Newspaper Page Text
THE ALBANY NEWS.
OLD SERIES-Vol. 37, No. 8. >
ALBANY, (iEOU(ilA, SATURDAY, JUNE 12 1880.
{ NEW SERIES—Yol. I t, No. 25.
Gov. Colquitt At Home!
HIS SPEECH IN ALBANY !
A'Masterly Vindication En
thusiastically Received!
He Defends His Administra
tion:
XOTHZMO TO CONCEAL!
“Nothing for which to Make
Apology, nor for which
to Ask Pardon!”
GEORGIA'S PROUD NAME
WHY IIE APPOINTED HON. JOS.
E. BROWN.
ELOQFEST, PATRIOTIC AND COXVJNCIXG.
IN T» HOME OT ms TOrTII UE
DEFENDS ms UONOK AS
A HAN.
Judge D. A. Vason introduced
Got. Colquitt as follows:
- FsAow-citizexs : We have met to
gether to-day at the invitation of Gov.
Colquitt in order that he may report
to you, and give a full account ot his
stewardship in regard to the high
trust you have heretofore conferred
upon him, and which he is now exe
cuting. It is the right of the people,
and one of very great Taiue. and one
they claim the right to,to call in ques
tion in a liberal and charitable map-
ner the official acts of every one of
its officers, from the lowest to the
highest.
Some of the acts of his administra
tion have been questioned, have been
made the matter, I am sorry to say,
’ of serious, unpleasant, and-I might
say uncharitable comment. These
censures were made too readily, un
der exdtement,[and I am gratified to
know that many of our citizens have
been disposed to suppress their opin
ion as to the wisdom of some of these
administrative acts, and the Govern
or la here to give an account for it
himself, and without further remark
I now introduce to you our Govern
or, Alfred H. Colquitt.
(Greeted with load and continued
applause, and cries of “Colquitt,”
“Colquitt,” “Colquitt” from different
portions of the hall.]
Cadies and gexelemf.s : I am "tail
to meet with such a worthy num
ber of the citizens of this section of
the State of Georgia.
Here was my home for nearly a
quarter of a century. Here Iws been
spent the early years of my manhood,
and the prime and the vigor of my
life. Here have been spent the first
years of my married life. Hero my.
children have been born. Here 1
have formed friendships and associ
ations, which time will only cement
and hallow, and Which the tongne of
scandal can never marr or alienate.
(Applause.]To such people who have
known me so long. I might leave
'with the most perfect confidence,
my motives, my conduct, and nir
character. [Applause.] If when the
pulses of life were bounding too ar
dent ip my veins, when passions of
' youth were strong, I may have been
led astray by temptations; if during
this period of my life, you tny friends
have seen anything in my life, my
condnct, or my character to condemn,
real assured tbal now as I have passed
the meridian of life, with but little
topreaerve, and with little to trans
mit to posterity, except a good name,
that good name will never be forfeit
ed. [Applause.]
For years I have been made the
subject of bitter, malignant ami un
provoked attack. It would not be
come me in tlic presence of strangers,
to refer to my feeliugs; no, nor would
3 force them upon unwilling ears, bill
if I can speak any where of tlic con-
diets of a bosom that has been torn
and of sensibilities that have been
wounded, surely here, my friends, as
I look in the faces Df so many that I
have known so long, I might speak
of it with the most perfect freedom,
as I would in my own family circle.
If there is any people in the world to
whom I would be willing to leave
the question, to give judgement upon
my stewardship, with the expectation
of a fair and just and impartial ver
dict, that people would bc the people
of Southwestern Georgia, who have
honored me with their confidence in
the past, and whose confidence 1 have
never forfeited,. [Applause.]
I am ready to render an account of
my stewards! ip here in this home
circle of neighbors and friends. I
am ready to render an account of it
in the face of the cruel ccusiirers. I
am ready to stand in the presence ol
the assembled State of Georgia, and
to give an account of my conduct,
.either official or personal. I have
.nothing to conceal; I have nothing
for wlgcb to make a oology nor for
which to ask pardon, [applause.| If
I had dishonored the Slab; of < icor-
gia; if the banner, which for a few
brief years I have held as the chief
representative of the people of llic
State of Georgia, had trailed in the
■dust, or it had been tarnished or soil
ed by one unbecoming act of mine;
if the people of Georgia by reason of
my administration were dishonored,
burdened with taxes, then indeed 1
might hide my face in shame, and
cotne to you my friends and my
neighbors, and ask that you make all
Elae apology for me that your own
. charitable hearts would make, and
•How me to glide out of public life
and become obscure forever.
But such is not the case,, I claim
this not only for myself, bul 1 claim
il for our Slate, Unit not in Hie histo
ry of Georgia lias Georgia had a
prouder name than she lias to-day.—
I Applause.] That never in the histo
ry of Georgia lias Georgia had a
higher credit ill the financial circles
than she has to-day, | applause. | and
if that lie the rase, my friends, what
sort of a verdict should I ask of the
people of Georgia ? Would it not lie
fair and just—ah! to say the least of
it, would it not he generous that this
most honest and candid people should
award to me what I know I deserve,
the welcome plaudit, “Well done
good anil faithful?” [Applause.] I
confess to you that I have suffered
far more than the world will ever
know. As I meet with my own
Iriends in the streets of Albany, alter
a scpnrrliou from them of six mouths
and from some of them twelve
months, they slate to me, “My old
friend, my old General, my old ncigh-
tw>r, I amsurprised to sec von look
ing so wrll: why, really you look
about as well as I ever saw you in
my life. There is something of von
left yet, I see. You arc not altogeth
er crushed or ruined.” No, my
friends, whatever streams may heat
upon niv head, however pitiless may
he the iron heel of aspersion, just ns
long as I shall bear within my own
hosont the consciousness of the fact
that 1 have licen prompted by pure
and upright and patriotic motives,
the aspersions of men will never
cause me to lose one pound of fiesh.
[Applause.] If I should be a little
personal in my reference to-day I am
not to blame. 1 think you can benr
testimony to the . fact that I have
never thrust myself obtrusively upoiP
any crowd or in any place. At no
time have 1 been audacious, nor am
I premature now. For many years
have 1 been the object of bitter at
tack, and malignant assault. Until a
few days ago I had borne it all with
paticuce, I have never written a word
for the public, I have never spoken a
word to the public, but I was content
to leave the discussion to fair and
honest people, well assured of the
fact that whatever of passion or pre
judice, or personal animosities might
dictate as a judgment to-day, the
cooler unimpassioned moments of
io-raorrotr would revert it. [Ap
plause,] Lets look at a few things
to see whether or not there is any rea
son for all of this unjust clamor.
When 1 came into the office of Gov
ernor of the State of Georgia, lets
consider what was the status of the
Slate. None of these commercial
men need be reminded of it. Our
credit, to sav tbe least, was not the
highest. Wc were borrowing money
to |>av interest and to pay current ex
penses, and it was with great diffi
culty wc could make negotiable bonds
hearing eight |>er cent, interest. It
was with great difficulty wc could
meet a floating debt of from t:U),UXI
fo $330,000 from year to year, and it
was with great difficulty through the
efforts of citizens of Georgia that
money was borrowed at all. That
was the result of the state of things
that preeeeded my prddeee-sor, and
the systematic effort that was made
to break down the credit that, was
sought to l>e established, but what
ever may have been the cause of it,
the fact is still the same, that Geor
gia's credit was not the highest, and
that the taxes of the State of Georgia
was not sufficient to meet the usual
current expenses of the civil govern
ment of tlic State to pay the interest
upon the public debt, and we bor
rowing from £100,0011 to $330,000 year
by year. Yes sir, these farmers know
when they make a poor crop of corn,
it willlast probably until June, and
upon liens and mortgages they will
buy corn to mu lliein from Jiinn to
September, and I lien when the year
is over there is another lapse and
another year, ami so it goes on from
year to year, and so it was willi the
Slate of Georgia that for four months
every year we had to borrow. I con
ferred with a gentleman who was
probably more intimately acquainted
with the finances of tlic Stale than
any oilier man in it. Thefirstsessiou
ol'llie legislature after I was install
ed, in the executive office, I consult
ed witli tiie committee on finances, at
this session I believe one month after
I had been installed, nml stated to
lliein that I didn't want the State of
fieorgia to he known as a borrower,
going about begging, or want the
Slate of Georgia borrowing money
in the market in order that she might
be able "to pay her current expenses,
mid yet, upon the other hand, I want
ed that wc should avoid tlic increase
of taxation; I did’nt intend, if it
were possible, to do it, though it was
a just debt, and we owed the money,
if il were possible to avoid it, I did
not intend that there should be a levy
of one thousandth part of one mill
upon thcnlrcady burdened shoulders
of the people of the State of Georgia,
I didn't want it done for two reasons:
First, because wc hail enough to
hear, enough to pay in our impover
ished condition ; the next was, ifllicrc
was laid on the very slightest fraction
on the public debt these detractors
and maligners would say that I was
responsible for the increased
burden, [Applause.] and you know
very well that would have been the
ale. They would have said that by
reason of my administration that tlic
licoplc were over taxed more than
they had been before. But
was avoided. Within two years
$330,000 was paid and you were not
taxed to pay it; tlic people of Geor
gia were not taxed to pay it. It was
paid, and the credit of tlic State went
on improving day after day. Now
mark me, the credit of the Slate, the
resources of the State, these were en
hanced, and yet, at the same time,
the returns made to the L’oinptrol
ler General’s office show that there
was nearly ten millions of dollars de
preeiatiou in Hie assessed value of the
taxable properly of the State of Geor
gia. Now wliat would have been
tin* natural result ? Some of you are
merchants, ami these farmers are ca
pable ol understanding il. and when
there is a larger amount of property
in the Slate ol Georgia tin less the
rale of taxation, and to die extent
that property would be depreciated
in value, lo that extent it would uee-
ssarily be raised ; and Hie assessed
nine was dfmiiiislieil nearly ten mil
lion dollars, and yet we had I his ex
pense to meet. The natural result
would have been an increase of tax
ation, bul there was no increase, not
a dime. “Well,” yon say, “il must
have been very extraordinary—such
a result as that—the expenses must
have been very greatly diminished lo
have brought such a result." Well,
so they were in some respects. Inn in
some they were greatly increased.—
Out of these very revenues we had
lo pay gome extraordinary expenses,
such as were not anticipated at all.—
One was the expenses of the Consti
tutional Convention. Another was
txvo sessions of the Legislature, one
of them a very long one. Another
was a provision made to give maim
ed soldiers legs and arms, amounting,
in the wav of extraordinary expenses,
to $150.000—yes, to full $200,000.—
Now the people of Georgia, had n
right to expect if they had $200,000
more to pay, that their taxes would
be increased to meet it, but they were
not increased, but tliev were, paid,
every dollar of it, as well as every
cent of interest on tlic public debt,
and every cent of the current expen
ses of tlic government were paid;
and, in the teeth of all that, so far
frotn increasing the taxes, they were
diminished. The taxes nrcdiininisli-
cd, and wc present this spectacle lo
the world, that the State of Georgia
is the only Stale, Commonwealth or
Empire, that is ready to anticipate
her debts, all of them. [Long, loud
and continued npplausc.] Well, lliesc
men are never willing to give me
credit for anything; they say, “But
no, it ain't him, it is-not him, it is not
him. Done by tlic Legislature. It
was done by somebody else.” Well,
gentlemen all that I ask of you is lo
judge of my administration just as
England judges of the administration
of her chief magistrate: just as the
United States judges qf her adminis
tration. Let the Stale of Georgia
judge me by the results that have
lieon achieved by lhatadministration.
That is just and you know it. If it
had been otherwise, it in the finances
of the State wc had failed to pay our
debts, if the taxes of the Slate Imd
been increased, mark me, my friends,
would these gentlemen have said, the
Governor ain't responsible, but it’s
the Legislature? Don’t yon know
that they would have said: “This
wasteful, weak Governor is responsi
ble for it?” [Laughter.] That was
the condition of the State then ; it is
not its aspect now, financially. What
more can von ask, my friends?
Just a word to recur back to a sug
gestion about the Legislature anil
Convention: I have no jealousies
about the Legislature or about the
Convention, all the gentlemen that
composed it were patriots and good
men, nml I would not take away one
scintilla of credit that belongs to
them, and yet, let me say this, anil
what I say the only two members of
the Convention that are present here
to-day know, that in every branch of
the Executive Department before the
Legislature had acted, and before the
Convention hail acted, that m every
solitary instance xvlicre the executive
had power to regulate, that in the
salary of Ihe highest officer down to
the lowest, doxvu to the gas lighter,
there wak a reduction made in the
expenses of the State government,
before there was a preamble, law or
resolution written. The records will
show it. Let Ihe men who have been
goingalong, like keen scented hounds,
iipou my track go to them and exam
ine. “Well, hut Ihe Legislature made
provisions for divers things.” So
they did, niyl some of them say,
“What did he do? lie has done noth
ing hut executed the law.” That is
wliat you elected me lo do. It is to
xecnie them ; you did not elect me
to make laws. When they waul to
turn the argument they turn around
and say, “lie done nothing hut exe-
ute the law,” and that's tlic highest
praise you can give a Governor.
But another point: There was
money that xvas paid in the treasury
that was not contemplated by the
legislature, nor any part of it, either
by act or resolution. Wliat have you
heard about it? I can tell you. You
have not heard a word' about the
amount that has been paid into the
tveasnry; all yon have henrd lias
been about the big fees that have
been paid, hut not a word about the
amount that has been paid'into the
treasury, not a word. let me give
you an instance: the Tuggle fee to
whicl^ reference was made in the last
session of the Legislator® So I. might
refer to another fee that had been
paid. Why here was a claim that no
other man in Georgia knew anything
about, and I have been so cursed ami
so unjustly cctiRiircd in the collection
of a-$130,000 case when I gave a con
ditional fee. Before he went to in
vestigate this claim I was cautious,
nml I told the gentleman, “Before
you begin the investigation of this
claim, ascertain whether any man in
Georgia knows of the existence of
any such claim in Georgia.” He wrote
to Mr. Stephens, the oldest member
of Congress before or since the war,
and lie wrote to other members
of Congress to know whether there
was any claim made, or any commit
tee appointed to examine into it.—
Nobody knew anything about it. He
enquired of one or two cx-Govcrn-
ors of Georgia, and they’ knew noth
ing about it. I made nn arrangement
that if lie collected the amount lie was
to have a certain per cent., and no
other man knew anything about it
until wc come to look into the arch
ives and old musty records of the
Stale of Georgia. Thai claim was
prosecuted nml $31 MUNI was paid into
the treasury, nml he was piidonly
$10,000. That you have lieaid about,
but you have never heard anything
about the.$30.00t) that i« in the pock
ets of Ihe people of the Stale of Geor
gia |npplause|, and so there Inis nl
ready been paid into tin* treasury of
Ihe Slate of Georgia, in round iiiiiii-
liers, about half million dollars that
was never anlieipaled by any act or
resolution of the Legislature.
Now, Mr. Chairman, if they would
lint give me a very fair per eeiilage
upon llinl. gladly'would I mine buck
10 ni v old quiet home, in the country,
nml live among iii.v neighbors away
front the. sound of the liell-hisrfiiie
(ungues of scandal. [Applause.]—
Enough has been paid into Ihe Ireas-
iirv to let me nml mine never want
anything for generations to eolne.—
[Applause.] That's the way the fi
nances stand. lam not going into
all llie ininulil of it. I have staled
to you that Georgia never stood bet
ter. 1 rail yoiiratlenlion.gentlemen,
who have been in the habit of visi
ting Hie Norlli, or if you have met
any of the excursionist's coming Snulh
if they sav another Stale stands more
honored than the Stale of Georgia
now ?
That's the record I have given you,
and the account I have given you of
my stewardship, and I lie Stale of
Georgia, at tlic cml of nearly foflr
years of my administration, despite
all the clamor, despite nil tlic cen
sures, despite nil the. calumny, des
pite the efforts to depreeiate my own
inline, and the name of my own State,
she stands to-day ns high and has ns
proud a inline in this proud escutch-
con ns any Slate in this Union, [loud
applause.) and I come before I In: peo
ple of Georgia and ask them if she
stands better and higher Hum, she
ever did; if her finances arc lictter
than they ever were; tell me in the
name of common justice, ns well ns
common fairness, is there any reason
for censure? And when 1 shall go
out of this office it will be transmit
ted lo my successor, and the future
historian, when, lie comes to recount
the cycles of onr past history in the
calm deliberations of his study, when
lie refers to administration after ad
ministration from tlic days of our
fathers down’to the present dny, re
moved from the prejudices- and the
aspersions ol' the present hour, lie
will be compelled to record the fact
that this was an era ot Georgia his
tory that was unprecedented in all
lujr annals [applause.] Hence, my
friends, I do sometimes feel indig
nant. I do not know of anything
that so touches a man, and you know
it, as.the sense of injustice and wrong
done him. I do not know anything
from which a man’s licart bleeds so
bitterly, and about whichhe.suffcrsso
much agony-, ns xvlicn his conduct is
censured without reason by his fel
low-men, and they arc seeking to ru
in his name and the name of his cliil-
dern for ever. 1 know of nothing that
creates such n crucifixion ns that. Let
me say right here I knew the storm
that has been raised in Georgia by
the clouds will soon pass away from
the sky. Already tliev begin to break
in rifts here and there, nml yon see
the light coining through,’and before
thirty days have gone you will see
that instead of the murky gloom
which overcasts the earth with it shad
ows they xvill have been sweep)
away by the balmy summer breezes,
and Ihe noontide glad summer sun
will gleam upon us all. [Applause.]
I might go into agreal many things
connected with Ihe history of Geor
gia, and go into it in detail, but I
shall not do it, and I do believe that
ot all places on the face of the earth,
it is least needed, it is right here ill
the city of Albany. Here near lo my
home and where I have been known
so long. I might refer to some things
here to-day that might seem to you
very small upon the part of Ihe ac
cusers; such ns going to Sunday
schools, “nigger meetings,” mid such
:ts iny visits to New York and Penn
sylvania, or my being away from the
capilol. But Ieansay this, that wheth
er present or absent, no fluty devolv
ing upon the 'Executive Department
has ever been neglected. No, none!
[Applause.] And whether my. visits
in my own Slate, or my visits abroad
have advanced the honor and pride
and the good name ol the S'ale of
Georgia, I leave to yon, women nml
men of the Stnfo of Georgia, to say.
[Applause.] But, I suppose whatev
er may have been done that Is good
amt honorable, and fair and just for
the State of Georgia by my humble
efforts is to he counter-balanced by
some little fact or incident which
those men, not contented, are looking
up with a view to find something to
talk about, nnd Imre is an indication
of the kind of stuff they arc telling.
Just let me call to yoiir mind wliat
ocCTirrcd just three days before I left
the city- of Atlanta: A gentleman
who is the leading man ill the tem
perance organization there came into
my office with some trepidation,
closed the door, saf down ami in a
few whisperings, he said : “Govern
or, you know I am a friend of yours,
I want to lull you something they arc
doing.” It did not startle mo, i had
heard so many things, and so many of
them were lies and scandals, I paid
but little attention to them, blit he
was very much excited, and I said,
“What is it?” Says he, “they are go'
ing to publish in tlic papers here that
you scut two gallohs of whisky lo a
■nan in Alabama;” says he, “did you
ever send two gallons of whisky to a
man iii Alabama;"’ I said, “Yes, I
did, two years ago; a gentleman in
Alabama, an invalid friend of
mine, who wanted some corn whisky
that was just manufactured fresh, ami
he wrote to me to sco if corn whisky
could lie obtained in the city of At
Inula, nml lo send it to him. He Imd
been sick, and a prescription made by
a physician that with rock candy in
it, it would he a very good medicine
for him, and that was two years ago.”
11 never saw Die whisky, 1 never saw
ehantfiml sent in tlic name given.”
Now. these yelping curs were upon
nit track l wo years ago. | Long con -
liiilious applause ami laiighlcr.J
Thai I sent two gallons of whisky to
a sick friend in Alabama, ami that is
jnsl about the way they are pursuing
me to-day. There is hardly one of
these detractors that lias not been on
just ns small a track nml jnsl as snmll
game as tlinl. | Applause.|
I shall 'tint revert more, fully to the
affairs ol Ihe Slate of Georgia (unless
something occurs to niv mind) ex
cept to ask Ibis by wav of general
summary: If Ihe honor of the State
of Georgia is as high, if her name is
ns unsullied, if her chnrncter abroad
has ns much honor, if her taxes are
nslow.il iier credit is ns good, if
there is nothing in her general stand
ing, cither politically or socially, that
wo will not he promt of, iftliat. is the
ease, nml you know it is, then, gen
tlemen, can you hesitate to put the
dictum of condemnation upon the
men who would bring me into dis
respect and slain ami. disgrace my
name? [Applause.] “Yes,” some of
them would say, “that is all very
good, that is all very good, wo ain’t
talking about that now, but some
thing you done hero recently, worse
Ilian that, [applause nnd laughter]
perhaps wc might hare stood that,
we might have sufl'ered nil Hint, we
might have borne nil Hint, we could
have put up with the fact that Geor
gia docs stand high, Hint her credit
is good, and her name respected over
all llie world, hut ice cannot put up
with the. appointment of JOE
ItllOWX! [Laughter, nnd loiignnd
continued applause.] Well, suppose
you can’t; suppose yon can’t. Why
is that any reason why a man should
./el mad ? Is that any reason why
yon should charge ‘bargain mid sale?’
Is that any reason why yon should
go around the streets and whisper,
“We can’t understand it.” “I’urennd
good men”—-“Gordon and Colquitt”
—“Colquitt and Gordon.” “We can’t
hardly believe it, but it is mighty
straugc.” [Laughter.] Why, differ
if you choose to do it. AVhy, that is
right. Men do not agree. Men in
the Democratic party differ, nnd we
all meet together as friends; wc know
one another, and wc ain’t going to
accuse a man, without he is guilty, of
“bargain and sale,” because ho differs
with yon. I can appeal to tlieso la
dies who are outside of politics, and
be glad to have them as jurors, pure as
the law names, “asn page upon which
tlidre is no word written,” nnd
would be proud to leavo to them the
decision of this question, as tp wheth
er or not there is reason for all of
this clan.or, when I should say to
them, “Gentlemen of the jury, don’t
you think that if this people knew
here that no State stands higher than
the State of Georgia, no State is
higher honored, no State’s credit is
so good, don’t you believe that it
would lie right and patriotic on the
parts of these people to confer, ad
vise, and talk with,and commend the
execution of the Stat# of Georgia in
matters connected with the adminis
tration, and not abuse and censure
him on l-nmors?” We pause here,
my friends, for the decision. It you
differ with me, differ; it is your right
to do it, but you have no right to say
I lint because my lino of conduct has
been one way influenced by an unfair
ami corrupt motive, any more than I
have lo say that because you differ
with me, that you yourself are guilty
of a corrupt motive, nml^ ct I have
not charged it to any man, either an
applicant for office or not an appli
cant for office.
When 1 went into the the Executive
chair I had very little experience of
this sort, and 1 knew that one man
could not act ns every man wanted,
Imt I felt I liis, Hint every man would
be interested in upholding the Slate
of Georgia nud upholding the Gov
ernor of the Slate of Georgia, and I
little thought that every time there
was an nppoiiimcnt to he made that
the disppninlcil office-seeker would
go home to his own county, there to
set down, stir this discontent up, no
body knowing, in the meantime, that
the secret of his antagonism ngainst
me was tlic fact of his own personal
disappointment. But such is poor
human nature that it rarely ever rises
above anything of Hint sort.
But sonic of these days I intend that
these people who have so misrepre
sented and wronged me shall he
shown to the people of Georgia, nnd
Hint they shall not misconstrue niv
positions and my acts into corrupt
motives. [Applause.]
Why, you may differ with mo in
tlic nppoinlmenlofGovcrnor Brown,
hut, gentlemen, I ask Hint it should
be a matter of difference of opinion,
and Hint you should not he so ready
to conclude Hint there was any bar
gain ami sale or. corrupt motives,
either open or hidden, in connection
with it.
My friends, I believe that it would
he a mortification that would sink
mo to a premature grave it'I felt Hint
tlic people of Georgia, and especial
ly if tlic. people of Southwest Geor
gia, should believe that I was capable
of a dishonest tiling. [Loud applause.]
They say that I am “too gentle,” “too
isy. v “very ( liristi.-m spirited,” “rath
er weak,” tint the stoutest, the most au-
daeious, tlic most heartless assassin ujmhi
this enrlli could not face nV with a bribe
in Ills hand. [Applause long ami loud.]
Il'liis checks did not blush with red, ids
neek veins should. [Applause.]
But, gentlemen, though It was whis
pered alsiut Dial there was a bargain and
sale, I am unwilling to believe that cv-
crybody should lielieve it; and then
found that the. iMsiple of Georgia took it
ill not so readily, so they began to “eruw-
llsli” and say, “Well, I don’t lielieve
Gordon would do this, 1 don't lielieve
Colquitt would, and I hardly lielieve
Brown would, liut 1 don’t know; if »lit-re
was no money paid, why, there was an
understanding of some' sort, and they
ought to tell us all almut it.” Well, 1
am jierfeetly willing that you shall know
all that I know. Between Joe Brown
and myself there was not live minute
conversation iiihhi this subject; not llv
iniliulcs, and Dial live miliiiles was taken
U|i in my saving In him lliat it was prob
able Dial “I bale rat Gordon iniglil otter
Ids n-signal ion; ji be does otter liis res
ignation, w ill you accept Die ap|sihitmeiil
to All Ids vacancy?” That was nil; tlial
was all! '! here was no condition. There
was no qualification. Then* was no ref-
crenre lo Gordon and the Louisville &
Nashville. There was no reference to
his hiltueiiee for ling in any way, hill
simply, purely without qualification,
without coudillon, I have given you ev
ery word isilineetisl willi the pn-sciila-
tion to Joe Blown. (LniiilniidcoiitiliuoiiH
applause.]
Well, if he didn’t pay me money, what
was I to gel? What have I goi now?
They make out Dial there was some sort
of trade or understanding I let ween three
of its—Is'lween Cordon, who got the j*t-
sitioii qn the railroad that was lucrative,
and Brown, who got the place of Senator;
ami now, then, 1 want to know wliat 1
got? You don't believe 1 got money;
well, what did I gel ? “Oh, well,” says
some of these politicians who know how
lo play lcn|i-IVng, “You gol liis iiilhicncv;
you wauled lo rtm for lonerilor again,
and you thought that Joe Brown was
Yen-powerful'ill tin* Slate of Georgia;
and you thongHt if you gave him Die
place he would give you liis billuetiee,
and that would make you safe for Gov
ernor.” Well, if that has Ins’ll Die case,
w hy, if 1 Is-lievqall Dial them- papers ami
s|H>!ikors are saying, I have liern a man
of the imurcst judgment on the face of the
earth. So Jar as getting any iulliienee is
concerned, t have utterly ruined myself
and disgraced Die Stale of Georgia. ' But
I could not have got liis influence, for I
had lliat. Then: was nothing lo liny.—
Joe Brown, if I was running for Gover
nor, was my friend for Governor; that
avowed; I had nothing lo maKt* by
that. Why should I go into Ihe market
to make a trade of (Ids sort ? Don’t you
supjHise if 1 was going lo make a trade
-that I would bare made it with somelssly
else that was going to run for Governor
and take him out of the way, because I
have not got his inflncncc?' But if it
rested-purely upon public considerations,
what were those considerations? I will
givffiDicm to you; and I ask yon to hear
and not lie guided liy your passions and
prejudices, but look at them as patriots.
Let’s look at them and calmly delilierate
upon them hi arriving at the truth.—
Now, Hien, I will ask you this question,
by way of premise. As Governor of the
State of Georgia, in my conduct either as-
to matters of policy or ill matters of ap
pointment, ought I to he governed by
passion and prejudice? What do von say
to that? Shall I, in recommending any
course of policy for Die State of Georgia,
or in making an appointment to a high
place in the State of Georgia, shall 1 lie
guided by passion ? Would you consider
that it is the duty of the Executive to
refer questions of that sort toany feelings
of Diat kind?. You would say “No,” Then
it is a question as to the interest of the
State of Georgia. I tried to appoili* a man
there that is capable, a mail that is able
and a mail that is willing, and if 1 have
failed in that, then llie expressions of
public judgment ill the State of Geor
gia I do mistake. With all the clamor
and the vitiqieratioii that lias liecn raised
upon this Uiing, there has never been one
man who has made the charge that Joe
Brown has not the ability to represent
tlic State of Georgia as any man, and the
interest of tlie State of Georgia is not as
safe in his hands as it would tic in nnv-
Ijody’-s. [Applause.]
If that lie so; if Georgia is ably and
faithfully represented by hint as it would
lie by anybody else, and there is no bar
gain and trade, then, why should not tlic
Executive of the State of "Georgia appoint
him? Why not? “But,” you say, “you
ought not to do it, you know yoii hated
him like no other man on earth has been
hated. Joe Brown lias been stinking in
the nostrils of the people, and it seems
that, in making that appointment, you
have ruined your chances for Governor
forever. You ought never to have ap
pointed him, fd? the |icoplc hated him
some time ago.” Well, now, gentlemen,
is I said Just now, may lie my own per
sonal foldings may control niv own per
sonal conduct, Imt in that it was tlic duty
of tlie Executive In take counsel of no such
little feelings and motives as that, never!
[Applause.] And right here ill South
west Georgia 1 can say this, which I
know will meet with a response here as
well as elsewhere. That if tjierc were
any circumstance nr condition that threat
ened the welfare of tlie State of Georgia,
and wc w.-mb-d a man that might turn
away any threatAied destruction from
the (icople, in spite of passion ami past
resentment, and ill spile of past hale of
Joe Brown, let them ail lie liy-gnnes, and
give us the man that can do the liest and
-an do the most.' [Applause.]
“But he ain’t a Democrat, and he went
in for the reconstruction measures.” So
he did. Is-L’s decide; let Democracy de
termine the question, whether every man
that went in for reconstruction, and
whether or not every man Doit ever east
a Republican vote is tola-proserils-dfrom
tlic Democratic ranks; amt if they are,
pass your resolution and make it li part
of your platform on theiitli of June when
your convention meets. It is the “nnoth-
r platform.” [Great applause.)
Gentlemen, yon know how we have
sufl'ered. Do you know the reason we
have not Ih-cii able to elect a President
since the war, or Install one in office when
he was elected ? You know the olistacle
in our path has bepn this: that the XorUi
and the West, our former enemies, have
never Iieon convinced that, the warisover
in the South, Imt that the same spirit of
rebellion, which made us light during the
four years, is alive and burning in our
hearts yet. This is the argument that is
used upon every public and private occa
sion. We are always saying to the peo
ple of tlic Norlli in our public declara
tions: “Gentlemen, we have no auger,
we are at peace; the warisover; we
have no animosities to men who differ
w itli iis in Die issues of Die war. These
ail are buried, and there is a new era be-
forcus; here is our hand; take it, and
we will shake hands over the bloody
cliasm and till it up and never sutler it to
Is- opened again; we will live along to
gether as brothers, in tlie same Union as
friends.” That lias been our s|M-ech, and
when, ill behalf nRlie State of Georgia, I
met .Mr. Ilayes when lie visited Atlanta,
I made declarations of this character.—
They-were rcs|>niided to from all over the
State, and compliments were written lo
me almut it. that it was tlie just senti
ment of every man in Georgia—Georgia
and every Southern home. And tlius it
is lliat we say that we recognize Die fact
that the question of the war lias lieen set
tled; we are now at peace, and wc have
strife nor contention any longer. [Ap
plans*', j Only a short while ago, in try
ing to represent you, I s|H*kc these senti
ment, in Die midst of a platform, such as
you rarely ever see in lliis country, “Let
llie dead |wst bury its dead,” and ten
thousand waving while handkerchiefs ie-
s|*ond**d to the sentiment in Die North.
I Applause.] -| thought Dial I misspeak
ing for my people; I thought that 1 was
s|ie:ikiiig for my In-loved ♦South when 1
made this ilechimliun, and ill it you have
the argument to meet our adversaries.
And when IVume to my own conduct, to
act iqmn it, ibis is Die spirit of condem
nation which meets the ap|miiitment of
Joe Brown.
And, Mr. Chairman, if I lost the confi
dence of every man ill Georgia; if 1 lost
the vote of every mail in Georgia, if I
could bv this step allay llu* pas-ions of
the conquering North and the nmquensl
Soiilh, and save tills government «f|irarr,
I would Is* Die victim and Die ' martyr
cheerfully. [Loud and continuous aj>-
plansc.) "
lint you will see It, mark il, you will
see it, that if we ever have a President
from our |«irty, that President will lie
dctcrmini-d U|inn the fact as to whether
or not Die North call still fling into the
teeth of Die South, that the South, though
professing to ho friendly, is yet at war,
and they will look at Georgia! tin- empire
Slate of Die South, the State that gives
the largest l>i*m<MT$tie majority in the'
South, sin* lias burled Die issues of tlie
past, and here is a man that is standing
as a monument of tin* fact that -Hie war
is over. [Applause.] But you say “he
is no Democrat.” Well, what will you
judge liy? If you will give me a ruuniard
I will put it lip. I was trying to lie a
Democrat when I apjsiinted .toe Brown.
I thought lie was a Democrat when I ap
pointed him. I know of no rule laid
down in the platform of Democracy that
will enable me to detornltne Die fact as to
whether or not lie was a Democrat. I
am mistaken, there is a standard. Here
is a declaration that makes it very sure
that ai-i-onliug to every standard lliat we
have adapted lie. is as good a Democrat
as yon or me. So far as llie standard of
I>eliiocnu*y is concerned lie is ns good
Democrat as any of us. Well, wliat is
that standard ? Now, like all the rest of
the people in the State, 1 did not la\ -*r
Joe Brown in his reconstruction meas
ures, not at all. I was a member of the
National Convention that met in New
York when Seymour and Blair were
nominated, and we declared by resolu
tion lliat we, regiuded Hie amendments
“as void, unconstitutional and of no ef
fect.” That was the platform of Demuc-
racy, that these reconstruction measures
were void, unconstitutional and of no ef
fect. Well, I lielieve that, and I stood on
it; did not recognize Joe Brown at all as
a Democrat: did not recognize other men
that had hcen Republicans, neither did
you, neither did our |ieoplc do it.
Seymour was behind, and we come to
another convention. We having been
defeated,- seeing there was no hope of the
election of a Democrat, (and 1 was in
that convention) the Democratic conven
tion at Baltimore said, (I didn’t say so.
I was opposed to tlie policy) “We will
talk back reconstruction to them, and in
order to show them that wc are no more
tiglrting against them, we will now put
in the worst Republican they have got,
and that is Horace Greeley,” [Applause]
and wc went up and voted for him, a man
that never was a Democrat; that never
said lie was a Democrat; a man that
fought Democracy from thetime lie first
published his one cent newspaper in New
York. “Yes, but Joe Brown voted for
Grant and for Bullock.” So he did
twelve years ago, and we voted for Uree-
ley eight .years ago. ] Applause.] Eight
pears penance is good enough for us,-but
twelve years ain’tenougli for Joe Brown.
Let’s see how we stood. I say that
in nominating Horace Greeley we buried
tlie war issues. • We told them? “Let us
have peace; we are done with the past.”
And then we metagain in tlie St. Louis
convention. Do you remember wliat was
passed? I think 1 have got sonie.nf that
platform. I shall not read it all, Imt
enough to make the point. Tills is the
test of Democracy, whether Joe Brown
is a Democrat or not. Here is tin* lan
guage of the. Demoeracy of all Hie States
at St. Louis:
“For the Democracy of the whole
country”—that’s their language; that
included Georgia—“We do here reaf
firm—” we affirmed it liefore, we told it
liefore, and if yon doubt it we w ill tell it
again—“we do here reaffirm our faith in
tlie Federal Union, and our dmtiion—"
why, that name is good enough for a
Sunday-school. It is sacred enough for
a .Sunday school speech—“our devotion
to the 'constitution witli its amend
ments,” and they are “accepted as a final
settlement.” That’s tlie language of
Democracy. Joe Brown accepted these
amendments years ago. The Democracy
say, “we are devoted to these amend
ments,” and because Brown accepted,
them you say he is not a Democrat. [Ap
plause.] He is not a Democrat for ac
cepting wliat tlie Demoeracy says tliey
are devoted to!
Well, now, not as a politician, did Mr.
Stephens speak, but as a writer discuss
ing tlie great constitutional questions, at
Lilx-rty Rail, witli tlie cool, impartial
mind of the historian. Mr. Stephens re
ferred to this matter of Joe Brown’s eon-
duet at tlie time when these amendments
were Mug disoussed. TMa is wliat lie
said almut Governor Brown:
••While he accept*, I hare no Idea that he . ap
proves. Few men hold the principle* of constitu
tional liberty in higher esteem than ho don.”
That’s tlie testimouy of a man that did
not agree with him or the constitutional
amendments: “It was to avoid wliat lie
considered impending individual as wcB
as public, evils, and not to secure special
jM'rsonal benefits or honors to himself
tiiat lie ’*as acted as lie did. He cante
honestly and sincerely, I have nn ques
tion, to' tlic conclusion lliat. we might all
go further and fare much worse, and in
liis recommendation to the |>eople to ac
cept tlie terms proposed by Congress, ami
to comply witli tlie conditions offered,
however unjustly and wrongfully exact
ed. Witli liis views and feelings he act
ed-under the, eonvietiim that we werea
conquered people, and as such should ac
cept these terms, as there was, in liis
opinion, no probability ofany better ever
Mug offered.”
That is Mr. Stephens’ view. Have-'wo
got any better? Do we want any Mter?
Does Die Democracy want any’ better?
Docs this Union want any Mter? And
vet wc hear tlic cry, “Away with him!”
because of tlic way he voted twelve years
ago, and because lie was in favor of re-
eonstnioUon. Don’t, tell the country
that tlie Democracy intended to deceive
the voters of this country, and never in
tended to go ii|hiii this as Die platform of
Die Democracy.
[Continued on fourth /uaje.]