The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1868-08-05
Gen. Frank Blair's Letter Accepting the
Nomination for Vice President.
OMAHA, NEbRAsKA, July IS, 1876,

| GENERAL:-1 take the earliest opportuni-
ty ofreplyng to your lottcr notifying me
Of my nomination for Vice. President of the
United States by the National Democratic
Convention recently held in the city of New
York.
acocpt without hesitation the nomina-
| tion rendered in manner so gratifying,
and give you and the committee my thanks
FOR the very kind and complimentary lans
Shh1g5e in which you have conveyed to me
| tho decision Of the Convention.
! have carefully read the resolutions
adopted by tho Convention, and most oor-
daily concur III every principle and senti-
meht thcS announce.
My opinion upon oil Of the questions
which discriminate the gfoat contending
parties have been freely expressed on al
| suitable occasions, and do not deem 1t
necessary at this time to reiteratc thcm.
The issue upon which the contest turns
are clear and cannot BIC obscured or dsort-
cd by tho sophistrics Of our advcrsarics.
| They all resolve themselves into the old
and over .reheWing struggle Of a few men to
| absorb tho political power of the nation.
| This effort, nndor every conceivable name
| and disguise, has always characterized the
| opponents of tho, Democratic party, but at
no time has the attempt assumed shape so
open and daring MS IN tins contest. The
advcrsaries Of free and constitutional gov
! ernment, in defiance of the express language
of the Constitution, have erected q military
| despotsm in ten Of the States of the Union,
have taken from the President the powers
vested in him by the supreme law, and have
deprived tho Supreme Court Of its j3risdc-
tion. The right Of trial by jury, and tho
great writ Of right, the hdGedS corpus
shields of safety for every citizen, and
which have descended to us from the carl-
est traditions Of our ancestors, aid Which
our Revolutionary fathers sought 20 secure
| to their posterty forever in the fundamcn-
tai charter of our lii erties-have been
ruthlessly trampled under foot by the frag-
ment ofa Congress. Whole States aud
communities Of people Of our own race have
been attainted, convicted, condemned, and
deprived Of the rights as citizens, without
presentment, or trial, or witnesses, but by
congressional enactment Of ex post facto laws,
and in defiance of the constitutional prohi-
bition denying even o full and legal Con-
| gress the authority to pay any bill of attain
der or ex post .)acto law. The same usurp-
ing authority has substituted rs electors in
| place Of the men Of our own race, thus lille.
gally attaintcd md DISTINGUISHED n host Of
| ignorant negroes, who are supported in
idlcncss with tho public money, aud com.
'bined together to strip the white race of
their birthr;ght, through tic management
| Of Freodmen's Bureaus and the emssaries
Of conspirators in other States, and, TO COM
| plete the oppression, the military power Of
the nation have been placed at their dispo-
sal in order to make this barbarism su-
prcmc.
The military loader under whose prestige
this usurping Congress has taken refuge
since the condemnation Of their schemes by
the free people Of the North in the elections
Of the last year, and whom they have So
lccted as their canQ ldate /. shield themselves
from the result of their own wickedness and
| crime, has announced his acceptance Of the
nomination, and his willingness to maintain
their usurpations over eight millions of white
people at tho South fixed to the earth with
his bayonets. He exclain,s "I.et us have
peace" "Paace reigns in Warsaw" was The
announcement which hcraldcd the doom Of
the liberties of q nation. "The Empire is
peace" exclaimed Bonaparte, when free
dom and its defenders expired under the
sharp edge Of his sword The peace to
which Grant invites us is the peace Of des-
potism and death.
Those who seek to restore tho Constitu.
tioh by executing the will of the people
condomning the reconstruction acts, already
pronountSd in tho elections of last year,
md. Which will, am convinced, be still
more emphaticaliy expressed by the cleo
ton of tho Democratic candidate as tile
President of the United States, are denounc.
ed as fetolutionists by the pdttisans of this
vindictive Congress. Negfo Suffrage, Which
the POPULAR vote OF New York, New jersey,
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Connecticut;
and other States, have condemned as ex-
pressly against the letter Of the Constitu.
ton, must stahd, because their senators and
/ go. lo,,a ,n.1 la a, L..
pie shall again condemn those atrocious
measures by the election Of the Democratic
candidate f5f President they liiust not be
disturbed, although decided to bt uhconsti.
tutional by the Supreme Court, and al
though the President is sworn to maintain
and support the Constitution. The will Of
| a fraction of o Congress, reinforced with Its
partisan emissaries sent TO the South, and
supported there by the soldiery, must stand
against the will Of the people and the deci
sieh ofthe Supreme Court and the solemn
oath Of the President to maintain and sup.
Iport tho Constitution.
II is revolutionary to execute tho will of
the people! II is revolutionary to execute
the judgment of thu Supreihe Courtl II il
Revolutionary in the President to keep invio
late his oath to sustain tho Constitution
This false CONSTRUCTION Of the gital principle
Of OUR aoyernthent Is the last resort Of those
who would hav6 their arBitrhr$ r6construo.
ticn sway aud supercede DIR time.honored
institutions. The nation will say the Con
stitution iHust be restored, and tile will o
the people again prevail The appeal to The
peaceful ballot to attain this etd is not va,
lis not revolution. They make war ant
revolution who attempt to arrest this quiet
nloae of putting aside military aespotis1
and the usurpadons Of q fragment of o C6n.
benign system Of regulated liberty left ut
by DUR fathers. This MUST be allowed to
take Its oourse. This Is the only road K
peace II will come with tho election o.
the Democratic candidate, and not with the
election Of that mailed warrior whose bayo
nets are now d. the throat Of eight milllont
ofpeople In the South to compel them t.
support him as candidate for the Pfesiden
oy, and to submit 10 the domination Of az
alien raceto semi.barbsrous men. No Der
version Of truth or attdaoity Of misfepre
aentatioa oan exceed that which halls thi