Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-07-29
LETTERS TO GENERAL sroNEmAE.

My Dear General: l address you as the
candidate Of the Democratic party for the
Office of Governor of the State of California.
1t is one of the glories of our free country
that the humblest citizen may thus address
the most distinguished when he is candidate
for the suffrages of the people. have no
other feeling toward you personally than that
of respect. have no sympathy with those
who seek to discredit your past services, now
that you are the candidate of the opposite
party. My objections are not to you per.
sonally and there are many things in the
platform of your party which meet with my
concurrence. My objections are to the fifth
plank of the platform on which you stand.
And l propose In an open and manly way to
state my objections. La doing this l hope to
observe that courtesy and fairness which
characterizes the interc purse of one gentle
man with another.
ter of the gospel, 1 ought to leave these
things toa Others, and have nothing to
do with politics. But l would have all
such to UNDERSTAND that when l be-
came a minister / did not leave off being
a man. As citizen, a taxpayer and voter,
L have the rights of any other citizen, and it
much concerns me, sir, whether the country
be well or i'll governed. l hope you will ind
in these preliminary observations the expla-
nation and the justification of the liberty l
have taken in addressing you.
In the first part of the fifth plank of your
party platform there is reference to the po-
litical principles of Jefferson and jackson,
the relevance of which L fail to perceive.
MIR. Jefferson, a reputed deist, might have
objected to the legal enforcement of Sum
day as day of religious observance, as being
q violation of the rights of conscience.
in which we quite agree with him. But as q
friend Of humanity, and of the equal rights Of
all, there could be nothing in his principles
opposed to the legal protection of the Sunday
as dsy of rest from labor and the cares of
business. And as to General jackson. a
Scotch. Irish Presbyterian by birth and train
ing, and in his later years devout member
of the church, the idea of his being opposed
simply absurd. Sir, l was born and reared
in the political faith of Andrew jackson, and
l still revere his memory. l adhere to his
principles still, and it is precisely because /
do thus adhere to them, that l am not a
Democrat now. 1t is because am still a
Jacksonian, in reference to the preservation
Of the Union, and hard-money basis of the
currency, that have been unable to vote the
Democratic ticket in national elections for the
last 20 years. In local and judicial elections
1 still very frequently vote that ticket, and /
retain profound respect for the party. not
withstanding its deviationsfrom the principles
of the founders and fathers of the Republic. 1t
is my firm belief that if General jackson
were here to-day he would repudiate, with
characteristic energy. the use made of his
name in the late San Jose Convention.
When had just finished the foregoing para
graph, the following characteristic incident
reached me by the hand of q friend:
1.-THE reference to jackson in that anti.
Sunday resolution shows the ignorance of the
man who drafted it. General jackson was q
| temperance man, and Sabbath keeping man.
When he visited New Orleans the last time,
| the soldiers wanted to have grand review on
| Sunday in his honor; but he said to the off.
Ger who brought the invitation, No, sir, 20
to church on the Sabbath. l shall hear DR..
Scott preach tomorrow morning. The re.
view was postponed aud the General kept the
| Sabbath day according to the commandment.
If he was in California to-day he would be a
| leader in this fight for the Sabbath. AND
am glad to know that there are many Demo.
Gratis In the State who have both the prin.
ciples and the courage of Old Hickory"
| In the fifth plank of your platform there is
also reference to sumptuary laws, " which
seem to me to be disingenuous, to say the
least Who is not opposed to sumptuary
laws? Who advocate them, Where and
when were such laws enacted in California
1 am not lawyer, and yet make bold to
assert that there is no ssch law in the State,
! and never has been since the American occu'