The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1860-05-23
The Chicago convention.

in Chicago on Wednesday last, the 10th
inst, and was called to order by Gov. Nor
gan, of New York, upon whose motion
David Wilmot, OF Pennsylv ania, was ap-
pointed temporary Chairman. The various
committees were appointed. and thereupon
the "Irrepressible Conflict" began. George
Ashmun, of Massachusetts, was appointed
permanent President, and Vice President
and Secretary from each Of the States re.
presented. On the first ballot, the vote
stood Seward, 1871; Lincoln, lo2; Bates,
6s; Cameron, 6O4; Mclean, l2; Chase,
40; Wade, 4 f.; Dayton, ID; Banks, l Reed,
/; Fessenden, 1; Collamer, 10; Sumner l,
after which Seward gradually went down
and Lincoln up, and on the third ballot
Abraham Lincoln, Of Illinois, was nomina.
ted. We suppose our opponents 60 upon
the principle that one good turn deserves
another. and as Douglas beat Lincoln once,
he shall have chance to do it aguin-which
he most assuredly will.
Gov. Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, was
nominated for Vice President, on the I'd
ballot, over Cassius M. Clay.
The platform of one resolution and six.
teen declarations was adopted on the l7th,
essentially differing from any other on which
the party has ever stood, but which cannot
save it from defeat-its elements differing
too widely for successful cohesion:
Resolved, That we, the delegated repre-.
sentatives of the Republican electors of the
U. s. in convention assembled, in the dis.
charge OF the duty we owe to our constitu
ents and our country, unite in the following
declarations:
! lst. That the history Of the nation dur.
ing the last four years has fully established
the propriety and necessity OF the organiza-
: tion and perpetuation Of the Republican par.
I ty, and that the causes which called it into
t. existence are permanent in their nature and
!. now more than ever demand its peaceful and
n constitutional triumph.
l. I'd. That the maintenance OF the princi.
,f Piles promulgated in the Declaration of In.
n dependence and embodied in the Federal
,, Constitution, is essential to the preservation
OF our Republican institutions, and that the
Federal Constitution, the rights of the States
{, and the Union of the States "must and shall
e be preserved"
t, Sd. That to the Union of the States this
n nation owes its surprising development o
1l material resources-its rapid augmentations
'e of wealth, and its happiness at home, and it,
IT honor abroad; and we hold in adherence al
m the schemes for disunlon, coming from what
e. ever source they may. We congratulate
g, the country that no Republican member o
ty Congress has uttered or countenanced the
le threats of disunion so often made by Damo
of cratic members of Congress, withou, rebuke
s. and with applause, from their political asso
ciates ; and we denounce those threats O
disunion in case Of popular overthrow o.
their ascendency, as denying the principles
OF free government, and as an avowal o
al contemplated treason, which it is the i'm
in perative duty of an indignant people sternly
n, to rebuke and forever silence.
4th. That the maintenance, nviolate, o
the rights of the States, and especially the
e rights of each State, to order and control its
= own domestic institutions according to iti
own judgment, is exclusively essential te
y that balance of power which the perfection
- and endurance OF our political fabric depend;
= uPoH dHu We uSHOuDCe INC IdWIesS InVueIOI
= = by an armed force, of any State or Territory
y no matter under what pretext, as among the
Il greatest crimes
II 9TH That the present Democratic Admin
e lstration has far exceeded our worst sppre
!. tensions in its measureless subserviency tc
,r the exactions of sectional interest as es
h pecially evidenced in it's desperate exertions
If to force the infamous Lecompton Constitu
il ton upon the protesting people of Kansas
it In constituting the personal relation between
If master and servant, to involve an unqualified
is property in persons, in its attempted en-
;e forcement everywhere, on land and sea
le through the Intervention OF Congress, and O
al the Federal Courts, of the extreme preten
re- sions of purely local interest, and in it,
"a general and unwearying abuse of the power
is intrusted to it by con6dng people.
9th. That the people justly view will
alarm the reckless extravaganza which per.
in vades every department of the Federal Gov
}. erDmeRt; that return to rigid economy ant
ia accountability is indispensable TO arrest the
10 systematic plunder OF the public treasury BY
et favored partsans, while the recent startling
s development of frauds and corruptions a
e the Federal Metropolis, show that an entire
F. change Of administration is imperatively de.
n manded.
h 7th. That the new dogma that the con.
l., stitution of it's own force carries slavery into
.e any or all the territories ofthe United States
e is dangerous political heresy, OF variance
,r with the explicit provisions OF that instru.
,r ment itself, and contemporaneous exposition
NJ and with legislative and judicial precedent
- is revolutionizing in it's tendency and sub.
versive of the peace and harmony Of the
country.
al 9Th. That the normal condition of tn
~ territories Of the United States, is that o
10 freedom ; that as our Republican fathers
when they had abolished slavery in all oul
k national territories, ordained that no person
e should be deprived of life, liberty, or proper
1t ty without due process Of law, it becomes
u our duty, by legislation, whenever such leg
:. islation is necessary, to maintain this provi
J.. sion of the Constitution against all attempts
II to violate it and we deny the authority oil
Congress over territorial legislature, or o.
v any individuals, to give legal existence tc
d slavery in any of the territories Of the United
n States. -
m 9th. That we brand the recent reopen.
Y ing of the African Slave trade, under the
e cover Of our national flag, aided by perver.
10 sions Of judicial power, as a crime agains,
It humanity, and burning shame to our coun.
IS try and age, and we call upon Congress tc
,s take prompt and efficient measures for the
ID total and final suppression of that execrable
ID traffic.
intb That thA rococt votoo, h., ,Lo I. Il