The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1872-02-21
The Anti.Grant Movement.

It seems that the.proposed Cincinnati
Convention, which was to have been
held on the 9Th May next, is to be post
poned to the Goth June, in order to
await developments at the Republi-
can Convention which meets in Phila-
delphia on the 5th June. It was never
proposed that the Cincinnati Conven-
ton should nominate candidates for the
Presidency and Vice-Presidency, but
simplyta adopt platform, and .inaugu-
rate an opposition movement which was
to be consummated if possible in the
defeat Of Grant at Philadelphia, and
failing in that, to nominate an indie
pendent candidate, who might be ac-
ceptable to the Democrats, and with the
union of all the elements of opposition,
defeat the regular nominee of the Con-
vention. A failure however to secure the
cooperation of Sumner, Trumbull, Lo-
gan, Fenton. and Greedy and others, in
the Cincinnati movement seems to
have determined its authors to await
action at Philadelphia, and to leave it to
time to mark the course of the opposi-
ton. If they develop strength
enough to defeat Grant, they will be
independent of the Democracy, and
will have no reason to court its aid; but
if on the contrary they can present only
o broken phalaux and disheartening
array, We may expect them to go over
to the enemy and abandon the field to
the regular nominee of the Philadel-
phia Convention. 1t Is only in the
event of theirdeveloping a strong but
unsuccessful opposition to Grant at
Philadelphia, that we may expect them
to- inaugurate an independent move
ment, and adopt union reform plat
ft rm, upon which they will seek to raj
ly the strength of the Democracy, and of
the disaffected Of their own party. The
action at Philadelphia will determine
this movement, as well as the course OF
the Democracy itself,
That Grant is to be nominated at Phil
|adelphia-controlling, as he does, the
vast official patronage of the Govern
ment, and bringing it to bear upon the
several State Conventions-seems to be
Ia foregone conclusion; but then II the
disaffected East and West can make as
respectable array of Republican strength,
we may expect an independent move
ment, with a new platform and new
candidates in the field. AS to both of
these, Mr.. Kitteridge, leading lawyer
|of Cincinnati, who is said to be in pos
session Of all the plans of the new party
thus expresses himself to reporter Of
the Enquirer: at.
IT do not think the selection of Gandi-
dates of so much Importance as the har-
monizing of the elements that make up
the opposition. If there Is any harmony
of action, have no question that they
can agree upon candidates that will be
mutually satisfactory. think Senator
Trumbull, as Western man, and
Charles Francis Adams as an Eastern
man, are the strongest candidates for the
Presidency.
I think either one of them would be
satisfactory, provided they.would accept
the platform that goes under the name of
the Union Reform platform, or enl-
bodying substantially those principles.
VIM. Groesbeck, Of Cincinnati, has
been prominently spoken of. He would
be satisfactory to me. I do not think he
would be so strong candidate as Lib
eral Republican like Trumbull or Ad-
ANS. IfTrumbull should be nominated
for the Presidency, ! think the Vice
President should be an Eastern man,
like John @. Adams, of Massachusetts,,
for instance. Of course all these ques-
tions about candidates are questions
about which there will be a good deal of
individual difference of opinion, and
will have to be postponed until the time
comes for nominating. My own views
might be very much modified by the
course which men like Trumbull should
take in the meantime in reference to po-
litical questions.