Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 4.djvu/283

Rh honor; that he should not be one with a record of prostituted official power, such as the Mulligan letters and the investigation show, upon his back. That is all. Why, how ridiculous this is, to be sure! Have you ever heard anything so outlandish?

Well, fellow-citizens, when you see grave men, men of public standing, suddenly disposed to laugh at other men who to-day refuse to honor bad practices which yesterday they all in common condemned, it is not altogether amusing. It is a rather serious symptom of the moral effect Mr. Blaine's mere nomination has already produced. But it is only one of many. The Republican party once proudly and justly called itself the party of moral ideas. Where are those moral ideas now? What is the answer of the thorough-paced partisan when you remind him of “the party of moral ideas” of the past, and point at the record of his candidate? “Hang moral ideas, we are for the party!” And he will tell you further that, whatever may become of your moral ideas, you are in honor bound to be for the party too. The Republican party was a party of freemen and volunteers. From the Whigs and from the Democrats they came, proud of having cut their party ties, and they gathered around the anti-slavery banner, for this they thought the cause of right. And now the spokesmen of the same party tell you that he who opposes the candidates of his party because he conscientiously believes it wrong to support them commits a dishonorable act.

As a member of a party I do not cease to be a citizen. Under all circumstances the duties which I owe as a citizen to my country are superior to the duties which I can possibly owe to any party. When I go as a delegate to a party convention, I consult with others as to what may be best for party action. When as a voter I go to the polls, I consult my own conscience about what is best