Wilmington journal., 1876-06-30
MISSOURI.

con vention assembled at the hall of th'
chamber of commerce, which Wal
handsomely decorated.
The delegates were promptly seated
and called to order at 1920 o'clock by
Augustus Schell. In calling the con
vention to order he submitted briei
remarks upon the purposes of tuis
convention to nominate candidates
whose electio shall change the gov
Prnment, overthrow corruption, pro
] duce the adm nistration of reforms
| demanded 10y the people. Applause.
| He said the corruption now existing IN
| the government must be buried; this
| duty must be coufided to the b inds,
! Lot of those who now hold the governs
! ment, but of the democratic party.
The thing t., be reformed can't be re-
formed by itself. The people are in
telligent and sagacious. and they un :
derstand their rights and will not
again trust their interests to the re-
publican party He referred to the
democratic party as the hard money
party from the beginning. He said it
was trick to try to saddle Oh it
the existing policy inconsistent with
hard money principles. All the
acts authorizing paper money as
legal tender, and the opinion of
the Supreme Court sustaining it, all
were done during a republican admin
istrat1ou. He then referred briefly to
the civil results The remedy is not
rapid contraction or Increased cur
rency, but the one remedy at this
time is the repeal of the resumption
act. Do that and give the democratic
party the reins IF government and
their policy of the one money aud
sound finance will bring specie pay
ment speedily. Applause. In this
centennial of national Independence
we have met to adopt means to re-
store the country to prosperity. May
we not hope, after sixteen years OF re-
publicanism, that the democt attic party
may resume it's supremacy in the gov
ernment? The roles that will govern
the convention will insure good NOM
ination. He exhorted the convention
to wisdom in making the platform.
At the conclusion of his remarks he
nominated Henry Watterson, of Ken
lucky, as temporary chairman. Ap-
plause. This was unanimously agreed
to, and Messrs. Barnum, of Connect
cut, aud Ransom of North Carolina,
being appointed a committee for the
purpose, conducted Mr.. Watters0n to
the chair.
MIR. Watterson. being presented and
received with applause, said: ''Gen-
temen of the Conventions: We are
called together to determine our wis
dom whether honest government, al
ministered by honest men, shall be
restored to the American people, or
decide by our folly that it ia the des.
3 70 and.
less, ever revolving circle Of partisan
pa sion and corruption, until. with loss
of material we'll being, we lose the
poor mans last hope, civil liberty it.
self Every citizen of the republic.
be he of one party or the other, feels
and has felt for many a day the de-
pressing influence of what are called
the hard times. We look about us and
see neglected fields and vacant houses.
the factories closed, furnace doors
shut. There are myriads of idle
hands, the happy activity of prosper
ous life rs no where to be found;
"loyali,ts" fatten whilst honest men
starve-empty the mart and shipless
the bay What is it that has wrought
SO great change in the land that
under the rule of an Intelligent, pro
gressive, constitutional party, adj
vanced within half a century from the
condition of a huddle of petty and
squalid provincial soveroignties to
foremost place among the nations OF
the earth :? The reason of men must
answer, partizan misrnle and sectional
misrule.
The republicans, my friends, are not
alone responsible. With them rest
the disgraces with us the follies.
these twin agents of national mis-
chance. working under the miserable
rule of contraries, have kept the peo-
pie of the North and South aside, and
have supplied sustenance to cOrrup-
ton. They have dis urbed the statutes,
they have unsettled prices. they have
made our whole financial system q
cheat and snare. They have driven
the best elements of political society
into exile, and have organized charla-
tanism into a sort of public poiity,
enabling the rogue to get a cheap ad-
vantage of his dupe, and sacrifice every
popular interest to the lust OF that OIL
garchy which has become so encfusted
with power as to believe itself entitled
to rule by the sheer force of its own
wrong doing. So much let us set down
to the convenient pretext of war; so
much to the long account OF dam
ages between the North and South.
1t is for you to say whether the same
conflict, with consequences multiplied
and manifold, shall by any act Of
yours be inaugurated between the
East and West. 1 shall not undel take
on an occasion of this kind, and III
presence SO imposing. to enforce the
familiar lesson of mutual forbearance.
Nobody doubts our capacity to make
battle among ourselves. Entreating
you to dilect your energies to the
common enemy. ask indulgence only
on nv own behalf. You have called
me to a place not merely of distinction,
but of difficulty, to place which re
qlrires the best training of better
man than am. In taking 1T, l trust
t. your confidence and good nature
and a heart incapable of an unmanly
or unfair act. The work before us
should relate to ideas rather than
| to individuals. It is the issue, not the
man, that should engage US. We have
come here to make the peoples, not
our, fight for. free no less than for
| honest government; for the reform of
the public service and the regeneration
of public morals; for administrative
| nlhlllSm embraced IL Tue Slmple cF0eU
of home rule; a reduction of taxes and
living chance for the South as well
as North. Tor both East and West. If
any thing comes OF our proce edings it
must spring from the spirit of associa-
ton and fellowship when warned. The
followers of Andrew Jackson and Silas
Wright, of Henry Clay and Daniel
Webster, meet together on common
ground, at last, to wrest the govern
ment OF their affairs from the the
clutch of rings and rohbere, federal,
State and municipal. and who agree to
extirpate these whenever they are
found, and whether they be republican
or democrat.
The points of Mr.. Watterson's
speech W re emphasized by frequent
applause. At it's conclusion he intro
duced the Rev. Mr.. Marvin, whe
offered prayer.
The chair announced as temporary
secretary, Fred. o. Prince. of Massa
| n XNolkor # Tnua