Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1868-10-02
Gen. Dix's Letter.
M RrrunIArEs SEYMOUR.

Nix DEAR SIR; 1t was my hope that
NV distance from home would have Sc
cured me from all participation IN the
political excitement prevailing there
But notice an announcement in one OF
the newspapers that am heart and hand
with Mr.. Seymour. l am not aware OF
anything in the present or the past
which could rightfully subject me to
such an imputation.
have been acquainted with Mr.. Sey-
mour more than quarter of century.
He is an amiable gentleman of unexeep- |
tionable private character, and of respect
able talents. But you know as we'll as
| that ne has not a single qualification
for the successful execution of the high |
official trust to which he has been nomi- |
mated and he is especially deficient in
that frmness of purpose, which, in critical
emergencies, is the only safeguard against
public disorder and calamity. He has
been twice, at different times, Governor
of New York and he has in neither case
had talent or the tact to keep the demo
cratic party of the State together more
than two years. / should regard his
election at this juncture, when steadiness
of purpose, decision, and self-control are
so much needed, as one of the greatest
calamities that could befall the country.
Moreover, he has been put in nomina-
ton by Convention which has openly
declared the purpose of those it repre-
sents, to pay the greater part of the pub
lie debt, contracted to preserve the I'm
ion, in deprecated paper. Such mea-
sure would, in my judgment, be palpa-
bic violation of the public faith, pledged
under circumstances which should have
been binding on all honorable men. Mr..
Seymour has made public speeches to
show that it is our duty to pay the debt
in specie. In accepting his nomination
to the Presidency he adopts the dcclara
ton that it ought to be paid in paper.
l know nothing so humiliating in the
history of American politics as this ter
giversation. Il was, perhaps, not unfit
that Mr.. Seymour, after presiding in
1864 over the Chicago Convention, which
declared the war failure, should preside
over the Convention of 1868, in which
a proposition to discredit the debt con-
tracted to carry on the war was received
with < tremendous cheering" and that
he should be the chosen instrument to
execute this act of National torpitude.
do not believe that the wishes or
opinions of the great body of the demo-
cratic party are fairly expressed in these
proceedings. They have nothing in
common with the statesmanlike views OF
policy, and the high sense of national
honor, which guided the party when
Martin Van Buren,, William Marcy, ST.
las Wright, Lewis Cass, and Stephen A.
Douglas were among its most conspicu-
GUS members.
l see but one source of safety for the
country under existing circumstances
and that is in the election of Gen. Grant
In his decision Of character, good sense
moderation, and disinterested patriotism
believe the South will have far bet.
ter hope of regaining the position in the
Union to which it is entitled, than under
a man whose political career has been in
nothing more conspicuously marked than
in an utter infrmity of purpose.
Independently of all these considera-
tons, | should be greatly surprised if the
people of the United States were to elect
as their Chief Magistrate, a man who was
making, at the Academy of Music, on
the 4th of July, 1868, speech, deficient
of all the characteristics of an elevated
love of country, at the very hour when
Gen. Grant was carrying the victorious
arms of the Union into Vicksburg, and
when thousands of our fellow-country-
men were pouring out their blood on the
plains of Gettysburg, in defense of their
homes, and the Government which Mr..
Seymour was doing all in his power to
embarrass and discredit.
| am quite willing that you should
show this letter to any friends who NAV
take an interest in my opinion in regard
to the coming election, and | am partic-
ularly DESTROYS of removing the impress
sion If 1t exists, that l am in favor of
Mr.. Seymour, or the reputation of any
portion of the public debt l am, dear
Sir, very truly, yours.
JOHN A. DIX.
=" Ii any man hauls down the Ameri
can flag, shoot him on the spot" nobly de-
IL