St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-07-23
Gen. oarheld's Letter.


Dear Nlfs Ou Tue 1870 uf June last
! bad the honor 10 receive from you, iu
the presence of the committee Of which
you were chairman, the official au-
that the republican nation
al conventior az Chicago had that day
mo for their candidate for
president OF the United States. / ac-
cept tke nomination with gratitude foF
the confidence it implies. and with "a
deep sense of the responsibilities u i'm
poses. cordially udorse the princi-
piles set forth in the platform adopted
by the convention. On nearly ali the
subjects Of which it treats. my opinions
are on record among the Published pro
ccedinPs ot Congress. / venture, how
ever. 20 make special mention Of some
of the principal topics which arc likely
10 become the subiucts Ol die IssibL.
without reviewing the controversies
which have been settled ,iprrgg the last
'==s=, === 80. -" p.r,,n-e OF wish
To review the passions of the late war,
u should he said that, while the repub-
llcans fully recognize. and will strenU-
Ously defend, all the rights retained 10y
the people aud all the rights reserved
to the states, they reject the pernicious
doctrine of state supremacy which so
long crippled the functions of the ma
tiOnal government, and at one time
brought the Union very near to de-
structiOn. They insist that the United
States is nation, with ample power
of preservation, that its constitu-
ton and laws made in pursuance there
of are the supreme law of the land,
that the right of the nation to deter
mine the method by which its own leg
islature shall be treated cannot be sur
rendered without abdicating one of
the fundamental powers of the govern
ment, that the national laws relating
to the election of representatives in
Congress shall neither be violated nor
evaded, that every elector shall be per-
mitted freely and without intimidation
to cast his lawful ballot at such cleo
tion and have it honestly counted, and
that the potency of his vote shall not
be destroyed by the fraudulent vote OF
any other person. The best thoughts
and energies of our people should be
directed to the great question of nation
al well-being in which all have a COM
mon interest. Such efforts will soonest
restore perfect peace to those who were
lately in arms against each other, for
justice and goodwill will outlast pas
sion. But it is certain that the wounds
and the spirit of brotherhood cannot
fully pervade the whole country until
every citizen, rich or poor, white oil
black, is secure in the free and equal
enjoyment of every civil and political
right guaranteed by the constitution
and the laws. Wherever the enjoy
ment of these rights is not assured, dis
content will prevail, emigration will
cease, and the social and industrial
forces will continue to be disturbed by
the migration of laborers and the con-
sequent diminution of prosperity
the national government should exer-
else all its constitutional authority to
put an end to these evils, for all the
people and all the states are members
of one body, and no member can suffer
without injury to all. The most serious
evils which now aff1ict the South arise
from the fact that there is no such free
dom and toleratiOn of political opinion
and action that the minority party can
exercise an effective and wholesome
restraint upon the party in power.
Without such restraint party rule be-
comes tyrannical and corrupt. The
prosperity which is made possible in
the South by its great advantages of
soil and climate will never be realized
until every voter can freely and safely
support any party he pleases.
Next in Importance to freedom and
justice is popular education, without
which neither freedom nor Justice can
be permanently maintained. Its inter
ests are intrusted to the states and to
the voluntary action of the people.
Whatever help the nation can justly
afford should be generously given to
aid the states in supporting common
schools, but it would be unjust to ou1
people and dangerous to our institu-
tions to apply any portion of the rev.
enues of the nation or of the states to
the support of sectarian schools. The
separation of the church and the state
in everything relating to taxation
should be absolute.
On the subject of national finances
my views have been so frequently and
fully expressed that little is needed in
the way of additional statement. The
public debt is now so we'll secured and
the rate of annual interest has been SO
reduced by refunding that rigid econ
Omy in expenditures, and the faithful
application of our surplus revenues to
the payment of the principal of the
debt will gradually but certainly free
the people from its burdens and close
with honor the financial chapter of the
war. At the same time the government
can provide for all it's ordinary expen-
ditures and discharge its sacred obliga-
tions to the Soldier of the Union and to
the widows and orphans of those who
fell in its defense. The resumption OF
specie payments, which the republican
party so cOurageOusly and successfully
accomplished, has removed from the
field of controversy many questions
that long and seriously disturbed the
credit of the government and the bust
ness of the country. Our paper cuI1en-
cy is now as national as the flag, and
resumption has not only made it every
where equal to coin, but has brought
into use our store of gold and silver.
The circulating medium is more abun-
dant than ever before, and we need
only to maintain the equality of all
our dollars to insure to labor and cap
ital measure of value from the use of
which no one can suffer loss. The
great prosperity which the country is
now enjoying should not be endangered
by any violent changes or doubtful f.
nancial experiments.
In reference to our customs laws a
policy should be pursued which will
bring revenues to the treasury, and
will enable the labor and capital en-
plOyed in our great industries to COM
pete fairly in our own markets with
the labor and capital of foreign pro-
ducers. We legislate for the people of
the United States, not for the whole
world, and it is our glory that the