Speeches of Carl Schurz/02 Political Morals
II.
POLITICAL MORALS.
SPEECH DELIVERED AT ALBANY-HALL, MILWAUKEE,
ON THE 18TH OF NOVEMBER, 1858.
The meeting at which this speech was delivered, was called for the purpose of celebrating the success gained by the Republican party at the fall election of 1858, in the First Congressional District of Wisconsin, and particularly in the county and city of Milwaukee. The Democratic party had always had an overwhelming majority in the latter locality; but some of its leading members, especially men in official positions, had indulged in corrupt practices, which led to a change of feeling among the rank and file of the party, and rendered the success of the Republican candidates possible. These are the circumstances alluded to in those passages of the speech which treat of political morality. The change was particularly great among the voters of German nativity, and the speaker had been very active in bringing about this result.
Gentlemen:—
I did not come here for the purpose of receiving
your applause for what little I may have contributed to
the result of the late election. It is no affected modesty
on my part when I say there are many men here, who,
in a quiet way, have done and effected much more than
myself; and, although I thank my friends for the good
opinion they entertain of my services, yet I do not thank
them for the distinction they make, and for the exclusive
praises they bestow upon me, while others have so richly
deserved them. I simply did a freeman's duty, and so did
you, every one in his way. Let no unjust discriminations
be made, which might wound the feelings of deserving men, while they cannot fail to embarrass those for whose
gratification they are intended. Equal honor to every
brave man who stood to his gun in the battle! [Cheers.]
Honor to the members of the American Press, who have
faithfully worked for the good cause, day after day. Honor
to the members of the German Republican Press, who,
fighting in the minority, have, for years and years, sacrificed
the comforts of life, and struggled with difficulties
unknown to most of you, until, at last, they found a
reward for their labors in the victories of our cause.
[Applause.]
We have, indeed, achieved a surprising success in this city. But, glorious as it was, I warn my Republican friends not to mistake its meaning. It was, indeed, a most hearty endorsement of our noble representative in Congress, and a crushing verdict against the corrupt party organization which so long has ruled the destinies of this district; but the glorious majority we gained, was not a mere partisan majority; the victory we achieved, was not a mere partisan victory. It was the victory of political honesty over corruption; was the victory of moral independence over moral servitude, of manhood over servile partisanship! [Great applause.] Glory enough for the Republicans, that the voice of political independence spoke in their favor.
I know, and you all know, how this great result has been attained. It was the German vote which defeated you so often; it is the German vote that gives us now so brilliant a victory. [Cheers.] I know my countrymen, and I think I understand the true meaning of their action. I indeed have often enough endeavored to plant convictions in the place of their prejudices; but now I see that I was merely giving words to the true thoughts of my countrymen; that I merely gave an expression to their real feelings. [Cheers.] Yes, they are shaking off the yoke of Hunkerism, which endeavored to degrade them to mere voting machines; they are breaking through the enslaving drill and discipline of the false Democracy.
But now, after having preached the true principles of American liberty to the Germans, you must allow me to explain the real feelings of my countrymen to the Americans. I entreat you, let not this victory lead you into the dangerous delusion, that the Germans, after having shaken off the yoke of one party despotism, are ready to take upon their necks the yoke of another. [Cheers.] After having raised the banner of moral independence to-day, they are certainly not prepared to surrender it again to-morrow. They will follow the lead of political honesty, as long as it is true honesty that leads them. [Cheers.] They have stood up for the defence of the principles of liberty, and they will remain true to that cause, so long as it is genuine and true liberty which claims their support. But I tell you, my Republican friends, and I speak with the full earnestness of my heart, I sincerely hope that my countrymen who have emancipated themselves from party despotism, will never again consent to be made use of in corrupt combinations and political tricks, that they never will again be parties to dirty political trades and corrupt bargains, on whatever side they may be attempted. [Great applause.] And I do not hesitate to prophesy, that if the Republican party should be unfortunate enough to entangle itself in the same net-work of corruption with which the Democracy is choking itself to death, the people will strike it down with the same crushing verdict under which Hunkerism is sinking now. And in that case, I confess my heart would behold with grief and sorrow its degradation, but it would have no tears for its defeat. [Applause.]
Such predictions will never be fulfilled as long as the Republicans keep in mind, that it requires an honest party to defend great principles with success, and that in order to preserve the liberties of this country and to carry out the great ideas of the fathers, it is indispensably necessary to raise the standard of political morals. [Cheers.]
The decline and decay of political morals is not owing to the more or less accidental circumstance that a number of corrupt men rose to influence and power. The real cause is, that the political action of the masses was not dictated and ruled by their consciences. [Cheers.]
When you look over the history of that party, which, for a long series of years, has shaped the destinies of the Union, you will discover that its organization is of a hierarchical and despotic character, and that its policy does not spring from the heart of the people. You must discover, that its frequent changes of principles and platforms have not arisen from spontaneous and corresponding changes in public opinion, but that they have been imposed upon the masses of the party by a foreign will, and that the masses have been but obeying the arbitrary dictation of a few superiors. Thus you see the Democratic party of the North slide, with the greatest facility, within a few years, from extreme to extreme—from the Wilmot Proviso to the most atrocious doctrines of the Dred Scott decision. How was this effected, and what was the consequence? The means was the fiercest party despotism, and the consequence was the deepest demoralization of the popular conscience. [Cheers.] People were taught that they had to sacrifice their principles to the party, and with their principles they sacrificed their moral independence and their moral worth. [Great applause.]
Indeed, what man has the right to call himself a regular Democrat now-a-days? Has he, who once with the leaders of the party, held the Missouri Compromise as sacred and inviolable as the Constitution itself? Has he, who once, with General Cass, deplored that he had no opportunity to record his vote for the Wilmot Proviso? Has he, who once stood upon the Wisconsin platform of 1849, or who shortly after subscribed to General Cass's Nicholson letter? or he, who, in 1854, cheered for Douglas's new doctrine, that the Missouri restriction was unconstitutional, but that the people of a territory should have the power to admit or exclude slavery, even in a territorial condition? Or he, who shortly afterwards limited this right to exclude slavery to the time when the people of a territory formed a State Constitution? Or he, who now subscribes to the doctrine of the Dred Scott decision, that the right of property in a slave is originally and expressly affirmed by the Federal Constitution, and that slavery has an unlimited sway over all the property of the United States? Is he a Democrat, who to-day condemns the re-opening of the slave trade as an outrageous wrong, or will he be a Democrat that will assert to-morrow that, a slave being an ordinary article of merchandize, we have no right to limit the freedom of trade in that article? He certainly is no Democrat who has stood faithful and true to any one of these principles, however loudly he may have professed them. But he is a regular Democrat who has successively endorsed every one of them, who has jumped from one platform on another, without scruple or hesitation, and who was always ready to swear that the leaders of “the party” were right whatever they might command, and that the whole world besides was wrong. [Great applause.] He is a “regular Democrat” who is readiest in yielding the most slavish obedience to superior dictation. The true party test of Democracy is neither the Nebraska Bill nor the Dred Scott decision; it is unconditional submission and every ready obedience. [Loud and continued applause.] How is this? It is probable that a man should have been truly and deeply convinced of the truth of any one of these principles, if he was always ready to abandon it for another? Is it possible that those who changed leading doctrines as easily as they changed their clothes, should have cared for principle at all? Could it be true conviction that ruled them? And if it was not conviction that ruled them, what concern could their consciences have in their politics?
Oh, what a sight is this! In the old world I saw the spirit of noble nations subdued by the bayonets of hireling armies. I have seen their battalions, themselves formed of the children of the people, shoulder their muskets and march against their own friends and brothers, the defenders of their common rights and liberties; but it was not their choice to do so, for the terror of command overawed their hearts, and brutal necessity directed their steps. And I have seen other thousands sacrifice all they had, and fight and suffer and die, in order to bequeath to the people the right to express their true convictions and their free-will at the ballot-box, and for no other cause has humanity struggled more, and for no other has more of the noblest blood of mankind been shed. To see the efforts of a liberty-loving nation crushed down by brute violence is a spectacle that fills our soul with sadness, but we do reverence to those who perish in their noble attempts. More deplorable still, because less honorable, is the lot of those who are forced to fight against their own rights and their own liberty; they are the victims of despotism, without being the champions of freedom. But what feelings have our hearts, what designation has our language, for those who, in a free country like this, unfettered by any kind of despotism, with no terror to overawe and no force to coerce them, sacrifice their convictions and their consciences to a moral tyranny of their own making? [Cheers.] And these we find in our midst. Do not try to disguise the fact. There are no bayonets here against convictions. There is no power here that could prevent the lowest child of the people from having a will and convictions of his own, and from expressing them freely. Every one is the sovereign master of his own self. And yet how many are there who immolate their consciences, their convictions, all their moral independence, on the altar of a savage idol, whose name is “Party!” [Great cheers.] How many submit to a thraldom, which is the more shameful as it is unsupported by force, and rests only on the slavish propensities of its devotee! [Applause.]
Is it not so? Are not the real feelings of the masses trampled upon with impunity, and public opinion treated with contempt? Are not the most atrocious constitutional doctrines imposed upon the people with as much arbitrariness as that with which the despots of the old world impose ukases on their subjects? And yet the rank and file of “the party” stifle the warning voice of conscience, and obey, obey, obey! [Loud applause.] Do not call that rebellion, which recently broke out in the camp, an indication of moral independence. What is it, but that one pretender rises against another, each eager to wield the rod of command alone? What is it, but that, as in the play of Capuletti and Montechi, the house of Douglas rises against the house of Buchanan, the white rose fights the red, an antipope fighting against the pope, but both trying to rule their clients and followers with the same rule, and to whip them in with the same whip? Who is the greater despot of the two? Does not Douglas, on the one side, dictate principles in the same absolute way that Buchanan does on the other? It is nothing but double-headed despotism. [Loud cheers.] Those who were sincerely fighting for principle will have to leave the party. The South will soon declare her sovereign pleasure, the greedy courtiers will crowd the antechamber of the victor, and order will reign in Warsaw. [Applause.]
Such is the party which has stood so long at the helm of affairs. Its history and its present condition are full of instruction for the people; for not the politicians, but the masses who supported them, are responsible for the curse of demoralization which that party has brought upon us. [Cheers.]
It is said that there are but few men, who, however honest otherwise, can withstand the seductions of power. If this is true, what effect must it have on political leaders, when they see that, in point of principle and political doctrine, they can do with the masses whatever they please? When they find out that they will be obeyed and applauded whatever their commands may be? That there is no somerset so glaring, no sophistry so absurd, and no doctrine so atrocious, but that the rank and file will accept them? That they may sell themselves, and sell others, without being rebuked? That they may even squander the money and rob the treasury of the people, without being held to account? Nay, that their very depravity gives them a claim on the protection of their party? Let me tell you, that not only the politicians debauch the conscience of the people by contempt of principle, but that the masses demoralize the politicians by culpable indulgence. [Great cheers.] Yes, when that party put an honest man in office, they did all they could in order to make a rascal out of him, while he was in power; and the virtue of many a man has thus been victimized by his constituency. And when, at last, such a man had become a downright scoundrel, he did in his turn all he could to demoralize those who had made him so. We might call this Democratic reciprocity, and it is in full operation everywhere. [Tremendous applause.]
Where this course would lead, if the masses persevered in it, I do not know. But I do know that there is no remedy, unless we put the axe to the roots of the evil, and I consider this one of the most important parts of the mission of Republicanism. It must be our principal object, not only to catch the people's votes for our candidates, but enlist in our cause the people's conscience. [Great cheers.] We must encourage moral independence in politics; we must admonish every man to think and to reason for himself, to form his own convictions, and to stand by them; we must entreat him never to accept, unseen and uninvestigated, the principles and opinions of others, even if they be our own. Let those who follow your lead, believe in your words, because what you say is true, and not because you say it. [Applause.] Do not object that this will loosen the party organization and destroy its efficiency. For our cause is great, and the principles of Republicanism stand on the firm ground of the rights of man. The closer they are investigated, the clearer they stand in the open light of day, the more invincible they are. If what you say is true, you need no tricks and deception in order to make people believe. Address yourselves to their moral nature, and their conscience will enlighten their understanding. [Loud applause.] Then you will organize the party of independent men. This independence will keep the rank and file vigilant, and this vigilance will keep the leaders upright and honest. It will put an end to the omnipotence of wire-pulling, and nip Republican Hunkerism in the bud. [Loud applause.] I know it will require incessant work to keep up something like discipline in that party, but it will be an object worth working for; for such an organization will never become a mere tool in the hand of selfish ambition, and its discipline will never degenerate into a mere machinery of despotism. I know that volunteers sometimes will not fight as well as regular troops, and that drill will sometimes beat enthusiasm. But enthusiasm also may be disciplined, and then it will be irresistable. [Cheers.]
I have no faith in the wisdom of that policy of expediency which consists in forming alliances with heterogeneous elements, and in compromising leading principles for the sake of gaining numerical strength. [Cheers.] Temporary successes may, indeed, be achieved by such operations, and short-sighted men who consider themselves eminently practical, may glory in their exploits. But they are only too apt to forget, that serious moral defeats have sometimes been suffered in apparent victories, and moral victories have been won in apparent defeats. And both will bear their fruits in the future. [Loud applause.] It may soon turn out that, what by such expedients they may have gained in point of numbers to-day, they have lost in moral strength for all the future. Our leaders must not forget that we are not working merely for the sake of overthrowing an administration, or of achieving some temporary successes to-day and to-morrow, but that our true end, which consists in setting a limit to the slave-power and the demoralization of political life, will require our united efforts for years to come. They ought never to forget, that ours is a party of volunteers who act on principle and conviction, and that nothing tends so much to break up such a party as that fickle policy which shifts from expedient to expedient, from alliance to alliance, from compromise to compromise. [Cheers.] A party like ours can never be ruled by secret diplomacy. [Loud applause.] Our true strength consists in the honest confidence of the people, which cannot but be endangered by secret combinations, however ingenious and clever they may be. As for me, I believe in an open and straightforward fight. [Cheers.] I believe that even in politics honesty is the best policy. [Loud applause.] I believe in the possibility of reforming our political life, and I will tell you how I think you can do it.
It is true we cannot expect every Republican to be a perfect angel. Even when advocating the purest principles, a man will not at once cast off all the frailties of human nature; and so it may happen, and, I am sorry to say, it has happened, that some Republicans, in the discharge of official duties, fell victims to severe temptations. But one thing we can do, we must do, and we shall do. We must not hesitate to denounce every member of our own party who prostitutes his trust and power by dishonest and corrupt transactions, as a contemptible villain. [Loud applause.] And not only that, we must consider and denounce and treat him as a traitor to his party! [Thundering cheers.] What we can and must do, is to make all dishonest and corrupt practices high treason, and to take every such traitor and pitch him overboard [applause]; to condemn him to political death without regard to person or station, without the benefit of clergy. [Long and continued cheers.] That is the way to stem the flood of demoralization among the people and among the politicians, and to root out that most alarming, that most hideous popular notion—a notion horrible in its consequence, which has been started and fostered by the speculating demagogues—the notion that a politician who is not knave enough to steal must necessarily be a fool! [Loud cheers.] To a corrupt Republican let no other alternative be presented but to be buried in the grave of infamy and oblivion, or to go over to the other side, where such knaves thrive and prosper. [Tremendous applause.]
Republicans, if you claim the right to be severe on your opponents, you must be no less severe against yourselves. Let the Republican organization be a permanent investigating committee, watching its own members, and let it be understood that, if it is not a sufficient excuse for a scoundrel to be a Democrat, a scoundrel is, in your eyes, ten times more damnable if he pretends to be a Republican. [Loud applause.] Although you may not be perfect, yet you will show by your acts that you are honestly endeavoring to do your best, while, on the other side, corruption stalks abroad with the disgusting impudence of a prostitute who delights in exhibiting her vices naked to the world. I repeat it, and I cannot impress it upon your minds too strongly, or too solemnly: our liberties and the honor and prestige of this Republic cannot be preserved, unless you raise the standard of political morals, and this is the way to do it. In the place of every hypocrite unmasked, of every rascal struck down by your hands, ten honest men will flock to your banner. [Loud applause.]
This is the policy which our principles demand. If we follow it sincerely and faithfully, then the light of truth will soon pierce even the thickest darkness of Egypt. [Cheers.] The revolution has begun, and I greet its first symptoms with heartfelt satisfaction; whether it will have an unimpeded progress depends in a large measure upon those who, by these first upheavings of the popular spirit, have been carried into responsible positions.
Let me entreat our Republican legislators elect, never to forget that they have not been elected by a strict party vote; that they are, indeed, expected to stand true to their party, but only so long as the party is true to the cause of liberty and honesty. [Loud applause.] Let them never forget that the trust imposed upon them is of unusual importance; upon their shoulders rest the destinies of a State, whose reputation is tainted by venal legislatures and administrations, and whose credit is ruined by legislative blunders. Let them never forget that in a society organized like ours, stability of legislation is the principal safeguard of public credit, [Cheers.] and that, whatever changes in our laws may be desirable, vested rights and existing contracts must be religiously respected. [Loud and continued applause.] Let them never forget that true economy does not consist in close parsimony alone, but in a wise and appropriate application of the moneys expended. [Cheers.] Let our legislators and county officers bear in mind that it may be easy to gain the confidence of the people, but difficult to preserve it, and that they will be held responsible for the result of the next election. In one word, let this celebration of one of the most surprising successes ever achieved, be solemnized by a deeper consciousness of our duties and responsibilities. [Cheers.]
A last word, my friends. I cannot deny an expression to the feeling of joy with which I am beholding a sight, for which my heart has longed years and years. It is the honest and liberty-loving German joining hands with the honest and liberty-loving American. [Thundering and long-continued applause.] Look over this broad land; at Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, aye, and Milwaukee, also, the Germans, together with the Americans, crowding around the banner of human liberty! See there the old Germanic idea showing its true identity in all the branches of the good old Germanic stock. [Loud cheers.] Let the bond of this wedlock be sacred and inviolable! Your interests are the same, and in your inmost hearts your principles are the same—why should you not be true to each other? Let this alliance spread and flourish all over this State, all over this Republic—and the cause of liberty will triumph and our honor will be safe! [Long and continued applause.]