The Portland daily press., 1876-07-21
THE REPUBLICAN TICKET.
MT. WheeIer's Letter of Accept
anCe.

MALONE, July Is, 1876
To Hon. Edward Mcpherson and others of the
Committee of the Republican National Con-
vention:
your communication, advising me that l had
been unanimously nominated by the National
Convention of the Republican party, held at
Cincinnati on the 18th ultimo, for the office of
Vice President of the United States, requesting
my acceptance of the same, and asking my at
tention to the summary of Republican doc
trines contained in the platform adopted by the
Convention.
A nomination made with such unanimity i'm
plies confidence on the part of the conven-
ton which inspires my profound gratitude.
1t is accepted with a sense of the responsibility
which may follow. If elected L shall endeavor
to perform the duties of the office in the fear
of the Supreme Ruler, and in the interest of
the whole country.
To the summary of doctrines enunciated by
the convention, give my cordial assent. The
Republican party has iutrenched in the organic
law OF the land the doctrine that liberty is the
supreme Interchangeable law for every foot of
American soil. 1t is the mission of that party
to give full effect to this principle by securing
to every American citizen complete liberty ard
exact equality in the exercise of all civil, polit-
ical and public rights" This will be accom-
plshed only when the American citizen, with
out regard to color, shall wear this panoply of
citizenship as fully and as securely in the cane
brakes of Louisiana as on the banks OF the st.
Lawrence. Upon the question OF our Southern
relations, my views were recently expressed, as
a member of the committee of the United
States House of Representatives upon South
ern affairs. These views remain unchanged,
and were thus expressed:
''We of the North delude ourselves in ex-
pecting that the Southern states, SO far be-
hind in many of the attributes of enlighten
ment, improvement and civilization, are in the
brief period OF ten or fifteen years, to be trans
formed into our model Northern communities
That can only come through long course of
patient waiting, to which no one can now set
certain bounds. There will be good deal of
unavoidable friction which will call for for
bearance, and which will have to be relieved by
the temperate fostering care of the!government.
One of the most potent if not indispensable
agencies in this direction, will be the devising
of some system to aid in the education of the
masses. The fact that there are whole counties
in Louisiana in which there is not solitary
school house, is full of suggestion. We COM
PEELED these people to remain in the Union and
now duty and interest demand that we leave
no means untried to make them good loyal Cit
izens How to diminish the friction, how to
stimulate the elevation of this portion of our
country, are problems addressing themselves to
our best and wisest craftsmanship. The found
alton for these efforts must be laid in satisfying
the Southern people that they are to have equal
exact justice accorded them. Give them to
the fullest extent every blessing which the gov
eminent confers upon the most favored. Give
them no just cause for complaint, and then
hold them by every necessary means to an ex-
act, rigid observance of oil their duties and OBJ
legations under the constitution and its amend
ments to secure to all within their borders man
hood and citizenship, with every right thereto
belonging"
The just obligations to public creditors, Gre
ated when the government was in the tbroes of
threatened dissolution and as an indispensable
condition of its salvation, guaranteed by the
lives and blood of thousands of it's brave de-
tenders, are to be kept with religious faith, as
are all the pledges subsidiary thereto, and con-
firmatory thereof. In my judgment the pledge
of Congress, of January IA, 1876, for the re-
demption of the notes Of the United States in
coin, is the plighted faith of the nation, and
national honor, simple honesty and justice to
the people whose permanent welfare and pros
perty are dependent upon true money as the
basis of their pecuniary transactions, all de-
mand the scrupulous observance of this pledge;
and tits the dnty of Congress to supplement- it
with such legislation as shall be necessary for
its strict fulfilment.
In our system of government, intelligence
must give safety and value to the ballot; hence
the common schools of the land should be pre-
served in all their vigor, while in accordance
with the spirit of the constitution, they and all
their endowments should be secured by every
possible and proper guaranty, against every
WILL VI SCSpolldh iuliuOuOO VI CODtIOis IucIO
should be the strictest economy in the expendi-
lures of the government consistent with its
effective administration; and all unnecessary
offices should be abolished. Offices should be
conferred only upon the basis of high charac-
ter and particular fitness, and should be ad.
ministered only as public trusts and not for
private advantage.
The foregoing are chief among the cardinal
principles of the Republican party and to car
ry them into full practical effect is the work it
now has in hand. To the completion of its
great mission we address ourselves in hope
and confidence, cheered and stimulated by the
recollection of its past achievements, remem-
bering that under God it is to that party that
we are indebted in this centennial year of our
existence for preserved unbroken Union, for
the fact that there is no master or slave through
out our broad domain, and that emancipated
millions look upon the ensign of the republic
as the symbol of the fulfilled declaration that
all men are created free and equal, and the
guaranty of their own equality under the law,
with the most highly favored citizen of the
land. To the intelligence and conscience of all
who desire good government, good WILL good
money and universal prosperity, the Republic
can party, not unmindful of the imperfection
and shortcomings of human organizations yet
with the honest purpose of its masses promptly
to retrieve all errors, and to summarily punish
all offenders against the laws of the country,
confidently submits its claims for the continued
support of the American people.
Respectfully,
WILLIAM A. WHEELER,