Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1865-1872, 1868-02-28
REPUBLICAN, STATE CONVENTION,

REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION
The Republican State Convention me
in Morrison's Opera Hall in the city 0
Indianapolis on Thursday morning, Feb
raary Goth, at 10 o'clock. The floor an,
gallery were crowded with delegates, tn
aisles filed. and the stage 90 uncomforta.
bly, crowded that It was almost impossibl
to transact the necessary business. TIL
stage was handsomely festooned and drap
ed with regimental Aagsand color stand,
ards, while tho Concordia Band added Il
the cffervesoing enthusiasm with lie excel
lent music. IL was matter Of comm r
remark that in numbers, unaaimity ant
general good feeling, the Convention ex
ceeded any ever convenedin the Capital.
Jacob I. Wright, Chairman ofthc Stat,
Central Committee. called the Convention
to order. General T. M. Browne, Of Ran
dolph, was then chosen temporary Presi-
dent, and Mr., Charles p. Jacobs, of Ma
ZION, was appointed temporary Secretary
with the following assistants: o.. NJ, Wi
son Of Marion. o. HprtmanDsfnAlIe1
Maj, John II 1Spp os1w@ys IN!
~ Jordan Of Harrison.
Mr. james NJ. Tyner then read the fol,
lowing letter from Hon. Schuyler colfax:
MR.. coLFAx's LETTER. sa
wAsnISoroN, d. c., Feb. Is, 1868.
His Eresiiency. Governor Baker:
My DEAN Sir: should be glad tc
accept your kind invitation, and thus en-
joy the privilege Of looking into the faces
OF the representative men Of our organi-
zation In Indiana when they come togoth.
or next Thursday Ia their biennial convo.
cation, but tho rules Of the House do not
allow its presiding officer to be absent
during its sessions, and must, therefore,
deny myself this great pleasure.
IL may not be Inappropriate on the
threshold OF the important campaign be.
fore US, to look back for few minutes al
those deeds and trumphs Of our young
aud patriotic party which are garnered up
in our rational history, aud which no def.
amation by our enemies can ignore OF
obscure. When the rebellion, with its
Democratic President, Democratic Cabinet
officers and Democratic General, threw
down the gauntlet at the Feet of the ma
ton they had resolved to destroy, and
when the Democratic leaders Of the North,
in reply, shouted "no coercion il was
the Union Republican party that wrote on
its banners, "the last man and the last
dollar, If need be-" and the 'unconquera.
bic armies which their Congressional leg
islaiion called TO the field finally "coer.
ced" the rebellion into subsection.
In the darkest days OF the struggle,
when We we're tauntingly told by Demo-
Gratis "You oaa't conquer the South, !"
there was ono party that never despaired
of the Republic, aud that party was The
one whose delegates DOW meet at our State
Capital.
When unprecedented and onerous tax
alton became necessary TO maintain our
credit 70 pay and supply our heroic SOL
diers and TO keep our flag flying in the
field, we dared to defy the prejudice which
every Democratic speaker and editor at
tempted TO inhaMe against the burdens,
and thus daring triumphed.
When CONSUMPTION laws became a mill
tary necessity to Gil up our regiments,
decimated again and again by the bullets
Of the enemy and tho diseases Of the camp
tho siege and the march. and when the
country was filed with Democratic denun-
Citations Of these laws, we risked prosper
ity, victory and all by defending them Us
brayely rs our veterans defended the coun.
try in the field.
When Lincoln at last struck at slavery
as the cause Of all our woes Us well as the
right arm Of the rebellion, and when
Democratic orators aud writer's still more
scandalously and porsistently illuminated
ms as having converted the war for the
Union into an abolition war to free ne
groes, we fearlessly allied our cause TO
that Of the humble and the helpless, and
Providence rewarded as for our fidelity
by that brilliant succession Of triumphs
which gave salvation TO the Union as we'll
as freedom 10 the slave.
Whom the National Conyontion Of our
opponents at Chicago dared to hang out
tho white flag Of surrender, by proclaim
ing the war a failure, aud demanding an
immediate cessation Of hostilitios, we
promptly accepted the issue; and the sol.
der with his cartridge box, and the ma
ton with tho ballot box, united in stamp.
ing their indignant condemnation on the
ayowal.
When tho Government was compelled
to issue bonds by the hundreds of mil
lions for tho preservation Of our national
existence, Democrats ridculed them as
worthless and cautioned the people against
risking their means in them; but the 10y
al people we're deaf to their warnings, aud
now the Same party denounoo them as
having made too good an inycstmentin
their purchase.
When 'greenbacks" were authorized by
a Republican Congress, who can forget the
Democratic predictions that it would ul-
timately take hat full Of them to buy
hat2 And now they have the assurance
to seek to make political capital out of
their popularity.
When tho Thirty-ninth Congress re-
iected tho Presidents policy Of recon-
struclion and insisted on one which should
embody tho Constitutional guara n tees for
the future, with full protection for all
who loved the flag and the Union, our
enemies denounced US as wishing to post
nona reconstruction. while now the same