Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-07-13

the nomination rendered him by the Repub
lican National Convention
THE LETTER.
MENTOR (Q) July 10, 1880.
Dear Sir: On the evening of the Sth OF
June last | had the honor to receive from
you, in the presence of committee of which
you were Chairman, the official announce
ment that the Republican National Conven.
tion at Chicago had that day nominated me
as their candidate for President of the United
States.
ACCEPT THE NOMINATION.
With gratitude for the confidence it implies,
and with deep sense of the responsibility il
imposes. cordially indorse the principles
set forth in the platform adopted by the Con-
vention. On nearly all the subjects of which
it treats my opinions are ON record among
the published proceedings of Congress. l
venture, however, to make special mention of
some Of the principal topics which are likely
to become subjects of discussion, without re-
viewing the controversies which have been
settled during the last twenty years, and with
no purpose or wish to revive the passions of
the late war. 1t should be said that while
the Republicans fully recognize, and will
strenuously defend, all the rights retained by
the people. and all the rights reserved to the
States, they reject the perricious doctrine of
State supremacy which so long crippled the
functions of the National Government and
at one time brought the Union very near to
destruction. They insist that
THE UNITED STATES IS A NATION, \
With ample powers of self representation
that its Constitution and the laws made in
pursuance thereof care the supreme law Of
the land !" that the right of the nation TO de.
termine the method by which its Legislature
shall be created cannot be surrendered with
out abdicating one of the fundamental powers
of the Government that the national laws re-
lating to the election of representatives in Con.
gress shall neither be violated nor evaded
that every elector shall be permitted freely
and without intimidation to cast his lawful
vote at such election, 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
these great questions of national well being,
in which all have common interest. Such
efforts will soonest restore to perfect peace
those who were lately in arms against each
other, for
JUSTICE AND GOOD WILL WILL oUTLAsT
PASSION.
But it is certain that the wounds of the war
cannot be completely healed, and the spirit
of brotherhood cannot fully pervade the
whole country, until every citizen, rich OF
poor, white or black, is secure in the free and
equal enjoyment of every civil and political
right guaranteed by the Constitution and the
laws. Wherever the enjoyment of these
rights is not assured, discomfort will prevail,
immigration will cease, and the social and in
dustrial forces will continue to be dis
turbed by the migration of laborers
and the consequent diminution of
prosperity. The National Government should
exercise 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 affiict the
South arise from the fact that there is not
such freedom and liberation of political
opinion and action that the minority party
can exercise an effective and wholesome re,
straiDt upon the party in power. Without
such restraint, party rule becomes tyranni-
cal and corrupt. The prosperity which is
made possible in the South by its great adj
vantages of soil and climate will never be re-
allied until every voter can freely and safely
support any party he pleases. Next in i'm.
portance to freedom and justice is
POPULAR EDUCATION,
Without which neither justice nor freedom
can be permanently maintained. Its inter.
ests are intrusted both to the States and to
the voluntary action of the people What
ever help the nation can afford should be gen.
erously given to aid the States in support of
common schools, but it would be unjust and
dangerous to our institutions to apply any
portion of the revenues of the nation or Of
the States to the support of sectarial schools.
The separation of the Church and the State
in everything relating to taxation should be
absolute.
FINANCIAL QUESTIONS.
On the subject of national finances my
views have been SO frequently and fully ex-
pressed that little is needed in the way of adj
ditional statement The public debt is now
80 well secured, and the rate of annual inter.
est has been so reduced by refunding, that
rigid economy in expenditures, and the faith
full 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 finan.
cial chapter of the war. At the same time
the Government can provide for all its ordi-
obligations to the soldiers of the
Union and to the widows and or
phans of those who fell in its defense.
The resumption of specie payment, which the
Republican party SO courageously and sue
cessfully accomplished, has removed from the
field OF controversy many Questions that long
and seriously disturbed the credit of the Gov.
ernment and the business of the country. Our
paper currency 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 abundant than ever before,
and we need only to maintain the equality of
all our dollars to insure to labor and capital q
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 financial experiments. In refer
ence to
Our CUSTOM LAWS,
A policy should be pursued which will bring
revenue TO the treasury, will enable the labor
and capital employed in our great industries
to compete fairly in our markets with the
labor and capital of foreign produce. We
legislate for the people of the United States.
not for the whole world, and it is our glory
that the American laborer is more intelligent
and better paid than his foreign competitor.
Our country cannot be independent unless its
people, with their abundant natural resources,
possess the requisite skill at any time to
clothe, arm and equip themselves for war;
and IN time OF peace to produce all the neces-
sary implements of labor. 1t was the mani
fest intention of the founders of the Govern
ment to provide for the common defense, not
by standing armies alone, but by raising
among the people greater army of artisans
whose intelligence and skill should power
fully contribute to the safety and glory of the
nation. Fortunately for the interests Of COM
merce, there is no longer any formidable OPP
position to appropriations for the
IMPROVEMENT OF OUR HARBoRs AND GREAT
NAvIcABLE RIVERS,
Provided that the expenditures for that pur-
pose are strictly limited to works Of national
Importance. The Mississippi river, with its
great tributaries, is of such vital Importance
to many millions of people, that the safety Of
its navigation requires exceptional considera-
ton. In order to secure to the nation the
control OF all its waters, President Jefferson
negotiated the purchase os a vast territory.
extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the
Pacific Ocean, The wisdom Of Congress
81 ould be invoked to devise some plan by
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