Is the Democratic party sincere in its profession to accept in good faith the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution, while strenuously objecting to all laws designed for the enforcement of the provisions of those amendments?
Does the Democratic party hope to blind the people by its shallow pretence of a new departure from the principles advocated by it since its organization?
Do the old Democratic party ring-masters expect to mislead the people by a mere visionary reconstruction of Tammany, and can they hope to erase the foul stains upon their party linen to such an extent as to have them accepted as pure and unspotted garments?
These are some of the questions at present mooted in the silent heart of the Nation. They are the questions of the hour and upon them the people of the whole country are called to decide, as to which of the two great political parties the future welfare of the Republic may be confided with the greatest safety.
In making this decision the minds of the people naturally revert to the records of the Republican party as manifested through its administration of the Government, its vindication of its professed principles, its fulfilment of its promises for the redemption of the nation. And what is that record?
Upon its accession to power in 1861 the Republican party found the country upon the verge of a civil war. Some of the nation’s strongholds were already in the hands of the traitors, and the incompetency and weakness of its predecessor were everywhere apparent. Never in all its history had such an opportunity been presented it to redeem the pledges it had made in the interests of human justice and human freedom. True to its loyal instincts it rose to the dignity and the grandeur of the occasion.
It at once instituted the most vigorous measures for the National defence.
By it the most wicked rebellion ever organized among men was put down.
Through the Republican party the integrity of the Union was preserved, and its place maintained among the nations of the earth as one of the leading powers.
By it financial measures were inaugurated and carried out that have brought unparalleled prosperity to the country.