Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1881-08-04
JAMES B. STEEDMAN,
EVAN F. WILLIAMS,
ALLEN o. MYERS.
SPRINGFIELD, O., July %. 1881

SPRINGFIELD, O., July %, 1881.
James D. Steedman, Evan F. Williams
and Allen 0. Myers, Columbus, o.;
SIRs:- Your letter of the 18th inst. was
duly received, informing me of nv NOM
ination, by the Democratic convention,
for the Office of Governor of Ohio. To
say that am deeply sensible of the hon
or your convention has conferred upon
me would be to express very imperfectly
the feeling with which regard your com
munication. 1t is at once an honor and a
responsibility by which no man can fail
to be gravely impressed to be thus chos-
en- as the standard bearer of party which
has been led, and gloriously led, in past
conflicts by the wisest and ablest states
men of the time. | cannot hope to bring
to the task the same measure of wisdom,
skill and eloquence which they have dis
played. But happily the greatness of the
party and the cause which it represents
must, in any case. overshadow the per-
sonal attributes of its candidate, whether
they be of the highest or humblest order,
and in accepting as I do, this trust at
| your hands, rely fer SUCCESS not on any
talent Of my own, Hit upon the inherent
| and persistent force of Democratic prin.
ciples, and the zeal and fidelity in their
defense, which the Democratic party of
Ohio has uniformly displayd.
The platform adopted by your conven.
tion has received my yattentiveconsIdera
tion, and in the spifit and substance of
its utterance most heartily concur. 1t
embodies in my opinion, the reforms for
which there is an imperative demand in
the character and scope of our legislative
policy and the objects and purposes for
which the Government is administered.
Unless these reforms are accomplished
we must drift further and further from
the true aim and intent of popular gov
eminent.
Legislation, which should be directed
solely and strictly to the interests of the
many, tends more and more in these
times towards subservience to the few.
No doubt this will exist in all communi-
ties, and has its sources independent of
party organization, but in our own state
and under the auspices of the party in
power it has become more dangerously
prevalent than ever before. 1t is q be-
lief to which have adhered and have
often given expression that the function
of Government should in no case be ex.
ercised in behalf of any section or class to
the detriment of any other. Still less is
it justified in yielding them to the service
of corporations and powerful monopolies
intrenched in their own wealth and abun-
dainty capable of self protection as against
the mass Of the people, particularly the
agricultural and mechanical classes. They
have no concentration or organization
and none but numerical power. and their
sole defense and safeguard against ag-
gression and wrong lies in the fidelity of
their representatives.
Among the many cases in point, the
management of convict labor of the
state. to which your platform alludes, is
a noteworthy one, and here as elsewhere
a reform is plainly called for, to the end
that the government of the state, if it
cannot directly aid the laboring classes,
shall not present itself in the character of
their enemy and oppressor.
The fifth resolution of your platform
relates to question of vital interest, and
expresses in brief and plain terms oppo-
sition to legislation of a merely sumptu-
ary character. This, if I understand it
rightly, does not imply hostility to ra-
tional and practical measures for the
abatement of any of the evils with which
society is affected. 1t may be well, how
ever, to remember that in free country
the object of all law is the maintainance
and not the abridgement of the rights of
the citizens. The attempt to govern too
much or too minutely in these particulars
must inevitably defeat its own end. The
preservation of social order and the whole
some restraint and control of the ele-
ments Of danger to the community which
cannot be wholly removed, are objects
eminently desirable in themselves, posi-
BILE of attainment, and properly within
the scope of constitutional legislation.
1t is much to be deplored that all well
disposed citizens, including those of the
opposite extremes on this question, can
not be brought upon common ground for
the accomplishment of what is or ought
to be common object.
The proper adjustment of the tariff sys-
tenn of the country is matter which
gravely affects the welfare of our own
and every other state. Viewed only in
an economic light, civilization is but the
developement and organization of varied
industrial pursuits, and it has come to be
regarded as almost an axiom in political
economy that the prosperity and main
tainance of any special industry is depen-
dent upon the perfect coordination and
harmonious adjustment of all. Legisla-