Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1848-08-23


action and free will Of the nation at large.
and void of the slightest agency of my
own.
= = y In no case can permit myself
to be the candidate Of any party, or yield
myself to party schemes"
To Mr.. Deloney, he has written
"Should / ever occupy the White House,
it must be the spontaneous move of the
people, and by no act of mine, so that !.
could go into the Office untrammelled, and
be the chief magistrate Of the nation, and
not Of party
To P. S. Smith he had said, 81 do not
desire the presidency, and only yield thus
far my assent to be considered candidate
in the same proportion in which it is des-
ired by the people, irrespective of party"
He had declared to DR.. Birkey, Il am
not willing to be the candidate Of any par
ty. ~ If elected to the presiden-
tial Office, it must be without any agency
OF my own.'
He had written to DIR. Bronson-ssIf l
were called to the presidential chair by the
general voice Of the people, without re-
gard to their political differences, | should
deem it my duty to accept the Office" n
n \ 81 cannot in any case permit my.
self to be brought before the country by
any of the parties that now SO unfortunate
ly divide our country as their candidate
for this Office .N-
These declarations were before the peo-
pie when the Buena Vista cane into the
field. Attracted by them, as we We're, to
the support of Gen. Tay lor upon the manly
and independent principles with which he
had thus given dignity and force to his
position, we We're encouraged in zeal and
enthusiasm in his behalf by every letter
Of his which afterwards appeared, down
to the very day on which the Wing Ma
tional Convention assembled.
To the citizens of Montgomery, Ala
bama, assembled without respect 10 party,
he wrote: IL shall offer no active opposi-
ton to the use of my name in connexion
with this responsible office, so long as
they continue to use il thus independent
of party distinctions.
To Col. Mitchell he said: eff the wing
party desire, at the next presidential cleo
ton, to cast their votes for me, they must
do it on their ownres possibility, and with
out any pledges from me-
To the Richmond Republican he wrote:
"If nominated by the Wing National
Convention, | shall not refuse acceptance,
provided | am left free Of all pledges,
and permitted to maintain the position of
independence in which tie people and my
own sense Of duty have placed me; other
wise shall refuse the nomination of any
convention or party. Il 1t has
not been my intention at any moment to
change my position, or withdraw my name
from the canvass, whoever may be the
nominee of the National Convention, either
of the Wing or Democratic party"
To Capt, Allison he declared: CLAY
Ing, at the solicitation Of many ofmy conn
try men, taken my position as candidate.
| do not feel at liberty to surrender that
position, until my friends manifest wish
that | should retire from it.
shall engage in no schemes, no combina-
lions, no intrigues."
To a gentleman in Iowa, he wrote: 81
now consider myself in the hands of the
people-a portion of whom, at least, have
placed my name before the country for the
office in question, and who alone are au-
thorized to withdraw it from the canvass"
To Mr.. Mayer, in his reply to the ad-
dress and resolutions of the Baltimore
mass meeting, in which the broadcast
ground of independence of party was as
sumed thro' out, he further said:
"The political sentiments embraced in
the preamble and resolutions adopted at
that meeting, | rejoice to say meet with
my cordial approval and assent. Nomove-
ments in any part of the country, having
the object to offer testimonials of honor and
respect towards myself, or to advocate
my election to the presidency, have caus-
ed in me more lively pleasure, or demand
more my gratitude. y As they
have, with so much confidence, placed nv
name in nomination before the country, on
their own responsibility, free from party,
action and the exaction of pledges from
myself, | shall serve them strictly as a
constitutional and not party President,'
If there is any meaning in language, and
if mans declarations can, in any case,
be regarded as foundation for confidence,
we are at a loss to conceive in what par
ticular it was pc sible for General Tay Tor
to pledge himself more empha,ically than
in these various letters, to all the grounds
upon which the independent party and
press advocated his election. If these
declarations amounted to anything at all,
it was to this: That General Taylor was
before the people, already nominated as a
candidate for the presidency, irrespective
of party; that as the people had nominated
him, the people only could withdraw him;
that he would not withdraw from the can
vass, no matter who might be the party
nominees; that he would not be the candi-
date of party; would make no pledges
to be selected as party candidate, and
would accept no nomination coupled with
the exaction Of pledges. Down to the
meeting oft the wing convention, such was
his position; such were his repeated,
solemn, voluntary assurances to his coun-
trymen.
In the face of all this, it now appears
that Gen. Taylor, pledged as he was to
engage in emo schemes. no combinations,