Year: 1878

should be the policy of '78. The


Democratic party Of the United
States countenances no proscrip


tion on account Of birth, race 0.
color, and you have solemnly Civ


en- your adhesion to the declara


tion Of principles announced by
our National Convention. That
convention declared its acceptance
in perfect good faith Of the recent
amendments to the Constitution
Of the United States, and your
State Convention accepted, rati.
fed and endorsed in most empha.
tic terms the action Of the ma.
tional party. We are thus doubly
pledged to carry out in good faith
the policy to which the great
Democratic party of the country
is unalterably and solemnly CON-
mitted. We pledged ourselves in
'76 to stand upon that platform,
and in '78 your State Convention,
realizing the good results that had
been accomplished, reiterated it,
and when it placed it's candidates
in the field, told them to 60 forth
and declare to the people that
the great party which had won
success in the last canvass in.
tended faithfully, honestly and
truly to keep all those pledges
of the. past, and not forget
in the future the promises made
when defeat was. oversbadowing
US. I dwell upon these things be-
cause there is manifest disposi-
tion in some quarters to ignore
them, if not to run counter to
them, and because it is important,
now that we are just entering
another canvass, and one fraught
with the gravest issues, that
there should be no misunderstood
ing Of the position Of your stand
ard. d.bearers in the fight. l intend
that there shall be no misunder-
standing Of mine, for l propose to
stand where the Democratic par
ty placed me in 1876, and shall
conduct this canvass On precisely
the same principles and the same
plan as the last-the only plan, in
my judgment, which could have
given US victory in '76, or could
have made US worthy of it. I
cannot deviate from that policy.
| believed it was the true one
then, and [ know that it is now.


And in this connection | must
enter. my most emphatic dissent
to the views expressed by Gen.
Gary at the recent meeting here,
and in bis card in reply to Gen.
Gray. These views I believe to
be inconsistent with the true pol
icy Of the Democratic party. |
say they do not represent the
opinions of your standard-bearers,
nor of the Democratic party of
South Carolina, and that be was
not authorized to speak for yonr
nominees. l believe that it was
the conservative character Of the
last campaign. as contradistin-
guished from what be calls an
"aggressive" one, that enabled
us to carry the State. / believe
that the appeals made to the COL
ored citizens by men in whom
they had confidence brought thou
sands to our support, and the
evidence Of this is found in the
fact that many more thousands
will 90 with US in the coming
election. They realize that they
have. been honestly dealt with.
They recognize that all their
rights have been unimpalred, and
they appreciate the blessings of
peace and increased prosperity
which have followed the inaugu-
ration Of Democratic rule.


Gen. Gary speaks Of the mode
in which be desired to conduct
the canvass as "the Mississippi
plan" Now there are grave mis-
apprehensions in regard to the
plan by which the gallant Mis-
sissippians carried their State, and
by o slander propagated by some
unprincipled partisan papers this
plan has most falsely been called
"the shotgun policy" No greater
injustice could have been done to
a brave and patriotic people than
the. effort thus made to stigmatize
their heroic efforts to save their
State. In one sense their canvass


Ifhor