Year: 1872

.GOVEkAOk BkOWNS LETTER OF ACCEP.


TANCE.


Governor 3. Gratz Brown publishes the
following letter, in response to his nomina-
ton for Vice President by the Cincinnati Con.
vention:


"ExECUrivE OFFICE JEFFERSON Cry
May 81, 1872.


'Gentlemen: Your letter advising me of
the action of the Liberal Republican Conven-
ton at Cincinnati has been received, and re-
turn through you my acknowledgment of the
honor which has been conferred upon me-


accept the nomination a candidate for
Vice President, and indorse most cordially
the resolutions setting forth the principles on
which the appeal is made to the whole people
Of the United States


century is closing upon our experience
Of Republican government, and nliile that
lapse OF time has witnessed great expansion
OF our free institutions, yet it has not been
without illustration also of grave dangers 10
the stability of such system. OF those sue
cessfully encountered it is needless 10 speak
/ OF those which remain to menace us, the
most threatening are provided against as
firmly believe, in the wise and pacific meas
nres proposed by your platform, 1t has come
to be the practice of those elevated to posi-





service but as means to retain power. This
results in substituting mere party organiza-
ton for the government ITSELF which cousti-
tutes control amenable to no laws or NOR
alities, impairs all independent thought, en-
abes few to rule the many, and makes per-
sonal allegiance the road to favor II re-
quires little forecast to perceive that this will
wreck all liberties unless there be nterposed
a timely reform of the administration from
IFS highest to its lowest station which shall
not only prevent abuses but likewise take
away the incentive to their practice. Wearied
with the contentious that carried on in
avarice of spoils the country demands repose
and resents the effort of officials to dragoon it
again into partisan hostilites. And / will
zealously sustain any movement promising a
sure deliverance of the perils which have
been connected with the war. 1t is safe to
say that only those are now to be feared which
come of an abuse of victory into permanent
estrangement. The Union is fortified nv
more power than ever before, and it remains
as an imperative duty to cement our nation
ality by perfect reconciliation at the North.
A widespread sympathy is aroused in behalf
of those States of the South which, long after
the termination of resistance to the rightful
Federal authority, are still plundered under
the guise of loyalty and tyrannized over in
the name of freedom. Along with this feel.
ing is present, too, the recognition that in
complete amnesty alone can be found hope OF
any return to constitutional government as of
old, or any development of a more enduring
unity and broader national life in the future.
! Amnesty however, to be efficacious must be
real, not nominal; genuine, not evasive. 1t
must carry along with it equal rights as well
as equal protection to all for the removal of
disabilities as to some, with enforcement as to
others, leaves room for suspicion that par
don is measured by political gain Especially
will such professed clemency be futile in the
presence OF the renewed attempt at prolong-
ing su uspension of the habeas corpus and the
persistent resort to martial rather than civil
law in apholding those agencies used in alien
ating the races, when concord is most essen
tial; and in preparing another elaborate cam
paign on basis of dead issues and arbitrary
intervention all will rightly credit such con
duct as but a mockery Of amnesty, and de-
mand an administration which can give better
warrant Of honesty in the great work of re
construction and reform in the array of SEC.
tional interests. A republic as widespread as
ours is never entirely safe from serious con
flicts. These become still more dangerous
when complicated with questions Of taxation,
where unequal burdens are believed to be i'm
posed on one part at the expense of another
part. 1t was bold As well as admirable poll
|
tranquility, to withdraw the decision of in
dustral and revenue matters from the virtual
arbitration of an electoral college chosen with
the single animatng purpose OF party ascend
tncy, and refer them for a more direct popu
lar expression to each Congressional district,
instead of being muZzled by some evasiye
declaration. The country is thereby invited
to its trankest utterance, ard sections which
would revolt at being denied IA voice out of
Difference to other sections would be content
to acquiesce in general judgment ''honestly
elected


''If local government be, as it undoubtedly
is, the most vital principle of our institutions,
much advance will be made towards establish
ing it by enabling the people to pass upon
questions so nearly affecting their well-being
dispassionately through their local representa-
tion The precpitance which would force
controlling declaration on tax or tariff through
Presidential candidacy is only disguised
form of centralizaticn, involving hazard
Gus reaches of executive influence. y
conclusion will be much more impair
TALLY determined and with less disturbance to
trade and finance by appealing to the most
truthful and diversified local expression. In
dustrial issues can be thus likewise emanci-
pated from the power OF great monopOlies,
and each representive held to fidelity to-
wards his immediate constituents. These
are the most prominent features Of that gen
eral concert of action which proposes to re-
place the present administration by one more
in sympathy with the aspirations of the
masses of our countrymen. OF course, such
concert cannot be obtained by thrssting every
minor or past difference into the foreground.
and it will be for the people, therefore, to de-
termine whether these objects are of such
magnitude and present urgency as 10 justify
them in deferring other adjustments until the
country shall be first restored to a free sui
frage, uninhuenced by official dictation, and
ours becomes in fact free republic, released
from apprehensions OF central domination


Without referring in detail 10 the various
other propositions embraced in the'resolutions
of the Convention, but seeing how they all
contemplate a restoration of power to the peo-
pie. peace TO the nation, purify 10 the gov
ernnent; that they condemn the attempt TO
establish an ascendency Of military over civil
rule, and affirm with explicitness the main
tenanee of equal freedom to all citizens, ir-
respective of race, previous condition, or
! pending disabilities | have only to pledge