Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-09-09


n. ment of the United States, and unequiv
nd caly, in its own language it has declare
~ it, denouncing the war as an experimeI
Is. and failure and charging 10 its accom
all the expressions and wrongs and outr,
> ges committed by the Administration fc
ne the past four years, as well as the injury t
er the national prosperity of the countr
which has followed, it demands q
= the sentiment of the people of tn
le United States that immediate effort
], be made for the cessation of hos
= tilities, to the end that there NAV be
it Convention of the States to restore peact
! IN the land upon the Federal Union Of thu
d States This is its proclamation. 1t wa
a Peace Convention, and spoke in the
I name of more than twenty millions Of free
men. 1t demanded peace after the failure
. OF the experiment of war, whereby to re-
store the Union. And no man among
the recognised advocates Of peace from the
beginning of this war till the present
hour, has in any formal public
declaration demanded more than that Con-
: vention has declared. 1t ought to be sat-
isfactory to every man in the land It
meant peace and it said it. It meant then
and means now, that there shall be no
more civil war, nossmore increase OF taxes,
no more increase cf public debt no more
conscription, no more enlistments, no more
shedding OF blood. And the cowardly,
crsven-hearted, miserly crowd shouted as
the unwhipped boy shouts after living him
self out of fogging. And having touch
ed the tender points of his hearers eharac-
ters, their chicken-hearted souls, and their
greed of gain, the speaker went on.
REASONS FOR OPPOSING MCCLELLAN.
Why did oppose his nomination Only
because he was supposed to be, previous to
that Convention, the representative of the
idea of coercion and of this war Divested
of that there is not in America a man
| whose personal character, whose morality.
whose attachment to the principles and
whose obedience to the precepts of Chris
tlanity-a man whose devotion to bis
country, and who in every sense of the
word IS gentleman in any respect above
or beyond General Mcclellan. That plat
form then unswervingly calling for the
agencies of peace, and resorting to the in-
strumentalities through which our Gov
eminent was founded, l can yield
to him the support which here is
pledged; and / call upon you, one
and all, who have reckoned your |
selves among my friends, every man in the |
Democratic party, every conservative man
IN the NATHAN, every man weary of the
policy of this Administration, to unite in /
the cordial support of this candidate. It
costs me no effort to yield it now, no saeri-
fee. And if were obliged to sacrifice
anything but principles, ifhe were my per-
sonal enemy, one whom had in abhor-
renee, yet, as a Representatives of that great
party in the land seeking to save this
country, he should have had that support |
for the purpose of turning out of power
the man who dishonors the White House,
and who, like Goths and Vandals, pollute
the capital Of my country.
OMISSION IN THE PLATFORM.
You have heard, by way of criticism, of
its omissions. You are told that its saws
naught of public debt, taxation, confsca-
ton, emancipatians, conscription, nor any
of those things which for four years we |
have been accustomed to condemn among
the acts of the Administration. The rea- |
son is plain. 1t looked upon the war as
the root of all the evil of this civil war, and |
it proceeded to lay the ax'at the root of all /
the evil, and demanded a cessation of hos |
tlities, in order that through peaceable in
strumentality the work of the reconstruc-
ton of the Union might go on. 1t said
naught Of these things which are but the
consequence of the war. Determined to |
cut down the tree or rather to take it by |
the roots, the convention wasted no time |
in looping off branch here and a branch |
there 1t wasn't to do its work radically, |
assailing the war, the course of all these |
evils; it meant comprehensive anathema |
against the one and ALL 1t said nothing |
about minor doctrines; nothing about the |
specific instrumentaliries through which |
reconstruction should be brought about. |
1t declared as its grand purpose, not to be |
surrendered, the Union of tho States, the |
stopping of the war, a convention of the |
States, as the constitutional, lawful, neces- |
4tary and proper means of accomplishing |
the work.
REPUTATION THREATENED.
One word 1 have for the moneyed men
of the country, especially for the bond
holders of the government, and more es-
pecially, those rejoicing in the securities
not subject 10 taxation. have always re-
pudiatei reputation, and the fact Is on re-
cord in Gays that are past, when the
public debt did not reach the fearful ex-
tent that it now does; but it was with the
reservation that the list ounce would break
the camel,s back. Have we run that crit
ieal point Cries o. yes yes, we have.
Ask yourselves this question, you
who hold in your hands the indebtedness
of the United States, who have taken re-
fuge with your capital, as you imagine,
from the oppressive taxation that is to
crush others, and who, when the storm
comes that will ruin others, expect their
wealth to remain secure. Ask yourselves
whether this debt shall go on increasing,
when already it mortgages half the prop
erty of all the States adhering to the
Union; if this debt shall 60 on increasing
If the people, who do their own voting,
mean to vote away all tier property, in
order that you may store away your wealth
| in government bonds not subject to taxa
tion2 Does not a still, small voice ever
reach your ears2 If it does not warn
YOU to night The debt nay yet
be paid, burdensome and grinding
as it is upon the shoulders
Of this people; but if this war
| is to be continued, if you are TO place Lin
coin again in the Presidential chair, be
warned in time-that debt never will be
paid. Your bonds will not be worth the
present price of Continental money
| Which is several hundred per cent. above
parl1 1 speak as a warning, not as
threat. 1 am upon the record against re-
pudiation, but there is a point beyond
which the people of this contry will not
90. If you want your honds paid, if you
want your interest in this property secured,
| zoFa for McClellan-supDoTt the Demo-
cratic ticket. But vote to continue, war
and increase the public debt, and you will
bring down by its accumulated weight the