The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1876-07-07
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL
CONVENTION.


The Convention was called to order
by Augustus Schell, of New York, with
the set phrase speech corruption and
reform" and at its conclusion intro
duced Henry u. Watterson, OF the
Louisville CO1iTieT-JOttSTI0l, as tenn
porary Chairman.
HENRY wATTERsOS'S SPEECH.
GENTLEMEN or THE CONVENTION
We are called together TO determine, by
our wisdom, whether honest govern
ment, administered by honest men, shall
be restored to the American people, or
TO decide, by oar folly, that it is the
destiny of this country TO pursue an
endless, ever revolving circle OF parts
an passion and corruption until, with
the loss of our material weIl-being, we
lose the poor mans last hope. civil
liberty itself.
Every citizen of the Republic, be he
of one party or the other, feels, and
has felt for many day, the depressing
influence Of what are called hard times
We look about us, and see neglected
fields and vacant houses; the factory
door is closed, the furnace door is shut I;
there are myriads of idle hands; the
happy activity of prosperous life is no.
where to be found.
Loyalists falter while honest men starve.
Empty the mart and shipiess the bay.
What is it that has wrought so great
change in land that, under the rule
OF an intelligent, progressive, consti-
tutloDal party, advanced within half a
century from the condition of a huddle
OF petty and squalid and provincial
sovereignties to foremost place among
the nations of the earth! The reason
OF men must answer Partisan mis-
rule and factional misdirection. The
Republicans, my friends, ere not alone
responsible. With them rest the dis
grace; with us the follies. These twin
agents of national mischance, working
under the miserable rule of contraries,
have kept the people of the North and
South asunder, and have supplied sus-
teDance to corruption. They have
disturbed values. The have unsettled
prices. They have made our whole
financial system a cheat and a snare
They have driven the best elements of
political society into exile, and have
organized charlatanism into a sort of a
public polity, enabling the rogue to
get a cheap advantage of his dupe, and
sacrificing every popular interest to
the lust of that obligarchy which
has become so encrusted with power
as to believe itself entitled to rule
by the sheer force of its own wrong
doings. So much let us set down to
the convenient preteXt of war. So
much to the long account of damages
between the North and the South.
1t is for you to say whether the same
conflict, with consequences multiplied
and magnified, shall, by any act of
yours, be inaugurated between the
East and the West.
| shall not undertake on an occasion
of this kind, and in the presence of so
imposing an audience, TO enforce the
familiar lesson of mutual forbearance.
Nobody doubts our capacity to make
battle among ourselves. Entreating
you to direct your energies to the COM
mon enemy, i ask indulgence only on
my own behalf You have called NE
to place not merely of distinction,
but of difficulty; to a place which re-
quires the best training of better
man than L am. Ia taking it, / trust
to your confidence and good nature,
and to a heart incapable of an un-
manly or unfair act. The work before
us should relate to ideas, rather than
to individuals. 1t is the issue, not the
man that should engage us. We have
come here to make the peoples. not
ours, fight for free, no less than for
honest government; for the reform of
the public service, and the regenera-
ton OF the public morals; for admin
istrative relief from administrative
nthtLtsnl, embracing in the simple creed
OF home rule, reduced taxes, and a
living chance for the South as well |
as the North, for both East and the
West.
If anything comes of our proceed
ings it must spring from the spirit of
fellowship which warmed the followers |
OF Andrew jackson and Silas Wright,
OF Henry Clay and Daniel Webster,
whose political descendants meet to- |
gether on common ground a. last to |
wrest the government of their fathers /
from the clutches of rings and robbers,
Federal and State, and who mean to /
extIrpate these wherever they are
found, whether they be Republican or
Democratic.
The points Of the speech were empha-
sized by frequent applause.
At the conclusion of Mr. Wattersons
remarks, which were received with
great applause, Bishop Marvin made
a prayer, the assemblage rising:
After the prayer, the Chair annouced
Frederick o. Prince, of Mass. as
Secretary, with Il. o. Wal
ker, of Iowa, and s. K. Doniphan, of
Ohio, as Assistants.
Alter a variety of discussions, pre-
sentation of Memorials, &C., the Com
lnlttees on Credentials, Resolutions.
Rules, and Permanent Organization
were appointed, speeches were made,
and an adjournment effected.
EVENING SESSION.
At the evening session the Commit
tee on Permanent Organization report
ed in favor of Gen. John A. McCIer-
nand, for President, with Vice Presi-
dent and Secretary from each of the
States Gen. McClernand having been
escorted to the platform, made a speech
arralgnlng the Administration after the
usual Democratic fashion. Efforts
We're then made to adjourn but August
had to make a speech, and
1he Convention waited.
SECOND DAY.
At ii O'Clock, the Delegates were
called to order, and the movement of |
she waters began with a prayer by
Father Brady. After the delegates
who desired to distinguish themselves
had got their little resolutions and
speeches off their minds, the manoeu-
Vering for position began, the Tilden
men carrying every position. At an
important point in the proceedings an
adjournment was effected till 9 O'Clock
p. M.
On re-asse milling the Committee on
Resolutions presented the following
PLATFORM
"We, the delegates of the Demo
cratic party of the United States, in
National Convention assembled, do
hereby declare the administration of
the Federal Government to be in need
OF immediate reform; do here enjoin
upon the nominee of this Convention,
and of the Democratic party in each |
State, a Jealous effort and co-opera-
ton to this end, and do hereby appeal
to our fellow-citizens of every former
political connection to undertake with
us this first and most pressing patriotic
duty. For the Democracy of the
whole country We do here reaffirm our
faith in the permanency of the Federal
Union, our devotion to the Constitu-
ton of the United States, with its
universally accepted as a
final settlement of the controversies
hat engendered civil war, and do here
record our steadfast confidence in the
of republican self govern
nanf. in ahsnlnfa acnniaSnonno i'm &Io L