, 1872-05-30
/ receive and welcome it as the spol

SO forcibly set forth the convictions
which i,npelled and the purposes which
guided its course platform which,
casting behind it the wreck and rubbish
of worn out contentious and bygone
feuas, embodies in fit and few words the
needs and aspirations of to-day. Tho
thousands stand ready to condemn your
every act, it is hardly assailable by criti-
cism OF cavil, although such has been
aimed at your platform Of which the
substance may be fairly epitomized as
follows
First-All political rights and fran
chises which have been acquired through
our late bloody coEvulsions must and
Shall be guaranteed, maintained, enjoy
ed and respected evermore.
Second All political rights and fran
ehises which have been lost through
that con ulsion, should and must be
promptly restored and re-established, so
thut there shall be henceforth no pro-
scribed class and no disfranchised be-
ings within the limits of our Union,
whose long estranged p ople. shall
reunite and fraterniZe upon the broad
basis of universal amnesty with impair
tial suffrage.
Third-rhat, subject to our solemn
Constitutional obligation to maintain
equal rights to all our citizens, our poll
ey should aim at local self-government
and not Capitalization that the civil
authority should be supreme over the
military that the writ of hateds corpus
should be jealously uphel as the safe
guard of personal freedom that indi-
vidual citizens should enjoy the largest
liberty consistent with public order, and
sion of the internal policy OF the sever
al States and Municiples, but that each
and promote the well being of its ill.,
hubitants by such means as the judg-
ment of its own people shall prescribe.
Fourth-There shall be real, and nc
merely simulated reform in the civil
service OF the Republic, to which end it
is indispensable that the chief dispenser
of its vast Official patronage shall be
1t, ,,tl Ill tt.s, faT ,ttI n
use his power seltishly by rule inexor-
ably forbidding and pleciuding his re-
election.
F.fth-That the raising of the revenue,
whether 10y tariff or otherwise, shall be
recognized and treated as the peoples
immediate business, to be shaped and
directed by them through their Repre-
sentatives in Congress, whose action
thereon the President must neither over
rule by his veto, attcmp to dictate, nor
presume to punish by bestowing office
only on those who agree with him, or
withdrawing it from those who do not.
Sixth-That the pubic lands must be
sacredly reserved for the occupation and
ACQUISITION of cultivators and not reck-
lessly squandered on the projectors OF
railr ads, for which our people have nc
present need and the immature con-
struction of which is annually plunging
Us deeper and deeper into the abysses OF
foreign Indebtedness.
Seventh That the achievement Of
these grand purposes of universal bene
ficence is expected and sought at the
hands Of all who approve them, ire
spective of past affiliations
Elghtll-That the public faith must al
all hazards be maintained and nat ona
credit preserved.
Ninth That the patriotic devoted.
ness and inestlmable services of our tel
low citizens who as soldiers or sailors
upheld the flag and maintained the uni
ty of the Republic, shall ever be grate
fally remembered and honorably re.
Quilted.
These propositions SO ably and forci-
bly, presented in the platform of your
Convention, have already received at.
tention and commanded the assent of a
large majority of our countrymen, who
joyfuIly adopt them rs | do, as the basis
to true beniticent national construction;
of new departure from jealousies,
s..-ife and hatred. which had no longer
nd. auate m ctive or even plausible pre-
text into an atmosphere of peace, frater
nity and mutual gooo will. In vain do
the Drill Sersents of decayins prganlza-
tons flourish, menacing their truncncc :
ons and augrily insist that the files shall
be closed and strengthened. In vain
do whippers in of parties once vital be.
cause rooted in vital needs OF the hours,
deuounce men nowise their interiors,
as traitors and renegades and threaten
them with infamy and ruin.
am confident that the American peo-
pie have already made your cause their
own; fully resolved that their brave
hearts and strong arms shal! bear it OIL
to triumph.
T,> . ~ c,,t Al. Al. -.