The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1864-06-24
The Cleveland Convention-Letter of
Acceptance Of Fremont.
NEW YORK SATURDAY.. June

from you, on The pa, Of the representa-
tlyes OF the people Assem- bed al Cleveland
on the 31st of Nav, | desire to express my
thanks for the confidence which led them
10 offer ne the honorable and difficult pc
stion Of their candidate in the approach
ing presidential election very honorable,
because in Offering it to me you act in the
name of a great number Of citizens who
seek, above all things, the good OF their
country, and who have no sort of selfish
interest in view. Very difficult, because,
in accepting the candidacy you propose to
me, am exposed to the reproach of crea
ting a schism in the party with which l
have been identified
Had Mr.. Lincoln remained faithful 10
the principles he was elected to defend, no
schism could have been created, and no
contes. could have been possible. This lie
not an ordinary election (; it is contest
even for the right TO have candidates, and
not merely, as usual, for the choice among
them. Now, for the first time since '76,
the question of Constitutional Liberty has
been brought directly before the people
lcf tHciI SSiIouS COfiSiiSi otlOti anu wiz
The ordinary rights secured under the
Constitution and the laws Of the country
have been violated, and extraordinary
powers have been usurped by the execu-
tive. It j. directly before the people now
to say whether or not the principles estat-
lished by the revolution are worth mains
tanning. If, as we have been taught to
believe, those guarantees for liberty, which
made the distinctive value and glory of
our country, are in truth inviolabiy sacred.
then there must be protest agains: the
arbitrary violation, which had not even
the excuse of necessity. The schism is
made by those who force ths choice be-
tween shameful silence or protest ag'st
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 thst while we are
saturatng Southern soil with the best
blood Of The country, in the name of lib
erty, We have really parted with it at
rome.
To-day We have in the country the abu-
ses of military dictation, without its unity
of action and vigor of execution ; An Ad-
ministrasion marked a, home by disregard
o. constitutional rights, by It's violation Of
personal liberty and The liberty Of the
press, and, AS a browning shame, BY :ts
abandonment Of the right of asylum dear
to I'll free nations abroad. Its course has
been characterized by a feebieness and
want Of principle which has misled Euro>
pean powers and driven them 10 believe
that only commercial interests and person
al aims are concerned, and that no great
principles ara involved in the issue The
admirable conduct OF the people, their
readiness to make every sacrifice demand
ed of them, their forbearnnce and silence
under the suspension Of every thing that
could be suspended, their manly acts of
heroism and sacrifice, were all rendered
fruitless BY the incapacity, or, to speak
more exactly, by the personal ends for
which the wsr sas managed This inca
pacity and 7eltishness naturally produced
such results as led the European powers,
and logically enough. to The conviction
that the North and its greatly superior
population, its numerous resources and its
credit will never be able TO recover the
South. Sympsthies which would have
been with us from the outset of the war
were turned against US. and in this way
the Administration has done the country
a double wrong abroad. It created hos
Hllty, or, a, best, Indifference among
those who would have been its friends, if
the real intention of 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 af-
fairs, the Cleveland Convention was pro
test The principles which form the basis
Of its platform, have my unqualified and
cordial appreciation but cannot so hear
tily concur in all the measures which You
propose. do not believe that confsca>
ton extended to the property Of all rebels,
is practicable, and If 1t were so, do not
think II measure of sound policy. It's,
in fact, a question belonging to the people
themselves 10 decide, aud is proper oc-
ca.ion for the exercise of their original
and sovereign authority. As a war meas
uTe IN the beginning OF revolt which
might be quei'ed by prompt seventy,
unders'and the P'Ilcy OF cohilscaiIon out
not as hhal measure OF recohs'rucilon'
alter the suppression OF aa insnrrectlon.
"a follow