American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-06-01
Mr.. Greeley Accepts.

Mr.. Greeley Accepts.
Mr.. Greeley's letter, in response to the
official notice of his nomination by the
Cincinnati Convention, is as follows:
New YORK, 10th May, 1872.
GENTLEMEN: [ have chosen not to ac-
knowledge your letter of the Sd instant, I'M
til I could learn how the work of your Con-
vention was received in all parts of our great
country, and Judge whether that work was
approved and ratified by the masses of our
fellow citizens. Their response has from
day to day reached me through kilograms,
letters, and comments OF journalists indie
pendent of official patronage and Indifferent
to the smiles or frowns of power. The num-
Der and character of these unconstrained,
Impoverished, unsolicited utterances satisfy
me that the movement which found express
sion at Cincinnati has received the stamp
of public approval, and been hailed by
majority of our cOuntrymen as the harbInger
of better day for the Republic. 1 do not
misinterpret this approval as especially COM
: plimentary to myself, nor even to the chival-
rous and justly esteemed gentleman with
whose name l thank your Convention for as
sociating mine. I receive and welcome it as
a spontaneous and deserved tribute to that
admirable platform of principles, wherein
your Convention so tersely, so lucidly, SO
forcibly set forth the convictions which I'M
PEELED and the purposes which guided its
course-a atform which, casting behind it
the wreck and rubbish of worn-Out conten-
tions and bygone feuds, embodies in fit and
few words the needs and aspirations of to-
day Though thousands stand ready to con-
denim your every act, hardly syllable OF
criticism or cavil has been aimed at your
platform, of which the substance may be
fairly epit omiZed as follows:
l. All political rights and franchises, which have
been ACQUIRED through our late bloody convulsiOn,
must and shall be guaranteed, maintained, enjoyed
, Ali political rights and franchises which have
been lost through that convuision, should, and
l,,.l tly rc-PSt
that there shall be hencefOrth prescribed class
and DISTINGUISHED caste within the limits of our
Union, whose long estraDged people shall reuIlte
and fraternize upon the broad basis of universal
amnesty and impartial suffrage.
B. That, subject to our solemn constitutional OBJ
legation maintain the equal rights OF all citizens,
policy should aim at local self government
and not Capitalization; that .he flvii amiH tary
that the writ of hdbeas corpus should be zealously
he ndr vi Citizen should enjoy the largest lib
erty consistent with public Order and that there
shall be no Federal subversion OF internal poiity
of the several States and municipalities but that
each shall be left free to enforce rights and pro-
mole the well-beng OF its inhabitants ny sucn
means us the Judgment OF its own people snail pre-
scribe.
L. There shall be a real, and not merely simu-
lated REFORM in the civil service of the Republic,
TO which end ii is indispensable that the CHIEF dis
penser of its vast official patronage shall be shield
ed from the main temptation to use his power self
ishly by rule inexorably forbidding and preclud-
s That the raising of revenue whether by tariff
or otherwise shall be recognized and treated as
the peoples immediate business to be shaped and
directed by them through their representatives in
Congress. whose action thereon the President
must neither :, override by ms Veto
punish by bestowng office only on those who
agree with him, Withdrawing it from those who
do not.
6 That the public lands must be sacredly re-
served for occupation and acquisition by cultiva-
and recklessy squandered on the projectors
of railroads for which our people have no present
need. and the premature construction of which is
annually plungins us into deeper and deeper
abysses of foreign Indebtedness.
l. That the achievement of these grand purposes
of universal beneficence is expected and sought
at the hands of all who approve them, irrespective
s. That the public faith must be maintained and
the National credit preserved.
@ That the patriotic devotedness and inesti-
mable services of fellow-citizens, who, as
soldiers sailors upheld the flag and maintained
the unity of the Republic, shall ever be gratefully
remembered and honorably requited.
These propositions, so ably and forcibly
presented in the platform OF your Conven-
ton have already fixed the attention and
commanded the assent of Il large majority
of our countrymen who joyfully adopt
them as do, as the basis of a true, benefi-
cent National reconstruction; of new de-
parturc from jealousies, strifes, and hates
which have no longer adequate motive, or
even plausible preteXt, into an atmosphere
of peace, fraternity and mutual good WILL
In vain do the drill-sergeants OF decaylnS or
CARNATIONS flourish menacingly the trunch-
cons, and angrily insist that the files shall
be closed and Strengthened. In vain do the
WhlpperS- IN oil parties, once Nitdi, pcSauSc
rooted in the vital needs of the hour, pro-
test against straying and boiling, de-
nounce men nowise their interiors as
traitors and renegades, and threaten them
with nfamy and ruin: am conhdent thaI
the American people have already made your
cause their own, fully resolved that their
brave hearts and strong arms shall bear 1t
on to triumph. In this faith, and WIN the
distinct understanding that, if elected, l
shall be the President not of party, but OF
the whole people, | accept your nomination.,
in the confident trust that the masses OF our
countrymen North and South, are eager to
CLASH hands across the bloody chasm which
has too long divided them, forgetting that
they have been enemies in the joyful con-
seriousness that they are, and must hence
forth remain brethren. Yours gratefully,
HORACE GREELEY.