Morris tribune., 1880-07-15
Third District Republican COnven.
tiOn.

ton.
The Republicans of the Third Congressional
District of Minnesota maiNat Minneapolis ON
the 7th inst, and organized by electing G. FL.
Graves, of Duluth. President; James Compton,
OF Clay county, secretary, and I. NJ Grant, Of
Grant county, assistant secretary.
Hon. w. ID. Washbun was unanimously
nominated as the Republican candidate for
Congress, there being no opposition. The
committee on resolutions reported the follow.
ing, which were adopted as the
THE PLATFORM.
Firat-The Republicans of the Third con-
gressional district, in convention assembled,
would congratulate the electors of the district
and the people of the country, that the party
of national conscience, which in the past de-
nonnced slavery as @ rime against God and
man. and by moral and physic force banished
1t from our tair domain, and through seas of
blood chrushed out treason and rebellion;
which has protected the national honor and
preserved the national credit, and brought the
country forth to point of unexampled hnan-
cial prosperity, is still q united party, aud
with such noble leaders Ms Gen. James A. Gar
field and Chester A. Arthur we are ready to
once more buckle on our armUr for the trump
ant vindication of the national peace and hon.
or, and the preservation of the inaleinable
rights of all classes"
Second-That the Democratic party, by its
long record of political heresies and crimes, its
open embrace of treason and rebellion, its re-
ported attempts to destroy the national credit,
its oft repeated efforts to thwart the will of the
people by fraudulent votes and tissue ballots,
its shot gun policy in the past and present, and
its mob violence already inaugurated in this
campaign, shows 1t to be the same diseased
body--as when in open defiance to the govern
ment; and no intelligent citizen need be de-
ceived by its last effort to play the part of the
pursued ostrich, by attempting to hide its
guilty head behind Union soldier, while its
whole body is justly labeled with crimes
against the rights of man and the honor of the
nation.
THIRD. That the reckless expenditures of
the present Democratic Congres ss, its oft repeat
cd efforts to repeal or nullify such laws as pro-
tect the freemen of the South in the enjoyment
of their legal rights, its determination to re-
move all barriers to the perpetration of fraud
at the ballot box, and the unseating of men,
bers fairly and honestly elected, is proof suf6-
cient that the spirit of evil still wells in and
presides at the counsels of, the Democratic
party, and should arouse every lover of his
country to labor for the election of such con-
gressmeu as will perslstently refuse to give
over the control of the government into the
hands of those who SO molciousiy seek to des-
troy it.
Fourth-Tbat in our present member of Con-
gress-Gen. W d. Washburn, we have one in
whom we can safely repcse the utmost conf
dence. His diligent attention to all the ma
terial interests of the people of his district;
his unusual success In obtaining needed legis-
lation; his firm and uuyielding adherence to
the fundamental principles of a sound cur
rency and good government, shows that we
have the right man in the right place, and that
he Justly deserves the unanimous repomina-
tion rendered him here this day. We pl dge
him our cordial and most hearty support and
his triumphal election.
Mr.. Washburn appeared and addressed the
convention SIS follows.
MIR. President and Gentlemen of the Conven-
tion: l have just been informed by your COM
mittee of my denomination to Congress from
this district, by acciamation. Fer this action
on your part, thus rendering me unanimous
re nomination. you will please accept my
most grateful and profound thanka.
In accepting the nomination, while certain
ly regard it as high personal compliment and
distinguished honor, yet feel that should
attribute the unanimity and heartiness of your
action, in great measure. to the fact that the
Democratic majority in the present Congress
has persistently sought to deprive me of seat
in that body, to which the people of this dis
trict, at a fair and honest election, elected me
by ma jority Of over three thousand votes,
now nearly two years since. An attempt SO
extraordinary has, no doubt, had its influence
in determining the Republicans of this congress
sional district to seek an early opportunity of
rebnking sn outrage SO mounstrous and
of putting themselves on record as solemnly
protesting against the consummation of so re.
volutionary proceeding as also against its re-
currence in the future. The American people,
of all things, admire fair play, and are sure to
have it at any reasonable cost. And it is cred.
iro h1a IN vpnrlo xuolI a honcfpl ind;
cation as to the permanence of our republican
form of government and institutions, that as q
rule they yield gracefully to the fairly express
ed will of the majority. upon which coEdi-
tions depend the stability and future of our
government. And in commenting upon this
disgrsceful attempt to rob me of my seat in
Congress, which has occasioned so wide spread
feeling of indignation among the decsnt men
of all parties throughout the entire county, / dc
not believe there has ever been any resl danger
of its cousummatiop, Not but that there was
a man mean enough to take what b, lnnged tC
anotl er; not but that the Democratic
majority in the House of Representatives i'm.
sgined that She necessity of stealing a sover.
eign State of the Union for the purposes of the
presidential count. might arise-not but that o
Confederate subcommittee of elections in the
House had decided that the necessity wss upon
it, and agreed that the outrage should be con-
summated; not but that the lllustrious Finley
the counsellor, advisor, and trusted anoDy-
nous letter writer of the great political tramp
of America, bad announced in the corridors OF
the capitol and the bar-rooms of Washington
that sit was fxed," and that "our friends ir
New York who were the most interested" haC
been assured that it was an attempt 30 abso
lutely revolutionary and wicked in its design
and character. that in the nature of things il
could not succeed. For il generally happenc
sooner or later, that some way is evolved tc
right an attempted wrong 1t may happen that
criminal may erect the gsllows
upon which he himself shall hang,
and it sometimes occurs that the
creation of an anonymous letter writer, like
the Irishman's gun, "goes off at the wrong
end" When the Would-be revolutionists in
Maine undertook to steal the old State, that it
might perhaps become an auxiliary to the solid
South, way was found to thwart their infa-
nous designs. A stalwart court, with public
sentiment created of an intelligent and patri-
otto people as a background, was sufficient to
send the conspirators skulking to their holes.
But apart from all considerations of this kind,
believe no party has yet existed in this couu-
try that did not count among its members men
who, spurning party necessities, and who,
standing on their own self-respect and man
hood, would scorn to become party to great
wrong like this. It has never been possible to
doubt that the Democratic party in the House
VI nePIesentatlVeS mas just sucu meus 6uu
enough to prevent the consummation of a
wrong so flagrant as the one proposed by Mr..
Finley and his client from the Second district
1t bias not been. It will not be. The people
of this district will, have no doubt, at the
election in November, give due notice.
In accepting your nomination, let me assure
you that while appreciate most highly the
honor conferred, also feel profound sense
Of the great responsibilities that it brings with
it. think / sm safe in saying that, with one
or two exceptions, there Ia no congressional
district in the country in which there is &C
large population as n this, and none where
there are SO many large and varied interests e
be looked after and cared for. None in which
there has been more wonderful growth and
development in the past, and where there il
likely TO be a greater in the future. With ar
area covering nearly, or quite, one-half tht
State, aud population large enough for al
least two districts it has interests of such mag
nitude that whoever attempts to represent
them fairly in the Congress Of the country, can.
not fail to be impressed with the responsibility
resting upon him.
The Red River of the North, with valley al
rich in agricultural wealth as that of the ia.
nous Nile, from its western boundary. At The
other extreme on the northeast, with an empir,
of exceeding richness intervening, at the heac
of the great inlai3d sea of the continent, stands
Duluth with her lake comYnerce and her avs