The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1872-04-06
FrOm ths O. ssnss 1I.ssh -
THE C1NerNn 81 ccNv1Er1c1'


Upon the people he -bslieys n the Gin
, cinnati Convention i rsBponibility resl
3 greater than that dsny party for man
. years. Upon this Rnyention the nstiol
depends for an orgf ID, resolgte and INC
cessful opposition - centralized poNs
/ at Washington, viii 5qmea the authorl
} ty Of virtual dicta There is iittl
hope Of defeating q ~ Id the smbitiou
and tyrannical prin - embodied IN hi
administration, unld thH Convention Cd,
command the eofl6dl smi af tina people ire
spsctixs Of party. sgaAisation ID every
thing 10 tha oppnsityf n D.. = "a 49, lss.s
Con6dent inlss-ls'1 s'1eesgiganAis- -1eeSEgfH
guarded by lin army of loficsho2dexs, Nd
present Administration deridea the idel
of defeat 1t came forth as Goliath did
ignorant that the young David was sagerfsl
the combat, and unconscious of the p0wel
that supported him
But It in plain now that the idea Of a Ma
tiOnal Convention, called for the express
purpose Of nominating for the Presidency
and Vice Presidency men who are pledged
to oppose the Capitalization and ambition
which now reign supreme in Washington,
is not only desired by the people, but dread
ed by their would-be masters. There was
terror in the capital when Judge Davis was
nominated by the great Labor Reform Con-
vention at Columbus; there is more terror
now, when it seems possible that he may
be the candidate of the great Political Re
form Convention ut Cincinnati. Unable 10
disgnise their fears, the Administration
organs have limited the advantage Of sand
ing Grant delegates to Cincinnsti, 10 con-
troll or influence the action of the Conven-
ton. The Tribune well says:
"The Federal office-holders have called
THEIR Convention, to meet at Philadelphia
in June. No one proposes to disturb or
interfere with them. We trust no one will
attend that gathering who has not fully
made up his mind to let the present in
cumbents have another four years lease of
office and power But the Cincinnati
Convention in none of their affair. They
did not call it they are not invited their
presence is not desired. Let them mind
their own business and run their own ma
chine"
This plot could not easily succeed, but it
Is q revelation of the fear of the Reform
movement To go to Cincinnati in force,
take possession of the Convention, and en-
dorse the Administration, a. the ''Times"
intimated might be the course Of Grants
friends, would be the last resort Of foe
made desperate by cowardice. We antici-
pate no action of the kind. IL is not
Interference that we would guard against,
but DiscOrd.
Where the enemy is, we know; we know
his strength, his leaders, his plans, his
chosen field and we know, too, the only
way in which he can be defeated. The ad-
vantages which Grant has in this campaign
are enormous. He makes soldiers Of his
suffers, and every office-holder has in his
very place bribe to support him. A hun
dred thousand men whom he appointed
are working to effect his reelection, for in
doing 50 they labor for themselves. But
his disadvantages are equally as great. His
power Is 3 statue Of brass with feet of clay
This legion of Office holders is odious to the
people they have felt its tyranny and
clamor for its overthrow. The very
strength Of the Administration is its weak
ness, for what it gains in pride and plunder
it loses in the disdain and Indignation of
the people. We, therefore, know where to
meet the enemy, and how to fight him !;
but are we equally certain of the position
of our own forces, and sure that they win
be united in the fieldl
All the desire is for union. The local re-
form movements throughout the country
indicate the tendency f; the press of the
country expresses the universal wish. The
emergency and the opportunity Of the hour
are reconcihng two great parties, and lib
eral Republicans and progressive Demo
Gratis find that each is more closely allied to
the other than either is to the arrogant and
tyrannical Administration. In it all citi-
zens who wish the purifcation of the gov
ernment and the restoration of republican
simplicity find their common foe. The
North and the South draw nearer in the
presence Of the danger which overshado ows
both, and Grants Napoleonic ambition is
doing more to unite the two sections than
all the reconstruction measures that Con-
gress has been tinkering at for years. The
workmen Of America are alive to the TACT
that his administration is the champion Of
Capital as against Labor, and every element
Of reform, however deep its sleep may have
been, awakes and starts up erect at the
sound of his military tread He comes
upon the country in this campaign az q
Menace he Is an embodied Threat to our
civil progress and our liberty. The shadow
Of virtual military despotism goes before
him and darkens all the land. Instructive
ly, men dread Grant, for when he declared
that the liberties Of the country could not
be maintained without One-Term Amend
ment, he was the prophet Of his own apos-
tacy. And all who feel this, who know the
danger, have the one grand desire to make
common cause against il.
How shall this be done Only by ex.
cluding from the Cincinnati Convention al
questions excepting the main question. tt
platform must be solid principle, and moi
. patchwork Of opinions It should be a
broad and as bright as our flag. When oul
American sailors grapple to Britiah man.
of-war, and hundred eager hearts wait
for the command to Board no man think
Of the disputes Of the past-the rivalries oI
States they feel and act only a
Americans, and they win the victory for
the whole nation.
So should it be in this crisis, which vii
decide for many years the course of the
Republic. No dead issues, and no sids
lqusstions, shoald be introduced into the
Cincinnati Convention. Il has AMPLY te
nominate . man whom the people vii
rather trust than Grant, and mot to under
take to legislate or dictate measures q
home Orforeign policy. Let there sfres
dom on al the questions of the das. Mr.
\ Greeley sAid the other day, in the ssTrib
une, IN reference TO the Convention: ssOz
certain grave public questions such n
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