Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1865-08-25

TIpfRt,
by discouraglng Rien from yolunteer;no ~,
the armies OF the Union, thus rende,77n lnso
necessary to succumb to treason. or 70 5,a,, ~
large pountIes, and so burdening every ward
toWnsmp, and borough in the STATE Will
uepC 10 MI the ranks of our armies; by onno.
sing the enlistment of negroes for our rde de.
fence although thus one white man less ,Ta.
required for every black one who conld bq
enlisted, aud this at the very moment yrbo,,
the battle of Gettysburg was raging an tba
soll OF PENNSYLVANIA, and the result of that
decisive battle was uncertain; by DENYING to
our soldiers the right to vote while figbf;ng
for the flag of our fathers, on the pIea that
such rights were not allowed by our Consti.
tuition, and by opposing an amendment
which removed their objection and relieved
our brave soldiers from this disability. bv
exaggerating public Indebtedness, denyine
public credit, and teaching that the fnanes
cIal resources of the North were uneanaI to
the suppression of rebellion; by shameful
opposition to the measures for extending
rellef to the families OF Union soldiers: by a
malignant effort by these means to secnre
the success OF the rebels in the field, or such
a protractIon OF the war as would exhaust
the nation In ITS effort to subdue their friends
py now heaplng abuse upon the Govern
P0AAAcIlHE dScdsSifls ana Their
accompilces; by demanding the release of
leading traitors; by frowning down ali at
tempts to bring to punishment the 6epds
VINO starved our soldiers; by assuring rebels
that neither IN person or property shall thew
De punished tor their crimes And if any-
tmng were wanting tocomplete their infamy.
we have 1t IN their determined opposition
to tree labor and to tariff, which, wbiIeit
would make labor profitable by PROTECTING
the workingmen of Pennsylvania from Brife,
ish competition, would largely increase the
revenue essential to the maintenance oftba
public faith and credit.
Mr.. Cessna called for division of tho
question on the resolutions the first division
to embrace the platform, excepting fbe
resolutions relative to the selection of sol
diers as the candidates of the Convention.
and referring to the appointment of mem.
bers of the State Central Committee; the
second division to embrace the resolution
relative to the selection of soldiers as the
candidates of the Convention and the third
division to be the resolution relative to tbe
appointment of the State Central Commit
tee.
Mr.. Todd said that the platform contained
resolutions for which he could not vote
among others the resolution proposing
Southern people He contended that If a
man was guilty of crime he should be nm
ished land and that a man thus guilty shoald
not escape punishment because he was mas
worth certain amount of money. The
proposition seemed to be not to punish men
because Of their completely with treason
but because of their being worth ten tbou-
sand dollars. The policy indicated by the
resolution was unjust inasmuch as it could
not be disputed that it was the poor men of
the South who formed the bone and muscle
of the rebellion.
The Chairman called attention to the fact
that the question before the body was upon
the motion of Mr.. Cessna as to the form of
considering the resolutions.
Mr.. Todd said that he was about to pro-
pose an amendment to the original motion
providing for taking up the resolutions sep
arately.
a vote was then taken on the amendment
when it was not agreed to.
The first portion of the question on the
motion of Mr.. Cessna was then determined
afirmatiyely, the platform in the main
bOin4y adopted.
The second portion of the question was
stated to be on the resolution recognizing
the claims of our citizen soldiers and recon-
mending that in nominations for Offices sne-
cial regard should be paid to the claimssof
those who had faithfully served their conn
try In the army or navy
Mr.. Todd moved to amend the resolution
by substituting therefor the following
That this Convention, representing the
loyal people OF Pennsylvania, recognizes the
claims OF our citizen soldiers, in its conf
dence and gratltu lie, as superior to all Others
and that, in token of the sincerity ef this
its declaration, it will nominate none as can.
didates for Office who have not proved their
loyalty and patriotism by services in the
field against the enemies of the Republic.
He stated that the resolutions of the Con
ventlon were replete with expressions ofad-
miration for the soldier; and if the Conven-
ton now, when the question was presented
should disregard those claims
woe be to the man who stood upon the plat
form of this Convention. He implored the
Convention, by the record of its past history
still to stand by the soldier, and not to dig
the political grave of the party. He wished
10 put upon record his own position,and
would, therefore, cali the yeas nays.
Mr.. Lynn Bartholomew ofSchuylkill, ad-
dressed the Convention in a foreible speech
lie came to vote for the best man for the
place. No man had right to bind his fel-
low-men to vote for particular class, He
did not believe in erecting any class in Anne
rlca, either political, military, or civil,as
superior to any other To say that the life
of the Union party depended upon two pal
try positions, worth about 81 800 year,
was ridiculous
The discussion was continued by Hon.
Thaddeus Stevens, of Lancaster; Hon. John,
Cessna, of Bedford, and Hon. j. L. Vincent
Erie. 1t was contended, in opposition Of
the amendment, that it was really pro-
position to create nobility out of certain
class, thereby degrading to that extent all
other classes
A votewas then taken on the amendment
by Mr.. Todd, which resulted as
follows: Yeas, II; nays, Ill.
The amendment was consequently disa
greed to.
The resolution was then agreed to.
The next portion of the question was sta
ted to be on the resolution as follows:
That the State Central Committee shall
consist of four members from the city of
Philadelphia, two from each nf the counties
of Allegheny, Dauphin and Berks, and one
person from each of the remaining counties
of the State to be appointed; the names to
be submitted by the respective delegations
to the chairman to be appointed by this
Convention.
The resolution, after discussion, was post
poned for the present.
On motion of Mr.. Cessna, the Conven-
ton proceeded to the selection of candi-
date for Auditor General, when the follow
ing nominations were made: Major General
Ohm ,Hartranft, of fMontgomry; John A.