Newspaper Page Text
' up vast navies to protect it? Oh, no,
our trfifTs have swept away American
ships from ilie ocean ; we lost the car
rying trade; the British have g*H. that.
Then why don’t you give the I rudders
of merchant ships the money" spent on
the navy, by way of draw back on du
ties? Would that start work at our
ship yards? Oh, yes, halt the cost
would tin it. Then, why is il not done?
We did not think of il, really, we have
been so busy with the impeachment
and negro questions, that we forgot our
sailors and mechanics. But we see
that the War Department this year
spent 8128 6-53,46G, when the year be
fore it spent only about S9o 000,000.
The longer we have peaee the more
the army costs. How is this? Well,
it costs a great deal to keep soldiers and
Freed men’s Bureau Agents, and to feed
and clothe negroes at the South. But j
whv do you do it? Let the negroes
support themselves as we do. You I
make the laborers of the North work to j
feed and clothe these idle Africans.— !
True, but bv so doing we get their votes, |
and they will send our traveling agents |
to Congress ; we shall gel twenty Sen- i
ators in this way, while a majority of I
the people ot the United States living I
in nine Stales, have only eighteen.— I
the people may vote as they please, |
but they cannot get the Senate, nor re-j
peal any of the laws we have got ihro’ i
for our advantage; we have managed
it so that one quarter ol the people have I
move power in the Senate than the |
three-quarters. W e now own the no- I
groes of the South. Did we not buy
them by \nur blood and money? We
now see where the money goes; we
now see why tiie credit of our country
is so im.i'ed; we now see why the val
ue of oar paper money is sinking. It
was only at '21 per cent, discount in
1866, it is now at a discount of about
*29 percent ; we now see why our la-
boiers and pensioners are cheated by
false dollars. If the mechanic cures to
know why he works so many hours, let
him study the reports* of the Secretary
of die Treason'. It is clear why busi
ness is hindered and businessmen per
plexed. We. now know why the public
creditor is harrassed by our dishonored
credit, ard the tax-payer is hunted
down hy the tax-gather. The negro
military policy of the Republican party
is at the bottom of all these troubles.
We now get at the real issues between
parlies. The Republicans, by their
nominations and resolutions, are pledg
ed to keep up the negro and military
policy, with ail its cost and taxations.
These will be greater hereafter. The
government of the South is to go into
the hands of the negroes. We have
said they are unfit to be voters at the
North. The Republicans say they
shall he governors at the South. We
are clearly opposed to this policy. We
have seen how much il costs the tax
payer, the bondholder and the laborer]
in the past three years. It will be as 1
hurtful in the future. We have also
seen how our policy of using the money
to pay our debts would have helped the
lax-paver, the bondholder and lfie la-
borei in the past. It will do as much
in the future. The whole question is
brought down to this cRar point; shall
we use our money to pay our debts,
relieve the tax-pa5 r er, make our money
good in the baud of the laborer or pen
sioner, and help the bondholder? or
shali we use it to keep up military des
potism, feed idle negroes, break down
the judiciary, shackle the executive,
ami destroy all constitutional rights.
(Cries of ‘“No! no!” 1 have said noth
ing in behalf of, or against the views
of any one who is spoken of as a can
didate lor the Presidency on the Dem
ocratic side.
I have only said what each oneagrees
to and is in favor of. No man has been
named who is not in lavor of reducing
expenses and then making’ our paper
as good as gold. No man has been
named who is not in favor of cutting
down military expenses. No man has
been named who is not in favor of us
ing the money drawn from tax-payers
to pay the public debt. No man has
been named who is not in favor of a
general amnesty to the people of the
tSoulb. No man has been named who
is not an upholder of constitutional
lights. No mat) has been named by
the Democratic • party whose election
would not heip ihejux-payer, the pen
sioner, the laborer, and the bond hold
er. On the other hand, the candidates
of the Republican party are pledged to
their best policy, which has sunk the
value of our currency more than eight
r cent, in the past two years. The
discom f upon our paper money was
twenty per cent, in April, I860; it is
now about twenty-nine per cent. It
will continue to go down under the
ra ne policy. As it sinks il will in
crease taxes, it will curse ail .labor ami
business, it will endanger still more the
public credit, for the greater the pre
mium in gold, the harder it becomes
to pay specie to the bondholder, and
his claims become more odious. Win!
claim have the Republicans upon our
soldiers? They take away from him
one-quarter of his nension, by paying
him in false money, which is worth
less than seventy-five cents on the dol
lar. A wise and honest administra
tion would have made it worth iis face
in gold. What right have they to call
upon the mechanic and laborer? They
have lengthened out the hours of their
toil to feed swarms of office-holders at
the North, and to support armies and
hordes of negroes at the South. How
can they look the tax-payers in the
face, when they have wrung from them
so many millions upon the pretext that
the debt compelled them to do so, while
they were using the money thus col
lected to suppo.'t standing armies and
to trample upon the rights and liberties
the American people? Can they,
with decency, appeal to the bondhold
er, after tainting the national credit
and sinking it to the level of the Turks,
and endangering their securities by
throwing upon them the whole odium
of taxation ? Then let the East and
the North and the South, the
soldier, the sailor, in ships or iii the
field, the tax-payer and the handhold
eiy by one united effort, drive from
power the common enemies of liberty,
honesty, honor, rights and constitution
al laws. [Loud applause.j
SPEECH OF HORATIO SEYBOIR,
ON TAKING TUB IWUR Of THE NATIONAL
OEJIOCRATIC CONVENTION.
Mr. Seymour proceeded to the plat
form, amid loud and continued cheer
ing, and said :
Uentlemen of the Convf.ntiov :—
I thank you for the honor you have
done me in making me your presiding
officer. [Cheers.] This Convention is
made up of a large number of delegates
from all parts of our broad land. To a
great degree we are strangers to each
other, and view the subjects which agi
tate our country from different stand
points. We cannot at once learn each
others mode-of thought, or grasp all the
facts which hear upon the mind of oth
ers. Vet our session must be brief and
we are forced to act without delay up
on questions of an exciting character
and of a deep import to our country.
To maintain order, to restrain all ex
hibition of passion, to drive out of our
mind all unkind suspicions, is at this
time a great duty. [Cheers.] I rely
upon your sense of this duty* and not
upon inv own abilily to sustain me in
the station in which 1 am placed by
your kind partiality. Men never met
under greater responsibilities than-those
which now weigh upon us. [Applause.]
Il is not a mere party triumph we seek.
We are tr. iug to save our country from
the dangers which over-hang it. We
wi.-h to lift off the perplexities and
shackles, which, in the siiape of bad
laws and of" crushing taxation, now
paralyze the business and labor of our
land. o >ud cheers.] We hope, too,
that we can give order, prosperity and
happiness to that section of our country
which suffers so deeply to-day in their
homes and in all the fields of their in
dustry f rotp. their unhappy events of
the last eight years.
1 trust our actions will show that we
are governed by an honest purpose to
heip all classes ol our citizens. Avoid
ing harsh invectives against men, we
should keep the public miud fixed up-
on the (piestions which must now be
met and solved. [Cheers.] Let us
leave the last to the calm judgment of
the future, and confront the perils of to
day. [Cheers.] We are forced to
meet the assertions in the resolutions
put forth by the late Republican Con
vention. I aver lhere is not in this
body one man who has it in his heart
to excite so much of angry feelings
against the Republic party, as must be
stirred up in the minds of those who
read those declarations in the light of
ipcenl events, and in view of the con
dition of our country.
In the first place they congratulate
the perplexed man of business, the bur
dened tax-payer, the laborer whose
hours of toil are lengthened out by the
growing cost of the necessaries of life,
upon the success of that reconstruction
policy which lias brought all these evils
on them, by the cost of its military des
potism and the corruption of its bureau
agencies ; in one resolution they de
nounce all forms of repudiation as a
national crime. Then why did they
pul upon the statue books of the nation,
laws which invite the citizens who bor
row coin to force their credit or to lake
debased paper, thus wronging them
out of a large share of their claims in
violation of the most solemn compact r
[Loud cheering.] If repudiation is a
a national crime it is crime to invite the
citizens of this country thus to repudi
ate their individual promises. [Ap.-j
plause.]
Was it not a crime to force Lite cred- i
itors of this and other States to take a i
currency, at times worth no more than j
forty cents on the dollar, in payment j
for the sterling coin they gave to build j
roads and canals, wJiich yield such am- j
pie returns of wealth and prosperity?]
[Applause.] Again, 1 Ley' say it is due
to iho laboicrs of the nation Lhat taxa
tion should be equalized. Then why did
they make taxation unequal ? Beyond
the. injustice of making one class of cit
izens pay for another the shares of the
costs of schools, of roads ot the local
laws which protected their lives and
their property, il was - an unwise and
hurtlul tiling.
They also declare the best policy to
diminish our burden of debt is so to im
prove our credit that capitalists will
seek to loan us money at lower rates of
interest than we now pay, and we must
continue to pay so long as repudiation
is threatened or suspected. Then why
have they used Jive hundred millions of
the lax drawn from the people of this
country to uphold a despotic military
authority and to crush out the life of
States, when, if this money had been
used to pay our debt, capitalists would
need to seek to lend us money at lower
rates of interest ? But for this covert
repudiation, our national credit would
not now be tainted in the markets of
the world. [Applause.]
Again they declare of all who wore faitb
ful iu the trial* of the late war that there
were noue entitled to more especial honor j
than the breve soldiers and seamen who
endured the hardships of the campaign and
cruise, and imperiled their Jives in (lie ser
vice of their country : that the bounties
aud pensions provided by the laws for the
brave defenders of the nation an obliga
tion never to be forgottorr; the widows and
orphans of the gallant dead are the wards
of the people—a sacred trust, bequeathed
to the nation's care. Rave these sacred
trusts been performed 1 They pay to the
maimed man, to the widow and orphan, a
currency which they have sunk one-quar
ter below its rightful value by their policy
of hate, of waste, aud of military despo
tism. The pittance to the wounded sol
diers is pinched down 20 per cent, below
the value of that coin which he bad a right
to expect. [Load cheers.) Is there no
covert repudiation in tjiis ? [Applause.)
Again, they say, foreign immigration,
which in the past has added so much to
the wealth, development, resources, aud iu-
of powei to this republic—the asy-
Tom of the oppressed of all nations—should
be fostered and encouraged by a liberal
aud just policy. Is the foreign immigra
tion fostered by a policy which ' fi a mock
ery of the laws just passer! declaring eight
hoara to J>e a legal day’s labor I The,
cost of the Government and of swarms of
officials so swell the cost of living* that men
must toil on to meet the exaction. [Cheers |
The time was when we could not only in
vite the Europeans to share with »s the
material blessings ol our great country,
but more than this, we could tell those who
tied from oppression that we lived under
a government of laws administered hy the
judiciary, which kept the bayonet and the
sword in d.ue subordination. J Cheers. J
We could point to a written Constitution,
which uot only marked out the, powers of
the Government, but with anxious care
secured to the humblest man the rights of
properly, of persou and of conscience.
Is emigration encouraged by trampling
that Constitution in the dust, aud treating
it with contempt, shackling tbtTUudieiary,
insulting the Executive, ami give all the
world to understand that the great guaran
tees ot political and civil rights are destroy
ed 1 (Applause.) But the crowning in
dictment against the follies and crimes of
those iu power is in these words: “That
we iccognize the great principles handed
down in the Declaration ot Independence
as the true foundation of a Democratic
government, and we hail with gladness
every effort towards making these 'princi
ples a living rea(jq^pji every inch tif Amer
itan soil.”
If within the limits ol ten States of tLis
Uuiou an American citizen, stung by a
sense of his wrongs, should publicly aud
truthfully denounce .the men iu power,
because, in the very laugpage of the De
claration of Independence, they have
erected a multitude of offices, and sent
hither swarms of officers to harass our peo
ple and eat out our substance, he would,
in all human probability, he dragged to
prison. Or if, in the indignant language
ot our fatheis, he should exclaim, “They
have affected to render* the military inde
pendent of or superior to the civil power ;
they have abolished the free system of
English law, as established here, in an- ar
tin-ary government”—for the offense ot
asserting these principles he would be tried
and punished by a military tribunal- —
|Great cheering.j
Having declared that the principles of
the Declaration of Independence should
he made a living reality on every inch ot
American soil, they put in nomination a
military chieftain who stands at the head
of that system of despotism that crushes
beneath its Let fho greatest principle ol
the Declaration of independence. [Cheers.J
Ic is held by military orders to be a crime
to speak out the indignation and contempt
which burn within the bosoms of patriotic
men. It to-morrow a military order should
he set forth in that State, where the ashes
of Washington are embalmed, that it be
an offense to declare that the military
should ever be subordinate to tba civil an
thoritics, speak the sentiment that it \va?
a disgrace to the country (o let hordes of*
officials eat up the substance of the people,
he who uttered these words could be drag
ged to prison from the very grave 'whole
lie the remains of the author of the Declar
ation of Independence. |Loud cheering J
From this outmge there could be-no np
peal to the courts, and the Republican cau-
didate for the Presidency has accepted a
position which makes the rights and liber
ties of a largo share of our people depend
ent on his will. [Applause.J
In view, of these things can there be one
man in this Convention who can let a per
sonal ambition, a passion, a prejudice turn
him aside one haTr’s breadth iu his efforts
to wipe out the wrongs and outrages which
disgrace our country? [Cheers.) Can
there he one man whose heart is so dead
to ail that is groat and noble in patriotism
but that he will gladly sacrifice ail other
things for the sake of his country, its Jib
erty. and its greatness ? Can we suffer any
prejudices grown out of partf differences of
opinion to hinder us uuiting now with all
who act with us to save our country ? —
[Cheers.)
W e meet to day tb see what measures
can be taken to avert the dangers which
threaten our country, aud to relieve it. from
the evils and burdens resulting from bad
government and unwise counsels, ] thank
God that the strile ot arms has ceased, and
that once more in the great conventions of
our party we can call through the whole
roll of Stales aud find men to auswei; for
each. Time and eveuts in the great cy
cles have brought us to this spot to renew
and invigorate that Constitutional govern
ment which nearly eighty years r.-rn was
inaugurated in this city. [Loud cheers.j
It was here that Geoiga Washington, the
first President, swore to preserve, protect
aud defend the Constitution of the United
fetates |cheers,J and litre this day we as
solemnly ourselves swear to uphold the
rights und liberties of tho American peo
plo.
Then, as now, a great war which had
desolated our laud had ceased ; ihen, as
now, there was iu every patriotic breast a
longing for the blessings of good govern
ment, for the. protection of tho laws, and
for a sentiment of a fraternal regard and
affection among the inhabitants of all the
States oi this Unjon. When our govern
ment, in 1779, was inaugurated iu this city
there were glad processions of men and
those manifestations :.f great joy which a
people show when they feel lhat an event
has happened which is to give lasting
blessings t» the land. (Cheers.) Today,
in this same spirit, this vast assemblage
meets, and the streets of this city are
tb rongod with ni6n who have come from
the utmost borders of onr continent. They
are filled with the hope that we ate about,
by onr actions aud our policy, to bring
hack the blessings of good government.
It is one of tho happiest omens which
inspirit us now, that those who fought
bravely iu our late civil war, are foremost
in their demands that there shall be peace
in our land ; tbe«passions of hate and mal
ice may linger iu meaner breasts, but we
find ourselves upheld in our generous pur
poses by those who showed courage and
manhood in battle, (Cheers.) In the
spirit, then, of George Washington, and of
the patriots of the Revolution, let us take
the step to reiuvigorate our government,
to start it once again on its course to great'
Hess aud prosperity. (Cheers ) May Al
mighty God give us the wisdom to crury
out onr purposes, to giv# everjr State of
our Union the blessings of peace, good
order, and fraternal affection.
&[r. Seymour closed amid great cheering.
Sir. Wright, of Delaware, submitted a
series oi resolutions from Alexander H.
Stephens, of Georgia, which he asked to
have read and referred.
The name of Stephens was loudly cheer
fd-
The resolutions were read by tho Sec
retary.
The resolutions declare adherence to
the Union ; that the Union innler the Con
stitution js A union oi States, and that the
doctrines of Jefferson -houTd be‘ reaffirmed,
and the necessity of bringing the govern
me nt back to their observance ; that the
Democratic party, in sustaining the Fed
eral government during the late war did
so in good faith to sustain the Constitution,
to preserve the rights aud dignities of all
the States unimpaired ; that the highest
meed of patriotism is due to all who per
illed life aud fortune for the maintenance
of the Uuion; but we have no thanks for
those who carried on the war for the sub
jugation of tho States, or to subject the
white to the black race.
A delegate from Californin scut up the
resolutions of the labor convention of Cal
ifornia against negro domination, and in
favor of the eight hour rule as Democratic
doctrine.
Gen. Frank P. Blair lkfiiirs Ills Position.
Washington, June 30, 186S.
Col. James O. Broad head :
Dkak Colonel—In -reply io your
inquiries, I beg leave to say that 1 leave
to yon to determine, op consultation
with my friends from Missouri, wheth
er my name shall be presented to llie
Democratic Convent ion, and to submil
the following as what I consider the
real anti,only, issue in this contest:
The reconstruction policy of the Raff-
icals will be.complete before- the next
election; the States so long excluded
will have been admitted ; negro suf
frage established, and the carpet-bag
gers installed in their seals in both
branches of Congress. There is no
possibility of changing the political
character of the rfenaic, even if the
Democrats should elect their President
and a .majority of the popular branch
<*f Congress. We cannot, therefore,
undo the Radical plan of reconstruc
tion by Congressional action ; the Sen
ate wfW continue a bar to its repeal.
Must we submit to it ? How can it be
overthrown ? It can only be overthrown
by the authority ofthe Executive,Who
is sworn to tn'ainlain the Constitution,
and who will fail to do his dut}* if he
allows the Constitution to perish under
a series of Congressional enactments
which are in palpable violation of its
fundamental principles.
It ihe President elected by the De
mocracy enforces, «>r pet mils others to
enforce these reconstruction acts, the
Radicals, hy the accession of twenty
spurious Senators and fifty Repiesen-
tatives, will control both branches of
Congress, and his administration will
he os powerless as the present one of
Mr. Johnson.
There is but one way to restoie the
Government and the Constitution, ami
that is lor the President elect to declare
these acts null and void, compel the
army to undo its usurpations at the
South, dis|x?rsc the carpet-bag State
governments, allow the white people
to reorganize their own Governments,
and elect Senators and Representa
tives. The House of Representatives
will contain a majority of Democrats
from the North, and they will admit
the Representatives elected ,by the
white people of the South, and with
the co-operation of the President it will
not be difficult to compel fho Senate to
submit once more to the obligations of
the Constitution, ft will not be able to
withstand the. public judgment if dis
tinctly invoked and rhariy cxpiessed
on this fundamental issue, and it.is, the
sure way to avoid all future strife to
put this issue plainly to the country.
I repeat that this is,the real and quly
question which we. should allow;!,o con-
trol us: Shall we submit to the usur
pations hy which the Government, has
been overthrown, or shall wc exert
ourselves for its full anil complete res
toration? It is idle to talk of bonds,
greenbacks, gold, the public faith* and
ihe public credit. What can a Demo
cratic President do in regard to any ol
tjjeso, with a Congress in both branch
es controlled by the carpet-baggers and
their.allies? He will he powerless to
stop the supplies .hy which idle negroes
'are organized into political clubs—by
which an army is maintained to pro
tect t.hc.se vagabonds in their out rages
upon the ballot. These, and things
like these, eat up the revenues and re
sources ofthe Government and destroy
its credit; make the difference between
gold and greenbacks. We must re
store the Constitution before wc can
restore the finances, and to do this, we
must have a President w ho \v : l) exe
cute the. will of the. people by trampling
into dust the usurpations of Congress
known as the reconstruction acts. 1
wish to. stand .before, the .Convention
upon this is-ue, but il is one which em
braces everything pise that is of value
in its large and comprehensive results.
It is the one that includes all that is
worth a contest, and without it there
is nothing that gives dignity, honor, or
value to the struggle.
Your friend,
FRANK P. BLAIR.
PRESIDENTIAL PLATFORM.
The Democratic parly, iu national con
vent ion assembled, standing, as ever, by
the Constitution of tho Goverpment, the
guaranty oi tiie liberties oi the citizen, re
cognize as the consequence of the late
civil war tho extinction of slavery ami ol
the heresy of secession ; and with the re
turn of peace, demand ;
1. The restoration of all tiie Stales to
their rights in {he Union, aud the resto
ration of civil .government to (lie American
people.
2. Amnesty for all political offences and
the regulation of the elective franchise iu
the States by their citizens.
3. Payment of the national obligations
in strict accordance with the terms of the
law, ami the taxation of government bonds
to the same extent that other property is
taxed.
5. One currency for the government,
the people, tbc laborer, the office-holder,
and the Loud holder.
6. Economy in the administration of the
government, the reduction of ihe standing
army and navy, the abolition of the Freed-
men’s Bureau, and all other political iu
stiumeutalities designed to secure tje-gio
supremacy, a simplification of the system
ami discontinuance of the inquisitorial
modes of assessing and collection the in
ternal revenue, so that the bmdeus of tax
ation may be equalized aud lessened, tbe
credit of tho government increased, the
currency made good, and the national
debt funded at a lower rale of interest.
7? ’Tfid 'Yfiforrn o? the administration,
and the expulsion of corrupt ntou from oft
fice; the reservation of public lands for
homes for the working f eople ; tbe restor
ing of -the rightful authority and independ
euce to the Executive and Judiciary ; tbe
subordination of the military t© civil pow
er, to thq end that the usurpations of Con
gress and the* despot ism of the sword may
cease ; the equal rights and protection lor
naturalized and native horn citizens at
home and abroad, and an association of
American nationality, which shall com
mand tbe respect of foreigu powers, aud
famish au example and an encouragement
to people struggling for national integri
ty an-Tconstitutinnai liberty .
The Pmideoi’s Vela or ihe Omnibus Rccon-
^ sirntlioo Bill.
Washington, D. C., June 25tli.—
The following message was sent to the
House of Representati ves this afternoon;
To the House of Representatives: In
returning to the House of Representa
tives, iu which it originated, a bill en
titled:” An act to admit the States ol
North Carolina, South Carolina. Lou
isiana, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida
to representation in Congres,” l do not
deein il necessary to state at length the
reasons which constrain me to with
hold my approval. 1 will not therefore
undertake at this lime to reopen the
discussion upon ihe .grave constitution
al questions involved in tiie act of
lea vet o lliejflscrondu of Congress, when
it comes to the electoral vote in Febru
ary next, to count the votes from Ar
kansas and Florida or not, as it should
think proper. ^
And yet we have: a bill here propos
ing lhat very thing. -Now, in my judg
ment, the Stale of Arkansas is as much
a Stale of the American Union, with all
the rights and’ privileges of a Stale, as
is the State of New York or Illinois,
and it has the same right to vote for
President as any other State of the
Union; and I want no joint resolution
or biil of Congress passed which shall
put in the power of the canvassers of
of this electoral vote to receive an elec
toral vote from Arkansas, or not, as
they shall please.
He read tbe bill and continued :
Now, sir, why pass a joint resolution
that no electoral vote shall be counted
from the States of Arkansas and Flor
ida any more than in regard to New
Jersey or Illinois, or Vermont and
Massachusetts ?
Why, it is saying, in my judgment,
to the people ol these States, your votes
lor President may or may not be want
ed in the next Presidential election ; it
is saying to the rebel element in those
Stales, it you can succeed in overthiovv !
T§rni%rn |KSt
MILLED GEVILLE-
Tuesday, July 14, 1B68.
For President
HORATIO SEYMOUR.
OF NEW l’OHK.
F*or Vdce-IPresident*
FRANCIS P. BLAIR, ’
OF MISSOl’UI.
THE NATIONAL NOMINATION'S.
Wo raise to our “mast head” tbis » ee j.
the government in those States recog- j ^ ,e nQuiitmtioii of Sbemouk and Bl.uk f,, r
nized by* Congress, or if you eau get up j President and Vice President in the com.
bill, these States have framed and a
dopted constitutions of State govern
ment, nor will I repeat the objections
contained in my message of the 20th
instant, returning without my signature
the bill to admit to representation the
State of Arkansas, and which are equal
ly applicable to the pending measure.
Like the bill recently passed in refer
ence to Arkansas, this bill supercedes
[the plain and simple .mode prescribed
ogntztng the Mate governments inau-j nation was made with great ouanimit,
gu rated in Arkansas and Florida asajn has been hailed throughput thecoma.*
finality, as* conclusive apd ended ; and b y ratification meetings with
I do not wish to say to those people
that we have any apprehensions lhat
any other government is lo be recog
nized there. * * * *
It is to he left an open question, to
be decided in February next, when tiie
vote is counted, whether they have
adopted acoustilulion and State gov
by the constitution for^Abe admission to j eminent. Did we not decide a few
seats in the respective Houses, of Sen
ators and Representatives from the
several States. It assumes authority
over six States of the Union which has
never been delegated to Congress, nor
o l ® a t
Mr. Pendleton, who seemed to be the f a .
voiite of the Convention at first, Las con
gratulated Mr. Seymour uj his uoffii; ia ti 0!l
and tenders him his support.
Mr. &eymoui:’s> late, speech iu New l*u»k
od the finauces of the country and hisad-
dress to the Convention on taking tbe thair
aa its President, given iu to days paper,
fully shows what may be expected of hie;.
days ago, that the Stale of Arkansa
lead adopted a constitution aud ate j j£ e maintains sonud constitutional doctrine
•roverument in accordance with the re- , . , „
a .sai't i i »n« stands among the first men of the
construction act? Aud it we lane, ; Tr . . , , -
■ • • . i | ■ . , ■ country, lie is thus refer red to uv a *W
why is it to he decided over again, un- I ^ 7 • a
Jess il is intended to vest in Congress, ; For^ paper :
Hou. Horatio Seymour, tbe Presidents'
the Democratic Convention, is at the hea.!
of the New York delegation. Ue is justl*.-
nian of the party,
upon a | Cicuiuu oi CJCCIW3 snail nave ween nciu , an( j ; s to by the masses of his eh-
theory that is subversive of the funda- ; under the authority ot such constitution ; t ; ve gtaie. He is a naiive of On»od«ga
mental piinciples of the government.— I ^d government, and such felale shad i county, N. Y., and educated to the iaw.—
In the case of Alabama it violates the have also become entitled to represen- ; His first office w«ts tuat of Mayor of Uiiw.
plighted faith of Congress by forcing lation in Congress, pursuant to the acts j and he was a member of the Legislature
. upon the irffute a constitution wind) °f Congress tn that behalf.”
i was rejected by the people according j Now, sir. these facts all exist, ana
to flic express terms of an act ol Con- ] have been settled, except one.
is even warranted previous uncon-.
stitutional legislation upon the subject ] : ‘ l diat time, a revisory power to count i
ol restoiation. it imposes conditions j ihe electoral vote, or not; and uniess
that are in derogation ofthe equal rights j =* a y s this joint resolution further, “such i -j c j q ] ea( jj Ul
ofthe States, and it is founded nrw.n a I election of electors shall have been held
| from 1642 fo 1345, inclusive, and wa,
speaker of the Assembly during the iiut
gress requiring. thaL a majutiiy of the i Constitution
registered electors should vote upon
the question of its ratification. For
these objections, and many' others lhat
might be presented, I cannot approve
this bill, and therefore return it for the
action of Congress required in such
cases bv the Federal Constitution.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
Washington, D. C., June 2-5, 1SCS.
THE CONGRESSIONAL “PLUr.”
We have referred to a resolution
pending in Congress, says the Colum
bus Enquirer, the object of which is
leff undetermined, for the present, the
question what States are to vote in the
Presidential election Tt was reported
in the Senaie by Mr. .Edmunds, from
the Committee on the Judiciary. We
hardly think il will pass both Houses,
but the failure of Congress to make any
declaration on the subject would amount
to almost the same thing—it would
leave the matter in the hands of the
The
has been limned in Ar
kansas, a government has been organ
ized in Arkansas in conformity with
the reconstruction acts, and the State
of Arkansas has become entitled to rep
resentation in Cougrcs pursuant to the
acts of Congress in that behalf. Now,
why do we want to pass upon that
again ? Is not that settled ? I hardly
know what may be the intention of
this clause, but it will be observed,
Mr. President, that the constitution of
a State has nothing to do with the elec
tion of President.
A President of the United Stales is
to be elected by the Electors chosen in
the several States, not the Constitution
ofthe Slate. The Legislature of each
Stale in tire Union, is created, it is true,
under and. by authority of a constitution
of a State, but when created, is vested
with authority to appoint electors of
President ami Vice President, not by
virtue ofthe constitution of the State,
but by virtue ofthe Constitution cd the
. . United Slates. It derives its power to
piesent Congress at its session next .,|,noint electors of President and Vice
winter, when it might change the re
sult ofthe popular election hy exclud
ing States from the Electoral College,
or by throwing out their votes aud yet
holding that a majority sufficient lo
elect must be a majority of the Electo
ral vote cf ajl the States. The follow
ing is the resolution:
Resolved, That the States of Virgin
ia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississip
pi, Louisian, Arkansas, and Texas,
respectfully, shall not be entitled lo
representation in the Electoral College
for the choice of President or Vice Pres
ident of the United Stales, and no Elec
toral votes shall be received or counted
from any such Stales, unless at the
time pi escribed by law for the choice
of electors, the people Ot such Slates,
pursuant to acts of Congress in that be-
lialt, shall have, since the 4th of March,
1807, adopted a Constitution of Slate
government, under which a Slate gov
ernment shall have been organized and
shall be in operation, and unless such
election of electors shall have been held
under the authority c4’ such Constitu
tion and government, and said State
shall have also become entitled to rep
resentation in Congress, pursuat to the
acts of Congress in that behalf.
We copy the remarks made on this
resolution, on the 1st lost., by Mr.
President from the Constitution of the
United Stat s—the body, the Legisla
ture thus created—the Constitution ol
the United Slates devolves this power
upon it. v
Mr. Trunibuil read article 2, section
1, and the twelfth amendment of the
Constitution, and continued :—Now,
what has the Congress of the United
States or the President of the Senate
lo do in canvassing this vote? Simp
ly to open their sealed packages, or
lists containing the votes of those elec
tors, who are appointed in the mode
prescribed by the Legislature of each
State, and the votes ate then counted
in the presence of the House of Repre
sentatives; and the persou having (he
largest number of votes, or a majority
of the whole, is declared lo be Presi
dent. Tbis is all the President of the t ,,
senate is authorized to do, and all that ; t0 onf co „ otrv . tiu x haTS be( T n „ugbt
ac united Stales is j by the overwhelming tiff© that is beari»S
Each State through ] US on to * great political chaage, auii i
its Legislature, debpimtnes the mode ol j find myself unable to resist its pressure,
oppointing electors of the President, General Blair said : “We are about ea
and it is competent flrranv Legislature j tei *ing on a contest lor the restoration 01
in any Stale of the Union, to^appoint i ,be FVton and the principles of the Goa*
the electors without submitting the ^ tltut ‘ on - * r ‘ d preservation°f t;
question to the vote of the people at ail. j ^peTle” doU,matlUU OI a
Mississippi—It is now conceded that! The President issues a proclamat!™
the Radical Constitution in Mississippi j dial papers have been received fo® H 1 -
been defeated ; consequently it is noi a
matter of much importance bow the eiec-
year of his term. He has twice been Go
ernor of liis State ; was elected die firs:
time in l>-52, and the Second time in ISC*;.
He was three times defeated as a caidi-
date for Governor ; the first time lie rw,
by W ubhingtun Hunt, who Lad a infijnrin
over Seymour of Z62 votes. The iicx:
time or in 1854, he was defeated by a split
in the Deinociatic partv, betvreea tbe
Hards and Softs, the Whig candidate ^
ceiving 309 mote votes than did Seymour.
The last time he was defeated by Raeiul
frauds and Radical seizuiesand detentioua
of the soldiers’ votes. He has been, in ev
ery position he has held, an able defender
of the lights of the people and constitu
tional law. No ruau has been more Bitter
ly assailed than Seymour for his coarse
by the opposite press and leaders ; but. in
every iustance the justice of his position
has been sustained by tbe highest cuarti
ofthe Stale. His political speeches rank
among the ablost, most remarkable ami
convincing efforts ofthe times.
In reference to Gen. Blaih, the nomiuen
for the Vice Presidency,-his letter setting
forth his views on National matters, (also
inserted to day) shows he is not only sound
on this score, but decided! p iu feeling will)
the people of the South. Although he wsj
a Uniou man and commanded a corp?that
marched through our State, ha only wen:
for mainlainin“ the Union and ever oppos
ed the oppreswet und arbitrary meaturtt
that have been inflicted on the South-
He partakes more in character of “Old
Hickory” by his candor and bo!dni*w,tb*n
any other politician of the present day.-
He has ever opposed the iron-clad or U*t
oatii and ultra measures of the Radical--
Let Seymour and Blair he the outery by
the friends of constitutional! Uniou tiiro’-
out our entire bounds.
Sfymour and Biair Accepts.
Washington, Ju!^ 11.—In acceptin'
tho nomination, Mr. Sevinonr said : *‘k
was my ambition to take an active part,
from which 1 am cow excluded, in
rent struggle going on for the restoration
the Congress of
authorized to do.
Trumbull (a leading Radical Senator) tioi5s for Inembers of tbe Legislature ard
read
ers attention to
and diiect the
them :
Mr. Trumbull said he had not ap
proved ofthe bill in the Judiciary Com
mittee though he thought some action
should! he taken in reference to count
ing the electoral vote ofthe lately rebel !
Congress went. But the triumph of the
Democrats in these elections also will
somewhat abate the zeal of the Radicals
to make out a fraudulent majority for the
Constitution. The Vicksburg Herald of
the 2d iust. gives Ihe following as the re
sult of tho elections for the Legislature
ida aud North Carolina, announcing 5lia
adoption of tba Fourteenth aiticle.
adoption by Florida is not iu ^pcordan®*
with tiie act of Congress. After quetia?
the law and circumstances, the prod* 815 '
tiun announces the ratification by d ie
islature ol North Carolina ia th* 5
set forth iu the preamble.
A BOLD BURGLARY-
On tbe night of tho 9th iust, Stetson
"» Senate and of ,he Hon<e j j ^ “ 006
iu this matter, as the party defeated at i doubtful. In the lower House, of 01)e | shutters till a piece was taken ^
that election might claim that their ac- I hundred and seven members elected, six-, then raising tbe iron bar. aa entrance
tionin throwing out voles was dictated | ty-uine are Democrats. Three, and pos- 'obtained—the door opened and au ,rC "
hy partisan bias, and the result might ! fo « r > of the five Congressional j ga f H taken off to the common, where it wS *
bethat the country would be again iu- ca,,d,d * le * elected are Democrats. | forcefl opefl( Rnd robbe(1 of aboB t fSOtt-J*
The Base YVel.l Seated.—The Raleigh j Several arrests have been made, but not"
volved in civil war
Nearly all the revolutions, he coulin-
ued, of- the South American Slates,
grew out ofthe elections of Presidents;
and while I am iu favor ol a bill which
shall state distinctly from what Stales
voles .shall not be* counted, il there are
any such States—such a bill or joint
resolution as we passed fqur years ago-,
and applicable to the States of Missis
sippi and Virginia, assuming now that
neither of these States will have per
fected their State organizations in time
to be recognized by Congress—-! am
utterly opposed lo any bill which shall
Sentinel states that the strangest thing on
record——a “Governor elect” who is not a Two neraoes, strangers, left on
Governor, nor ns yet, eligible to tbe office
of Governor, convening a Legislature,
which is not a Legislature, under a law
which is not a law, to ratify au amendment
to the Gonstitntiou of a Government, of
which the ratifying State is practically
declared to bo not a part! That is a pithy
statement of some of the practical absurd
ities of Radical Reconstruction.
I Journal ^ Messenger.
All the counties in Mississippi have been heard
from, except two, and th<; majority against tbe
Constitution is 11,499.
in» of value has, ns yet, been re.covrit
tb*
An*
, A
gusta train the next morning, who arc
pected of being the leading character-
reward of fitfy dollars has beeu offered ^
them, or twenty^-five for either. 0 uB ^
them of small stature, neatly dresses
light plaid pants, cloth shoes with p* te
leather tees can read and write sn *
he is from Boston.
The other, is a large raw bone C ®[V
shabbily dressed, knock-kneed, # c ° 4
looking face.
-»