The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1868-05-25
FOR PRESIDENT:
ULYSSES 8. GRANT,
OF ILLINOIS.
FOR VICE PRESIDENT:
SCHUYLER coLFAx,
THE CHICAGO PLATFORM.
OF INDIANA


It Is q necessity for Q party to lay down .
platform, and It 10 moreover right and proper
that q great party should avow to the nation
and the world the principles which are to gov
ern its action, and the policy upon which II
will, when In power, conduct the Affairs Of the
Government.
The Republican party has done this at Chi
eago In succinct and compendlous form, and
with perspicuity and denniteness which must
commend II to the just judgment Of all reject
ing and candid men.
The twelve articles are before Us, and we
can see NO good reason to dcmur to the prinei-
pies. nor to object to the doctrines. We ap-
prove them, and shall give to the candidates
who stand upon this platform our hearty and
cordial support.
The article that will attract the most atten-
ton, and the one that will be most violently
asssiled BY the opposition, Is the second, and
10 In these words: 1.-THE guarantee OF Con
gress Of equal suffrage to all loyal men at the
South was demanded by every confederation
Of public safety, Of gratitude, and OF Justice,
And must be maintained, while the question Of
suffrage in all the loyal States properly be-
longs to the people Of those States"
Can there be anything more comprehen-
sively just than thisi 1t places the whole
question OF loyalty and disloyalty upon .
proper and equitable basis. Any other course
than this eonfounds loyalty and treason; In
nne, ofers premium to disloyalty. Those who
contend that white men only should have the
privilege to vote In the South In the recon-
struction Of those States say In effect thst
rebellion 10 no crime, and there Is NO such
thing A. public Justice.
President johnson never gave voice to more
statesmsnlike utterances than these: that
"ireason 70 erime." "ths greatsa Of erin<s, and
haf traitors ought 10 be punisAed.p That In re-
construction these men "masf take back seafs.n
In NO other country on the globe would the
people who should endeavor to break up .
government and fail in that attempt, be treated
so leniently rs In this. In any other land
than this the insurgents-many OF them
would have been punished with death, and
all their property, public and private, would
have been connseated. We do nothing OF the
kind. We simply say that until these once
revolted States are reconstructed the loyal
people shall rule. We say that the black men
who are loyal, and the white men who are for
the Union, shall make their own government
that is all. Is there anything wrong In thisi
Where 10 the hardship
But 1t will be said that we have one policy
for the South and another for the North, and
that the thing Is unfair. How unfair; and un-
fair to whomi Would It be fair to exclude .
large body Of colored men who always were
and still are loyal to the Union, because they
are black, and to allow . large class OF white
men to vote whose loyalty Is stiil questioned
because they belong to the white raeei
But 1t 10 said we leave the question OF sur
frage to States which have remained loyal
where 1t has always been left, but that we pro-
pose to control 1t in the South. Precisely.
Any other policy would eonfound things which
are obviously diAtinctj would, in . word, say
that disloyalty is not q crime. The policy In
the loyal States cannot, without an amend
ment to the Constitution, be shaped BY the
Federal Government So hold many Of cur
best and wisest statesmen, and so we think;
but the policy Of the rebel States can be, and
should be, so shaped by the General Govern
ment as to prevent all attempts In the future
to break up this Government, by lodging the
power, now we can do SO, In loyal hands. This
Is the whole OF 1t, and this the resolution
declares.
The following resolutions, introduced By
General Carl Schurz, and passed unanimously
by the convention, and thus made . part of
the platform, will show the spirit Of the Re-
publican party towards the people Of the
South;
"Resolved, That we highly commend the spirit
ana IOfDehrhnce with which
the men who have served In the rebellion, but
now frankly and honestly cooperate with US
In restoring the peace OF the country and re-
upon the basis Of impartial justice and equal
rights, are received back into the communion
Of the loyal people; and we favor the removal
posed upon the late rebels In the same measure
As their spirit Of loyalty will direct, and as
people. tCries Of Good, good.'l
"hesoiped, That we recognize the great prin-
ciples laid down In the immorta Declaration
democratic government, and we hail with
glsdness every effort toward making these
principles a living reality on every inch Of
American soil.D -