Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1872-05-30

approved and ratified by the mass of
our II fellow-citizens. Their response
from day to day reached me through
kilograms, letters and comments OF
journalists independent of office pat
ronage and Indifferent to the smiles
and favors of power. The number
and character of these .unconstrained,
unpurchased, unsolicited, utterances
satisfied me that the emovement which
found expression at Cincinnati has
received the stamp of public approx
al, and has been hailed by a majority
Of our country as the harbinger OF a
better day for the Republic. l do
not misinterpret this approval as es-
pecially complimentary to myself,
nor r even the chiyalrous and justly
esteemed gentleman with whose name
1 thank your Convention for associa-
j, ting mine. / received and welcome
. it as a spontaneous and deserved
tribute to that admirable platform OF
principles wherein your Convention
SO tersely, so 70 cibly. set forth the
convictions which impelled, and the
purposes which guided its course
platform which, casting behind it the
wreck and rubbish Of worn-out con-
tentions and by-gone feuds, embodies
in fit and few words the needs and
aspirations of to-day. Though thou
sands Stand ready to condemn your
every act, hardly a syllable of criti-
cism or cavil has been aimed at your
platform, Of which the substance may
be fairly expitomized as follows
l. ali political rights and franchises
which have been acquired through
our late bloody oonvHlsion must and
shall be guaranteed, maintained, en-
ioyed and respected evermore.
O. All political rights and fran
chises witch have been lost through
that convulsion should and must be
promptly restored and re-established,
so that there shall be henceforth no
prescribed class and no disfranchised
caste within the limits Of the Union,
whose long estranged people shall re.
unite and fraternize upon the broad
basis Of universal amnesty and In
partial suffrage. .
3. That, subject to our solemn con-
stitutional obligation to MAINTAIN the
equal rights of citizens, our policy
should aim at local government and
not Capitalization; that the civil.au
thority shall be supreme over militia
ry. the habcvs corpus should be jeal-
ously upheld as the safeguard Of per.
sonal freedom that the individual!
citizen should enjoy the largest liber,
tv consistent with public order, and
there shall be no Federal dictation of
the internal policy of the several
States, but that each shall be left free
to,enforce the rights and promote the
well-being of its inhabitants by such
means as the judgment of It's own
people shall prescribe.
4. There shall be real and not
merely a stimulated reform in civil
service OF the KepuDllc. townic1I-cn1t
it is indispensable that the chief dis
pensor OF its vast official patronage
shall be shielded from the mean temp
,atioa to use his power selisAly by
rule inexorably torbiddipg and pre-
Guiding his reelection.
5. That the raising Of revenue,
whether by tariff or otherwise, shall
be recognized and treated as the
peoples immediate business. to be
.haped and directed by them through
their representative in Congress,
whose action the President must nel-
ther overrule by his veto nor attempt
to dictate or presume to punish by
bestowing Office only on those who
agree and withdrawing from those
who do not. a..
6. That the public lands must be
sacredly reserved for occupation and
acquisition by cultivators, and not
recklessly squandered OH the prolcc-
tors Of railroads, for which our peo-
pie have no present need, and the
premature construction Of which is
annually plunging the United States
into deeper and deeper abysses Of for
eign Indebtedness. q
7. The achievement Of these grand
purposes of universal benefcence is
expected and sought at the hands OF
ali who approve Of them, lrrespec-
tive of past affiliations.
S. The public faith must at all
hazards be maintained, and the ma
tional credit preserved.
9. The patriotic devotedness and
inestimable services of our fellow.
citizens, who as soldiers or. sailors
upheld the flag aud maintained the
unity of the Republic, shall ever be
gratefully remembered and honorably
requlted..
These propositions, soably and for.
chilly presented in the platform Of
your Convention, have already fixed
the attention and commanded the as
Sent Of large majority of our coun-
trymen, who joyfully adopt them as
the busis Of true, bene6cent nation
al reconstruction, OF anew departure
from the jealousies and striles and
hates which have no longer any adj
eouate motive or even plausible pre-
text, into the atmosphere OF peace,
f. aternity and mutual good will. In
vain do the drill sergeants of decay
;n,, o,oron onigations Aonrish menacingly |