The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1868-08-15
390Iitiral.
MR.. sEYMouRs ACCEPTANCE.
He Stands on the Platform.


He Stands on the Platform.
General Review Of the Situation.
New YORK, August s.
The following is Horatio Seymours letter Of
acceptance of the Democratic nomination for the
Presidency:
UTICA, NEW YORK, Aug 4, 1868.
GENTs.-When in the City of New York on
the 18th ult, in the presence of vast multitude,
on behalf of the National Democratic Convention,
you rendered to me its unanimous nomination as
their candidate for the Office of President of the
United States, stated had no words adequate
to express my gratitude for the goodwill 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 am now excluded, in the great struggle
geing on for the restoration of good government,
of peace and prosperity to our country. But
have been caught up by the whelming tide which
is bearing us on to great political change, and
find myself unable to resist its pressure.
You have also given me a copy of the resolu-
tions 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 enc of it's members, am
party to their terms. They are in accord with
my VIEWS and l stand upon them in the contest
upon which we are now entering, and shall
strive to carry them out in the future wherever
may be placed, in political or private life.
there stated l would send you these words of
acceptance in letter, as is the customary form.
see no reason, upon reflection, to change or quail
fy the terms of my approval Of tho convention.
I have delayed the mere formal act of commu-
nicating to You in writing what I thus publicly
said for the purpose of seeing what light the
action of Congress would throw upon the interests
of the country. Its acts since the adjournment
of the convention show an alarm lest change Of
political 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 feel that there have been
wrongs in the financial management, which have
been kept from the public knowledge. The Con.
gressonal party has blindy allied itself with the
military power, which is to be brought to bear
directly upon the election in many states, but
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 few weeks 1t did, therefore, not ad-
journ but "took a recess" to meet again if its
PARTISAN interests shall demand its reassembling
Never before in the history of our country has
Congress thus taken menacing attitude towards
its electors. Under its influence some of the
states, organized by IT'S agents, are proposing to
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 It is not strange
therefore, that the thoughtful see in such action
the proof that there are, with those who shape
the policy of the republican party, motives
stronger and deeper than the mere wish to hold
political power; that there is dread of some ex-
posure, which drives them on to acts 80 desperate
and so impolitc.
Many of the ablest leaders and journals of the
republican party have openly deplored the vio-
lence of congressional action, and its tendency to
keep up discord in our country. The great in
terests of our union demand peace under a re-
turn to those international pursuits without
which we cannot maintain the faith or honor of
our government. The minds of business men
are perplexed by uncertainties: the hours of toll
OF our laborers heightened by the cost OF liv-
ing, made by the indirect exactions of the gov
eminent; and our people are harrassed by the
frequent demands of the tax-gatherer Without
distinction of party there is a strong feeling in
favor of that line of action which shall restore
order and confidence and shall lift off the bur-
dens which now hinder and vex the industry Of
the country. Yet, at this moment, those in
power have thrown into the senate chamber and
congressional halls new element of discord and
violence. Men have been admitted as represent
tatives of some of the southern states, with the
declaration upon their lips that they cannot live
In the states they claim to represent without
military protection. These men are to make
laws for the north as well as for the south
These men, who, few days since, We're seeking,
as suppiants, that congress would give them
power within their respective states are to-day
the controllers of the actions of these bodies !;
and entering them with minds filled with bias
demand that congress shall look upon the states
from which they came as in condition of civil
war; that the ma ority of their populations, en-
bracing their intelligence, shall be treated as
public enemies; that military force there 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 they not only owe
their present positions to disorder, but that their
every motive springs from the love of power
of gain of a desire for vengeance, and prompts
them to keep the south in anarchy. While that
exists they independent of the wills or wishes
Of their fellow-citizens. While confusion reisns.
they are the dispensers of the profits and the
honors which grow out of government of mere
force. These men are now placed in positions
where they cannot only urge their views of poll.
tics, but where they can enforce them. When
senators shall be admitted in this manner from
the remaining southern states, although they
Will have more power in the senate than a ma
jority of the people of this union living in nine
OF the great states. In vain members of the re-
publican party have protested against the policy
that led to this result. While the chiefs of the
late rebellion have submitted to the result of the
war, and are now quietly engaged in useful pur-
suits Tor the support of themselves and their
families, and are trying, by the force of their ex-
ample, to lead back the people Of the south TO
the order and industry not only essential to their