Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1868-09-10
Letter from George w. Curtis.

| Letter from George w. Curtts.
The following letter from George w.
Curtis, presents the issues in tae pend
ing campaign in a clear and forcible
light:
AsHFIELD, Mass, July 80, 1853.
JAMES TURNEY, Esq, Secretary.
MY DEAR SIR: am very much eblig-
ed by your kind letter which informs me
eff the organization of the Grant and
| ColfaX Club, and of my election as Cor
responding Secretary, an honor which l
greatefully accept. / am very sorry that
| it will be yet some time before / can
| have the pleasure of meeting with the
| Club, and of personally comparing views
| upon the principles and prospects of the
campaign. But all the signs seem to me
! to indicate that Grant will enter the
| White-HoIse next year as surely as he
entered Richmond three years ago, and
against the same opposition, although
| in different field.
The Democratic party has chosen to
raise very simple issue to be decided
| by this election, and that is whether, as
that party insist, the Union saved by
| loyal citizens shall be reconstructed by
I them, or by those who not only hated it
anu lTleu " ucSllOy II, Uut WuO Opcniy
declare that they believe the cause of
| the Rebellion is not yet lost. These
men would certainly be in the right if
they could persuade the people to give
them the control of the Governmental
they could persuade the country to turn
from the principles Of Lincoln, of Lyon,
of Mcpherson, of Sedgwick, OF Wads-
worth, of Winthrop and OF Shaw, who
sealed their devotion with their life blood
and adopt those of Robert TOemts, Of
Howell Cobb, of Vallandigham, of Wade
Hampton, of Pendleton and Forrest, of
Seymour and Fernando Wood. Could
any misfortune be so disasterous to
civilization and the hope of human
progress, as the possession by such leaders
and the doctrines which they may pro-
fess of a Government which is truly the
vanguard ofequal constitutional liberty?
The Democratic party loudly processes
its conservatism, and nOminates a can
didate for Vice President who declares
for forcibl overthrow Of the recon-
struction already accomplished; an
overthrow which involved the disfran-
chisement of hundreds OF thousands of
loyal men, with their utter impoverish-
ment and degradation which vests pow
er exclusively in the disaffected class
an overthrow that cannot be achieved
but by the most sanguinary measures
which the candidate evidently contem-
plates. While this is its conservatism,
il claims to be peculiarly patriotic, and
proves its patriotism by proposing the
boldest national dishonor, a measure
ardently supported by every Rebel in the.
land, because the last hope Of the Re-
bellion is TO disgrace the people whom it
could net defeat,
The Democratic party assumes to be
especially the Union party, but its policy
and candidates are supported by all those
who are noteriously hostile to the
Union.
1t declares itself to be the party of the
Constitution, ard amcng its chief lead
ers are those whose only glory is their
bloody efforts to destroy it. And upon
a platform of reputation, and of sum-
mary overthrow by the sword of the
new State Governments at the South,
the Democratic Convention, partly
composed of the most noted and persis-
tent Rebels, has placed candidate for
President, who declared when the war
began that he would let the Union 90
rather than Slavery, and that the sue
cess of the Government would be equal
ly revolutionary with that of Secession,
and who, now that his words have been
and his expectations disap-
pointed makes statements in regard to
the National debt and taxation which
the books of the Treasury Department
prove to be untrue, and these statements
he makes in the hope of persuading the !
country that the only promise of peace |
lies in the policy which the Convention |
over which he presided in 1854 recon-
mended-sltrrender to Rebels.
To suppose that such candidate upon |
such platform will be elected President, |
is to suppose that the country regrets |
the success of the war, and desires to |
prove Wade Hampton's words to be |
true-that the Rebellion will yet triumph
Does any American citizen whose mind !
is still open to argument and reflection,
suppose that the spirit of Wade |
Hampton is more the spirit of peace
and Union than that of Gen. Grant p
Or that the career and the declarations /
Frank Blair promise wiser counsels than |
those of Schuyler Colfax? Yet this fs |
the issue which the Democratic party
offers to the country. It loudly demands
disgrace and anarchy. It
iercely threatens war if circumstances
favor. 1t deploys in the open field, and
faunts its black flags in the snnlight.-l
May God give the country grace to lift
its eyes to behold the bloody years from
Sumter to Appomattox, to reflect who
and what made those years. then to
move forward to bring the Rebellion at
The polls, as it has already brought it in
field, to unconditional surrender"
Excuse me for saying so much, and
believe me,
Very truly yours,
GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS.