clubs of Quincy and East eee torches, mott and transparencies, which pi led tho WB ie strects, en route to the hall. The South Weymouth band was stationed in the galleries, and its stirring music lent an additional attraction to the occasion. ‘The scene was still further enlivened by the presence of many ladics, ‘The assemblage was called to order by L. H. Loud, and was presided over by og Raymond, Jr., can- didate for Senator, assist by thirty-seven Vice Presidents and three Secreta: Mr. Raymona made a few patriotic remarks on ac- cepting his position, closing by the introduction of Mr, P, A. Coilins. Mr. Collins was warmly received and made an elo- quent address, in which he exposed the ominous —, of the republican party and showed the ne- cessity of a change in the administration of public affairs in order to save the country. He was fre- quently greeted with applause and retired after hav- ing made a marked impression on his hearers, The President then, amid the most vociferous cheering, introduced ‘Mr, John Quincy Adams, who spoke as follows SPRROH OF MR, ADAMS. MR. PRESIDENT, MY FRIENDS AND NBIGHBORS:— You must not expect me to makea speech, forl have none to make—in fact I have got none made— but as [look around me and see many friendl, familar it occurs to me that after all 1 should like to say afew words in an off-hand and friendly way a8 one neighvor talks to another about the ex- rience I have had in the course of the last two or hree weeks. As you all know I have made a little trip to the South during that time. I wished to see What a reconstructed State was, and I went to South Carolina for that pur; 1 have come back with this conviction, Mee I do not know how the other conservative citizens of the Union may feel about it, 1 never intend to stop, to relax for one moment in the heartiest, most earnest and most honest efforts I can make to remove all such “blessings” as reconstruction from the necks ‘of every one of my fellow citizens. (Loud applause ) The issue in this campaign to me is Cy this and nothing more, Keconstruction, as you know, is the radical constitution. It is the only constitution now im ten States of the Union, and what is it? It is simply this—the rule of the military and nothing else, In order that it may not jar too much upon the nerves of a repuvlican le to see eight millions of their feliow citizens held down by the bayonet, the; have brought in a great mass of three or four mil- lions of poor, ignorant, degraded black men, and set them up in a row, a3it were, across the Southern States, and because they think you cannot see the bayonet behind them, they say, “That Is a republi- can form of government.” How republican? What ig this republican form of governmeit? Why look at the condition of those Staies, Su) pose that almost ail tie voters in this Commonwealth should suddenly be deprived of tue franchise and in (heir place it was bestowed upon aset of men who were entirely ignorant of the value and responsibility of the voting pore who knew nothing about any of the principles in regard to which they were voting. Suppose such a class of men were to be put over you, of course you would not like it; you would feel | ‘uncomfortal @ and diss , and you would not sur fer their rule if you could help it. Yet this is pre- | wee 2 condition in which South Carolina is to- lay. Sho 18 people were left to themselves, Would have no more chance of holding the offices of your veri ment they now hold than I should of bein elected ing of Great Britain in place ot Queen Victoria, if I were to go to England to-morrow. (Laughter.) And these officiais having no hold upon the esteem of the people, as = eau Lal down tuere in i exproasiv ough silghtly ee | aw: an “carpol-baggers”’ cannot command any of their re- 8) and confidence, The consequence of this is that they have to be guppurted in their pinces oy the bayonets of United States soldiers. And as there Gre not United States soldiers enough at the South to keop the peop.e entirely “contented,” nor enough to make the government thorough!y ‘‘democratic,"’ #0 every day or two they are calliug for more soldiers in order to support these kha “democratic” and “repubiican’’ rnments, al that 18 reconstraction! My Southern democratic friends down there greeted me in may which I shail never forzet to wy dying day, The kindn the warmth, the consideration, the order which they sbowed in welcoming any Northeruer, cavecialiy foverned by @ set of men who, if the | | 12 they f Ea ore ht; that they you as hard they could; and when war Ad for, fread whip them; we quered what we demanded during the war, longer, ‘and ‘au they’ asked was roa, Kindness, What from us at ia 4 deserved North was mercy, the of kindness, good f ship and brotherly love. (Loud applause.) Want no more contest, no more ili blood; the; merely to sake hands, say! We fough the fight is done let us be 1 ing of the mass of the whole people I met at the South, I saw no unkindness, no sort of feeling indl- cating unkindness towards of the peopie at the North. That they may be treated in decency 0g Kindness they do ask, and that is what I are every one of you to labor for. (Applause. is the tung, it seems to me, that we need North as much as they need it at the South. Al that they ask and all that the democratic party at the North seek to accomplish is that we may be allows to come together once more in peace and amity, that this incubus of reconstruction may be taken the people; that these soldiers may be taken away from between us, and that we—all of us—once may feel—North as well a8 South, white man as as black man—the paneelg of a union under the oft jatem of governmen sti ‘damn retired amid the greatest enthusiasm and most tumultuous cheers, He was foliowed By Edward Avery, of Bi and P. M. Cronin, of Weymouth, both of whom made stirring appeals to the democracy to keep step to the music of the Union and march on confidently, wit renewed Hones of yistows, Their remarks elicited reine macoting. Maioovtt ed ub nall-past ten o'clock with nine rousing cheers for the candidates of the de- mocracy. . A, J, ROGERS IN JERSEY CITY, R38 The Negre Suffrage and the Financial Ques tions. A democratic mass meeting was held last evening at the corner of Jersey and Newark avenues, Jersey city, and afterwards at the Catholic Institute. The principal speaker was Mr. A. J. Rogers, who on ; being called upon fora speech commenced by tn- ; forming his hearers that Cain and Abel having disa- greed it was not strange that men should disagree ‘ upon the great political questions now agitating the country. ‘The masses of both parties are honest and had they not been deceived by dishonest leaders it Would be well with the United States at this time. It is wrong to abuse and villify the candidates of the opposite party. General Grant {s entitled to our re~ spect, and we should pees accord to him all due mfl- ry honor and glory. ( eers.) Men are as nothit but panics are undying things. Mr, Rogers then touched upon negro suffrage, and gave it as hig Opinion that however well educated, the negroca wouid never be able to hold their own with white men. Speaking of taxation he said, in 1867 the cost of running the machinery of the federal government Was about $560,000,000. ‘This was in a time of peace, In 1860, under a democratic administration, the cost was about $70,000,000 and our customs paid six- sevenths of that sum. of Prloune) From June 30, setts x June 30, be wont pee of the na- nal ay 4 ts Wi exceeds by some $il, te) the ’ amount paid from the beginning of the war of independence to the outbreak of the Southern rebellion, The civil expenses of 1867 were $170,000,000 more than 1861, time of war. The national debt amonnts : to almost $2,600,000,000, and our State, county, city arand Dla fay "Si ay See Engl , x 000, exceedsithe Eational debt by’ $1,000, 00,000, England was two hundred years accumulating her debt. The radicala were only five over our debt. Since the war ended it has cost $1,600,000,000 to run the government, The expenses of the Army and wines Departments 1m 1867 were $5,500,000 more than during the first year of the war. The expenses of these two de] ments in 1867 were $44,000,000 more in 1866, During Poik’s administration, which includes the period of the Mexican war the oe of the War vepartment were $90,540,788. The ex- ay of the same Department for the year ending july 1, 1868, the third year of peace, were $128,854,- 494, or over $38,000,000 more during one year of peace than they were during four years of democra- tic rule, with the Mexican war on our hands, The interest on tile federal debt amounts to $132,225,000, That of the English debt is $130,000,000. The debt of France is pees the interest being $! ¢ 090, Thus we Und }2,000,000 more interest per year, than England and $52,000,000 more than France. In 1867 the taxes im} on the four million te 1 Gr of New cig amountea b Dg, each sen herpes and child. = is og dte _ Sieg r ‘ag the tax upon the people of Great Brit four and a half times as much as the French tax and at least twelve timea greater than that of Ri What is our credit? ‘The standard of a nation Judged by its credit. Our paper money is, on the average, forty-five per cent er Gold bear- ing bonds of the Keath Ip Me lon, which are gold, sell in han it bel selling for per cent and a Canadi bond for four per cent shove Das 4g taxation pay the federal and State debts? Unequal tax: ‘was one of the principal causes of the Revolutio! war. Our platform ful lause.) Our platform also demands one ot for the government and the people, the orer ana ' the office holder, the pensioner and the soldier, producweana the bondholder, and obligations of the government do not ex. pressly state, or where the law under wi were issued does not vide that they be paid in coin, ti ought in it pd justice to be paid it the lawful'money of the nited States. The five-twenty bonds are cl Payabie in legal tender, and it fs nonsense to talk ‘pay them in gold. They were bought with should be paid with and they should Paid as soon as posail save interest. Our op} ents say the bondholders we: FS. lots in ing the government in time ot neck the sotdiore Must be more 80 for the same eo Mr. Rogers hi) loudly ap! at the lusion of his PENNSYLVANIA. OMcial Returns of the Late Election. arid 9g _gosemgene: 52) rt mere SPEEEETTY cea SceaeESe: 353) 921818122) 11 ” lootamena s8 mx S: ee = = S. Er tt adi ize: nom 50 pose 588 : or 3 39. Saye ag anasesasaeza, 3 2: S 3 - e828 ai aoa PS =e 282 noms som arecr to Ly cd Zi 3 Fai Mo thampton Northumberland. Perry ae ros. = Ee: 2: 4 +2. 38s Se: Fa ae gizits ee25 nee Pees Ano to Be Contested. PHILADBLPATA, Pa., Oct. 23, 1968, Legal proceedings were commenced this morning in the Court of Common Pleas to contest the 1 election in this ciuy, The repupiican candidates District Atiorney, Recetyer of Taxes and the Pro- thonotary of the Court of Common Pleas filed proj pe) ‘and notice was at once given to op; cat a jes. ‘These offices are required to bo contested within ten days after the election. Other oitices, auch Mayor, Solicitor Commisstoner, *% are allo’ twenty days to filo \speoltoations, hese are not ‘being prepared and be presented in due tima.