Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1868-08-11
sPECTATOR AND GENERAL ADVERTISER

/, i ~ IN y Il II OGlA
now, even after three years Of peace, they de-
nounce and disfranchise as rebels. They broke
up the Peace Convention of 1861. They de-
liberately drew the fire of the batteries in
Charleston harbor; and by fraud, deceit, and
treachery, they reused at the North that,storm
of passion which cost the two sections half a
million of lives. They have impoverished ten
Southern States, large class of untaxed bond
holders, burthened the masses of the people
with debt equal to the onesixth of the entire
wealth of the country and, through the agency
of direct and indirect taxation, they have alb
sorbed a large portion of the wages Of the me-
chanic and the laborer.
1t is the great mission ofthe Democratic party
to restore, not to revolutionize to reconstruct,
not to pull down; to reafirm the doctrine of
State rights wherever those rights do not con-
fict with the provisions of the Federal Consti-
tuition, and to build up new barriers, if need be-,
for the protection of the people against the
tyranny Of those who, whilst processing to be
servants, arrogate to themselves the authority
Of matters This cry of Stop thief on the
part of the Radicals, is trick as old as knavery.
1t can deceive no one who .has followed, step
by step, the usurpations Of the Radical party,
and who know that its custom has been, and
still is, to cloak its own revolutionary designs
by imputing revolutionary designs to others.
Gov Seymours Letter Of Acceptance
UTICA, N. Y. August 4, 1868.
General G. W. Morgan and Others,
m easdszE Eli Committee, DEC !:
GENTLEMEN: When in the city of New York.
on the 18th of July, in the presence of vast
multitude, on behalf ofthe National Democratic
Convention, you rendered to me its unanimous
nominations as their candidate for the Office of
President of the United States, stated had
no words adequate to express my gratitude for
the good will and kindness which that body had
shown to me. Its nomination was unsought
and unexpected. 1t was my ambition to take an
active part-from which l am now excluded
in the great struggle going on for the restora-
ton Of good Government, of peace and pros
perity to our country. But have been caught
up by the overwhelming tile which is bearing
the country on to great political change and
I find myself unable to resist its pressure.
You have also given me copy of the resolu-
tons put forth by the Convention, showing its
position upon all the great questions which now
agitate the country AS the presiding officer
of that Convention, I am familiar with their
scope and import. As one of its members
am party to their terms They are in accord
with my views, and stand upon them in the
canvass upon which we are now entering, and
| I shall strive to carry them out in the future,
wherever may be placed, in political or private
| life.
I have stated that I would send you these
words of acceptance in letter, as is the Gus
| tomary form. L see no reason, upon reflection
to change or qualify the terms. of my approval
of the resolutions of the Convention. have
delayed the mere formal act of committing to
you in writing what | thus publicly said, for the
purpose Of seeing what light the action of Con
gress would throw upon the interests OF the
country. Its acts since the adjournment of the
Convention show an alarm lest a change of pc
litical power will give to the people what they
ought to have-a clear statement of what has
been done with the money drawn from them
during the past eight years Thoughtful men
will see that there have been wrongs in the
financial management which have been keptfrom
| the public knowledge. The Congressional party
has not only allied itself with military power
which is to be brought to bear directly upon the
elections in many States, but it also holds Itself
in perpetual session, with the avowed purpose
of making such laws as it shall see fit, in view
of the elections which will take place within 9
few weeks 1t did not, therefore, adjourn, but
took recess to meet again, if its partisan In
terests should demand its reassembling. Never
before in the history of our country has Con
grcss thus taken menacng attitude toward it,
electors. Under its influence, some of the
States organized by its agents are proposing te
deprive the people of the right to vote for Presi
dental electors, and the first bold steps are
taken to destroy the rights Of suffrage.
1t is not strange, therefore, that thoughtful
men see in such action the proof that there is
with those who shape the policy Of the Repub
lican party, motives stronger and deeper thar
the mere wish to hold political power-tha1
there is dread of some exposure, which drives
them on to acts SO desperate and impolitic.
Many of the ablest leaders and journals Of the
Republican party have openly deprecated the
violence of Congressional action, and its endeav.
or to keep up dscord in our country. The great
interests of our Union demand peace, order
and return to those industrial pursuits with.
out which we cannot maintain the honor of oul
| Government. The minds of business men are
perplexed by uncertainties The hours of toll Of
our laborers are heightened by the cost Of living
made excessive by the direct and indirect exac
tons of Government Our people are harras
| ed by the heavy and frequent demands of the
tax gatherers
Without distinction of party, there is strong
feeling in favor of that line of action which shall
restore order and confidence, and shall lift up
the burdens which now hinder and vex the in
dusty of the country. Yet at this moment those
in power have thrown into the Senate Chamber
and Congressional hall new elements of discord
and violence. Men have been admitted as re-
representatives. of some Of the Southern States,
with the declaration upon their lips that they
cannot, without military protection, live in the
States they claim to represent. These men are
to make laws for the North, as well as the South.
These men who, few days since, were soaking
as suppliants that Congress would give them
power within their respective States, are to day
the masters and controllers of the actions OF
those bodies. Entering there with minds filled
with prejudice, and hearts with passions, their
| first demands have been that Congress shall
look upon the States from which they come as
in condition of civil war; that the majority OF
their populations, embracing their intelligence,
shall be treated as public enemies that military
forces shall be kept up at the cost of the people
of the North, and that there shall be no peace
and order at the South, save that which is made
| by arbitrary power
Every intelligent man knows that these men
| owe their seats IN Congress to the disorder in
| the South. Every man knows that they not
only owe their present positions to disorder but
that every motive springing from the love of
| power, of gain, OF desire for vengeance,
| prompts them to keep the South in anarchy
While that exists they are independent of the