History of the Indiana democracy, 1816-1916, Part 27

Author: Stoll, John B., 1843-1926
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Indianapolis : Indiana Democratic Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1104

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"We must not invade Constitutional rights. The innocent must not suffer, nor women and children be the victims. Sav- ages must not be let loose. But while I sanction no war on the rights of others, I will implore my countrymen not to lay down their arms until our own rights are recognized. (Cheers.)

"The Constitution and its guarantees are our birthright, and I am ready to en- force that inalienable right to the last ex- tent. We cannot recognize secession. Recognize it once and you have not only dissolved government, but you have de- stroyed social order, upturned the founda- tions of society. You have inaugurated anarchy in its worst form, and will shortly experience all the horrors of the French Revolution.

"Then we have a solemn duty-to main- tain the Government. The greater our unanimity the speedier the day of peace. We have prejudices to overcome from the few short months since of a fierce party contest. Yet these must be allayed. Let us lay aside all criminations and recrimina- tions as to the origin of these difficulties. When we shall have again a country with the United States flag floating over it, and respected on every inch of American soil, it will then be time enough to ask who and what brought all this upon us.

"I have said more than I intended to say. (Cries of 'Go on.') It is a sad task to dis- cuss questions so fearful as civil war; but sad as it is, bloody and disastrous as I expect it will be, I express it as my convic- tion before God that it is the duty of every American citizen to rally round the flag of his country.

"I thank you again for this magnificent demonstration. By it you show you have laid aside party strife. Illinois has a proud position-united, firm, determined never to permit the Government to be destroyed." (Prolonged cheering.)

DEMOCRATS CARRY THE STATE IN 1862.

EARLY IN THE YEAR THE OUTLOOK WAS FAR FROM ENCOURAGING.

When the Democrats met in State Con- vention at Indianapolis, January 8, there were but few among the most sagacious delegates who believed it to be possible to carry the State at the October election. Two days were devoted to transacting the business for which the convention had been called. The first day's session was chiefly devoted to the discussion of a mo- tion offered by ex-Congressman Wm. H. English that an adjournment be taken until July 4, which motion was warmly seconded by Cyrus L. Dunham. The prop- osition was vigorously opposed and was voted down. This was followed by a wrangle over the election of a permanent chairman. Joseph W. Chapman had been chosen temporary chairman. Grafton F. Cookerly of Terre Haute proposed Thomas A. Hendricks for the permanent chairmanship. Congressman John G. Davis of Parke and Robert D. Walpole of Indianapolis were also put in nomina- tion. Walpole's name was withdrawn, whereupon Joseph E. McDonald in a very tactful speech moved that Mr. Hendricks be chosen by acclamation to preside over the convention. This motion prevailed. Upon taking the chair Mr. Hendricks de- livered an unusually lengthy address. Among other points made by him were these :

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"The civil war is upon us. For its exist- ence the Democratic party is not responsi- ble. For many years we have admonished those who favored a sectional party of its danger-in the sentiment of Washington's farewell address that the greatest danger to our country was the formation of geo- graphical parties - we have advocated 'those doctrines which we believed fair and equal to all sections; a change could have been adopted without wounding the pride or stimulating the arrogance of either.' Our appeals were disregarded. Sectional pride, prejudice and hatred in one section produced the same sentiments in the other, and of this sectional strife was begotten our present troubles. The war is upon us-'wickedly provoked on the one side, and in folly and sin and without sufficient cause commenced on the other.' With secession upon the one hand and sec- tional interference with Southern rights upon the other, we hold no sympathy. Our most earnest desire is for the restoration of the Union upon the basis of the Consti- tution, and for myself I will give an honest support to all Constitutional and proper measures adopted by the administration to that end; and I will as earnestly oppose all acts in violation of the Constitution and in suppression of liberty because of my veneration for that solemn compact of our fathers, and because such policy renders the Union impossible; by obliterating the Union sentiment of the South and giving aid and comfort to its enemies."

At the conclusion of Mr. Hendricks' ad- dress Joseph J. Bingham was made per- manent secretary, with R. S. Hastings of Lafayette as assistant.

Mr. Cookerly moved that each Congres- sional district name a vice-president of the convention. Judge Pettit opposed this motion, saying that there was no neces- sity for naming vice-presidents. Mr Cookerly replied that the custom of thus selecting vice-presidents had prevailed for years, and he knew of no good reason why this time-honored practice should not be continued. The convention, how- ever, coincided in the view of Judge Pettit and defeated the motion for the selection of vice-presidents.

MEMBERS OF STATE CENTRAL COMMIT- TEE NAMED.

1. James D. Williams, Knox county.

2. Michael C. Kerr, Floyd.

3. M. W. Shields, Jackson.

4. George Hibben, Rush.

5. Edmund Johnson, Henry.

6. J. J. Bingham, George McQuat, Marion. 7. Thomas Dowling, Vigo.

8. R. S. Hastings, Tippecanoe.

9. J. A. Taylor, Cass.

10. S. W. Sprott, Dekalb.

11. J. R. Coffroth, Huntington.

THE PLATFORM.

Seventeen planks were put into the plat- form, as agreed upon by the committee on resolutions. The platform in its en- tirety was objectionable to a goodly num- ber of Democrats, chief among whom were Gov. Joseph A. Wright, Wm. H. English, Cyrus L. Dunham, James Hughes, Henry Seebirt, Judge David S. Gooding, Col. W. A. Bickle, Judge A. C. Downey, Gen. Ebe- nezer Dumont, Gen. Lew Wallace, Col. John T. Wilder, Charles W. Cathcart, Robert Dale Owen, Gen. Alvin P. Hovey, James M. Gregg, Col. Norman Eddy, An- drew Jackson and J. B. Fulwiler. The main points of the platform are set forth in the planks herewith reproduced :

"That we are unalterably attached to the Constitution, by which the Union of these States was formed and established, and that a faithful observance of its prin- ciples can alone continue the existence of the Union, and the permanent happiness of the people.

"That the present civil war has mainly resulted from the long continued, unwise and fanatical agitation in the North of the question of domestic slavery, the conse- quent organization of a geographical party, guided by the sectional platforms adopted at Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Chicago, and the development thereby of sectional hate and jealousy, producing (as has long been foreseen and predicted by us) its counterpart in the South of seces- sion, disunion and armed resistance to the General Government, and terminating in a bloody strife between those who should have been forever bound together by fra- ternal bonds, thus bringing upon the whole

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country a calamity which we are now to meet as loyal citizens, striving for the adoption of that mode of settlement best calculated to again restore union and harmony.

"That in rejecting all propositions likely to result in a satisfactory adjustment of the matters in dispute between the North and the South, and especially those meas- ures which would have secured the border slave States to the Union, and a hearty co- operation on their part in all constitutional and legal measures to procure a return of the more Southern States to their al- legiance, the Republican party assumed a fearful responsibility and acted in total disregard of the best interests of the whole country.

"That if the party in power had shown the same desire to settle, by amicable ad- justment, our internal dissensions before hostilities had actually commenced, that the administration has recently exhibited to avoid war with our ancient enemy, Great Britain, we confidently believe that peace and harmony would now reign throughout all our borders.

"That the maintenance of the Union upon the principles of the Federal Consti- tution should be the controlling object of all who profess loyalty to the Government, and in our judgment this purpose can only be accomplished by the ascendancy of a Union party in the Southern States, which shall, by a counter revolution, displace those who control and direct the present rebellion. That no effort to create or sus- tain such a party can be successful which is not based upon a definite settlement of the question at issue between the two sec- tions ; and we therefore demand that some such settlement be made by additional con- stitutional guarantee, either initiated by act of Congress or through the medium of a National convention.

"That the Republican party has fully demonstrated its inability to conduct the Government through its present difficul- ties.

"That we are utterly opposed to the twin heresies, Northern sectionalism and South- ern secession, as inimical to the Constitu- tion; and that freemen, as they value the boon of civil liberty and the peace of the country, should frown indignantly upon them.

"That in this national emergency the Democracy of Indiana, banishing all feeling

of passion and resentment, will recollect only their duty to the whole country ; that this war should not be waged in the spirit of conquest or subjugation, nor for the purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or institutions of the States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and to pre- serve the Union with all the dignity, equal- ity and rights of the several States unim- paired, and that as soon as these objects are accomplished the war ought to cease.

"That we will sustain, with all our ener- gies, a war for the maintenance of the Con- stitution, and of the integrity of the Union under the Constitution ; but we are opposed to a war for the emancipation of the negroes or the subjugation of the Southern States.

"That the purposes avowed and advo- cated by the Northern disunionists, to lib- erate and arm the negro slaves, is uncon- stitutional, insulting to loyal citizens, a dis- grace to the age, is calculated to retard the suppression of the rebellion and meets our unqualified condemnation.

"That the disclosures made by the in- vestigating committee in Congress of the enormous frauds that have stalked into the army and navy departments, implicating the heads of those departments in a con- nivance at, if not an actual participation in, a system of corruption, and in which our brave soldiers have been defrauded of their proper supplies, and our Government threatened with bankruptcy, demands a thorough investigation into all our expendi- tures, both State and National, and that a speedy and marked example be made of all such 'birds of prey,' who, taking ad- vantage of the necessities of our country, have fed and fattened upon public plunder.

"That the meritorious conduct of the Indiana troops, in every battlefield where the victory has perched upon the national banner, has filled the people of this State with the highest gratitude to her gallant sons, and that we send our best wishes to officers and men, dispersed throughout the country, and the heartfelt greetings of every Democrat for their further brilliant achievements in the coming contests for the maintenance of the Constitution and the Union."

THE TICKET AGREED UPON.

There was considerable doubt about Oscar B. Hord's willingness to again make

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the race for Attorney-General. But he graciously yielded to the pressure brought upon him to accept. The ticket finally agreed upon consisted of these widely- known gentlemen: Dr. J. S. Athon for Secretary of State, Joseph Ristine for Auditor, Matthew L. Brett for Treasurer, Oscar B. Hord for Attorney-General, Samuel L. Rugg for Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Michael C. Kerr for Reporter of the Supreme Court.

MASS CONVENTION IN JULY.

The dissatisfaction over some of the planks in the platform adopted at the January convention seems to have been sufficiently pronounced to have made it clear that the calling of another conven- tion had become expedient, if not abso- lutely necessary. This was done. A mass convention was provided for. July 30 was the date fixed therefor. The State- house grove was chosen as the place for holding the meeting. Democrats came from all over the State, on foot, by trains, wagons and carriages. It was estimated that from forty to fifty thousand were present. Col. Thomas Dowling of Terre Haute called the convention to order and Thomas A. Hendricks was chosen Presi- dent by acclamation. In part Mr. Hen- dricks said :

"We are surrounded by troubles. Our society is in an excited condition; and it is the duty of every man; it is the duty of every good citizen; it is the duty of every good patriot, to maintain the public peace: and, as the presiding officer of this meet- ing, I make my appeal to every man that he consider himself a committee to main- tain good order on this occasion. Gentle- men, no man is a good Democrat unless he is a good citizen and a patriot. If that be true, every Democrat, from his heart, will endeavor to preserve the utmost good order on this occasion."

Joseph J. Bingham, editor of the Senti- nel, was designated to serve as secretary.

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED.

Chairman Hendricks was authorized to name as members of the committee on resolutions eleven representative Demo- crats, one from each Congressional dis- trict. This committee was composed of these distinguished representative Dem- ocrats: James D. Williams, John B. Winstanley, Samuel H. Buskirk, Major Anderigg, Lafe Develin, Judge S. E. Per- kins, Judge Wm. M. Franklin, E. F. Lucas, P. M. Kent, Samuel W. Sprott and John R. Coffroth.

The committee's report appears to have met with general approval. It contained these declarations, which were enthusiast- ically adopted by unanimous vote:

"1. That we adhere to the time-honored principles of the Democratic party, and we believe that the only hope for the restoration of the Union and the main- tenance of the Constitution is in the restoration of that truly conservative party in power.

"2. That this convention endorse as worthy of all confidence the persons nom- inated by the delegate convention which assembled at Indianapolis on the 8th of January, 1862, and that we recommend them to the people as honest, capable and faithful to the Constitution.

"3. That the Constitution, the American Union and the laws made under and by the authority of the Constitution must be pre- served and maintained in their power and rightful supremacy-that the rebellion now in arms against them must be sup- pressed and put down, and that it is the duty of all good citizens to aid the General Government in all measures necessary and proper to that end.

"4. That the Democracy of Indiana with patriots everywhere have made and will continue to make every sacrifice to the end that the rebellion may be suppressed and the supremacy of the Constitution main- tained and the Union under it preserved, but they are unalterably opposed to a war of conquest or subjugation, and they will never consent that the war on their part shall be waged for the purpose of interfer- ing with the rights or overthrowing the established institutions of any of the States. In the language of Senator Doug-

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las, uttered at Chicago a few days before his death, 'We must not invade constitu- tional rights. The innocent must not suf- fer nor women and children be victims. Savages must not be let loose.'"

The speakers for this great outpouring of Indiana Democrats were C. A. Wickliffe of Kentucky, John S. Carlisle of Virginia, and Senator Wm. A. Richardson of Illi- nois, who was Stephen A. Douglas' trusted manager in the Charleston and Baltimore conventions and who, by reason of these intimate relations and his sterling worth and conceded ability, became the "Little Giant's" immediate successor in the Sen- ate of the United States.

RINGING ADDRESS BY THE STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE.

The foregoing resolutions placed the party in much better position and in a far more favorable light than it had been up to that period. At the same time there was issued by authority of the State Central Committee an address so judi- ciously and patriotically worded as to have produced a marked change in public sen- timent. The demonstration of July 30 and the spirited address promulgated by Chairman McQuat made it possible for the Democratic party of Indiana to appeal with confidence to the suffrages of the people. The way was thus paved for vic- tory. The mistakes of January were cor- rected by the mighty voice of a patriot- ically aroused Democracy. This vigorously written document is well worth studious perusal, even though more than a half century has passed since it was first given publicity :

"To the People of Indiana on the Crisis of the Country :

"We address you in the midst of a crisis imminent with peril to the institutions of our beloved country. In doing so, we de- sire to discard all party feelings, and ap- peal only to the patriotic impulses of our countrymen. The Nation has had enough of party platforms and party measures to ruin and destroy even a stronger Govern-

ment than this, founded, as we have been taught to believe it was, on the affections and consent of the people. Let us discard the platforms of party, and party itself, except so far as they are consistent with the preservation of the Union and the Constitution which makes us a Nation. If there be a sentiment in the creed of the Democratic organization, enunciated now or heretofore, which makes against the restoration of the UNION AS IT WAS, and the return of peace, we lay that sentiment and creed upon the altar of our beloved country and abandon it forever. There is no party platform, whether made at Balti- more or Chicago, 'which is a law with us,' and we deem no man, no Congress, no executive, a safe counselor who adheres to the single idea of a party in perilous times like these. We give all such consideration to the winds and regard them with ab- horrence. They shall have no place in our affections, and no sympathy in our hearts. Acting upon these convictions, we repudi- ate for ourselves and the great mass of the people of Indiana all and every party feel- ing, prejudice or opinion which shall come in conflict with the putting down of this rebellion, the return of peace and the com- plete restoration of the American Union in all its purity and vigor.

"Sixty-six years ago, Washington, in his farewell address, gave to his countrymen this advice and solemn warning: 'In con- templating the causes which may distract our Union, it occurs, as a matter of serious concern, that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations-Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western- whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepre- sent the opinions and aims of other dis- tricts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart- burnings which spring from these misrep- resentations. They tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection.'

"Need we say to the people of Indiana that the unwise disregard of this advice has been the immediate cause of the pres- ent deplorable civil war? The far-seeing wisdom of 'the Father of his Country' was never more vindicated than in that portion

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of his matchless address to his country- men. He foresaw that the restless spirit of faction and the disturbing elements of sectional strife would be used to plant dis- cord between the people of various States. Though that sainted patriot did not live to witness the wild fanaticism of his coun- trymen, his immediate successors in the Presidential chair were not so happy. The initiation of active agitation on the slavery question began as early as 1812, on the breaking out of the war with Great Britain, was continued or revived in 1819 on the admission of Missouri, and from that period, with slight intermissions, it has been more or less thrust before the country, in some shape, befitting the views of the factions which grasped at it for their advancement to power. We have seen its effects in its dark progress to its present perilous heights. We have no desire to trace the slimy track of this agitation, and are content to remind our fellow-citizens that prudent men have been always dis- posed to leave the question of slavery where the Constitution left it-in the hands and in the keeping of those States (old or new) which admitted it as a part of their domestic policy. We assert no right over it. Having rejected slavery for Indiana as a matter of choice, her people claim no power to force it in or out of her sister States, leaving them to be the judge of what befits their local condition. This has been the doctrine of the Democratic party-it was the doctrine of the Whig party. It was the declared principle of Clay, Cass, Webster, Jackson, and that host of wise and conservative statesmen which reflected dignity and honor upon the American name. To stand by the doc- trines of Washington and his successors, we must be consistently Union men and avoid those snares of party and those de- vices of sectional agitation which render us 'alien to each other,' and thus destroy the government which makes us one peo- ple. We can use no better and more forci- ble language than that employed by the seventh President of the United States, when about leaving the cares of State, in a farewell address to his countrymen. It declares the whole duty of a true Ameri- can citizen. General Andrew Jackson, in that address, in speaking of this slavery agitation and its effect upon the United States. declared :

But the Constitution cannot be maintained, nor the Union preserved, in opposition to public feel- ing, by the mere exertion of coercive powers con- fided to the general Government. The founda- tion must be laid in the affections of the people, in the security which it gives to life, liberty and property in every quarter of the country, and in the fraternal attachments which the citizens of the several States bear to one another as members of one political family, mutually contributing to promote the happiness of each other. Hence the citizens of each State should studiously avoid everything calculated to wound the sensibility or offend the just pride of the people of other States; and they should frown upon any proceedings within their own borders likely to disturb the tran- quillity of their political brethren in other por- tions of the Union. In a country so extensive as the United States, and in pursuits so varied, the internal regulations of the several States must frequently differ from one another in important particulars; and this difference is unavoidably in- creased by the principles upon which the American Colonies were originally planted-principles which had taken deep root in their social relations be- fore the Revolution, and therefore, of necessity, influencing their policy since they became free and independent States. But each State has the unquestionable right to regulate its own internal concerns according to its own pleasure; and while it does not interfere with the rights of the people of other States, or the rights of the Union, every State must be the sole judge of the measures proper to secure the safety of its citizens and promote their happiness: and in all efforts on the part of other people of other States to cast odium upon their institutions, and on all measures cal- culated to disturb their rights of property, or to put in jeopardy their peace and internal tran- quillity, are in direct opposition to the spirit in which the Union was formed, and must endanger its safety. Motives of philanthropy may be assigned for this unwarrantable interference, and weak men may persuade themselves for a moment that they are laboring in the cause of humanity and asserting the rights of the human race; but every one, upon sober reflection, will see that nothing but mischief can come from these im- proper assaults upon the feelings and rights of others. Rest assured that men found busy in this work of discord are not worthy of your con- fidence and deserve your strongest reprobation.

"This was the language of a man who loved his country as he did his own life, and who periled that life for the glory and safety of his native land. They were spok- en while he filled the most exalted office in the gift of his countrymen, and just before the term for which he had been elected ex- pired. These words come to us as from the grave. Their author reposes, or all that was mortal of him, at the Hermitage, in 'Tennessee, and if the spirits of the gal- lant dead are permitted to look down upon the affairs of earth, he is today contem- plating the ruin and desolation which the enemies of our institutions have brought upon his beloved country. We adopt his

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History of the Indiana democracy, 1816-1916, Part 27

Author: Stoll, John B., 1843-1926 Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Indianapolis : Indiana Democratic Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1104

Author: Stoll, John B., 1843-1926
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Indianapolis : Indiana Democratic Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1104