Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-08-11
HOratiO Ssymour's Letter of Ac-
ceptance.

HOratiO Stymour's Letter of Ac.
ceptance.
New York, August 3. ?
The following is Horatio Seymour's ac-
ceptance of the Democratic nomination
| tor the Presidency: - 50
UTICA, New YORK, August 4, 1868.
GENTLEMEN when in the city of New
York, on the 11th of July, in the presence of
a vast multitude, on behalf of the Nation-
al Democratic Convention, you rendered
| to me its unanimous nomination as its
candidate for the office of President of the
United States, / stated l had no words
good will and kindness which that body
hal shown to me. Its nomination was un-
sought and unexpected. 1t was my ambi-
ton to take an active part, from which /
am now excluded, in the great struggle
going on for the restoration of good gov
ernment, of peace and prosperity to our
country, but have been caught up by the
whelming tide, which is bearing us on to a
great political change, and 1 find myself
unable to resist its pressure.
| You have also given me copy of the
resolutions 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
| am familiar with their scope and import.
| As one of its members am party to their
| terms. They are in accord with my views,
and stand upon them in the contest upon
which we are now entering, and shall
strive to carry them out In future wherever
may be placed in political or private life.
then stated that would send you these
| words of acceptance in letter, as is the
customary form. I see. no reason. upon
reflection, to change or qualify the terms
| of nv approval of the resolutions of the
Convention. 1 have delayed the mere for
NAL act of communicating to you in writ
| ing what thus publicly said, for the pur-
pose of seeing what light the action of
Congress would throw upon the interests
of the country. Its acts since the adjourn
ment of the Convention show an alarm lest
a change of political power will give to the
| people what they ought to have, 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. 10y liTa '.--sq
Tie Congressional party has not only al
lied itself with, military power, which is
to be brought to bear directly upon the
elections In Tuany States, but it also 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 not,
AGAIN. if its partisan interests shall demand
its Resembling. avEd 81 .nay9s Isdto
Never before in the history of our counr
try has Congress thus taken menaciBg
attitude towards its electors. Under its
influence some of the States organized by
its agents are proposing to deprive the
people of the right to vote for Presidential
Electors, and the first bold steps are taken
to destroy the rights of suffrage. 1t is not
strange, therefore, that thoughtful men see
in such action the proof that there are, with
those who shape the policy of the Repub-
lican party, motives stronger and deeper
than the mere wish to hold political power;
that there is dread of some exposure
which drives them on to actssO desperate
and impolitic. Many of the ablest leaders
and journals of the Republican
party have openly deplofed the violence OF
Congressional action and its tendency to
keep up discord in our country. i
The great interests of our Union demand
peace, order, and return TO those indus
trial pursuits without which we cannot
maintain the faith or honor of our Govern
ment., The minds of business men are per-
picked by uncertainties The hours of toll
of our 1aborers are heightened by the costs
of living made by the direct and Indirect
exactions of Government. Our people are
harassed by the heavy and frequent de-
mands of the tax gatherer. Without dis
in favor of that line ofiaction which shall
restore order and confidence, and shall lit
off the burdens which now hinder and veX
the industry of the country. =. .;.,-.-....,
Yet at this moment those in power have
thrown into the Senate chamber and Con-
gressional hall new elements of discord
and violence. Men have been admitted as
representatives of some of the Southern
States with the declaration upon their lips
that they can not live in the States they
claim to represent without military protec-
ton. These men are to make laws for the
North as well as the South. These men,
who a few days since were seek
ing as suppliants that Congress would
give them power within their respec-
tive States, are to-day the masters and con-
trollers of the actions of those bodies.
Entering them with minds filled with pas
sions, their first demands have been that
Congress shall look upon the States from
which they come as in conditions of civil
war; that the majority of their populations,
embracing their Intelligence, shall be treat
ed as public enemies; that military forces
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 that these men owe
their seats in Congress to the disorder in
the South; every man knows that they not
only owe their present positions to disor-
der, but that every motive springing from
the love of power, Of gain, of a desire for
vengeance,promptSt them to keep the South
in anarchy.
While that exists they are independent
of the wills or wishes OF their fellow-citi-
zens; while confusion reigns they are the
dispensers of the profits and the honors
which grow out Of a Government of mere
force. These men are now placed in posi-
to- ,I<r hon .nf ftns- -rrsa
ofpolicy, but where they can enforce them.
When Others shall be admitted in this man.
net from the remaining Southern States,
although they will have, in truth, no con-
stituents, they will have more power in the
Senate than a majority Of the people of this
Union living in pine Of the great States.@
In vain the wisest members of. the Repub-
lican party protested against the policy;
that led to this result.
While the chiefs of the late rebellion
have submitted to the results of the war,
and are now quietly engaged in useful purLi
suits for the support of themselves and
their families, and are trying by the force
of their example to lead back the people
of the South to the order and industry not
only essential to their we'll being, but toI
the greatness and prosperity of our COM
mon country, we see that those who,, with
out ability or influence, have been thrown
by the agitations of civil convuIsiop
into positions of honor and profit, are
striving to keep alive the passions
to which they owe their elevation
And they DANGEROUSLY insist that they
are the only friends of our Union--1
Union that can only have sure founda-
ton in fraternal regard and a common de-
sire to promote the peace, the order and
the happiness of all sections of cur land.
Events in Congress since the adjourn
ment OF the Convention have VASTLY in.
creased the Importance of political vic
tory by those who are seeking to bring
back economy, simplicity and justice in the
administration of our National affairs
Many Republicans have heretofore clung
to their party, who have regretted the ex-
tremes of violence to which it has rum.
They have cherished a faith that while the