done. All you have got to do, is to buckle on your armor and
go into the work. Will you not do this for the purpose of retain-
ing your good name ? Let not the government of the great State
of New York get down on its knees to a deluded mob, and trem-
blino:ly say to them, "I am yoi5r friend, and the friend of your
families." *' You are my supporters, and without you I should have
no political power." Well, now, I put the question fairly : Is he
supported by the intelligence of the State of New York? What
do the South care for the " whisky-drinking Irish," as they call
27
them, and yet they are doing every thing they possibly can in
favor of the South. Another thing. There was a desire that the
soldiers who have gone from the State of New York should be
permitted to vote, and yet the Democratic leaders in the House
said they were not to be trusted, because they were the macliines
of their officers. Well, I asked one man, Avho are their officers?
Well, he said, I suppose they were all black Republicans. Ah, I
replied, the most of them are Democrats, and you dare not trust
tliem. And it is astonishing, that every honest Democrat that has
gone to the war should be perfectly willing to make use of every
means for the putting down of this rebellion. Every thing that
is of benefit to an enemy, you have a right to take for the purpose
of weakening that enemy. And when the slave was taken from
them we weakened the rebellion and made him our friend. Al-
though at first many of the white soldiers demurred at parading
with the blacks, yet their heroic conduct has driven this bigotry
all away.
My fellow-citizens, I think a true impulse animates tlie people
of the county where I live, and I hope that we can go home, and
say to our people that this Convention, composed as it is of men
from every part of the State, by its earnestness of spirit, gave
token of the sure victory which awaits us.
Mr. Webster, of Montgomery, followed in a warm eulogium
on Mr. Seward, whom he understood to be criticised in the re-
marks made during the morning session.
Mr. Spitzer being introduced to tlie Convention as an eloquent
speaker, followed in a brief and spirited address.
SPEECH OP MR. S. SPITZER OF KINGS.
I am very certain that I have been called up here to speak to
you under a false representation. There is not given to me the
flow of language which I have heard here through the day, and
which I know the American people are so capable of. All you
may expect from me is this, tliat a man fresh from the common
people, with the common senses of the people, takes the liberty of
addressing a few words to you. Every man who is loyal has a
right to a seat in this hall. We have met here at a crisis of this
country, and success seems nearer to us than ever before. Loyal
28
men can stand up with more vigor and force tliis year than last,
and in this very election which is upon us. Why ? Because we
have succeeded in one thing, and that is, we have been able to
nail the copperhead where he belongs. [Applause.] Where was
that proved? It was proved at the elections of Ohio and Penn-
sylvania. Here there was the election contested between the
traitor and the loyal man. In both of these States I might
perhaps l}e opposed by some in this opinion, who would urge,
it is very well to say it of Mr. Vallandigham, but why should
Judge Woodward be a traitor ? Gentlemen, I have simple ideas —
quite simple. I think that when the country is engaged in a
contest with an enemy who is making war upon her Constitution,
there are only two parties. One party that goes for upholding
the country, that is loyal ; and the other party that goes for half
and half measures — they are traitors. And the sooner we know
it, the surer will be our victory. I belonged once to a despotic
government, and it happened I was not loyal, Fernando Wood
has defined loyalty as belonging only to monarchical govcrn-
nients. But when I came to this counti-y, and saw that of which
I had only heard, then I learned to be loyal ; I stand on that
principle of strict loyalty unconditional under all circumstances.
Surely we ought to be true to the government of our own clioos-
ing. It is the first principle of a republic to abide by their own
laws which the people through their own majorities make. These
ideas are gaining ground among the people. [Applause.]
Hon. RoscoE CoNKLiNG of Utica was earnestly called for, and,
amid the most cordial greetings, spoke as follows :
SPEECH OP ROSCOE CONKLING OF ONEIDA.
Mr. Chairman and fellow-citizens, — I do not beliere I can make
a speech to 3'ou to-night if I should try. If you had asked me to
sing a song or preach a sermon it might be more convenient. Sil-
ver and gold have I none [such as you have, give us] ; that I
have, I give thee.
You are assembled, fellow-citfzcns, not as partisans, but as pa-
triots. Not to contrive what can be done for a party, but to con-
sider what can be done for the country.
We iiave been for nearly three years involved in the most dread-
ful of all public calamities — a civil war — a war the greatest which
29
the world ever saw. We are torn by a rebellion which has
drenched the land with blood, and covered it with mourning-. We
have spent treasures untold in success. We have contracted a debt
so enormous, tliat perhaps posterit}- alone can acquit it. We have
sent out the bravest and best of our men, and tliousands upon
thousands of bloody graves are filled with the young and true of
the land. And still the strife goes on. And the question remains
precisely what it was at first, and that question is how shall we
best aid the cause ? We are all peace men, and we all pray for
peace— not a transient peace — not a deceptive peace, but a peace
which will come to stay, which will bring with it a rescued nation-
ality, which will restore the union of these States and the Consti-
tution as our fathers made it. Yes, all the Constitution, with
every line and letter of it intact. So that we can carry out and
enforce it, and cause it to be obeyed from the everglades of Florida
to the snows of Minnesota, and from tlie gulches of California to
the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Such is the prayer of every loyal heart.
And this peace can be found only by the path which leads tlirough
a prostrated rebellion. [Applause.] There is no offer of peace
from the insurgents, and I do not speak unadvisedly when I say,
there has been none. Nor will there be till the rebels have been
subjugated and subdued. I mean to use a word which goes all
the way. I mean till we have trampled out by force of arms that
painted lizard called Secession. Is tliis election, my neighbors,
a contest for the little gains and slight honors of public place ? If
this is all there is of it — I speak for one — if I go to the polls, and
vote, I should consider I have done all the duty resting upon me.
But this contest is sometliing more than that. It is a conflict of
great principles. It involves the fate of our country's destiny.
It is only one of its pitiful incidents that it decides tlie fate of indi-
vidual man. The question wliich every man should put to himself
now is, what can 1 do by public or private action most speedily
and certainly to bind up tlie gashed bosom of the Union — to re-
store the Constitution, and strengtiien tlie hands of the authorities
and the Government of tliis country ? We all know tliat this rebel-
lion came into life and lives to-day upon tlie divisions and dissen-
sion of the loyal States. The ciiief Executive of this State, in his
public addresses, has said as much as that. 'Does not every Dem-
ocrat know that, and yet, what an anomaly have we presented to
30
us. With the Ship of State drifting upon the rocks, with the bal-
ances wavering between preservation and destruction, we have
seen another political party since tlie outset of this struggle de-
voting all its time and zeal in criticising every act of the Admin-
istration. As I have said before, I will thank any Democrat who
listens to me to rise and point my attention to a single measure
aimed at this rebellion which has not been denounced and stigma-
tized, or criticised offensively by the political party which I have
just referred to. The most hallowed names and famous, have
been prostituted to awaken public prejudice. The most sacred
principles and ideas liave been perverted to lash into a foam of
fury every thing brutal and savage and cowardly in the country.
Laws have been taken from the judiciary to the mob, and questions
decided by regularly constituted courts have been re tried in the
presence of the mob. This has been done by men who have en-
deavored to goad them on to acts which no right-minded man can
palliate, and what has been tlio result? This mode of procedure
has culminated in sins the most disgraceful, the most abhorrent
that have ever branded the records of human madness and excess.
Rioters and murderers have stalked abroad through tlie public
ways, and, at last, as if mortal baseness had not gone far enough,
as if the lowest deep was seeking for a lower depth, tlie smoke of
the burning Orplian Asylum has been ascending up to tell in
heaven of the inluiman bigotry and horrible barbarity of man.
[Applause.] What are the excuses for all this? Wiiat excuse is
it at a time M^ien among politicians it is a catch-word that who-
ever opposes a war in which his country is engaged digs his polit-
ical grave ? What is it then that leads these men to an opposition
such as this? Why, in the first place we are told this war could
have been prevented. It could have been prevented by those men
who now embody the loyal'sentiment of the country. If that ex-
pression is offensive, I mean by it, those men who now give sup-
port to the Administration of Abraham Lincoln. The answer that
we give to it four times out of five is an answer untrue to history.
" No matter who brought on the war, this is no time to inquire in-
to the causes." Now, who it was that could have prevented,
and did not prevent this war, wlioever could have averted it by
the exercise of power, by submitting to any sacrifice, by consent-
ing to any compromise, that could be defended on any principles
31
of justice, on principles of wisdom, on principles even of expedien-
cy ; whoever could have done that and failed to do it has accu-
mulated for himself a history of guilt which the waters of forgetful-
ness will roll over in vain. It is a great matter to know whether
this war could have been prevented. And, I say, and I am pre-
pared every where to discuss with any man that question, and to
maintain that this war could not have been prevented without
consenting to the destruction, degradation, and subversion of this
Government. I am not going to stop here to dwell upon the ways
and means which were resorted to for preventing it, further than
to remind you of this. In the Legislature of this State in Con-
ventions held by our political opponents, it had been maintained
that the great cause of all the controversy was that slavery was
excluded from the Federal Territories. But let it be borne in
mind the Republican party offered to the South better conditions
than the Democratic party ever did. In Congress we voted solid
to give to these men, not upon conditions, not if we miglit have
one part of these Territories, but all and absolutely what was
comprised south of the line 3G°30'. Slavery could live theoretic-
ally, even if niggers were freezing it was said. South of that line
we had New Mexico and other Territories great enough to make
about seven States such as this. Now what did we offer, and
what did we vote but instantly on that day we would pass an en-
abling Act which should bring in all this territory, even though
there should not be a white man, woman, or child within its limits.
Thus putting them in full control, and giving them representatives
in Congress for each Territory so admitted. And they responded
to it in language I will not stop here to repeat. That and all the
other propositions were the idlest of all attempts to play with men
who were pursuing a foregone conclusion.
There is another excuse about this war for the country. Some
say we are for a war, but not such a war. You ask them why,
and the reply is, because this is an Abolition war, or it is a nigger
war, or, according to the latest pronunciation, a nagur war. Who
says that? Who says that it is being carried on to emanci-
pate slaves as an object and an end ? I will admit that the men
who support this Government, and I will say that I am one of
them, will be very glad when the time shall come that nowhere
throughout this broad Republic shall the sun rise upon a master
32
or set upon a slave. [Cheering and prolonged applause.] But,
Mr. Chairman, do nietho favor, if you please, to mark me well
while I say it slowly, that this is an aspiration of humanity,
not the mission of a political party. That it is the hope of the
friends of man, not the object of the Government of the United
States.
There was a time, and that not very long ago, when the armies
of the Repuljlic did go forth in order tliat slavery might advance
iipou the crimson wings of murder. There was a time when cities
were sacked, and territories were laid waste with fire and sword,
in order that they might be planted with slavery. But this Union
is to be preserved. This Tree of Constitutional Liberty, which
our fathers planted and watered with their blood, is to be culti-
vated and protected against those who would lay the ax at its
root. And if, in protecting it, as the car of progress marches on,
slavery is trampled to death, I hope nobody will ask me to mourn.
[Applause.] I shall feel as that old lady did, speaking of her hus-
band, " the Lord forbid tliat I should kill John, but if it should
please the Lord to take him away. His will be done,"
What is all this bug-bear in regard to the negro? When this
fight began, there was a laboring population numbering four mil-
lions in the South. They received no wages, they were fed on
hog and hominy, and cheap at tliat; and their business was to till
the soil of the South, and they did it. But the Democratic party
has told us that not only was slave labor adequate to their pur-
poses, but that it was the only labor. This population, then, this
clement of strength, was cultivating the soil of the South, feeding
and clothing the armies of the rebellion. Suppose the negro is
cowardly, suppose he is effeminate, suppose he never could pull
the trigger or dig a trench, what then ? All war is a commercial
question. There was a time when war was a question of personal-
prowess, when men fought with battle-axes. These were the bat-
tles which the Crusaders fought, and the Troubadours sung. But
men have banished all this, and war has become simply a question
of who can buy and pay for the most iron and lead ; who can
feed, and pay, and clothe the largest number of men for the longest
time. All war now, is a question of money ; so many ounces of
blood for so many pieces of silver. How prosperous was the na-
tion once. We were waging a war with nature, siuiply for the
33
possession and occupation of an Empire. The people possessed a
soil wbicli needed only " to be tickled with a hoe, to laugh with a
harvest."
The people of the South were evidently carrying on this war
by dint of the servile element, and the question was whether these
four million people should labor for the rebellion, or cease to labor
for it. That was the practical question. Is there a man here, or
any where, that will say, I would be glad now if this slave popu-
lation had continued to labor for the enemies of our country.
Look at the house of this neighbor, the home where one is dead.
There is an empty chair which was once occupied by some bright
spirit, in whose veins there coursed brave blood ; he exchanged
the fireside for the battle-field and the camp, and at last poured
out his life-blood, that the Republic might live. Go and look at
such a picture as that, and then say whether you are glad that a
blow has been struck that weakens the power of those who stand
with their hands and faces dripping with the blood of murder. I
would like to have a class-meeting, as they say, and compare gifts
a little while, with any man who would oppose me. To get out
these men, the President proclaimed liberty to those who would
desert the standard of rebellion. What else should we have done ?
The law of war is, that a combatant shall destroy the property of
his adversary if he can not use it. What ought we to have done
for these men, give them death or liberty ? This is the question.
The President decided with the Emancipation Proclamation.
And the comment upon it by men wild with political frenzy, is to
go out into the highways and the byways, and if they could find a
man too ignorant to subscribe his name, tell him that this Procla-
mation let loose all that black horde of the South to destroy wages ;
think of that, that these black men in the South, whose wives and
children are beasts of the field, to whom liberty is given in the
land they love, should leave their homes for the colder regions of
the North. We know that the Almighty has placed his edict
against their coming here, because the climate excludes them.
And, therefore, the monstrous proposition fails. When freedom
and rights are guaranteed to these men, they will not turn and fly
from home and happiness, into a northern climate where it only
remains for them to starve out or freeze out. What a wretched
pretense it is, that we are to feel so squeamish about taking and
3
34
confiscating the property of these men. Why is it, that men, who
have drenched this land with blood, who have buried it under a
mountain of dead, who have made you and me stand in the midst
of a hundred thousand new-made graves, why is it, that their
property should not be taken to repair some part of the ruin which
they have ruthlessly caused ? I feel as that man did, who said, if
any rebel has a mule that can draw a howitzer, and a negro that
can touch it off, I want them ; or if the negro can draw it, and
the mule touch it off better, I am willing. Now there is another
excuse. It is, that this man, Abraliam Lincoln, is an usurper.
Think of a man having spasms over that. [Applause.] Now, in
the first pla,ce, we were told tliat the difficulty with the action of
the President was, that he had suspended the privilege oi habeas cor-
pus, when Congress should have done it. That was the point made
in the famous 9th Resolution of the Democratic party, at Syracuse.
They admitted that it was for the Government to judge, but they
said the President can not do it, it must be done by the Represent-
atives of the people. Now, that was a pretty small point to make
the pivot of so much opposition. But Congress did pass a law re-
garding it. The writ of habeas corpus never was intended to lib-
erate a man against whom a case could be made. They meant a
writ which should release from imprisonment a man charged with
no legal offense which could be proved against him. It was in-
tended, simply, to release men against whom legal offense could
not be proved. The British Government said that ought to be
the law in all ordinary times, and gradually they provided that
never, except in case of invasion or the public safety requiring it,
the writ should be suspended ; and then for the same reasons that
in all branches of business and in every government, the managers
of that business or government must have, sometimes, extraordi-
nary powers. In France you are locked into the cars, and in case
of accident you can not stir, tlie Government supposing that it is
best for public safety. Tlie captain of a ship at sea, when the
storm rises, is instantly invested with despotic powers ; he has a
right to drag you below to make you man the pumps, to do any
thing that will rescue that ship's load and crew from tlie storm
that sweeps over them. So our fatliers, when they laid the keel
and launched the Ship of State upon the tide, amid darkness and
violence, said, we will provide that when the storm howls and the
35
mountaiQ billows roll, when the public safety requires it on ac-
count of extraordinary emei-gencies, we will give our public serv-
ants the right to suspend this writ. To the end that men may
be arrested though you can not prove before the Grand Jury, or
the Court, that they are guilty. It was for this reason that clause
was incorporated into the Constitution. Your public servants
are responsible to you in double trust. First, you will turn them
out of office should they prove recreant to duty, by the verdict of
that great Jury, the people [particularly if all the soldiers vote].
[Applause.] But he is responsible again to be impeached in your
House of Representatives for suspending the writ of habeas corpus
improperly in any case, even in that of the humblest citizen who
lives in a hovel, as in case of a man dressed in purple and fine
linen. Surely, here is a great outcry. Personal liberty has been
invaded. I wonder whether that woman of the ancients, who
was supposed to mark the deeds and shortcomings of men, will
charge this Administration with severity ? I wonder, when the
smoke of this battle has cleared away, when the issues of these
times are gathered up into history's golden urn, whether it will be
found that Abraham Lincoln was guilty of perversion of the laws.
He allowed men to stalk abroad in the public ways, livid with
treason, when if he had but put forth his hand, he might have
placed, them beyond the possibility of inflicting upon us the harm
which they have done. I recall one John C. Breckenridge, stand-
ing under the dome of the Capitol, and applauded to the echo by
the galleries, because lie uttered the very blasphemies of treason.
There was no overt act, and the rulings of the Court in the trial
of Burr, prevented laying hands on him. He went to Baltimore
and made speeches to the " blood-tubs and plug-uglies," in order
to arouse them to action against the Government. Yet, this was
not legal treason, for he was allowed to go forthwith from that
city to the armies of the rebellion, and he lias done them no slight
service.
Then there was Gustavus W. Smith, who held a very lucrative
office in New York, and one of great power — elected to it by the
Democratic party, as a conservative man. You and I are radical.
Every man is who is in favor of the Constitution of George Wash-
ington. Now, this party which elected him knew him to be a trai-
tor, and if he was here to-day it would be a terrible off'ense to
36
arrest liim, and none would be so unwise as to do it. Fernando,
and New York, and Tammany, and the World, and that little pa-
per, the JVeics, knew that Smith was a traitor. And I almost be-
lieve the President thought he ought to arrest him. Had he done
so, he would have been in a condition like that man who at-
tempted to take a petty constable, and was warned thus : " don't
you lay your hands on me ; you touch me, and the whole common-
wealth shakes." Gus. Smith was a Democratic officer, and, there-
fore, was allowed to escape. And he is one of the most distin-
guished Generals in tlie Rebel service.
And there was Level. Every man knew that he was a traitor
at heart. He was Deputy Street Commissioner ; he said to this
nan, go, and he goeth ; to that one pave, and he paveth. But we
could count up scores of men who ouglit to have been arrested, and
who if they had been, would have spared many of the lives of your
husbands and sons. Yet Democrats complain that the great writ
of Habeas Corpus has been suspended. Every man who is arrest-
ed can only be lield till the first term of the Court, his case must
then be investigated. Doubtless, the Government errs sometimes,
like the penitent horse-thief who confessed he had taken a great
many horses he ought to have left, but he had left a great many
he ought to have taken. [Cheers.] There are many other ques-
tions which we can not touch upon. It is a gratification to me
that these questions with all the clap-trap, and humbug, and
dishonesty, and fustian, and rant which can be put into them
have been passed upon by a good many of the people of these
States lately — California, Maine, Iowa, Indiana, Pennsylvania,
and Ohio. Now our friends the Conservatives are in great dis-
tress, not because it was necessary to call back forty thousand
men from each army, but they were having great distress because
the soldiers who are in the Hospitals were allowed to go home
and vote. Is it not a little singular that the Democratic party