Mr. Foster proceeded to say:
"I happened to be one who thought and believed that the President's southern policy, as far as it related to the use of the troops for the support of State Governments, was right. I sustained it upon the ground of high principle,—nevertheless it could have been sustained on the ground of necessity. The President has extended to the people of the south the hand of conciliation and friendship. He has shown a desire, probably contrary to the wishes of the great mass of his party, to bring about by the means of conciliation, better relations between the north and the south. In doing this he has alienated from him the great mass of the leading and influential republicans of the country. He has lost their sympathy, and to a great degree their support. What has he received in return for the measure of conciliation and kindness? How have these measures been received by the south? What advance can we discover in them of the recognition of the guarantees of the rights of the colored men under the Constitutional Amendments? We see Jeff. Davis making speeches as treasonable as those of 1861, and these speeches endorsed and applauded by a great portion of their press and people! We see also the declaration of Mr. Singleton, of Mississippi, in answer to a question of mine on the floor of the house, declaring that this paramount allegiance in peace and war was due to his State! No gentlemen from the south, or even of the democratic party has taken issue with him.
"We see also, all over the south, a disposition to resist the execution of the United States laws, especially in the matter of collection of internal revenue. To-day there are four United States officers under arrest by the authorities of the State of South Carolina, in jail and bail refused, for an alleged crime in their State, while in fact these officers were discharging their duty in executing the laws of the United States, in that State. Their State courts and their officers refused to obey the writs of the United States courts in the surrender of these United States authorities. No former act of this treasonable state shows a more defiant attitude towards the United States Government, or a greater disposition to trample on its authority. I trust the administration will in this case, assert, in the most vigorous manner possible, the authority of the United States Government for the rescue and protection of these officers. I have no bloody shirt to wave. If there is one man in this country more than another, who desires peace and quiet between the sections, I believe I am that man. Gentlemen may philosophize over this question until they are gray, but you cannot escape the discussion of this question so long as the Solid South menaces the peace of the country. A solid democratic south means the control of the country by the spirit and the men who sought its destruction.
"My own opinion is that there can be no peace. This question will not down until the menace of the Solid South is withdrawn. I had hoped that the policy of President Hayes would lead to the assertion, by a very considerable portion of the South, of their antagonism to Bourbon Democracy. I confess to a degree of disappointment in this, though I think I see signs of a breaking up of the Solid South in the independent movements that seem to be gaining a foothold in all sections of that country. But the effective way to aid these independent movements; this breaking up of all the Solid South, is for the North to present itself united against the Solid South. A Solid South under the control of the Democratic party means the control of the party by this element. It means the repeal of the Constitutional Amendments, if not in form, in spirit. It means the payment of hundreds of rebel claims. It means the payment of pensions to rebel soldiers. It means the payment for slaves lost in the rebellion. It means the abrogation of that provision of the Constitution which declares that the citizens of one State shall have all the rights, privileges and immunities of the citizens of other States.
"If my Democratic friends who seem to be anxious to bring about peace and quiet between the sections are sincere, and desire to make their expressions effective, they should act with that party which presents a solid front, a united North so long as we are menaced with the Solid South.
"If it could be understood in the South that they are to be met with a Solid North, I do not believe that the Solid South would exist in that condition a single year. They retain this position because they believe they can have the support of a fragment of the North; and thus with this fragment rule and control the country. I would have no fear of the control of the country by the Democratic party, if it were made up of something like equal proportions from all sections of the country. I discuss this question first, because I believe it is the most important question at issue in the pending canvass. I repeat, that it is the imperative duty of the North to meet the Solid South with a united front!"
The above little speech thrilled the North, and put new life into the Republican party. It was a regular battle-cry; it was passed along the line from city to city, and from State to State. It gave Mr. Foster the nomination for Governor of Ohio, and whereas the Democrats had possession of the State by a majority of 23,000, he reversed the whole question by a Republican majority of 17,000, and redeemed the State of Ohio to the Republican party. The rising tide of enthusiasm swept the whole country. That famous little speech was printed and set forth by all the papers of the land. Editorials were written on the subject, and orators all over the land took Mr. Foster's speech at Upper Sandusky as a text from which to preach their sermons. The whole country was aroused over the treasonable designs and aims of the South. Her intentions were to come as near back to slavery as ever she could get, or rather as near as ever she dared to come, once more. But now the North was on her guard, and presented a solid Republican front against the Solid South, and in the course of two years more returned James A. Garfield as President of the United States.
You must have observed, my dear reader, in the last few pages, how the former secessionists arose in the South, and tore down the negro, or Republican, governments that ruled in the days of Reconstruction. You have seen the arrogance and insolence of the rebel brigadier-generals who vaulted into their places, and even came to Congress at Washington, and attempted to tie the hands of President Hayes by depriving him of the right to veto. You have seen how these self-same rebels next began to talk about pensioning the very soldiers who broke up the Union for a time, or at least prevented the free course of law in the Southern States, and they next built their hopes on the payment of their own war-claims and the price of their slaves out of the United States Treasury at Washington. You have seen how all the above, and far more, welded all the Northern States into what was termed "the Solid North," and rolled back the great Southern waves of presumption and insolence, saying to the sea, "Thus far shalt thou come, and no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed!" Having said and done so much, and having awakened the Southern States to their proper senses, a person would have thought that colored men would have been restored to the government of these States, at least in cases where the colored men were clever men, and therefore well qualified to rule. But the aforementioned Negro, or Republican, governments of the late rebel States were not restored, though we had established the "Solid North," and returned James A. Garfield to the White House as the head of the great republic.
For the time being, therefore, and for the sake of peace, the North has not yet seen fit to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment, so as to compel the South to make room for the rightful share of colored men in the governments of the South. If this were France or England, colored men would to-day be sitting side by side with white men, and ruling the country together. But the South was like a termagant, fighting wife, who shook her fists in her husband's face, and exclaimed, "Look ye here Sam! This is a white man's government and I will rule it myself, or not rule at all; for these colored men shall not divide the power with me!" Then Uncle Sam, poor fellow, gave way, for a time, for the sake of peace, and ever since colored men in the South have kept away from this hateful contention with the white man there. It may have been for the best for the present, till we are more highly educated, and so more fitted and qualified to rule. In the meantime we are gathering knowledge like sands of the sea, and qualifying ourselves to hold any office on the face of the earth. Those rebels are rapidly passing away who sold "their own flesh and blood" on the auction blocks, and who fought for slavery on many a well-contested field, and at last were subdued by physical force. They are passing away, and more intelligent and enlightened children are taking their places. And we are growing more and more intelligent every day of the year, and the time must come, and come soon, when we will get all the rights that belong to us, and one of this is the right for colored men to rule the entire Union, North, East, South and West, along with all other men. And, my dear reader, as sure as there is a God in heaven, so sure is it that we shall yet get all that belongs to us, and right and justice shall prevail and flourish from the Lakes to the Gulf!