The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1868-07-22
Democratic Candidate for Presi-
dent.

dent.
SPEECH OF HON. HoRArIo SEYMOUR BE.
FORE THE CONVENTION.
The following is the speech of Hon. Hor-
alto Seymour, of New York, the Democrat
ic candidate for President, on taking the
chair as presiding officer of the Democrat
ic National Convention:
Gentlemen Of the Conyention-I thank You
Tor the honor yop have done me in making
me your presiding officer. This conven-
ton is made up of large number of dele
gates from all parts of our broad land To
great degree we are strangers to each
other, and view the subjects which agitate
our country from different stand points.
We cannot at once learn each others mode
of thought or grasp all the facts which
bear upon the minds of others. Yet our
session must be brief, and we are to hitter
a voice without delay uncn questions of an
exciting character and of deep interest to
Our country. To maintain order, to re-
strain all exhibitions of passion, to drive
out of our minds all unkind suspicious, is,
at this time a great duty. ICheers.]
rely upon your sense Of this duty and not
upon my own ability to sustain me in the
station in which am placed by your kind
Partially. Men never met under greater
responsibilities than those which now
weigh upon MS. It is not mere party tri-
umph we seek. We are trying to save
our country from the dangers which over
hang it,. We wish to lift off the perplexi-
ties and shackles which, in the shape of
bad laws and of crushing taxation now
paralyze the business and labor of our
land. loud cheers.] We hope at least
we can give order, prosperity and happi-
ness to those sections of our country which
suffer SO deeply to-day in their homes and
in all tho fields of their industry from the
events Of the past eight years. trust our
action will show that we are governed by
earnest purposes to help'all classes of our
citizens. Avoiding harsh invectives
against men, We should keep the public
mind fixed upon the questions which must
now be met and solved. Let us leave the
past to the calm judgment. of the future
and confront the perils of the day.
[Cheers.]
We are forced to meet the associations
brought forth by the late Republican Con-
vention. / aver there is not in this body
one man who has it in his heart to excite
so much of angry feeling against the Re-
publican party as must he stirred up in
the minds of those who read these declara-
tions in the light of recent events, and in
view of the condition of our country. In
the first place they congratulate the per-
picked man of business. the burthened tax
payer, the laborer whose hours of toll are
heightened ont by the growing cost of the
necessaries Of life, upon the success of that
reconstruction policy which has brought
all these evils upon them by the cost of its
military despotism, and the corruption of
its bureau agencies. In one resolution
they denounce all the forms OF Reputation
as q national crime. Then why did they
put upon the statute books of the nation
the laws which invite tho citizens who
borrow coin to force their creditors to take
debased paper. and thus wrong him cut of
large share of his claim in violation of
the most solemn compact? loud cheer.
ing Ifrepudiation is national crime it
is crime to invite the citizens Of this
country thus to repudiate their individual
promises [Applause.1 Was it not crime
to force the creditors of this and other
States to take q currency at times worth
no more than forty cents on the dollar in
payment for the sterling coin they gave to
build roads and canals, which yield such
ample returns of wealth and prosperity
(Applause.)
Again they say it is due to the labor of
the nation that taxation should be equal
lied. Then why did they make taxation
unequal beyond the injustice of making
one class of citizens pay for another the
shares of the costs of schools, of roads, of
the local laws which protected their lives
and property? 1t was an unwise and
hurtful thing. It sunk the credit of the
country, as unusual terms always are hurt
full to the credit of the borrower. They
also declare the best policy to diminish
our burden of debt is so hurtful to our
credit that capitalists will seek to loan as
money at lower rates OF interest than we
now pay so long as reputation is threat
ened or suspected. Then, why have they
used full $500, O,Oc0 OF the taxes drawn
from the people Of this country to uphold
a despotic>military authority. and to crush
out the life of States, when, if this money
had been used to pay our debts, capitalists
would now seek to lend us money at lower
rates of interest? But for this covert re-
pudiation, our national credit would not
be tainted in the markets of the world.
(Applause.)
Again, they declare that of all who were
faithful in the trials of the late war, there
were none entitled to more especial honor
than the brave soldiers and seamen who
endured the hardships Of the campaign
and cruise, and imperiled their lives in the
service of the country; that the bounties
and pensions provided by the laws for
these brave defenders Of the nation are OBJ