The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1864-06-14

4 tiOu -
| GESrLEAES-ln answer to the lette
which l have had the honor to receiv,
from you. on the part of the representa-
tives of the people assembled at Cleve
land tiN 31st of May. desire to expires,
my thanks for the confidence which lee
them to offer me the honorable and diff
cult position OF their candidate in the ap,
proaching Presidential election.
Very honorable, because in Offering il
to me. you act in the name of a great
number of citizens. who seek above all
things tho COOL of their country. and
who have no sort Of selfish interest in
view. Very difficult. because in accep.
ting the candidacy you propose to me, |
am exposed to the reproach of creating a
schism in the party with which | have
been identified.
Had Mr. Lincoln remained faithful TO
the principles ic was elected TO defend.
no schism could have been created and
no contest would have been possible.
This is not an ordinary election; it is a
contest for the right even to have candi-
dates, and not merely. as usual for the
choice among them. Now for the first
time since 1776, the question of consti-
tutional liberty has been brought directly
before the people, for their serious con-
sideration and vote The ordinary rights
secured under the Constitution, and the
laws of the country have been violated.
and extraordinary powers have been usur-
ped by the Executive. 1t is directly be-
lore the people now to say whether or
not the principles established by the rev.
olntion are worth maintaining.
If. as we have been taught to believe.
those guarantees ior liberty which made
the distinctive name and glory of our
country are in truth invioably sacred.
then there must be protest against the
arbitrary violation which had not even
the excuse of necessity. The schism is
made by those who force the choice be-
tween "a shalnelnl sil4nee !, -
against wrong. In such considerations
originated the Cleveland Convention.
1t was among its objects to arouse the
attention of the people to such facts. and
to bring them to realize that while we
are saturating southern soil with the best
blood of the country in the name Of lib
crty, we have really parted with it at
home if
To-day we hare in The couatry Tie a5u
ses Of a military d,etot;on wahom as
unity # act'oa and riqor qf sxec,itioa.
An administration marked at home by
disregard of constitutional right, by its
violation of personal liberty of the
press, and, rs crowning shame, by its
abandonment of the right of asylum,
a right especially dear to all free ma
tons abroad, its course has been char
acterized by n feebleness and want of
principle which has misled European
powers and driven them to belief
that only commercial interests and per-
sonal aims are concerned, aud that no
great principles are involved Ill the is
sue. The admirable conduct OF the
people, their readiness to make every
sacrifice demanded of them, their for
bearanee and silence under the suspen-
son OF everything that could be sus-
pended, their many acts of heroism and
sacrifices, were all rendered fruitless by
the incapacity, or to speak more exact
ly, by the personal ends for which the
war was managed. This incapacity
and seliislness naturally produced such
results rs led the European powers, and
logically enough, to the conviction that
the North, with its great, superior pop
ulation, its immense resources, and its
credit, will never be able to coerce the
South. Sympathies which should
have been with us from the outset of
this war mere turned against us, and in
this way the administration has done
the country doubl wrong abroad. 1t
created hostility, or at best Indifference,
among those who would heve been its
friends if the people could have been
better known, while at the same time it
neglected no occasion for making the
most humiliating concessions.
Against this disastrous condition of
affairs the Cleveland Convention was q
protest. F hcd f
The principles which form the basis
of its platform have my unqualified and
cordial appreciation, but ! cannot so
heartily concur in all the measures
which you propose. Ido not believe
that colf-cqnoa, ert ndef to the propt trty
Of al rebels is practiCocodit; and if it
were 50, | do not think it measure of
souud policy. 1t is, in fact, a question
belonging to the people themselves to
decide, and is n proper occasion for the
exercise of their original and sover-
eign authority. Asa war measure, in
the beginning Of a revolt which might
be quelled by prompt severity. i un-
derstand the policy of coniscation; but
not as final measure Of reconstruc-
ton. -,.t ,nat.n
In the adjustments which are to fol-
low peace, no consideration of ven
geancc can consistently be admitted.
The object of the war is to make
permrnently secure the peace aud hap
piness of the whole counlry, and there
was but q single element in the way OF
its attainment. This element of slave
ry may be considered practically de-
stroyed in the country, and it needs
only your proposed amendment to the
Constitution to make its extinction
complete.
With this extinction of slavery the
party divisions created by it have also
disappeared. And if in the history OF
the country there has ever been time
when the American people, without re-
gard to one or another of the political
Edivisions, were called upon to give sol
cmnly their voice in matter which in.
volyed the safety of the United States
litis assuredly the present time.
i IL the convention at Baltimore will