(1880)
Born in 1822, died in 1885; graduated from West Point in 1843; served in the
Mexican War in 1846-48; a Colonel in the Civil War in June, 1861; a
Brigadier-General in August, 1861; a Major-General of Volunteers in 1862;
Commander of the Army of West Tennessee in 1862; made Lieutenant-General on
March 2, 1864; Commander of all the Union armies, March 12, 1864; received
Lee’s surrender at Appomattox on April 9, 1865;made General, July 25,
1866; Secretary of War in 1867; elected President in 1868 and reelected in
1872; an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1880.
IN 1 view of the known
character of the speaker who is to address you to-day, and his long public
career, and association with the leading statesmen of this country for the past
twenty years, it would not be becoming in me to detain you with many remarks of
my own. But it may be proper for me to account to you on the first occasion of
my presiding at political meetings for the faith that is in me.
I am a Republican, as the two great political parties are now divided, because
the Republican party is a national party seeking the greatest good for the
greatest number of citizens. There is not a precinct in this vast nation where
a Democrat can not cast his ballot and have it counted as cast. No matter what
the prominence of the opposite party, he can proclaim his political opinions,
even if he is only one among a thousand, without fear and without proscription
on account of his opinions. There are fourteen States, and localities in some
other States, where Republicans have not this privilege. This is one reason why
I am a Republican.
But I am a Republican for many other reasons. The Republican party assures
protection to life and property, the public credit, and the payment of the
debts of the government, State, county, or municipality, so far as it can
control. The Democratic party does not promise this; if it does, it has broken
its promises to the extent of hundreds of millions, as many Northern Democrats
can testify to their sorrow. I am a Republican, as between the existing
parties, because it fosters the production of the field and farm, and of
manufactories, and it encourages the general education of the poor as well as
the rich.
The Democratic party discourages all these when in absolute power. The
Republican party is a party of progress, and of liberty toward its opponents.
It encourages the poor to strive to better their children, to enable them to compete
successfully with their more fortunate associates, and, in fine, it secures an
entire equality before the law of every citizen, no matter what his race,
nationality, or previous condition. It tolerates no privileged class. Every one
has the opportunity to make himself all he is capable of.
Ladies and gentlemen, do you believe this can be truthfully said in the greater
part of fourteen of the States of this Union to-day which the Democratic party
control absolutely? The Republican party is a party of principles; the same
principles prevailing wherever it has a foothold.
The Democratic party is united in but one thing, and that is in getting control
of the government in all its branches. It is for internal improvement at the
expense of the government in one section and against this in another. It favors
repudiation of solemn obligations in one section and honest payment of its
debts in another, where public opinion will not tolerate any other view. It
favors fiat money in one place and good money in another. Finally, it favors
the pooling of all issues not favored by the Republicans, to the end that it
may secure the one principle upon which the party is a most harmonious
unit—namely, getting control of the government in all its branches.
I have been in some part of every State lately in rebellion within the last
year. I was most hospitably received at every place where I stopped. My
receptions were not by the Union class alone, but by all classes, without
distinction. I had a free talk with many who were against me in war, and who
have been against the Republican party ever since. They were, in all instances,
reasonable men, judging by what they said. I believed then, and believe now,
that they sincerely want a break-up in this “Solid South” political
condition. They see that it is to their pecuniary interest, as well as to their
happiness, that there should be harmony and confidence between all sections.
They want to break away from the slavery which binds them to a party name. They
want a pretext that enough of them can unite upon to make it respectable. Once
started, the Solid South will go as Kukluxism did before, as is so admirably
told by Judge Tourgee in his “Fool’s Errand.” When the break
comes, those who start it will be astonished to find how many of their friends
have been in favor of it for a long time, and have only been waiting to see
some one take the lead. This desirable solution can only be attained by the
defeat, and continued defeat, of the Democratic party as now constituted.
Note 1. One of the few speeches made by
General Grant after he retired from public life. It was delivered at
from "The World's Great
Orations" ed. by William Jennings Bryan, 1906, published in full by
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