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rule that every man, be he rich or poor, black or white, has an equal 

 stake in righteous government. The rich man has no greater claim 

 to influence merely because he possesses wealth, than the poor man 

 because he desires to attain it, except so far as in the attainment of 

 his property he has gained an honest influence over others. The best 

 reason that could have been assigned for the change of the govern- 

 ment of the State of South Carolina when Wade Hampton was chosen 

 was given me by an old negro whom I met at the Capitol in Columbia 

 a few months after the change, of which I asked him the reason : 

 "De reason, boss," said he, " de reason is dat you can't put 

 ign'ance ober intelligence, and make it stay." [Applause.] 



Gentlemen, when you trust fully in the democratic principle that 

 every man is entitled to one vote, and when no man fears to have 

 that vote counted, there will be less danger of the continued control 

 of ignorance over intelligence than there is when resort is had to any 

 other method ; and only when such is the rule will free institutions be 

 fully established. 



The exhibition that you propose to bring into existence here will 

 be but an example of the industrial forces that are pervading this 

 whole land, but, in more marked degree than elsewhere, your own 

 State and your own section of this land. Here is the place where 

 poor men can most easily establish themselves on small farms with 

 least hardship and quicker remuneration ; but, in order that they may 

 come, there must be free speech, free schools, a free press, and the 

 right of private judgment without prejudice or social isolation. 



In fact, what is needed now, and what is growing fast, is the sense 

 of national existence. Where is the leader at whose trumpet-call 

 the great parly of the nation will arise? Look for your analogy 

 in the very art to which our attention has been devoted. In the 

 kingdom of cotton there is no solid South, no solid North ; but each 

 member of the kingdom is dependent upon all the rest. The art begins 

 with the field-hand who first stirs the soil and plants the seed, and 

 ends only when the finished goods are placed upon the shelves of 

 those who distribute them. Each member of the craft depends upon 

 all ; and the whole structure of societ} 7 , North and South, is twisted 

 into the strand and interwoven in the web that constitutes the 

 product of the cotton field and of the cotton mill. 



So also, in the art of government, all interests are harmonious. In 

 the question of good mone}* ; in that of equal and just taxation, 

 whether under an excise law or a tariff act ; in assuring integrity and 

 efficiency in office ; in peace, order, and industry, there is no North, 

 no South, no East, no West : but in both existing parties, and in all 

 sections, there are different minds, different motives, and different 

 methods proposed to attain these ends. These are the great ques- 

 tions of the future, on which the welfare of all depends, without dis- 

 tinction of section, race, or party, as parties now exist. 



When the great national party arises in its might, and calls for its 



recruits upon all parties and all sections, then will right-minded men 



, of every State, North or South, unite in its support; and these great 



