Year: 1861




SIR As an individual Democrat ]
i enter my protest against your action as
a member of the Democratic State Ex-
ecutive Committee in calling a Demo
cratic State Convention on the 10th oil
July next.


My objection extends to the manner
and matter of your call.


lst. AS distinctly admitted by you the
call has been issued without due author
ity of the Democratic State Executive
Committee and without even consulta-
ton with any member Of that Committee
except the Chairman, Mr.. Henry Alt.
man, who is now and has been absent
from the State Cat Pixies Peak and
who if he possessed the authority, upon
his own motion and without the coop
Grafton OF the majority of the members of
the Committee, to call conventions,
could not delegate that authority to you
or any other member of that committee.
But he does not and never has possess
ed the authority to call conventions with
out the concurrence and approval of a
majority of the Committee.


By what means you became chairman
pro tenn. of the Committee is unknown to
the Democracy. There has been no
meetingof that committee since the meet
ing of the last convention, and most GER
tainly Mr.. Altman could not confer that
position upon you. You stand ninth
upon the committee in the order Of their
appointment, and therefore all usage is
against your right to assume the place
of chairman pro tenn. But if you were
chairman pro tenn. your right to act for
the whole committee without affirmative
instructions from at least a majority Of
the members is no less clearly negativ-
ed. You have admitted that you had
not corresponded with other members OF
the Committee and thereby fully estab-
lish the fact that the call for a Demo
cratic State Convention issued by you
is wittom authority.


Cd. My objections extend to the time
of holding the Convention.


Only four weeks intervene between the
date of the call and the 10th of July in
which to have the call reach the nearly
one hundred organized counties in the
State; the Democratic county commit
tees assembled their calls for county
conventions issued, (allowing time for
holding township meetings county con-
ventions assembled, and their delegates
enabled 10 attend the State Convention
at Des Mones. You know all this can
not be fairly done and that from necessi-
ty large portion of the State must be
unrepresented in the State Convention.
The Democracy are in minority in the
State aud may well wait until after the
Republicans have made their nomira-
tons and laid down their policy. Be-
sides Congress is about to convene, and
from that body as well as other quarters,
in the further development of the con-
fict in which our national governmen,
is now engaged with the most inexcusa.
Bile, the most monstrous, and most COW
ardly rebellion the world ever witness
ed, in which the traitors of Virginia vie
with the traitors of South Carolina in ig
nominious and dastardly action, false to
every honorable and manly sentiment
measures may probably emanate which
will demand the attention and action ol
our Democratic State Convention.


There is no wisdom in holding on,
convention before the latter part of Au
gust or the first of September. between
which and the election some six weeks
will intervene. for public attention i,
now concentrated upon the struggle with
treason and the longest possible notice
will be needed to convene Democratic
convention which shall fairly and fully
represent the Democracy of this State
Sd. My objection goes to the matter oI
your call


1t is not in the usual form, and trans
cends even the authority of the entire
! Democratic State Executive Committee
who, beyond the designation of the time
ratio Of representation, and Offices 70,
which candidates are TO be nominated
have no right TO embrace any other mat
ter in their call unless ordered 10 do Sc
by State Convention. Least Of all have
they any right to lay out work for the
Convention, or point out the subject,
upon which it may or ought to act. II
do SO is TO foresiall the Convention b,
: depriving it of its right to determin,
what subjects il will consider and wha
shall be the issues Of the campaign
,, Having received no authority to issue :
call for State Convention in other thar
the usual form. modesly would dictat,
that the Committee adhere to the stric
i, line of their duty


4th. | object and protest against th,
matter of your call as prejudging ques
tions upon which the Convention choos
ing TO act may widely differ from you a.
an individual. or from the Committee. i
{ the latter body agrees with you in youl
views OF our present national troubles.
, Upon the question of maintaining tn,
. integrity of the Union of standing b,
| the Government in this momentou
5 struggle with pe1ured traitors of sup
porting by all means in our control th
e pillars of that temple of freedom be
f queathed 10 us by Washington, an
: against which the dark waves of cor
Q rupt and corrupting ambition now 3


iuriously are pouring and bearing foE
d ward It's desperate minions aud delude
e followers, there are no tr0 opinions anon