The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-05-02
THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
"REUNION AND REFORM
Speech Of Judge stallo, Temporary
President.


CINCINNATI, May 1.-The long looked
for day ior tho assembling Of the two
Conventions came in with lowering skies,
and at times during Che morning there
was dashing rain which somewhat In,
teriered with out door movements. The
trains the night preceding and early thl!
morning had brought many reinforce,
ments, SO tho well filed city Of the even,
Ing before had but lew places ct the
hotels where the newly arrived could find
comfortable rooms. Mozart Hall, where
tho Reunion and Reform Conventions
were to holiits session, did not I'LL up
rapidly, and when the hour arrived iOl
the opening OF the Convention there were
comparatively few persons present, but al
30 minutes past 10 o'clock the number
had swelled TO 400 or 900. At this
hour Judge N. B. Caldwell, President Of
the Reunion and Reform Association call
ed the Convention to order and nomina'
ted J. B. Stsllo Of Cincinnati temporary
President. Judge Stallo on appearing OF
the stage was met with considerable ap
plauSe. He then delivered the following
address:
JUDGE sTALLo's ADDRESS.
While l am profoundly sensible Of the
honor you have conferred upon me by &C.
Letting me as the temporary chairman Of
this Convention. I approach theattempt
to discharge the duties thus devolved
upon me with great diflldence. very
much fear that, as Relormers, who pro.
pose to inaugurate the practice OF select.
ing men for the discharge Of public
trusts with single regard to merits,
you have made q somewhat inauspiclous
beginning, Tor I am sadly deficient in all
qualifications, including the great physi.
cal yigor and thorough familiarity with
parliamentary usage and rule, without
which It is impossible satisfactorily to
preside over your deliberations, even for
brief hour, but / bow 10 your decision,
trusting that there Is some promise
Of success In the honesty of my
endeavor. With the purposes for
which the Convention has been called,
and the circumstances under which we
have met, you are all familiar. We are
here as independent citizens Of the Ameri.
can republic. We have emerged from a
conflict which involved the very life Of
the nation. That conflict Is now ended,
and the nation lives. The old home Of
our fathers is still the home Of the whole
American family, of all its children, ma.
tive and adopted. That home has been
beautided and enlarged, but it has not
been divided. The Union Is unbroken.
Wherever in oil the land an American
freeman turns his eye heavenward, he be.
holds its sacred emblem, the old flag, and
there are none but freemen now to behold
1t. The old aspirations always rise
from the heart to the lips whenever the
Union is thought Of; and to perpetuate Il
isno longer a trembling prayer, but the
spirited utterance Of an imperishable
faith.
And now, you who have come here
from all parts, no longer sections, of our
common country, stand here side by side,
united in spirit as you are united in inter
est. There is but one throb now to all
your hearts, and but one purpose to all
your endeayors That purpose is to make
our country prosperous and great; to sc.
cure the freedom, happiness and equal
rights Of all Its citizens; to reform the
abuses which have sprung from the
long prevalence Of mere party sway, and
from the lawlessness and turbulence
involved in the recent emi.revolulionary
condition Of our civil affairs; and to centre
the foundations OF constitutional liberty
wherever they have been impaired or de.
stroyed. You meet here with the firm re.
solve to preserve as recollectiOns so much
only Of the past as is necessary in order
wisely to profit by its lessons, and to con.
sign to oblivion whatever though it origi.
nanated in honest impulses ended in
bitterness and anger. You have been ar.
rayed against each other upon questions
which the voice Of history has answered.
You have been divided as by a cloud,
which has not only ceased to be fiery, but
which has been wholly dispelled. You
have been engaged in the trials and issues
which have been settled irrevocably and
forever. In the clear light Of dispassion,
ate reflection you see that the Is.
sues left to be decided are issues
Of to-day, and NOT Of yesterday; that
all the problems which present them.
selves to the American people for pres.
ent salvation, arc problems Of peace; and
that the questions Of the future find ex.
preston not in watchwords OF camps that
have long since been abandoned, or in tho
slogans OF parties that have degenerated
into clans, but in the articulated demands
resulting from the practical necessities
Of the hour. Having met here in this
spirit, and with these convictions, you
would not permit me to address you by
any old partY names. You nrn no lnnrnr