, 1884-08-20
SOMETHING LIKE IT.
Governor Cleveland Presents
His Letter of Acceptance.
Manly Expression of Views
on Live Subjects.
The Dignity of Labor and
Needed Reforms.
Cleveland's Formal Acceptance

the Democratic nomination for President
Of the United States is as follows. Gen
tlemen l have received your commune
cation dated July %, 1884 informing me
Of my nomination for the office of Presi-
dent Of the United States by the Nation
al Democratic Convention lately assem-
bled at Chicago. | accept the nomination
with a grateful appreciation of the su-
preme honor conferred and a solemn sense
Of the responsibility which in its accept
ance l assume. l have carefully con-
sidered the platform adopted by the Con-
v%ention and cordially approve the same.
So plain a statement of Democratic faith
and the principles upon which that party
appeals to the suffrages of the the people
needs no supplement or explanation. 1t
should be remembered that the Office of
President is essentially execu-
tive in its nature. The
laws enacted by the Legislative branch
Of the Government, the chief executive
is bound faithfully to enforce, and when
the wisdom of the party, which selects
one Of its members as a nominee for that
Office, has outlined its policy and declared
its principles, it seems to me that nothing
in the character of the office or the nee
e%ssities of the case requires more from
the candidate accepting such nomination
than the suggestion of certain well known
truths SO absolutely vital to the safety and
welfare of the nation that they cannot be
too often recalled or too seriously enforc-
ed. We proudly call ours a Government
by the people. 1t is not such
when a class is tolerated which
arrogates to itself the management of
public affairs, seeking to control the
people instead of representing them.
Parties are the necessary outgrowth of our
institutions; but a government is not by
the people when one party fastens its con-
troll upon the country and perpetuates its
power by controlling and betraying the
people instead of serving them. A
government is not by the people, when a
result which should represent the intelligent
will Of free and thinking men is. or can
be, determined by the
sHAMELEssNEss OF THEIR sUFFRAGEs;
when ar election to office shall be the
selection by the voters of one of their
number to assume for a time a public
trust instead of his dedication to the pro-
fession of politics; when the holders of
the ballots, quickened by a sense of duty,
shall avenge truth betrayed and pledges
broken, and when the suffrage shall be
altogether free, then the full realization OF
a government by the people will be at
hand, and of the means to this end not
one would, in my judgment, be more eff
fective than an amendment to the consti-
tuition disqualifying the President from
reelection. When we consider the patron
age of this great office, the allurements of
power,
THE TEMPTATION 10 RETAIN UBLIc
PLACE
once gained, and more than all the avail
ability a party finds in an incumbent whom
a horde of Office holders, with a zeal born
of benefits received and fostered by the
favors yet to come, stand ready to aid
with money and trained political service,
we recognize in the eligibility of the
President for re election a most serious
danger to that calm, deliberate and in
t%elligent political action which must char
a~cterize a government by the people.
Il RIGHTS OF LABOR.
A true American sentiment recognizes
the dignity of labor and the fact that
honor lies in honest toll. Contented
labor is an element of national prosperity.
To work constitutes the capital of the
wage-laborer, the income ola vast number
of our people. and this interest should be
jealousy protected. Our working men
are not asking unreasonable indulgences,
but, as intelligent and manly citizens, they
seek the sam consideration which those
demand who have other interests at
stake They should receive their full
share of the care and attention of those
who make and execute the laws, to the
end that the wants and needs of the en-
ployers and employed shall alike be sus-
tained, and the prosperity of the country,
the common heritage of both, be ad
vanced.
CONCERNING EMIGRATION.
As related to this subject, while we
should not discourage the emigration of
those who cometo acknowledge allegiance
to our Government and add to our citizen
population, yet as a measure of protec-
ton to our %workingmen, a different rule
should prevail concerning those, if they
come or are brought to our land, who do
not intend to become Americans, but will
injuriously compete with those justly en-
titled to our field of labor. In a letter ac-
cepting the nomination to the Office of
Governor nearly two years ago, | made
the following statement, to which | have
strictly adhered: THE laboring classes
constitute the main part of our popula-
ton. They should be protected in their
efforts peacably to assert their rights when
endangered by aggregated capital
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