{
  "schema": "tga.work.v1",
  "identifier": "dresden:vol-9:eight-to-seven-address",
  "slug": "eight-to-seven-address",
  "title": "Eight to Seven Address",
  "subtitle": "On the Electoral Commission, Tremont Temple, Boston.",
  "excerpt": "A defense of the Electoral Commission's 8-to-7 decision in the Hayes-Tilden contest of 1877 — delivered at Tremont Temple, Boston, to a crowd that packed the city.",
  "year": 1877,
  "volume": 9,
  "category": "Political",
  "author": {
    "name": "Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "wikidata": "Q360326",
    "viaf": "44331023"
  },
  "isPartOf": {
    "title": "The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "edition": "Dresden Edition",
    "publisher": "C. P. Farrell",
    "year": 1900
  },
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
  "url": "https://thegreatagnostic.com/works/eight-to-seven-address/",
  "wordCount": 8557,
  "body": "(On the Electoral Commission.)\n  • The reputation of Col. Robert G. Ingersoll had taken\n    possession of the Boston mind to such an extent that his\n    expected address was spoken of as \"The Lecture.\" People\n    talked about going to it, as If on that night all other\n    places were to be closed, and the whole population of the\n    City turned into Tremont Temple. Long before the appointed\n    hour a rare audience, for even lecture loving Boston, had\n    assembled. Col. Ingersoll stepped upon the platform preceded\n    by Governor Rice, and followed by William Lloyd Garrison,\n    James T. Fields and others. After the presentation of two\n    large and exquisite bouquets Governor Rice introduced\n    Colonel Ingersoll, and the audience, the most acute and\n    determined looking I ever saw In Boston, poured out their\n    welcome! It seemed as if all the cheers that had been\n    suppressed between the first of November and the decision of\n    the Electoral Commission, found vent at that moment and the\n    vigorous clapping was renewed and prolonged until it became\n    an unmistakable salute to the recent brilliant campaigning\n    of the great Western orator. It is hardly possible to speak\n    in too high terms of the lecture which, under the title of\n    \"8 to 7,\" contained a witty, philosophical and intensely\n    patriotic review of the political contest preceding and\n    following the recent election, with wise and timely\n    suggestions for preventing similar perils in the future.—\n    Boston, October 22nd,1877.\n\n1877.\n\nI HAVE sometimes wondered whether our country was to be forever governed\nby parties full of hatred, full of malice, full of slander. I have\nsometimes wondered whether or not in the future there would not be\ndiscovered such a science as the science of government. I do not know\nwhat you think, but what little I do know, and what little experience\nhas been mine, is, I must admit, against it. We have passed through the\nmost remarkable campaign of our history—a campaign remarkable in every\nrespect.\n\nIt was bitter, passionate, relentless and desperate, and I admit, for\none, that I added to its bitterness and relentlessness. I told, and\nfrankly told, my real, honest opinion of the Democratic party of the\nNorth. I told, and cheerfully told, my opinion of the Democratic party\nof the South. And I have nothing to take back. But, to show you that my\nheart is not altogether wicked; I am willing to forgive and do forgive\nwith all my heart, every person and every party that I ever said\nanything against. I believe that the campaign of 1876 was the\nturning-point, the midnight in the history of the American Republic.\n\nI believe, and firmly believe, that if the Democratic party had swept\ninto power, it would have been the end of progress, and the end of what\nI consider human liberty, beneath our flag. I felt so, and I went into\nthe campaign simply because the rights of American citizens in at least\nsixteen States of the Union were trampled under foot. I did what little\nI could. I am glad I did it. We had, as I say, a wonderful campaign, and\neach party said and did about all that could be said and done. Everybody\nattended to politics. Business was suspended. Everything was given\nover to processions and torches, and flags and transparencies; and\nresolutions and conventions and speeches and songs. Old arguments were\nrevamped. Old stories were pressed into service. The old story of\nthe Rebellion was told again and again. The memories of the war were\nrevived. The North was arrayed against the South as though upon the\nfield of battle. Party cries were heard on every hand. Each party leaped\nlike a tiger upon the reputation of the other, and tore with tooth and\nclaw, with might and main, to the very end of the campaign.\n\nI felt that it was necessary to arouse the North. I felt that it was\nnecessary to tell again the story of the Rebellion, from Bull Run to\nAppomattox. I felt that it was necessary to describe what the Southern\npeople were doing with Union men, and with colored men; and I felt it\nnecessary so to describe it that the people of the North could hear the\nwhips, and could hear the drops of blood as they fell upon the withered\nleaves. I did all I could to arouse the people of the North. I did all I\ncould to prevent the Democratic party from getting into power. The first\nmorning after the election, the Democracy had a banquet of joy, but\nall through the feast they saw sitting at the head of the table the\ndim outline of the skeleton of defeat. And, when the tide turned,\nRepublicans rejoiced with a face ready at any moment to express the\nprofoundest grief. Then came despatches and rumors, and estimated\nmajorities, and vague talk about Returning Boards, and intimidating\nvoters, and stuffed ballot boxes, and fraudulent returns, and bribed\nclerks, and injunctions, and contempts of courts, and telegrams in\ncipher, and outrages, and octoroon balls in which reverend Senators\nwere whirled in love's voluptuous waltz. Everybody discussed the\nqualifications of Electors and the value of Governors' certificates, and\nhow to get behind returns, and how to buy an Elector, and who had the\nright to count; and persons expecting offices of trust, honor and profit\nbegan to threaten war and extermination, calls were made for a hundred\nthousand men, and there were no end of meetings, and resolutions and\ndenunciations, and the downfall of the country was prophesied; and yet,\nnotwithstanding all this, the name of the person who really was elected\nremained unknown. The last scene of this strange, eventful history, so\nfar as the election by the people was concerned, was Cronin. I see him\nnow as he leaves the land \"where rolls the Oregon and hears no sound\nsave his own dashings.\" Cronin, the last surviving veteran of the grand\narmy of \"honesty and reform.\" Cronin, a quorum of one. Cronin, who\nelected the two others by a plurality of his own vote.\n\nI see him now, armed with Hoadley's opinion and Grover's certificate,\ntrudging wearily and drearily over the wide and wasted saleratus deserts\nof the West, with a little card marked \"S. J. T. i5 G. P.\"\n\nThen came the great question of who shall count the electoral vote. The\nVice-President being a Republican, it was generally contended, at least\nby me, that he had a right to count that vote. My doctrine was, if the\nVice-President would count the vote right, he had the right to count it.\n\nThe Vice-President not being a Democrat, the members of that party\nclaimed that the House could prevent the Vice-President from counting\nit, and this was simply because the House was not Republican. Nearly all\ndecided according to their politics. The Constitution is a little blind\non this point, and where anything is blind I always see it my way.\nIt was about this time that some of the Democrats began to talk about\nbringing one hundred thousand unarmed men to Washington to superintend\nthe count. Others, however, got up a scheme to create, a court in the\nUnited States where politics should have no earthly influence. Nothing\ncould be easier, they thought, after we had gone through such a hot and\nexciting campaign, than to pick out men who have no prejudices whatever\non the subject. Finally a bill was passed creating a tribunal to count\nthe vote, if any, and hear testimony, if any, and declare what man had\nbeen elected President, if any. This tribunal consisted of fifteen men,\nten being chosen on account of their politics—five from the Senate\nand five from the House,—and they chose four judges from purely\ngeographical considerations. I was there, and I know exactly how it was.\nThose four men were picked with a map of the United States in front of\nthe pickers. The Democrats chose Justice Field, not because he was a\nDemocrat, but because he lived on the Pacific slope. They chose Justice\nClifford, not because he was a Democrat, but because he lived on the\nEastern slope; that was fair. Thereupon the Republicans chose Justice\nStrong, not because he was a Republican, but because he lived on the\nEastern slope. You can see the point. The Republicans chose Justice\nMiller, not because he was a Republican, but because he represented the\ngreat West. They then allowed these four to select a fifth man.\n\nWell, it was impossible to select the fifth man from geographical\nconsiderations, you can see that yourselves. There was nothing left to\nchoose between, you know, as far as geography was concerned. They then\nagreed that they would not take a Justice from any State in which the\ncandidate for President lived. They left out Justice Hunt, from New\nYork, and Justice Swayne, from Ohio. They knew of course that that would\nnot influence them, but they did that simply—well, they did not want\nthem there; that was all, and it would be unhandy to pick one man out of\nfour. So they left Swayne and Hunt out. And then they would pick one\nman as between Justice Bradley and Justice Davis. Just at that time the\npeople of the State of Illinois happened to be out of a Senator, and\nJudge Davis was there and expressed a willingness to go to the Senate.\nAnd the people of the State of Illinois elected him, and therefore\nthere was nobody to choose from except Justice Bradley, and he was a\nRepublican.\n\nNow, you know this runs in families. His record was good—by marriage.\nHe married a daughter of Chief Justice Hornblower, of New Jersey. Now,\nHornblower was what you might call a partisan. Do you know they went to\nhim—it was in the old times, and he was a kind of Whig,—they went to\nhim with a petition, in the State of New Jersey, a petition addressed to\nthe Legislature for the abolition of capital punishment, and Hornblower\nsaid, \"I'll be damned if I sign it while there is a Democrat in the\nState of New Jersey.\"\n\nAs a matter of fact, however, I believe that Justice Bradley and all the\nother Justices, and all other persons on that tribunal decided as they\nhonestly thought was right.\n\nJudge Davis is as broad mentally as he is physically; he has an\nimmensity of common sense, and as much judgment as any one man ever\nneeds to use, and, in my judgment, he would have come to the same\nconclusion as Judge Bradley, precisely. These men were appointed—it\nwas a Democratic scheme, and I am glad they got it up—and during that\nentire investigation, so much were the members of that party controlled\nby old associations and habits, and by partisan feeling that there was\nnot a solitary one of the seven Democrats that ever once voted on the\nRepublican side. And, as a necessity, the Republicans had to stand\ntogether. And so, notwithstanding the seven Democrats voted constantly\ntogether, the eight Republicans kept having a majority of one, until the\nlast disputed State was given against the great party of \"honesty and\nreform.\" And, finally, when they found they were defeated, they made\nup their minds to prevent the counting of the vote. They made up their\nminds to wear out the session and prevent the election of a President.\nJust at that point, for a wonder, (nothing ever astonished me more), the\nmembers from the South said: \"We do not want any more war; we have had\nwar enough and we say that a President shall be peacefully elected, and\nthat he shall be peacefully inaugurated!\" As soon as I heard that I felt\nunder a little obligation to the Democracy of the South, and when they\nstood in the gap and prevented the Democracy of the North from plunging\nthis Government into the hell of civil war, I felt like taking them by\nthe hand and saying, \"We have beaten the enemy once, let us keep on. Let\nus join hands.\" I felt like saying to the Democracy of the South, \"You\nnever will have a day's prosperity in the South until you join the\ngreat, free, progressive party of the North—never!\" And they never\nwill.\n\nNow, I say, I felt as though I were under a certain obligation to these\npeople. They prevented this thing, and they made it possible for the\nVice-President to declare Rutherford B. Hayes President of the United\nStates. Now, right here, I want you to observe that this shows the real\ndefects in our system of government. In the first place, our Government\nis being governed by fraud. If the very fountain of power is poisoned by\nfraud, then the whole Government is impure. We must find out some way\nto prevent fraudulent voting in the United States or our Government is\na failure. Great cities were the mothers of election frauds. They\ninaugurated violence and intimidation. They produced the repeaters\nand the false boxes. They invented fan-tail tickets and pasters, and\ngradually these delightful and patriotic arts and practices have spread\nover almost the entire country.\n\nUnless something is done to preserve the purity of the ballot-box our\nform of government must cease. The fountain of power is poisoned.\nThe sovereignty of the people is stolen and destroyed. The Government\nbecomes organized fraud, and all respect will soon be lost for the\nlaws and decisions of the courts. The legislators are elected in many\ninstances by fraud. The judges are in many instances chosen by fraud.\nEvery department of the Government becomes tainted and corrupt. It is\nno longer a Republic, unless something can be devised to ascertain with\ncertainty the really honest will of the sovereign people.\n\nFor the accomplishment of this object the good and patriotic men of all\nparties should most heartily unite. To cast an illegal vote should\nbe considered by all as a crime. We must if possible get rid of the\nmob—the vagrants, the vagabonds who have no home and who take no\ninterest in the cities where they vote. We must get rid of the rich\nmob too; and by the rich mob I mean the men who buy up these vagabonds.\nVarious States have passed laws for the registration of voters; but they\nall leave wide open all the doors of fraud. Men are allowed to vote if\nthey have been for one year in the State, and thirty or sixty days in\nthe ward or precinct; and when they have failed to have their names\nregistered before the day of election, they can avoid the effect of\nthis neglect by making a few affidavits, certified to by reputable\nhouseholders. Of course all necessary affidavits are made, with hundreds\nand thousands to spare. My idea is that the period of registration, in\nthe first place, is too short, and, in the second place, no way\nshould be given by which they can vote unless they have been properly\nregistered, affidavit or no affidavit. Every man, when he goes into a\nward or precinct, should be registered. It should be his duty to see\nthat he is registered. Officers should be kept for that purpose, and he\nshould never be allowed to cast a vote until he has been registered\nat least one year. Sixty days, say, or thirty days—sixty would be\nbetter—sixty days before the election the registry lists should be\ncorrected, and every citizen should have the right to enter a complaint\nor objection as against any name found upon that list. Thirty days,\nor twenty days before the election, that list should be published\nand should be exposed in several public places in each ward and each\nprecinct, and upon the day of election no man should be allowed to\nvote whose name was not upon the registry list. Our wards and precincts\nshould be made smaller, so that people can vote without violence,\nwithout wasting an entire day, so that the honest business man that\nwishes to cast his ballot for the Government of his choice can walk\nto the polls like a gentleman and deposit his vote and go about his\naffairs. Allow me to say that unless some such plan is adopted in\nthe United States, there never will be another fair election in this\ncountry. During the last campaign all the arts and artifices of the\ncity, all the arts and artifices of the lowest wards were spread over\nthis entire country, and unless something is done to preserve the purity\nof the ballot-box, and guard the sovereign will of the people, we will\ncease to be a Republican Government.\n\nAnother thing—and I cannot say it too often—fraud at the ballot-box\nundermines all respect in the minds of the people for the Government.\nWhen they are satisfied that the election is a fraud they despise the\nofficers elected. When they are satisfied it is a fraud, they despise\nthe law made by the legislators. When they are satisfied it is a fraud,\nthey hold in utter contempt the decisions of our highest and most august\ntribunals.\n\nAnother trouble in this country is that our terms of office are too\nshort. Our elections are too frequent. They interfere with the business\nof our country. When elections are so frequent, men make a business\nof politics. If they fail to get one office they immediately run for\nanother, and they keep running until the people elect them for the\nsimple purpose of getting rid of the annoyance. Lengthen the terms,\npurify the ballot, and the present scramble for office will become\ncontests for principles. A man who cannot get a living—unless he\nhas been disabled in the service of his country or from some other\ncause—without holding office, is not fit for an office.\n\nA professional office-seeker is one of the meanest, and lowest, and\nbasest of human beings—a little higher than the lower animals and a\nlittle lower than man. He has no earthly or heavenly independence; not a\nparticle; not a particle. A successful office-seeker is like the center\nof the earth; he weighs nothing himself, and draws all things towards\nthe office he wants. He has not even a temper. You cannot insult him.\nShut the door in his face, and, so far as he is concerned, it is left\nwide open, and you are standing on the threshold with a smile, extending\nthe hand of welcome. He crawls and cringes and flatters and lies and\nswaggers and brags and tells of the influence he has in the ward he\nlives in. We cannot too often repeat that splendid saying, \"The office\nshould seek the man, not man the office.\" If you will lengthen the\nterm of office it will be so long between meals that he will have to do\nsomething else or starve. Adopt the system of registration, as I have\nsuggested; have small and convenient election districts, so that, as I\nsaid before, the honest, law-abiding, and peaceable citizen can attend\nthe polls; so that he will not be compelled to risk his life to deposit\nhis ballot that will be stolen or thrown out, or forced to keep the\ncompany of ballots caused by fraudulent violence. Lengthen the term of\noffice, drive the professional hunter and seeker of office from the\nfield, and you will go far toward strengthening and vivifying and\npreserving the fabric of the Constitution. That is the kind of civil\nservice reform I am in favor of, and as I am on that subject, I will say\na word about it. There is but one vital question—but one question of\nreal importance—in fact I might say in the whole world, and that is\nthe great question of Civil Service Reform. There may be some others\nindirectly affecting the human race, and in which some people take a\nlanguid kind of interest, but the only question worth discussing and\ncomprehending in all its phases is the one I have mentioned. This great\nquestion is in its infancy still. The doctrine as yet has been applied\nonly to politics.*\n  • Colonel Ingersoll then read the following letter, of which\n    he was the author.\n\nMy Dear Sir:—In the olden times, during the purer days of the Republic,\nthe motto was, \"To the victors belong the spoils.\" The great object of\ncivil service reform is to reverse this motto. Our people are thoroughly\ndisgusted with machine politics, and demand politics without any\nmachine.\n\nIn every precinct and ward there are persons going about lauding one\nparty and crying down the other. They make it their business to attend\nto the affairs of the Nation. They call conventions, pass resolutions;\nthey put notices in papers of the times and places of meetings; they\nselect candidates for office, and then insist upon having them elected;\nthey distribute papers and political documents; they crowd the mails\nwith newspapers, platforms, resolutions, facts and figures, and with\neverything calculated to help their party and hurt the other. In short,\nthey are the disturbers of the public peace.\n\nThey keep the community in a perpetual excitement. In the last campaign,\nwherever they were was turmoil. They fired cannon, carried flags,\ntorches and transparencies; they subsidized brass bands, and shouted and\nhurrahed as though the world had gone insane. They were induced to do\nthese things by the hope of success and office. Take away this hope and\nthere will be peace once more. This thing is unendurable. The staid,\nthe quiet and respectable people, the moderate and conservative men who\nalways have an idea of joining the other side just to show their candor,\nare heartily tired of the entire performance. These gentlemen demand\na rest. They are not adventurers; they have incomes; they belong to\nfamilies; they have monograms and liveries. They have succeeded, and\nthey want quiet. Growth makes a noise; development, as they call it,\nis nothing but disturbance. We want stability, we want political\npetrifaction, and we therefore demand that these meetings shall be\ndismissed, that these processions shall halt, that these flags shall be\nfurled. But these things never will be stopped until we stop paying men\nwith office for making these disturbances. You know that it has been\nthe habit for men elected to bestow political favors upon the men\nwho elected them. This is a crying shame. It is a kind of bribery and\ncorruption. Men should not work with the expectation of reward and\nsuccess. The frightful consequences of rewarding one's friends cannot be\ncontemplated by a true patriot without a shudder. Exactly the opposite\ncourse is demanded by the great principle of civil service reform. There\nis no patriotism in working for place, for power and success. The true\nlover of his country is stimulated to action by the hope of defeat,\nand the prospect of office for his opponent. To such an extent has the\npernicious system of rewarding friends for political services gone in\nthis country, that until very lately it was difficult for a member of\nthe defeated party to obtain a respectable office.\n\nThe result of all this is, that the country is divided, that these\ndivisions are kept alive by these speakers, writers and convention\ncallers. The great mission of civil service reform is not to do\naway with parties, but with conflicting opinion, by taking from all\npoliticians the hope of reward. There is no other hope for peace. What\ndo the people know about the wants of the nation? There are in every\ncommunity a few quiet and respectable men, who know all about the wants\nof the people—gentlemen who have retired from business, who take no\npart in discussion and who are therefore free from prejudice. Let these\nmen attend to our politics. They will not call conventions, except\nin the parlors of hotels. They will not put out our eyes with flaring\ntorches. They will not deafen us with speeches. They will carry on a\ncampaign without producing opposition. They will have elections but no\ncontests. All the offices will be given to the defeated party. This of\nitself will insure tranquillity at the polls. No one will be deprived of\nthe privilege of casting a ballot. When campaigns are conducted in this\nmanner a gentleman can engage in politics with a feeling that he is\nprotected by the great principle of civil service reform. But just so\nlong as men persist in rewarding their friends, as they call them, just\nso long will our country be cursed with political parties. Nothing can\nbe better calculated to preserve the peace than the great principle of\nrewarding those who have confidence enough in our institutions to keep\nsilent while peace will sit with folded wings upon the moss-covered\npolitical stump of a ruder age. I am satisfied that to civil service\nreform the Republican party is indebted for the last great victory. Upon\nthis question the enthusiasm of the people was simply unbounded. In\nthe harvest field, the shop, the counting-room, in the church, in the\nsaloon, in, the palace and in the hut, nothing was heard and nothing\ndiscussed except the great principle of civil service reform.\n\nAmong the most touching incidents of the campaign was to see a few\nold soldiers, sacred with scars, sit down, and while battles and\nhair-breadth escapes, and prisons of want, were utterly forgotten,\ndiscuss with tremulous lips and tearful eyes the great question of civil\nservice reform.\n\nDuring the great political contest I addressed several quite large\nand intelligent audiences, and no one who did not has or can have the\nslightest idea of the hold that civil service reform had upon the\nvery souls of our people. Upon all other subjects the indifference was\nmarked. I dwelt upon the glittering achievements of my party, but they\nwere indifferent. I pictured outrages perpetrated upon our citizens, but\nthey did not care. All this went idly by, but when I touched upon\ncivil service reform, old men, gray-haired and strong, broke down\nutterly—tears fell like rain. The faces of women grew ashen with the\nintensity of anguish, and even little children sobbed as though their\nhearts would break. To one who has witnessed these affecting scenes,\ncivil service reform is almost a sacred thing. Even the speeches\ndelivered upon this subject in German affected to tears thousands of\npersons wholly unacquainted with that language. In some instances those\nwho did not understand a word were affected even more than those who\ndid. Surely there must be something in the subject itself, apart from\nthe words used to explain it, that can under such circumstances lead\ncaptive the hearts of men. During the entire campaign the cry of civil\nservice reform was heard from one end of our land to the other. The\nsailor nailed those words to the mast. The miner repeated them between\nthe strokes of the pick. Mothers explained them to their children.\nEmigrants painted them upon their wagons. They were mingled with the\nreaper's song and the shout of the pioneer. Adopt this great principle\nand we can have quiet and lady-like campaigns, a few articles in monthly\nmagazines, a leader or two in the \"Nation,\" in the pictorial papers\nwood-cuts of the residences of the respective candidates and now and\nthen a letter from an old Whig would constitute all the aggressive\nagencies of the contest. I am satisfied that this great principle\nsecured us our victories in Florida and Louisiana, and its effect on\nthe High Joint Commission was greater than is generally supposed. It was\nthis that finally decided the action of the returning boards.\n\nCronin is the only man upon whom this great principle was an utter\nfailure. Let it be understood that friends are not to be rewarded.\nLet it be settled that political services are a barrier to political\npreferment, and my word for it, machine politics will never be heard of\nagain.\n\nYours truly,——\n\nI do not believe in carrying civil service reform to the extent that\nyou will not allow an officer to resign. I do not believe that that\nprinciple should be insisted upon to that degree that there would only\nbe two ways left to get out of office—death or suicide. I believe,\nother things being equal, any party having any office within its gift\nwill give that office to the man that really believes in the principles\nof that party, and who has worked to give those principles ultimate\nvictory. That is human nature. The man that plows, the man that sows,\nand the man that cultivates, ought to be the man that reaps. But we have\nin this country a multitude of little places, a multitude of clerkships\nin Washington; and the question is whether on the incoming of a new\nadministration, these men shall all be turned out. In the first place,\nthey are on starvation salaries, just barely enough to keep soul and\nbody together, and respectability on the outside; and if there is a\nyoung man in this audience, I beg of him:\n\nNever accept a clerkship from this Government. Do not live on a little\nsalary; do not let your mind be narrowed; do not sell all the splendid\npossibilities of the future; do not learn to cringe and fawn and crawl.\n\nI would rather have forty acres of land, with a log cabin on it and the\nwoman I love in the cabin—with a little grassy winding path leading\ndown to the spring where the water gurgles from the lips of earth\nwhispering day and night to the white pebbles a perpetual poem—with\nholly-hocks growing at the corner of the house, and morning-glories\nblooming over the low latched door—with lattice work over the window\nso that the sunlight would fall checkered on the dimpled babe in\nthe cradle, and birds—like songs with wings hovering in the summer\nair—than be the clerk of any government on earth.\n\nNow, I say, let us lengthen the term of office—I do not care much how\nlong—send a man to Congress at least for five years. And it would be a\ngreat blessing if there were not half as many of them sent.\n\nWe have too many legislators and too much legislation; too little about\nimportant matters, and too much about unimportant matters. Lengthen the\nterm of office so that the man can turn his attention to something else\nwhen he gets in besides looking after his re-election. There is another\ndefect we must remedy in our Constitution, in my judgment, and that is\nas to the mode of electing a President. I believe it of the greatest\nimportance that the Executive should be entirely independent of the\nlegislative and judicial departments of the country. I do not believe\nthat Congress should have the right to create a vacancy which it can\nfill. I do not believe that the Senate of the United States, or the\nlower house of Congress, by a simple objection, should have the right to\ndeprive any State of its electoral vote. Our Constitution now provides\nthat the electors chosen in each State shall meet in their respective\nStates upon a certain day and there cast their votes for President and\nVice-President of the United States. They shall properly certify to the\nvotes which are cast, and shall transmit lists of them, together with\nthe proper certificates, to the Vice-President of the United States.\nAnd it is then declared that upon a certain day in the presence of both\nhouses of Congress, the Vice-President shall open the certificates and\nthe votes shall then be counted. It does not exactly say who shall count\nthese votes. It does not in so many words say the Vice-President shall\ndo it, or may do it, or that both houses of Congress shall do it, or may\ndo it, or that either house can prevent a count of the votes. It leaves\nus in the dark, and, to a certain degree, in blindness. I believe there\nis a way, and a very easy way, out of the entire trouble, and it is\nthis: I do not care whether the electors first meet in their respective\nStates or not, but I want the Constitution so amended that the electors\nof all the States shall meet on a certain day in the city of Washington,\nand count the votes themselves; to allow that body to be the judge of\nwho are electors, to allow it to choose a chairman, and to allow\nthe person so chosen to declare who is the President, and who is the\nVice-President of the United States. The Executive is then entirely\nfree and independent of the legislative department of Government. The\nExecutive is then entirely free from the judicial department, and I tell\nyou, it is a public calamity to have the ermine of the Supreme Court\nof the United States touched or stained by a political suspicion. In\nmy judgment, this country can never stand such a strain again as it has\nnow.\n\nNow, my friends, all these questions are upon us and they have to be\nsettled. We cannot go on as we have been going. We cannot afford to live\nas we have lived—one section running against the other. We cannot go\nalong that way. It must be settled, either peaceably or there must again\nbe a resort to the boisterous sword of civil war.\n\nThe people of the South must stop trampling on the rights of the colored\nmen. It must not be a crime in any State of this Union to be a lover of\nthis country. I have seen it stated in several papers lately that it is\nthe duty of each State to protect its own citizens. Well, I know that.\nSuppose that the State does not do it; what then I say? Well, then, say\nthese people, the Governor of the State has the right to call on the\nGeneral Government for assistance. But suppose the Governor will not\ncall for assistance, what then? Then, they tell us, the Legislature can\ndo so by a joint resolution. But suppose the Legislature will not do it,\nwhat then? Then, say these people, it is a defect in the Constitution.\nIn my judgment, that is the absurdest kind of secession. If the State of\nIllinois must protect me, if I have no right to call for the protection\nof the General Government, all I have to say is that my allegiance must\nbelong to the Government that protects me. If Illinois protects me, and\nthe General Government has not the power, then my first allegiance is\ndue to Illinois; and should Illinois unsheathe the sword of civil war,\nI must stand by my State, if that doctrine is true. I say, my first\nallegiance is due to the General Government, and not to the State of\nIllinois, and if the State of Illinois goes out of the Union, I swear to\nyou that I will not. What does the General Government propose to give\nme in exchange for my allegiance? The General Government has a right to\ntake my property. The General Government has a right to take my body\nin its necessary defence. What does that Government propose to give in\nexchange for that right? Protection, or else our Government is a fraud.\nWho has a right to call for the protection of the United States? I say,\nthe citizen who needs it. Can our Government obtain information only\nthrough the official sources? Must our Government wait until the\nGovernment asks the proofs, while the State tramples upon the rights of\nthe citizens? Must it wait until the Legislature calls for assistance\nto help it stop robbing and plundering citizens of the United States? Is\nthat the doctrine and the idea of the Northern Democratic party? It is\nnot mine. A Government that will not protect its citizens is a\ndisgrace to humanity. A Government that waits until a Governor calls—a\nGovernment that cannot hear the cry of the meanest citizen under its\nflag when his rights are being trampled upon, even by citizens of a\nSouthern State—has no right to exist.\n\nIt is the duty of the American citizen to see to it that every State\nhas a Government, not only republican in form, but it is the duty of the\nUnited States to see to it that life, liberty and property are protected\nin each State. If they are not protected, it is the duty of the United\nStates to protect them, if it takes all her military force both upon\nland and upon the sea. The people whose Government cannot always hear\nthe faintest wail of the meanest man beneath its flag have no right to\ncall themselves a nation. The flag that will not protect its protectors\nand defend its defenders is a rag that is not worth the air in which it\nwaves.\n\nHow are we going to do it? Do it by kindness if you can; by conciliation\nif you can, but the Government is bound to try every way until it\nsucceeds. Now, Rutherford B. Hayes was elected President. The Democracy\nwill say, of course, that he never was elected, but that does not make\nany difference. He is President to-day, and all these things are about\nhim to be settled.\n\nWhat shall we do? What can we do? There are two Governors in South\nCarolina and two Legislatures and not one cent of taxes has been\ncollected by either. A dual government would seem to be the most\neconomical in the world. Now, the question for us to decide, the\nquestion to be decided by this administration is, how are we to\nascertain which is the legal Government of the State, and what\ndepartment of the Government has a right to ascertain that fact? Must it\nbe left to Congress? Has the Senate alone the right to determine it?\nCan it be left in any way to the Supreme Court, or shall the Executive\ndecide it himself? I do not say that the Executive has the power to\ndecide that question for himself. I do not say he has not, but I do not\nsay he has. The question, so far as Louisiana and South Carolina are\nconcerned—that question is now in the Senate of the United States.\nGovernor Kellogg is asking for admission as a Senator from the State\nof Louisiana, and the question is to be decided by the Senate first,\nwhether he is entitled to his seat, and that question of course, rests\nupon the one fact—was the Legislature that elected him the legal\nLegislature of the State of Louisiana? It seems to me that when that\nquestion is pending in the Senate of the United States the President has\nnot the right, or at least it would be improper for him to decide it on\nhis own motion, and say this or that Government is the real and legal\nGovernment of the State of Louisiana. But some mode must be adopted,\nsome way must be discovered to settle this question, and to settle it\npeacefully. We are an enlightened people. Force is the last thing that\ncivilized men should resort to. As long as courts can be created, as\nlong as courts of arbitration can be selected, as long as we can reason\nand think, and urge all the considerations of humanity upon each other,\nthere should be no appeal to arms in the United States upon any question\nwhatever. What should the President do? He could only spare twenty-five\nhundred men from the Indian war—that is the same army that has so\nlong been trampling on the rights of the South, the same army that\nthe Democratic Congress wished to reduce, and that army of twenty-five\nhundred men is all he has to spare to protect American citizens in the\nSouthern States. Is there any sentiment in the North that would uphold\nthe Executive in calling for volunteers? Is there any sentiment here\nthat would respond to a call for twenty, fifty, or a hundred thousand\nmen? Is there any Congress to pass the necessary act to pay them if\nthere was?\n\nAnd so the President of the United States appreciated the situation, and\nthe people of the South came to him and said, \"We have had war enough,\nwe have had trouble enough, our country languishes, we have no trade,\nour pockets are empty, something must be done for us, we are utterly and\nperfectly disgusted with the leadership of the Democratic party of the\nNorth. Now, will you let us be your friends?\" And he had the sense to\nsay, \"Yes.\" The President took the right hand of the North, and put it\ninto the right hand of the South and said \"Let us be friends. We parted\nat the cannon's mouth; we were divided by the edge of the glittering\nsword; we must become acquainted again. We are equals. We are all\nfellow-citizens. In a Government of the people, by the people and for\nthe people, there shall not be an outcast class, whether white or\nblack. To this feast, every child of the Republic shall be invited and\nwelcomed.\" It was a grand thing grandly done. If the President succeeds\nin his policy, it will be an immense compliment to his brain. If he\nfails, it will be an equal compliment to his heart. He has opened the\ndoor; he has advanced; he has extended his hand, he has broken the\nsilence of hatred with the words of welcome. Actuated by this broad and\ncatholic spirit he has selected his constitutional advisors, and\nallow me to say right here, the President has the right to select his\nconstitutional advisors to suit himself, and the idea of men endeavoring\nto force themselves or others into the Cabinet of the President,\nagainst, as it were, his will, why I would as soon think of circulating\na petition to compel some woman to marry me.\n\nHe has gathered around him the men he considers the wisest and the best,\nand I say, let us give them a fair chance. I say, let us be honest with\nthe President of the United States and his Cabinet, and give his policy\na fair and honest chance. In order to show his good faith with the\nSouth he chose as a member of his Cabinet an ex-rebel from Tennessee.\nI confess, when I heard of it I did not like it. It did not seem to\nbe exactly what I had been making all this fuss about. But I thought I\nwould be honest about it, and I went and called on Mr. Key, and really\nhe begins already to look a good deal like a Republican. A real honest\nlooking man. And then I said to myself that he had not done much more\nharm than as though he had been a Democrat at the North during those\nfour years, and had cursed and swore instead of fought about it. And so\nI told him \"I am glad you are appointed.\"\n\nAnd I am. Give him a chance, and so far as the whole Cabinet is\nconcerned—I have not the time to go over them one by one now, it is\nperfectly satisfactory to me. The President made up his mind that to\nappoint that man would be to say to the South: \"I do not look upon you\nas pariahs in this Government. I look upon you as fellow-citizens; I\nwant you to wipe forever the color line, or the Union line, from the\nrecords of this Government on account of what has been done heretofore.\"\nWhat are you now? is the only question that should be asked. It was\na strange thing for the President to appoint that man. It was an\nexperiment. It is an experiment. It has not yet been decided, but I\nbelieve it will simply be a proof of the President's wisdom. I can stand\nthat experiment taken in connection with the appointment of Frederick\nDouglass as Marshal of the District of Columbia. I was glad to see\nthat man's appointment. He is a good, patient, stern man. He has been\nfighting for the liberty of his race, and at the same time for our\nliberty. This man has done something for the freedom of my race as well\nas his own. This is no time for war. War settles nothing except the mere\nquestion of strength. That is all war ever did settle. You cannot shoot\nideas into a man with a musket, or with cannon into one of those old\nBourbon Democrats of the North. You cannot let prejudices out of a man\nwith a sword.\n\nThis is the time for reason, for discussion, for compromise. This is the\ntime to repair, to rebuild, to preserve. War destroys. Peace creates.\nWar is decay and death. Peace is growth and life,—sunlight and air. War\nkills men. Peace maintains them. Artillery does not reason; it asserts.\nA bayonet has point enough, but no logic. When the sword is drawn,\nreason remains in the scabbard. It is not enough to win upon the field\nof battle, you must be victor within the realm of thought. There must be\npeace between the North and South some time; not a conquered peace, but\na peace that conquers. The question is, can you and I forget the past?\nCan we forget everything except the heroic sacrifices of the men who\nsaved this Government? Can we say to the South, \"Let us be brothers\"?\nCan we? I am willing to do it because, in the first place, it is right,\nand in the second place, it will pay if it can be carried out. We have\nfought and hated long enough. Our country is prostrate. Labor is in\nrags. Energy has empty hands. Industry has empty pockets. The wheels of\nthe factory are still. In the safe of prudence money lies idle, locked\nby the key of fear. Confidence is what we need—confidence in each\nother; confidence in our institutions; confidence in our form of\ngovernment; in the great future; confidence in law, confidence in\nliberty, confidence in progress, and in the grand destiny of the Great\nRepublic. Now, do not imagine that I think this policy will please\nevery body. Of course there are men South and North who can never be\nconciliated. They are the Implacables in the South—the Bourbons in the\nNorth.\n\nNothing will ever satisfy them. The Implacables want to own negroes\nand whip them; the Bourbons never will be satisfied until they can help\ncatch one. The Implacables with violent hands drive emigration from\ntheir shores. They are poisoning the springs and sources of prosperity.\nThey dine on hatred and sup on regret. They mourn over the lost cause\nand partake of the communion of revenge. They strike down the liberties\nof their fellow-citizens and refuse to enjoy their own. They remember\nnothing but wrongs, and they forget nothing but benefits. Their bosoms\nare filled with the serpents of hate. No one can compromise with them.\nNothing can change them. They must be left to the softening influence\nof time and death. The Bourbons are the allies of the Implacables. A\nBourbon in the majority is an Implacable in the minority. An Implacable\nin the minority is a Bourbon. We do not appeal to, but from these men.\nBut there are in the South thousands of men who have accepted in good\nfaith the results of the war; men who love and wish to preserve this\nnation, men tired of strife—men longing for a real Union based upon\nmutual respect and confidence. These men are willing that the colored\nman shall be free—willing that he shall vote, and vote for the\nGovernment of his choice—willing that his children shall be\neducated—willing that he shall have all the rights of an American\ncitizen. These men are tired of the Implacables and disgusted with the\nBourbons. These men wish to unite with the patriotic men of the North in\nthe great work of reestablishing a government of law. For my part, call\nme of what party you please, I am willing to join hands with these men,\nwithout regard to race, color or previous condition.\n\nWith a knowledge of our wants—with a clear perception of our\ndifficulties, Rutherford B. Hayes became President.\n\nNations have been saved by the grandeur of one man. Above all things a\nPresident should be a patriot. Party at best is only a means—the good\nof the country, the happiness of the people, the only end.\n\nNow, I appeal to you Democrats here—not a great many, I suppose—do\nnot oppose this policy because you think it is going to increase the\nRepublican strength. If it strengthens the Government, no matter whether\nit is Republican or Democratic, it is for the common good.\n\nAnd you Republicans, you who have had all these feelings of patriotism\nand glory, I ask you to wait and let this experiment be tried. Do not\nprophesy failure for it and then work to fulfill the prophecy. Give the\nPresident a chance. I tell you to-night that he is as good a Republican\nas there is in the United States; and I tell you that if this policy is\nnot responded to by the South, Rutherford B. Hayes will change it,\njust as soon and as often as is necessary to accomplish the end. The\nPresident has offered the Southern people the olive branch of peace,\nand so far as I am concerned, I implore both the Southern people and\nthe Northern people to accept it. I extend to you each and all the olive\nbranch of peace. Fellow-citizens of the South, I beseech you to take it.\nBy the memory of those who died for naught; by the charred remains of\nyour remembered homes; by the ashes of your statesman dead; for the sake\nof your sons and your daughters and their fair children yet to be,\nI implore you to take it with loving and with loyal hands. It will\ncultivate your wasted fields. It will rebuild your towns and cities. It\nwill fill your coffers with gold. It will educate your children. It\nwill swell the sails of your commerce. It will cause the roses of joy\nto clamber and climb over the broken cannon of war. It will flood the\ncabins of the freedman with light, and clothe the weak in more than coat\nof mail, and wrap the poor and lowly in \"measureless content.\" Take it.\nThe North will forgive if the South will forget. Take it! The negro\nwill wipe from the tablet of memory the strokes and scars of two hundred\nyears, and blur with happy tears the record of his wrongs. Take it! It\nwill unite our nation. It will make us brothers once again. Take it! And\njustice will sit in your courts under the outspread wings of Peace. Take\nit! And the brain and lips of the future will be free. Take it! It will\nbud and blossom in your hands and fill your land with fragrance and with\njoy.\n"
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