Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-06-08
GEN. rREMoNr's ACCEPTANCE.

GENTLEMEN: In answer to the letter,
which have had the honor to receive from
YOU, on the part of the representatives of
the people assembled at Cleveland, the 3lst
of May, desire to express my thanks tor
the confidence which led them to offer me
the honorable and difficult position of their
candidate in the approaching Presidential
election. @
Very honorable, because in Offering 1t 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 diff
cult, because in accepting the candidacy
you propose to me, am exposed to the re-
prOach of creating schism in the party
with which have been identified.
Had Mr.. Lincoln remained faithful to the
PRINCIPLES he tcdS elected to defend, no schism
could have been created and no contest
would have been possible. This is not an
ordinary election; it Is contest for the right
even to have candidates, and not merely, as
usual. for the choice among them. Now for
the first time since 1916, the question OF
constitutional liberty has been brought di-
rectly before the people for their serious
consideration and vote. The ordinary rights
secured under The Constitution, and the laws OF
the country hare been violated and eTtrdordi-
nary pO,pers haze been uSnped blythe EcecattUe.
1t is directly before the people now to say
whether or mot the principles established
by the revolution are worth maintaining.
If, as we have been taught to believe,
guarantees for liberty which made the dis
tinctive name and glory of our country are
| in truth inviolably 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
cho e between a shameful silence or pro-
| test against wrong. In such considerations
originated the Cleveland Convention. 1t
was among its objects to arouse the atten-
! tion 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 liberty, we have
really parted with it at home.
To-day zoe haze in the country the abuses Of a
military dictdtiOR acihOut its unity Of action and
uigOr Of execution. An administration mark
| ed at home by disregard of constitutional
rights, by its violation of personal liberty
and the liberty of the press, and, as a
crowning shame, by it's abandonment of
the right of asylum, right especially dear
to all free nations abroad, its course has
been characterized by feebleness and want
of principle which has misled European
powers and driven them to belief that on
ly commercial interests and personal aims
are concerned, and that no great prin.
ciples are involved in the issue. The admi-
rable conduct of the people, their readiness
to make every sacrifice demanded of them,
their forbearance and silence under the sus-
pension 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 exactly,
| by the personal ends for tohich this soar aoas
| 1dndqed. This incapacity and selfishness
naturally produced such results as led the
European powers, and logically enough, to
| the conviction that the North, with its great,
superior population, 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
were turned against us, and in this way the
administration has done the country dou-
BILE wrong abroad. 1t created hostility, or
at best indifference, among those who would
| have been its friends II the real intentions
| of the people could have been better known,
while at the same time it neglected no occa-
sion for making the most humiliating con-
| cessions.
| Against this disastrous condition ofaffairs
| the Cleveland Convention was protest.
The principles which form the basis OF
! its platform have my unqualified and cor
dial APPRECIATION, but cannot SO heartily
concur in all the measures which you pro-
pose. / do not beliere that conyfscation, er-
tended to the property Of aurebeis, Is Practica-
BE: and if it were so, / do not think 1t a
| measure of sound policy. 1t is, In fact a
question belonging to the people them
selves to decide, and is 0 proper occasion
! for the exercise of their original and soy
ereign authority. AS q war measure In
the beginning Of revolt, which might De
quelled by prompt severity, ! understand
! the policy Of connscation; but noe as u