[From the Congressional Record.] Speech of Hon. Timothy O. Howe, of Wisconsin. In the Senate of the United States, Monday, the 25th of March, 1878, On his Resolution calling on the President for information touching the defalcation of W. R. Whittaker. "Strike, but Hear!"

Original publisher's beige paper pamphlet. Several leaves unopened. No date, circa 1878. 5 3/4" x 9 1/4." Sixteen pages, complete. Pages are clean and intact except for some chipping along edges, occasional small marks or stains, splitting along spine, and light age toning. A Very Good copy. This pamphlet contains the printed text of a speech that was originally given by Timothy O. Howe on March 25, 1878 in the United States Senate. Timothy O. Howe (1816-1883) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. He served as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin from 1861-1879. He was a Whig and later a Republican. Howe addresses many subjects in his speech. Much of the speech is a denunciation of the Democratic Party and the policies of the current president, Rutherford B. Hayes, during the decline of Reconstruction. Howe pointedly criticizes Hayes's attempts to reconcile civil unrest in the South. African Americans in the South faced threats of violence and voter suppression by white Southerners after the American Civil War. Hayes was actually a staunch abolitionist but adopted a policy of compromise to placate a Democratic House majority which entailed that the federal government no longer support Reconstruction efforts and withdraw federal troops from former Confederate states. Howe clearly gives his stance regarding Southern elections, "I demand only that every legally-qualified elector in every State, South or North, Democrat or Republican, black or white, shall be permitted, undisturbed by force and un-awed by fear, to vote at all elections at the place prescribed by law and nowhere else, just one, and no more than once; that every vote cast shall be honestly counted, and that every person chosen by such votes to any office shall be freely inducted into it." Howe is especially incensed over the policies and actions of Democratic Congressmen who ousted or punished Republicans for their abolitionist efforts. Howe speaks against the mistreatment of John Quincy Adams and Joshua R. Giddings who were opposed in U.S. Congress for their abolitionist efforts. He also lambastes the gag rule in Congress that prohibited any discussion over the subjects of abolition or slavery and how Giddings was punished for passing resolutions that maintained the emancipation and rights of slaves aboard a slave ship that had entered free territory. Other subjects include Congressional disputes over fugitive slave laws, the legal status of slaves if they set foot in free states, and Massachusetts governor Samuel Hoar. Howe decries Hoar being expelled from South Carolina for his anti-slavery views. He then brings special attention to the passing of Charles Sumner who he says, while being endowed with exceptional intellect and high culture, was mourned for his "marked moral traits." He recounts the brutal beating of Sumner by Preston Brooks. He denounces Congress then for giving sparse punishment against Brooks, for supporting Brooks, and for insulting a badly injured Sumner. Other subjects Howe discusses is Hayes's attempts at civil service reform and events surrounding Governor Packard and Louisiana. Howe finishes with additional critiques against Hayes. He voices his support of the Republican Party but is concerned of its future, "[The Republican Party] battled for freedom in the Territories against slavery; for union against disunion; for emancipation against bondage; for enfranchisement against disenfranchisement; for the equal rights of citizens against the privileges of caste; for the reign of law against the domination of the Ku Klux Klan and the White League; for human profess against a stagnant or reactionary conservatism. The conflict has been fearful, but the triumph has been grand. . I see its authority totters--totters perhaps to its fall. With unruffled temper I await the final judgment of the people.".…