USA > New York > History of the state of New York, political and governmental, Vol. VI > Part 17
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"4. Local self-government, with impartial suffrage, will guard the rights of all citizens more securely than any centralized power. The public welfare requires the supremacy of the civil over the mili- tary authority, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus. We demand for the individual the largest liberty consistent with public order, for the State self-government, and for the nation a return to the methods of peace and the constitutional limitations of power.
"5. The civil service of the government has become a mere instrument of partisan tyranny and personal ambition, and an object of selfish greed. It is a scandal and reproach upon free institutions, and breeds a demoralization dangerous to the perpetuity of republi- can government. We therefore regard a thorough reform of the civil service as one of the most pressing necessities of the hour; that honesty, capacity, and fidelity constitute the only valid claim to public employment; that the offices of the government cease to be a matter of arbitrary favoritism and patronage, and that public station become again a post of honor. To this end it is imperatively required that no President shall be a candidate for reelection.
"6. We demand a system of Federal taxation which shall not unnecessarily interfere with the industry of the people, and which shall provide the means necessary to pay the expenses of the govern- ment economically administered, the pensions, the interest on the public debt, and a moderate reduction annually of the principal
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thereof; and recognizing that there are in our midst honest but irreconcilable differences of opinion with regard to the respective systems of protection and free trade, we remit the discussion of the subject to the people in their Congressional districts, and to the decision of the Congress thereon, wholly free from Executive interfer- ence or dictation.
"7. The public credit must be sacredly maintained, and we denounce repudiation in every form and guise.
"8. A speedy return to specie payment is demanded alike by the highest considerations of commercial morality and honest govern- ment.
"9. We remember with gratitude the heroism and sacrifices of the soldiers and sailors of the republic, and no act of ours shall ever detract from their justly earned fame or the full reward of their patriotism.
"10. We are opposed to all further grants of lands to railroads or other corporations. The public domain should be held sacred to actual settlers.
"11. We hold that it is the duty of the government in its inter- course with foreign nations to cultivate the friendships of peace by treating with all on fair and equal terms, regarding it alike dishon- orable either to demand what is not right or to submit to what is wrong.
"12. For the promotion and success of these vital principles, and the support of the candidates nominated by this convention, we invite and cordially welcome the cooperation of all patriotic citizens without regard to previous affiliations."
Democratic Party
Convention held in Baltimore, July 9, 1872; tem- porary chairman, Thomas J. Randolph, of Virginia ; permanent chairman, James R. Doolittle, of Wis- consin.
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The candidates and platform of the Liberal Repub- licans were endorsed (see above). For the Presiden- tial nomination Greeley received 686 votes to 15 for James A. Bayard, of Delaware; 21 for Jeremiah S. Black, of Pennsylvania; 2 for William S. Groesbeck, of Ohio; and 8 blank.
Other Parties
Straight-out Democrats .- Convention held at Louis- ville, September 3, 1872. For President, Charles O'Conor, of New York; for Vice-President, John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts.
Labor Reform Party .- Convention held in Colum- bus, Ohio, February 21-22, 1872. For President, David Davis, of Illinois; for Vice-President, Joel Parker, of New Jersey.
Prohibition Party .- Convention held in Columbus, Ohio, February 22, 1872. For President, James Black, of Pennsylvania; for Vice-President, John Russell, of Michigan.
The Election
Horace Greeley, the Democratic and Liberal Re- publican candidate, died November 29, 1872. The Electors met December 4, and those who had been chosen on the Greeley and Brown ticket divided their votes for President and Vice-President according to their individual preferences.
Electoral vote for President :
Ulysses S. Grant, Republican :- Alabama, 10; California, 6; Connecticut, 6; Delaware, 3; Florida, 4; Illinois, 21; Indiana, 15;
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Iowa, 11; Kansas, 5; Maine, 7; Massachusetts, 13; Michigan, 11; Minnesota, 5; Mississippi, 8; Nebraska, 3; Nevada, 3; New Hamp- shire, 5; New Jersey, 9; New York, 35; North Carolina, 10; Ohio, 22; Oregon, 3; Pennsylvania, 29; Rhode Island, 4; South Carolina, 7; Vermont, 5; Virginia, 11; West Virginia, 5; Wisconsin, 10. Total, 286. Elected.
Other States carried by Grant according to the returns, the Elec- toral votes of which, however, were excluded by Congress from the count :- Arkansas, 6; Louisiana, 8. Total, 14.
Opposition :- Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, received 8 in Kentucky, 8 in Maryland, 6 in Missouri, 12 in Tennessee, and 8 in Texas-total, 42. B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, received 6 in Georgia, 4 in Kentucky, and 8 in Missouri-total, 18. Charles J. Jenkins, of Georgia, received 2 in Georgia. David Davis, of Illi- nois, received 1 in Missouri. Horace Greeley received 3 in Georgia; excluded by Congress from the count because of his decease. Total opposition, 66.
Electoral vote for Vice-President:
Henry Wilson, Republican :- Same as Grant, 286. Elected.
Vice-Presidential Electoral votes excluded by Congress from the count :- Arkansas, 6; Louisiana, 8. Total, 14.
Opposition :- B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, received 5 in Georgia, 8 in Kentucky, 8 in Maryland, 6 in Missouri, 12 in Ten- nessee, and 8 in Texas-total, 47. George W. Julian, of Indiana, received 5 in Missouri. Alfred H. Colquitt, of Georgia, received 5 in Georgia. John M. Palmer, of Illinois, received 3 in Missouri. Thomas E. Bramlette, of Kentucky, received 3 in Kentucky. Wil- liam S. Groesbeck, of Ohio, received 1 in Missouri. William B. Machen, of Kentucky, received 1 in Kentucky. Nathaniel P. Banks, of Massachusetts, received 1 in Georgia. Total opposition, 66.
Popular vote :
Grant, 3,597,070; Greeley, 2,834,079; O'Conor, 30,297; Black, 5,627.
1876 Republican Party
Convention held in Cincinnati, June 14-16, 1876; temporary chairman, Theodore M. Pomeroy, of New York; permanent chairman, Edward McPherson, of Pennsylvania. During the balloting there was an acri- monious debate on the question of enforcing the unit rule in State delegations. By 395 to 353 it was de- cided that every delegate could vote according to his personal choice.
First ballot for President :- James G. Blaine, of Maine, 285 ; Oliver P. Morton, of Indiana, 124; Benja- min H. Bristow, of Kentucky, 113; Roscoe Conkling, of New York, 99; Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, 61; John F. Hartranft, of Pennsylvania, 58; Marshall Jewell, of Connecticut, 11; William A. Wheeler, of New York, 3. On the sixth ballot Blaine's vote in- creased to 308 and Hayes was second with 113. Hayes was nominated on the seventh ballot, having 384 to 351 for Blaine and 21 for Bristow.
Only one ballot was necessary for Vice-President, the nominee being William A. Wheeler, of New York.
Platform :
"When, in the economy of Providence, this land was to be purged of human slavery, and when the strength of government of the people by the people for the people was to be demonstrated, the Republican party came into power. Its deeds have passed into his-
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tory, and we look back to them with pride. Incited by their memo- ries, and with high aims for the good of our country and mankind, and looking to the future with unfaltering courage, hope, and pur- pose, we, the representatives of the party, in national convention assembled, make the following declaration of principles:
"1. The United States of America is a nation, not a league. By the combined workings of the national and State governments, under their respective Constitutions, the rights of every citizen are secured at home and protected abroad, and the common welfare pro- moted.
"2. The Republican party has preserved these governments to the hundredth anniversary of the nation's birth, and they are now em- bodiments of the great truths spoken at its cradle: "That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that for the attainment of these ends governments have been instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the con- sent of the governed.' Until these truths are cheerfully obeyed, and, if need be, vigorously enforced, the work of the Republican party is unfinished.
"3. The permanent pacification of the southern section of the Union and the complete protection of all its citizens in the free enjoyment of all their rights, are duties to which the Republican party is sacredly pledged. The power to provide for the enforce- ment of the principles embodied in the recent constitutional amend- ments is vested by those amendments in the Congress of the United States, and we declare it to be the solemn obligation of the legisla- tive and executive departments of the government to put into imme- diate and vigorous exercise all their constitutional powers for remov- ing any just causes of discontent on the part of any class, and secur- ing to every American citizen complete liberty and exact equality in the exercise of all civil, political, and public rights. To this end we imperatively demand a Congress and a Chief-Executive whose cour- age and fidelity to these duties shall not falter until these results are placed beyond dispute or recall.
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1
"4. In the first act of Congress signed by President Grant the national government assumed to remove any doubt of its purpose to discharge all just obligations to the public creditors and solemnly pledged its faith 'to make provision at the earliest practicable period for the redemption of the United States notes in coin.' Commercial prosperity, public morals, and the national credit demand that this promise be fulfilled by a continuous and steady progress to specie payment.
"5. Under the Constitution the President and heads of depart- ments are to make nominations for office, the Senate is to advise and consent to appointments, and the House of Representatives is to accuse and prosecute faithless officers. The best interest of the public service demands that these distinctions be respected; that Senators and Representatives who may be judges and accusers should not dictate appointments to office. The invariable rule for appoint- ments should have reference to the honesty, fidelity, and capacity of the appointees, giving to the party in power those places where har- mony and vigor of administration require its policy to be repre- sented, but permitting all others to be filled by persons selected with sole reference to the efficiency of the public service and the right of citizens to share in the honor of rendering faithful service to their country.
"6. We rejoice in the quickened conscience of the people con- cerning political affairs. We will hold all public officers to a rigid responsibility, and engage that the prosecution and punishment of all who betray official trusts shall be speedy, thorough, and unsparing.
"7. The public school system of the several States is the bulwark of the American republic, and with a view to its security and perma- nence we recommend an amendment to the Constitution of the United States forbidding the application of any public funds or prop- erty for the benefit of any schools or institutions under sectarian control.
"8. The revenue necessary for current expenditures and the obli- gations of the public debt must be largely derived from duties upon importations, which, so far as possible, should be so adjusted as to
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promote the interests of American labor and advance the prosperity of the whole country.
"9. We reaffirm our opposition to further grants of the public lands to corporations and monopolies, and demand that the national domain be devoted to free homes for the people.
"10. It is the imperative duty of the government so to modify existing treaties with European governments that the same protec- tion shall be afforded to adopted American citizens that is given to native-born, and all necessary laws be passed to protect emigrants in the absence of power in the States for that purpose.
"11. It is the immediate duty of Congress fully to investigate the effect of the immigration and importation of Mongolians on the moral and material interests of the country.
"12. The Republican party recognizes with approval the sub- stantial advances recently made toward the establishment of equal rights for women, by the many important amendments effected by Republican Legislatures in the laws which concern the personal and property relations of wives, mothers, and widows, and by the appoint- ment and election of women to the superintendence of education, charities, and other public trusts. The honest demands of this class of citizens for additional rights, privileges, and immunities should be treated with respectful consideration.
"13. The Constitution confers upon Congress sovereign power over the Territories of the United States for their government. And in the exercise of this power it is the right and duty. of Congress to prohibit and extirpate in the Territories that relic of barbarism, polygamy; and we demand such legislation as will secure this end and the supremacy of American institutions in all the Territories.
"14. The pledges which the nation has given to our soldiers and sailors must be fulfilled. The grateful people will always hold those who periled their lives for the country's preservation in the kindest remembrance.
"15. We sincerely deprecate all sectional feeling and tendencies. We therefore note with deep solicitude that the Democratic party counts, as its chief hope of success, upon the Electoral vote of a united south secured through the efforts of those who were recently
FRANKLIN PIERCE
Franklin Pierce, 14th president; born at Hillsboro, N. H., November 23, 1804; lawyer; member of state legislature, 1829- 33 ; of congress, March 4, 1833 to March 3, 1837; United States senator, March 4, 1837 to February 28, 1842, when he resigned; served in Mexican war; member of New Hampshire state con- stitutional convention, 1850; president of the United States from March 4, 1853 to March 3, 1857; died in Concord, N. H., October 8, 1869.
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arrayed against the nation; and we invoke the earnest attention of the country to the grave truth that a success thus achieved would reopen sectional strife and imperil national honor and human rights.
"16. We charge the Democratic party with being the same in character and spirit as when it sympathized with treason; with mak- ing its control of the House of Representatives the triumph and opportunity of the nation's recent foes; with reasserting and applaud- ing in the national Capitol the sentiments of unrepentant rebellion ; with sending Union soldiers to the rear and promoting Confederate soldiers to the front; with deliberately proposing to repudiate the plighted faith of the government; with being equally false and imbe- cile upon the overshadowing financial questions; with thwarting the ends of justice by its partisan mismanagement and obstruction of investigation ; with proving itself, through the period of its ascend- ancy in the lower house of Congress, utterly incompetent to adminis- ter the government; and we warn the country against trusting a party thus alike unworthy, recreant, and incapable.
"17. The national administration merits commendation for its honorable work in the management of domestic and foreign affairs, and President Grant deserves the continued hearty gratitude of the American people for his patriotism and his eminent services in war and in peace.
"18. We present as our candidates for President and Vice-Presi- dent of the United States two distinguished statesmen, of eminent ability and character, and conspicuously fitted for those high offices, and we confidently appeal to the American people to entrust the administration of their public affairs to Rutherford B. Hayes and William A. Wheeler."
Democratic Party
Convention held in St. Louis, June 27-29, 1876; tem- porary chairman, Henry Watterson, of Kentucky; per- manent chairman, John A. McClernand, of Illinois.
Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, was nominated for President on the second ballot, which stood : Tilden,
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534; Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, 60; Winfield S. Hancock, of Pennsylvania, 59; William Allen, of Ohio, 54; Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware, 11; Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio, 2.
Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, was unanimously nominated for Vice-President on the first ballot.
Platform :
"We, the delegates of the Democratic party of the United States, in national convention assembled, do hereby declare the administra- tion of the Federal government to be in great need of immediate reform; do hereby enjoin upon the nominees of this convention, and of the Democratic party in each State, a zealous effort and co- operation to this end; and do hereby appeal to our fellow-citizens of every former political connection to undertake with us this first and most pressing patriotic duty.
"For the Democracy of the whole country we do here reaffirm our faith in the permanence of the Federal Union, our devotion to the Constitution of the United States with its amendments univer- sally accepted as a final settlement of the controversies that engen- dered civil war, and do here record our steadfast confidence in the perpetuity of republican self-government.
"In absolute acquiescence in the will of the majority, the vital principle of republics; in the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; in the two-fold separation of church and state, for the sake alike of civil and religious freedom; in the equality of all citizens before just laws of their own enactment; in the liberty of individual conduct, unvexed by sumptuary laws; in the faithful education of the rising generation, that they may preserve, enjoy, and transmit these best conditions of human happiness and hope,-we behold the noblest products of a hundred years of changeful history ; but while uphold- ing the bond of our Union and great charter of these our rights, it behooves a free people to practice also that eternal vigilance which is the price of liberty.
"Reform is necessary to rebuild and establish in the hearts of
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the whole people of the Union, eleven years ago happily rescued from the danger of a secession of States but now to be saved from a cor- rupt centralism which, after inflicting upon ten States the rapacity of carpetbag tyrannies, has honeycombed the offices of the Federal government itself with incapacity, waste, and fraud, infected States and municipalities with the contagion of misrule, and locked fast the prosperity of an industrious people in the paralysis of 'hard times.'
"Reform is necessary to establish a sound currency, restore the public credit, and maintain the national honor.
"We denounce the failure, for all these eleven years of peace, to make good the promise of the legal-tender notes, which are a changing standard of value in the hands of the people and the non-payment of which is a disregard of the plighted faith of the nation.
"We denounce the improvidence which, in eleven years of peace, has taken from the people in Federal taxes thirteen times the whole amount of the legal-tender notes, and squandered four times their sum in useless expense, without accumulating any reserve for their redemp- tion.
"We denounce the financial imbecility and immorality of that party which, during eleven years of peace, has made no advance toward resumption, no preparation for resumption, but instead has obstructed resumption by wasting our resources and exhausting all our surplus income, and, while annually professing to intend a speedy return to specie payments, has annually enacted fresh hindrances thereto. As such hindrance we denounce the resumption clause of the act of 1875, and we here demand its repeal.
"We demand a judicious system of preparation by public econo- mies, by official retrenchments, and by wise finance, which shall enable the nation soon to assure the whole world of its perfect ability and its perfect readiness to meet any of its promises at the call of the creditor entitled to payment.
"We believe such a system, well devised, and above all entrusted to competent hands for execution, creating at no time an artificial scarcity of currency and at no time alarming the public mind into a withdrawal of that vast machinery of credit by which ninety-five per cent. of all business transactions are performed-a system open,
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public, and inspiring general confidence-would from the day of its adoption bring healing on its wings to all our harassed industries, set in motion the wheels of commerce, manufactures, and the mechanic arts, restore employment to labor, and renew in all its sources the prosperity of the people.
"Reform is necessary in the sum and modes of Federal taxation, to the end that capital may be set free from distress and labor lightly burdened.
"We denounce the present tariff, levied upon nearly 4,000 articles, as a masterpiece of injustice, inequality, and false pretense. It yields a dwindling, not a yearly rising revenue. It has impoverished many industries to subsidize a few. It prohibits imports that might pur- chase the products of American labor. It has degraded American commerce from the first to an inferior rank upon the high seas. It has cut down the values of American manufactures at home and abroad, and depleted the returns of American agriculture-an indus- try followed by half our people. It costs the people five times more than it produces to the treasury, obstructs the processes of produc- tion, and wastes the fruits of labor. It promotes fraud, fosters smuggling, enriches dishonest officials, and bankrupts honest mer- chants. We demand that all custom house taxation shall be only for revenue.
"Reform is necessary in the scale of public expense-Federal, State, and municipal. Our Federal taxation has swollen from sixty millions gold in 1860 to four hundred and fifty millions currency in 1870; our aggregate taxation from one hundred and fifty-four mil- lions gold in 1860 to seven hundred and thirty millions currency in 1870; or in one decade from less than five dollars per head to more than eighteen dollars per head. Since the peace, the people have paid to their tax-gatherers more than thrice the sum of the national debt, and more than twice that sum for the Federal government alone. We demand a rigorous frugality in every department and from every officer of the government.
"Reform is necessary to put a stop to the profligate waste of public lands and their diversion from actual settlers by the party in power, which has squandered 200,000,000 acres upon 'railroads
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alone, and out of more than thrice that aggregate has disposed of less than'a sixth directly to tillers of the soil.
"Reform is necessary to correct the omissions of a Republican Congress and the errors of our treaties and our diplomacy, which have stripped our fellow-citizens of foreign birth and kindred race, recross- ing the Atlantic, from the shield of American citizenship, and have exposed our brethren of the Pacific coast to the incursions of a race not sprung from the same great parent stock, and in fact now by law denied citizenship through naturalization as being neither accustomed to the traditions of a progressive civilization nor exercised in liberty under equal laws. We denounce the policy which thus discards the liberty-loving German and tolerates a revival of the coolie trade in Mongolian women imported for immoral purposes and Mongolian men held to perform servile labor contracts, and demand such modifi- cation of the treaty with the Chinese empire, or such legislation within constitutional limitations, as shall prevent further importation or immigration of the Mongolian race.
"Reform is necessary, and can never be effected but by making it the controlling issue of the election, and lifting it above the two false issues with which the office-holding class and the party in power seek to smother it :-
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