Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-06-02
B. GRATZ BROWN.
His Letter of Acceptance of the
Nomination as Candidate for
the Vice-PreSidency.

Sr. Lofts, June lin reply to the
notification of his nomination as a can
dldate for the Vice-Presidency by the
Cincinnati Convention, Gov. Brown
makes the following response;
) EXECUTIVE MANSION, 3
, JBFFBRsON CITY, Mo-, May 81, 1872. Z
GENTLEMEN-YOu letteradvising me
of the action of the Liberal Republican
J Convention at Cincinnati has been re-
ceived, and l return through you my
acknowledgment of the honor which
has been conferred upon me. / accept
the nomination as candidate for Vice
President, aid indOrse most cordially
the resolutions setting forth the princi-
Piles on which this appeal is made to the
whole people of the United States. A
century is closing on our experience of
a Republican Government, and while
that lapse of time has witnessed great
expansion of our free institutions, yet
it has not been without illustration, also,
of grave dangers to the stability of such
a system. OF those successfully encoun-
| tered it is needless to speak. OF those
which remain TO menace, the most
threatening are provided against, as l
| firmly believe, in the wise and pacific
measures proposed by your public. 1t
has become the practice of those elevated
TO positions of national authority to re-
| gard public service not as a public trust,
but only as q means TO retain power.
This results in substituting a mere party
organization for the government. It
constitutes control amenable to no laws
or mOralities; impairs all Independent
/ thought; enables few, to rule the many,
and makes personal allegiance the road
to favor. 1t requires little forecast TO
| perceive that this will wreck our liber-
ties unless there be interpOsed a timely
reform of administration from its high
est to its lowest station, which shall
not only forbid abuses, but likewise
| take away the incentive to their prac-
tice, wearied with contentious that are
carried on in a voice of spoils, the
country demands repOse, resents the ef-
forts of officials to dragOOn it again into
partisan hOsulities, and will ZealOusly
sustain any movement promising sure
deliverance of the perils which have
been connected with the war. 1t is safe
to-day. Only those are now 10 be feared
which come of an abuse of victory into
permanent estrangement. The Union
is fortified by more power than ever be-
fore. 1t remains as an imperative duty
to cement our nationality by a perfect
reconciliation at the North. A wide
spread sympathy is aroused in behalf of
those States of the South which, long
after the termination of resistance to |
rightful Federal authority, are still plum |
dered under the guise of loyalty, and |
tyranized over in the name of freedom. |
Along with this feeling is present |
too, the recognition that in |
complete amnesty alone can |
be found the hope of any return to |
constitutional government, as of old, or
any development of more enduring
purity and broader national life in the
future. Amnesty, however, TO be efli-
cacious, must be real and not nominal, /
genuine and not offensive; il must carry
along with it equal rights as well as
equal protection to all by the removal
of disabilities; as to some with enforce
ment, to others it leaves room for
the suspicion that pardon is measured
by political gain; especially will such
prOffered clemency be futile in the pres
ence of a renewed attempt at Dr0lOng-
ing a suspension of the hd6edS corpus
in persistent effort to martial rather
than to civil law; in uphOlding those
agencies used TO ALLEVIATE races, where
concord is most essential in preparing
for another elaborate campaign on
basis of dead issues and arbitrary in
All will rightly credit
such conduct as but a mOckery
Of amnesty, and demand an ad-
which can give a bet
ter warrant of honesty in the great
work of reconstruction and reform ih
the array of sectional interests. A re-
public as widespread as ours is never
safe from serious conflicts.
These become still more dangerous when
with questions of taxation;
where unequal burdens are believed to
be imposed on one part at the expense
Of the other. 1t was a bold as well as an
policy in the interest of pres
ent as well as future tranquility to with
draw the decision of industrial revenue
matters from the virtual arbitration of
an electoral college, chosen with a sim
gle animating purpose Of party ascend
ancy, and refer them for a more direct
popular expression to each Congressional
district. Instead of being muZZled by
some evasive declaration, the country is
thereby invited to its frankest utterance,
and sections which would revolt at being
lenied voice, out of Difference to other {
success, would be content to aequiesee in
If the local government be as it un-
iOubtedly is, the most vile principle of
Jur institutions, much advance will be
made toward re-establishing it, by en-
iblinC the people TO pass on questions so
nearly affecting their well being, dis
through their local repre-
The precipitancy which
would force controlling declaration, or
AK, or tariff, through presidential can
lidacy, is only diguised form Ofeentra-
izatioD. involving a hazardous reaching !
IF executive influence. The conclusion !
viii be more impartially determined 2
md with less disturbance to trade and {
inance by appealing TO the most truth Z
ul and diversified local industries;
ssues can be thus likewise emancipated c
rom the power of great monOpOlies, I
Zach canvass made to determine its own
ipecific instruction, and each represent
tive hold fidelity toward his immediate v
These are the most prom
nent features of that general concert Of a
lction which proposes to replace the 4
PRESENT administration by one more in 1
with the aspirants of the {
masses of our cOuntrymen. Of course, IT
uch concert of action cannot be at d
aimed by thrusting every minor or past a
Inference into the foreground, and it C
viii be for the people, therefore, to de- Z
ermine whether the objects are of /
uch magnitude and present ur- t
,ency as TO justify them in defeTing I
ther adjustments until the coun-
nv shall be first restored to- a
free suffrage, uninflueneed by official s
ictatiOn, and ours becomes in fact a {
rec republic, released from apprehension
{ a central domination. Without re- Il
srring in detail to the various other
solutions of the convention, but seeing a
Ow they all contemplate a restoration a
{ power 10 the people, peace to the ma V
on, purity to the government; that n
ley condemn the attempt TO establish
n ascendency Of military over civil f
lle, and affirm with explicitness the d
Of equal freedom to all 5,
itizens, irrespective of race, previous II
DnditiOn or pending disabilities, l have d
My 10 pledge again my sincere coop
ration. l have the honor to remain, "
cry respectfully yours,
lSignedl b. GRATZ BROWN. II
NASHVILLE. o
reclamation OF Governor Brown, Or
dering an Fleeffon fo,. Jrd,ronP