Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1876-08-12
A Leading Republican Declares for
ridden and Hendricks.
From the Richmond Dispatch.

following letter FROM Juhn ii. Glmer, esq.,, u
this city. 1t speaks for itself, and needs DO
Iaudaion. 1t gives excellent reasons Why
everybody should rally 10 the standard of Til
den and Hendricks:
RICHMOND, VA. August s, 1876.
Editors DISPATCH: Allow me, as briefly as
possible, to lswrr through your columns the
numerous Inquiries which have and am daily
receiving as 10 my position in the pending pres.
ldeuial canvass.
Oucc, tor all, l say that | shall yield my cor
dial support to the nominees of the st. LOUIS
Convention. As a Virginian in 1872 l support
ed President Graut as opposed to Horace Grec'
lev, As an American ci;iz,n shall now sup
mort Vilden and Hendricks. My reasons are
ccgent, and will be adopted by very macy re-
uublicans North and South. | care very little
for party names.
LIST. Let US see what vas the prcdlcameut OF
the American people when the respective par
ties met 10 convention. Congress was 10 ses-
sop and had been for several months There
was one common vail everywhere over the
whole country. The people, without respect
10 marty, we're everywhere wrlthlBg under the
most appa!lipg difficulties. In every section,
in every Industrial department, the lethargic
! paIi of death and decay was felt, seen, and re.
cocuized. The interests Of all, the business OF
each citizen, were morc or less rayzed; com-
merce was crippled; manufactures Tagged; ag-
riculture dropped; labor was unprohtable; trade
l-domcst!c aud ioreign-Iapguishcd credit was
DESTROYED; the merchant without hope; the
| farmer and planter without energy; the me.
| chanic upem ploycd; labor Improbable. There
was no vi,alty-no rccupcrallve paWer any
where The people were without hope-l1
despair-tull oil professionalism means OF
subsistence ueariy exhausted They were de.
plced by enormous taxation. The Federal
| tax sathcrer consumed their all, Indirectly,
while their agcnt-thc Federal Government
was accommodating aud locking up 10 its vaults
millions in gold, silver, aud currency.
! This state of Thugs had arrested the atten
ton, awakened the apprehension, aud aroused
the fears of the people. Was there 90 remedy
! Yves there 40 balm 10 G!llead-Do physician
there? A remedy must be bad or there would
be a revulsiou.
| 81 Under this state of things the two con-
vcutious met Let US consider aud estimate
| their respective elements, as also their compo.
sitop. The best ineec,s of the country were
present 10 each convention. The Cinoln-
natl Convention seemed to have been COM
posed mainly of oficeholders. They were
fresh from their desks or avocations but
not fresh from the people. ln its DELHI
eratious We fud men AID not principles
the chief object. To defeat MIR. Blaine by
auy BOBBY any combination-was the first
object Mr. Balue was 10 DE defeated at all
hazards. The combination was managed By a
member of the Presidents Cabinet, who was
appointed Tor the purpose. Indeed, President
Graut headed the opposition to Blaine. tie
used every argument, artifce, and measure tc
defeat him. The new Secretary OF War Was
10 the convention, resortng to every appliance
TO defeat him. The combination succeeded 10
nominating Mr. Hayes-one OF the weakest
| men named 10 the conventlon--aDd then only
By small majority. Uudcr these circumstances
| Mr.. HAYES must be considered the AdmInlstra.
ton nominee. As such | object to him. de-
rounce the whole procee ding as anti :apr!;li.
can, dangerous and obnoxious. 1t was bold
and daring attempt of the President to usurI
the functions of the convention and defeat the
American people in their choice, and merit:
the severe rebuke Of every republican.
| How different was the composition of the
| ST. Louis convention. 1t was not prop .r!v a
| democratic convention, so to speak. 1t wa:
composcd Of old liue wings as we'll as old-llnc
| democrats, who went to 81. Louis to work FOL
the reform and rtmodelling OF the Federal gov
crument The TWO thirds rule was established
| Under it Mr.. Tildeu was nominated on the
second ballot. MIR. Hendricks had no opposl
! tion. So VIC see that Mr.. Iiden was chosen BY
two thirds, while MIR. Hayes was barrel chosen
| by small majority. What if such interter
| tive The liberty of free opinion is gone.
forms. We shall easily discern marked dit
| IN ouorv essential and I'm nda NOR
principle. And this, too, as we'll to measure:
proposed as 10 the fundamental principles
which are announced, by which each party will
be regulated in the administration of the Fed
eral government.
10 the Cincinnati platform We detect the
trickcry Of the politclar and the artistic plati
tudes of the cringing demagogue. ln the ST.
Louis platform We readily discern the declara
lion Of men 10 earnest-men fully aroused to
the exigencies of the occasion. Men who were
masters of the situation, who had discarded all
mere make shifts and temporising expedients.
Men who were met 10 national council to meet
the demands of the people and answer the calls
| of their country 10 her extreme hour of need.
The cry of R form had gone forth; it echoed
the dire necessities Of people 10 despair-a
nation PROSTATE, 10 humiliation. This cry, they
felt, was not to be put off; i. called for an un-
| mistakablo answer, governmental desuetude
stared in the face nation on the eve OF moral
| ENTHUSIASTICALLY decrepitude enervated the
sinews of Government and paraIyzed The en-
crgcs of the people gaIvauic shock was
needed, and was given, 1t came 10 the precise
mode it was most needed: 1t is the platform
of this Convention. There is no misconcep-
ton 20 dod ling, 20 evasion, 20 double mean
ing. Each issue is distinctive, each remedy
isolated, each proposition emphaticay stated
No man eau be deceived. Each word, each
sentence, and the whole, is summed up, ard
ring in tooes not to be sienced Reform, Re
form everywhcrc-from the Executive down.
The measures needed are given, and are psral-
lei with the reform proposed. Frauds are de.
Eoun.ed and the remedy named. Official cor
ruption, deficiencies are specified, and means Of
effectusl relief designated. In q word, the re-
publican platform promises much, but it guar
sntees nothing The democratic platform in
dulges in no party piatitudes; but boldly dis
sects the decaying body polite; detects the gan.
creme and instantly proceeds to cauterize It's