453 UC-NRLF SB hi E23 I E45S JD4 Campaign Document, No. 1. V I THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM, GENERAL M C CLELLAN S LETTER OP ACCEPTANCE. ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ) September 8, 1864. ) G-ENTLEMEN : I have the honor to ac knowledge the receipt of your letter in forming me of my nomination by the Democratic National Convention, recently assembled at Chicago, as their candidate at the next election for President of the United States. It is unnecessary for me to say to you that this nomination comes to me unsought. I am happy to know that when the nom ination was made the record of my public life was kept in view. The effect of long and varied service in the army during war and peace, has been to strengthen and make indelible in my same spirit must prevail in our councils, and in the hearts of .the people. The reestablishrnent of the Union in all its integrity is, and must continue to be, the indispensable condition in any settle ment. So soon as it is clear, or even prob able, that our present adversaries are ready for peace, upon the basis of the Union, we should exhaust all the resources of states manship practised by civilized nations, and taught by the traditions of the American people, consistent with the honor and in terests of the country, to secure such peace, reestablish the Union, and guarantee for the future the constitutional rights of every State. The Union is the one condition of peace we ask no more. Let me add what, I doubt not was, al- mind and heart the love and reverence for j the Union, Constitution, laws, and flag of j though unexpressed, the sentiment of the our country, impressed upon me in early j Convention, as it is of the p.eople they rep- youth. These feelings have thus far guided the course of my life, and must continue to do so to its end. The existence of more than one govern ment over the region which once owned our flag is incompatible with the peace, the power, and the happiness of the people. The preservation of our Union was the sole avowed object for which the war was commenced. It should have been con ducted for that object only, and in accord ance with those principles which I took - occasion to declare when in active service. resent, that when any one State is willing to return to the Union, it should be re ceived at once, with a full guarantee of all its constitutional rights. If a frank, earnest, and persistent effort to obtain those objects should fail, the re sponsibility for ulterior consequences will fall upon those who remain in arms against the Union. But the Union must be pre served at all hazards. I could not look in the face of my gal lant comrades of the army and navy, who have survived so many bloody battles, and tell them that their labors and the sacrifice Thus conducted, the work of reconcilia- of so many of our slain and wounded brcth- tion would have been easy, and we might have reaped the benefits of our many vic tories on land and sea. The Union was originally formed by the exercise of a spirit of conciliation and com promise. To restore and preserve ik. the as Iwould, M35032 ren had been in vain ; that we had aban doned that Union for which we have so often periled our lives. A vast majority of our people, whether in the army and navy or at home, would, hail with unbounded joy the permanent restoration of peace, on the basis of the Union under the Constitution, with out the effusion of another drop of blood. But no peace can be permanent without Union. As to the other subjects presented in the resolutions of the .Convention, I need only saj that I should .seek, in the Consti tution .of the. United States and the laws frapicd in a^cGrclan-ce therewith, the rule of my duty, and the limitations of execu tive power ; endeavor to restore economy in public expenditure, reestablish the su premacy of law, and, by the operation of a more vigorous nationality, resume our com manding position among the nations of the earth. The condition of our finances, the de preciation of the paper money, and the burdens thereby imposed on labor and cap ital, show the necessity of a return to a sound financial system ; while the rights of citizens, and the rights of States, and j the binding authority of law over Presi dent, army, and people, are subjects of not less vital importance in war than in peace. Believing that the views here expressed are those of the Convention and the people you represent, I accept the nomination. I realize the weight of the responsibility to be borne should the people ratify your choice. Conscious of my own weakness, I can only seek fervently the guidance of the Ruler of the universe, and, relying on His all-powerful aid, do my best to re store union and peace to a suffering people, and to establish and guard their liberties and rights, I am, gentlemen, very respectfully, your obedient servant, GrEO. B. McCliELLAN. Hon. SEYMOUR, and others, Committee. REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. EXECUTIVE MANSION, J WASHINGTON, July 18, 1864. f To WHOM IT MAY CONCERN : Any proposition which embraces the restoration of peace, the integrity of the whole Union, and the abandonment of sla very, and which comes by and with an authority that can control the armies now at war against the United States, will be received and considered by the Executive Government of the United States, and will be met by liberal terms on other substan tial and collateral points; and the bearer or bearers thereof shall have safe conduct both ways. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. DEMOCRATIC LOYALTY, The World s Campaign Songs, No, 1, MAC, MY DARLING. AIR : " OJi my Nora Creina, Dear." Mac, ray darling, proud I am To hear that you ve been nominated; I,ast we met at Antietam, Where you the rebel might abated. In ttie seven days fight I stood Beside you on the hills and meadows, And while our brave boys poured their blood, We knew your heart was throbbing with us ! Oil, my captain, dear and true, The coward tongues that would ignore you Are base as false thank Heaven they re few 1 Your soldiers trust you and adore you. EEPUBLIOAN LOYALTY. From the Tribune. All hail the flaunting lie ! The stars grow pale and dim, The stripes are bloody scars, A lie the vaunting hymn. It shields a pirate s deck, It binds a man in chains, 3 ( Continued from first column, second page.) Abe may crack his jolly jokes, O er bloody fields of stricken battle, While yet the ebbing life-tide smokes From men that die like butchered cattle; He, tire yet tho guns J>TO\V cold, To pimps and pets may crack his stories; Your name is of the grander mould, Ami linked with all our brightest glories ! Oh, my general, dear and true, The lying tongues that would defame you, Are base as false thank Heaven they re few! For as our chosen chief we claim you. They say these dogs of currish heart, Who never heard a bullet whistle You d let the Union drii t apart Like dowii-fhikcs from a shaking thistle; They say, oh captain but the words Stick in our throats we can t adjust em But lift to Heaven our dinted swords, % Aud answer only this : " We trust him ! " Yes, oil friend of rights and laws, Despite the sneers of fool or craven, Whore hearts beat highest for the cause, You have your home, your shrine and haven! With patient toil and pitying breast You sought your soldiers blood to treasure, Nor ever tried the cruel test, How much we could endure to measure. They feared you, for they saw our love; To win success they would not let you But while the white stars shine above, The boys you led will ne er forget you ! Yes, oh captain ! loved and true, Desert you we would perish rather; Thank Heaven the hearts are not a few That call you brother, friend, and lather 1 FIRST DIVISION SECOND ARMY COUPS, t IN THE FIELD, September 5. \ ( Continued from second column, second page.) It yokes the captive s neck, And wipes the bloody stains. Tear down the flaunting lie ! Half-mast the starry flag* Insult no sunny sky With hate s polluted rag ! Destroy it ye who can ! Deep sink it in the waves ! It bears a fellow-man To groan with fellow-slaves. Furl the boasted lie ! Till freedom lives again, To rule once more in truth, Among untrammelled men. Roll up the starry sheen, Conceal its bloody stains ; For in its folds are seen The stamp of rustling chains ! Political and Military Policy of the "Democratic Party," The policy of the Administration having been recently epitomized and promulgated anew by the highest officer of the government, it has struck us that its character may be best illustrated by con trast; just, as an unskilful architect is best discred ited hy erecting a shapely edifice beside his mis- proportioned structure. After deciding to adopt this method, we were somewhat at a loss, from the fact that no statement of our own would carry that weight of authority which could entitle it to lie considered as an exposition of Democratic doctrine worthy to be set in contrast with a manifesto from the President of the United States. Our National Convention lias not yet spoken ; and of the emi nent statesmen of the party some, like ex-Presi dent PIERCE, Mr. CTUTHRIE, and Mr. GUSHING, have, made no public utterances since the outbreak of the war ; while others, like Governor SEYMOUR and our ablest members of Congress, have gone into these subjects with a copiousness of argument and a force of just invective, which renders it diffi cult to extract a compendious statement of Demo cratic policy, without, on the one hand, a compres sion which would do injustice to their eloquence, or, on the other, a profusion which would exceed our limits. Besides, among the expounders of the Democratic faith there are some divergencies of " To whom it may Concern," It is impossible to overrate the importance of President LINCOLN S letter to the Niagara com missioners. It is a public announcement by the Chief Magistrate of the nation that he has aban doned, finally, all pretence or appearance of waging a constitutional war for the restoratio n of the territorial integrity of the Union, and the su premacy of its fundamental laws ; and an open declaration that hereafter it shall be waged for the destruction of slavery. His policy has long tended in this direction, but he has concealed its real pur port by double-faced acts and specious language. He has looked one way and rowed another. Now he avows his purpose. Now he declares his long- concealed policy. He has been assiduously pros tituting the war for the Union into a war for the abolition of slavery. Now he avows this prostitu tion, and glories in it. MR. LINCOLN did not write his "To whom it may concern " letter without a purpose. He is a buifoon, but he is no fool His purpose was a per sonal one. It was to recover the radical vote and support in time for the next November election. The radicals have distrusted him. The most hon est and sincere anti-slavery men among them have long had no confidence in Mr. LINCOLN S moral integrity, and therefore no confidence in his avow als of anti-slavery sentiments. They have there- 4 (Continued from first column, third page.) opinion not quite consistent with that harmony of impression which would best contribute to con- ; certed action. In view of these circumstances, it has seemed to us that a succinct and satisfactory statement of the Democratic policy could be more easily selected from the writings of General McClcllan than from any other source not requiring abridgment | to bring it within a moderate compass, or a bal- i ancing of different authorities to render it accepta- ; Me to the whole party. A noted French critic of j the last century propounded a theory of beauty, j Avhk h, whatever its merits, will serve us a good | turn for illustration. This critic, who was Sccrc- j tary to the Academy, held that beauty consisted in j the mean or average of all things of the same , kind. A beautiful human face, for example, was ; a face neither too long nor too short, neither too j smooth in its outline nor too sharp, neither too j fixed nor too mobile ; a face, in short, which bore j n nearer resemblance to all other human faces than j they bear to each other, as if nature, in fashioning j the others, had shot all around the mark, and in ; this alone had exactly hit it. This theory of j beauty is like what we call common sense, the rarest and the most readily appreciated of all men tal endowments. He who possesses it will always rind his opinion agreeing more nearly with that of every man in the company, than the other opin ions do with one another. So it has struck us that a collection of the purely political passages in j General McClellan s orders, etc., would form an | exposition of the Democratic policy which hits it so exactly in the middle as to show to the party the mark at which all other expounders have been aiming ; some with nearly equal skill, some with less. This eminent citizen and soldier having been selected by the Administration for the peculiar ob ject of its hostility and venom, as signalized by more than two years of persistent persecution, the Democratic party naturally recognizes merit deemed by Mr. Lincoln so dangerous to his pre tensions. Besides, the relations which General McClellan has, by his profession, held to the war, and his fidelity to Democratic principles, have placed him in a stand-point favorable for judging of the conjoint bearing of political and military considerations, neither of which can be omitted in a just estimate of public affairs whefl the country is engaged in a great war. Touching upon these subjects only in the way of statement, without argumentative expansion, the soldier-like directness of General McClellan s style secures the brevity we were in quest of when the idea of this selection occurred to us. We begin with the ear liest of General McClellan s manifestoes, to show that neither complaisance towards the Administra tion in the beginning, nor a sense of its subsequent injustice has had the slightest influence on his opinions, which are the evident fruit of a clear head, a magnanimous spirit, and great rectitude of understanding. The following is from his Ad dress to the people of Western Virginia when he crossed into their State, in the spring of 1861 : The general government has heretofore carefully ab stained from sending troops across the Ohio, or even from posting them along its banks, although frequently urged by rmmy of your prominent citizens to do so. It determined to await the result of the State election, de- sironx that no one might be able to say that the slightest effort h id been m-idefrom this si/le to influence the free expression of your opinions, although the many agencies brpught to bear upon you by the rebels were well known. ( Continued from second column, third page.) fore deserted the Republican party, nominated a candidate, and laid down a platform of their own. They threatened to divide the Republican vote, and so insure the success of the Democratic candi date. Mr. LINCOLN hoped to recoA r er their confi dence and their support in the coming election by an avowal which would satisfy the most exacting. Mr. Lincoln, therefore, seized the very first occa sion, a fitting one for his purpose, the* first over tures of peace by men high in the confidence or employ of the Confederate government, and de clared that " the abandonment of slavery " must be the condition sine qua non of anv peace proposi tions from the political and military chiefs of the rebellion. He repudiates every public declaration which he has hitherto made regarding the pur poses of the war and the means oi its conclusion, openly and with an utter moral shamelessness. He was pledged to other plans and other principles by every official oath, private avowal, and public declaration which could be framed to constrain the conscience or determine the acts of a man, a par tisan, or a magistrate. He has broken his oaths and repudiated these avowals with never so much as a regretful or explanatory or condoling allusion. The Republican Convention at Chicago, which nominated Mr. Lincoln, passed this resolution : -+ Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions accord ing to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend, and we denounce the law less invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes. In his Niagara letter, Mr. Lincoln declares that the control over the domestic institutions of the States, confirmed to them in our Constitution and in the Confederate Constitution not less explicitly, shall be assumed by " an authority that can control the armies now at war against the United States," and transferred to him who now controls the ar mies and navies of the United States, and that otherwise he will not listen to overtures of peace. In his inaugural, President Lincoln quoted from one of his own speeches, and reiterated this decla ration : I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. I now reiterate these sentiments, and in doing so I only press upon the pub lic attention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is susceptible that the property, peace, and security of no section are to be in any wise endangered by the now incoming administration. Mr. Lincoln now justifies the rebels in disbeliev ing these solemn asseverations, by proving that they were false. He now does what he then de clared he had no lawful right to do, and, for the sake of reelection, confesses the inclination which he then disavowed. In his first message to Congress, at the extra session in the summer of 1861, Mr. Lincoln said: Lest there be some uneasiness in the minds of can did men as to what is to be the course of the govern ment toward the Southern States after the rebellion shall have been suppressed, the executive deems it proper to say it will be his purpose then, as ever, to be guided by the Constitution and the laws ; and that he probably will have no different understanding of the powers and duties of the Federal Government rela- (Continued from first column, fourth page.} You have now shown under the most adverse circum stances, that the great mass of the people of Western Virginia are true and loyal to that beneficent govern ment under which we and our forefathers have lived so long. As soon as the result of the election was known, the traitors commenced their work of destruction. The general government cannot close its ear to the demand you have made for assistance. I hare, ordered troops to cross the river. They come an yo-ur friends and brothers . as enemies only to armed rebels who are preying upon you. Your homes, your families, and your property are i? ale under our protection. All your rights shall be re ligiously respected, notwithstanding alt that has been faidbytfie traitors to induce you to believe our adcent among you will be signalized Ly an interference with your slaves. Understand one thing clearly : not only will we, abstain from ail such interference, but we will, on the contrary, with an iron hand, crush any attempt at insurrection on their part. It is proper to state that the italics in this and the following extracts are a liberty which we have taken with the original. We desire, by this means, to fix attention on the idea, so often insisted upon by General McClellan, that the war should be so conducted as to foster whatever of loyal sentiment remained in the South, and to interpose no need less obstacles to the resumption of fraternal rela tions at its close. It stands to common sense that the Union, even if it could be restored, would be worthless on any other basis than kindly relations and mutual good-will. We do not want subjugat ed and sullen provinces, lying in wait to rise in a new revolt at the first outbreak of a foreign war. When General McClellan was invested with the chief command, it became his duty to prepare in structions for the commanders of departments. The political passages in these exhibit the steadi ness of purpose with which he carried out his ideas. To General Halleck : In regard to the political conduct of affairs you will please labor to impress upon the inhabitants of Mis souri and the adjacent States, that we are fighting solely for the integrity of the Union, to uphold the power of our national government, and to restore to the nation the blessings oj peace and good order. To General Buell : And it is absolutely necessary that we shall hold all the State of Kentucky; not only that, but that the ma jority of its inhabitants fhall be warmly in favor of our cause, it being that which best subserves their ipterests. It is possible that the conduct of our political affairs in Kentucky is more important than that of our military operations. I certainly cannot overestimate the im portance of the former. You will please constantly bear in mind the precise issue for which we are fighting that issue is the preservation of the Union and the res toration of the authority of the general government over all portions of our territory. We shall most readily suppress this rebellion, and restore the authority of the government by religiously respecting the constitutional rights of all. I know that I express the feelings arid opinions of the President when 1 say that we are fight ing only to preserve the integrity of the Union and the constitutional authority of the general government. The inhabitants of Kentucky may rely upon it that their domestic institutions will in no manner be inter fered with, and that they will receive at our hands every constitutional protection. I have only to repeat that you .will, in all respects, carefully regard the local in stitutions of the region in which you command, allow ing nothing but the dictates of military necessity to cause you to depart from the spirit of these instructions. To General Buell again : In regard to political matters, bear in mind that we are fighting only to preserve the integrity of the Union, and to uphold the general government; as far as mil itary necessity will permit, religiously respect the con stitutional rights of all. Preserve the strictest disci pline among the troops, and while employing the utmost energy in military movements, be careful so to treat the unarmed inhabitants as to contract, not widen, the breach existing between us and the rebels. I mean by this, that it in the desire of the government to avoid ( Continued from second column, fourth page.) tively to the rights of the States and the people, under the Constitution, than that expressed in the inaugural address. He desires to preserve the government that it may be administered for all, as it was administered by the men who made it. Loyal citizens everywhere have the right to claim this of their government, and the government has no right to withhold or neglect it. It is not perceived that, in giving it, there is any coercion, any conquest, or any subjugation, in any just sense of those terms. Now, avowing that the abandonment of slavery shall precede the acceptance of overtures of peace, Mr. Lincoln s message can be interpreted only as the confession that he is doing what "loyal citi zens " have a right to protect against his* doing, and what he violates the Constitution and the laws of the United States in doing. In August, 1862, Mr. Lincoln wrote to Mr. Greeley : My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either save or destroy slavery. If 1 could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving oth ers alone, I would also do that. What. 1 do about sla very and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union ; and what I forbear, I forbear be cause I do dot believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shaH believe that what I am. doing hurts the cause ; and I shall do more whenever I believe doing- more will help the cause. Mr. Lincoln s last letter to Mr. Greeley declares two objects of the war, without which it shall not cease, " the integrity of the whole Union, and the abandonment of slavery/ He does not base the latter upon the former, as effect upon cause. Each is the coequal and coordinate of the other. His paramount object is not now to " save the Union, and either to save or destroy slavery." He avows openly that slavery must be destroyed as well as the Union saved. The salvation of the Union is not even professed to be the exclusive and para mount object. In his preliminary " Proclamation of Freedom," issued September, 1862, Mr. Lincoln said: That hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prose cuted for the object of practically restoring the consti tutional relation between the United States and each of the States and the people thereof, in which States that relation is or may be suspended or disturbed. Mr. Lincoln now avows that hereafter the war shall be prosecuted for the object of practically compelling " the abandonment of slavery," even after the integrity of the Union may be restored, for even the Chicago platform declared that in a " constitutional relation," freedom was national and slavery sectional, and even Mr. Lincoln will not pretend that to compel " the abandonment of slavery" is to "restore the constitutional relation between the United States and each of the States and the people thereof." On December 12, 1862, Mr. Lincoln wrote to the Hon. Fernando Wood : Understanding the phrase in the paragraph above quoted, "the Southern States would send representa tives to the next Congress," to be substantially the same as that " the people of the Southern States would cease resistance, and would reinaugurate, submit to ; and maintain the national authority within the limits of such States, under the Constitution of the United States," I say that in such case the war should cease on the part of the United States ; and that, if within a reasonable time " a full and general amnesty " were necessary to such end, it would not be withheld. At the very first overture of peace from any peo ple of the Southern States, Mr. Lincoln is now so 6 ( Continued f>-om first column, fifth page.) unnecessary irritation by causeless arrests and persecu tion of individuals. Whore there is good reason to be lieve that persons are actually giving aid, comfort, or information to the enemy, it is, of course, necessary to arre.-t them : but I have always found it is the tendency of subordinates to make vexatious arrests on mere sus picion. You will find it well to direct that no arrests shall be made except by your order, or that of your generals, unless in extraordinary cases, always holding the party making the arrest responsible for the propriety of his cour.-e. It should be our constant aim to make. it apparent to all that tlu-ir property, their comfort, and their personal safety, will be best preserved by adhering to the cause of the Union. It is apparent in* the persistent earnestness of these inculcations, that the ideas with which Gen- ,eral McClellan had entered on his brilliant cam paign in Western Virginia, were deeply rooted convictions. It is also apparent from intimations in these extracts, that he had (or thought that he had) the concurrence and approval of the Presi dent. "When he had discovered that the constitu tionalism with which Mr. Lincoln hud professed to begin his administration was like the morning cloud or the early dew, he sent to him the urgent representations contained in the well-known letter from Harrison s Landing. We insert an extract : This rebellion has assumed the character of war; as such it should be regarded; and it should be conducted upon the highest principles known to Christum civiliza tion. It should not l/e a, war looking to the subjugation of the, people of any State in any event. It should not be at all a war upon populations, but against armed forces and political organizations. Neither confiscation of property, political executions of persons, territorial or ganization of States nor forcible abolition of slavery, should be contemplated for a moment. In prosecuting the war, all private property and unarmed persons should be strictly protected, subject only to the necessity of military operations. All private property taken for military use should be paid or receipted for ; pillage and waste should be treated as high crimes ; all unnecessary trespass sternly prohibited, and offensive demeanor by the military towards citizens promptly rebuked. Military arrests should not be tolerated, except in places where active hogttiitiea exist, and oaths not required by enactments constitutionally made, should be neither de manded nor received. Military government should be confined to the preservation of public order and the rotection of political rights. Military power slum Id not e allowed to interfere with the relations of servitude, cither by supporting or impairing the authority of the master, except for suppressing disorder, as in other cases. Slaves contraband under the act of Congress seeking military pi otection, should receive it. The right of the government to nppropriate permanently to its own service claims to slave labor, should be asserted, and the right of the owner to compensation therefor bhould be recognized. We will bring these extracts to a conclusion by inserting passages from recent popular addresses on occasions which permitted only incidental allu- gions to politics. Prom the West Point oration : It [the Constitution] wa accepted as giving us a form of government under which the nation might live hap pily ami prosper, so long as the people should continue to be influenced by the same sentiments which actu ated those who formed it; and which would not be liable to destruction from internal causes, so long as the people preserved the recollection of the miseries nnd calamities which led to its adoption. Under this beneficial Constitution the progress of tiie nation was unsurpassed in history. The rights and liberties of its citizens were secured at home and abroad; vast territo ries were rescued from the control of the savage and wild beasts, and added to the domain of the Union and civilization. The arts, the sciences, and commerce grew apace; our fl ig floated upon every sea, and we took our place among the great nations of the earth. But under this smooth surface of prosperity upon which we glided swiftly, with all the sails set before the com mon breeze, dangerous reefs were hidden, which now aiid then caused ripplew upon the surface, and made pr be ( Continued from second column, fifth page.) far from being inclined to a full and general am nesty that he imposes a new and impossible con dition of peace. An impossible condition, we say, not merely because it is impossible for us with all our armies to compel the abandonment of slavery, but because it is much worse than impossible for those who " control the armies now at war " Avith us to assume to themselves and then transfer to Mr. Lincoln the control of a subject over which neither of them has the least authority either in the federal or rebel constitutions. Instead of that professed approval of an amnesty, he now spurns the very first lispings of peace. A little more than a year ago Mr. Lincoln seized the occasion of the meeting of the Republi can Convention at Springfield to declare himself, still more emphatically than ever, as waging the war exclusively to save the Union. He had been charged with waging it for abolition purposes, and his reply was : You say you will not fight to free negroes. Some of them seem willing to fight for you. But no matter; fight you then exclusively to save the Union. I issued the proclamation on purpose to aid you in saving the Union. Whenever you shall have conquered all resist ance to the Union, if I shall urge you to continue fight ing, it tmll be an apt time then for you to declare you will not fight to free negroes. President Lincoln has now justified the declara tion that the Northern people will not fight to free negroes. He makes abolition the yoke-fellow of Union, and does urge the continuance of fighting for other purposes than the only one which is lawful or attainable. He thus falsifies every pledge, disregards every declaration, and violates his official oath. Collate this " To whom it may concern " letter with Mr. Lincoln s past declarations and avowals, and it will be difficult to restrain within decorous language the sense of moral indignation which arises in contemplating its unblushing and shame less perjury. Lighter terms do not fit. His first official act was an oath, a solemn oath, calculated to bind the conscience of an honorable man and restrain the acts of a dishonorable one. Many times has Mr. Lincoln violated his oath. Let the political causists defend him. Now he violates his oath openly and publishes his shame. His own words in past time, denying to himself any such purpose as he is now accomplishing, are all that is necessary to convict him of perjury. Other commentary is needless. Political opponents can afford to be dumb. Out of his own mouth is the President condemned. He has again and again disclaimed that the object of the war was abolition ; he has again and again characterized such a pros titution of the war for the Union as lawless jiTul wicked ; he has accepted the pledges of his party, whose platform disavowed any such purpose in its creed or hopes as abolition by the Federal Govern ment ; to his party, to the public, to Congress, he has reiterated these disavowals, to foreign nations, by the pen of his Secretary of State, he has de clared the same tiling, branded such a purpose as unconstitutional, and declared its impossibility of accomplishment, even if united in by Congress, the people, and the executive, for the reason that judicial authority would be interposed to prevent it. Said Mr. Seward, in the well-known Dayton letter : It is hardly necessary to add to this incontestable statement [that the rights of the States and the condi tion of every human being iu them would remain the ( Continued from first column, sixth page.) anxious the most careful of pilots. Elated by success, the ship swept on, the crew not heeding 1 the warn ings they received, forgetful of the dangers escaped at the beginning of the voyage, and blind to the hideous maelstrom which gaped to receive them. The same elements of discord, sectional prejudices, interests, and institutions which had rendered the formation of the Constitution so difficult, threatened more than once to destroy it. But for a long time the nation was so fortunate as to possess a series of politi cal leaders, who to the highest abilities united the same spirit of conciliation which animated the founders of this republic, and thus for many years the threat ened evils were averted. Time, and the long continu ance of good fortune, obliterated the recollection of the calamities of years preceding the adoption of the Con stitution. They forget that conciliation, common inter ests, and mutual charity, had been, the foundation, and must be the support, of our government and all the rela tions of life. At length men appeared with abuse, sec tional and personal prejudices, and interests outweigh ing all considerations of the general good. Extremists of one section furnished the occasion, eagerly seized as a pretext by equally extreme men in the other, for abandoning the pacific remedies afforded by the Consti tution. Stripped of all sophistry and side issues, the. direct cause of the war, as it presented itself to the honest and patriotic citizens of the North, was simply this : Certain States, or rather a portion of the inhabitants of certain States, feared, or professed to fear, that in jury would result to their rights and property from the elevation of a particular party to power. Although the Constitution and the actual condition of the govern ment provided them with a peaceable and sure protec tion against the apprehended evil, they prepared to seek security in the destruction of the government which could protect them, and in the use of force against National troops holding a National fortress. To efface the insult offered to our flag, to save ourselves from the fate of the divided Republics of Italy and South America; to preserve our government from de struction; to enforce its just power and laws; to main tain our very existence as a nation, these were the causes which impelled us to draw the sword. Rebellion against a government like ours, uihich contains within itself the means of self-adjustment and a pacific remedy for rvils, should never be confounded ivith a revolution against despotic power, wliicli refuses redress of wrongs. Such a rebellion cannot be justified upon ethical grounds, and the only alternative for our choice are its suppres sion or the destruction of our nationality. From the Lake George speech : I am confident that you will never consent willingly to be citizens of a divided and degraded nation; but that you will so support the action of your fellow-coun trymen in the field, that we shall be victorious, and again have peace and a i;e-united country; when the heart* of the Xorth and th& South shall again beat in unison, as they did in the good old times of the Revolu tion ; when our Union and Constitution shall be as firm as the mountains which encircle this lovely lake, and the future of the Republic shall be as serene and pure as the waters of Horican when 110 breeze ripples its surface. We find that we have only space to add that if there has been made, during this war, any exposi tion of Democratic doctrine more consistent with itself, more statesmanlike in conception, or more likely to command the universal assent of conser vative men, than this which we have now laid be fore our readers, it has not been our good fortune to meet it. ( Continued from second column, sixth page.) same, the rebellion succeeding or failing] the further fact that the new President, as well as the citizens through whose suffrage he has come into the adminis tration, has always repudiated all designs whatever and wherever imputed to him and them of disturbing the system of slavery as it is existing under the Constitu tion and the laws. The case, however, would not be fully presented if I were to omit to say that any such effort on his part would be unconstitutional, and all his actions in that direction would be prevented by the ju dicial authority, even though they were assented to by Congress and the people. Could language be more explicit? Yet com pare this with Mr. Lincoln s Niagara letter. He does thus interfere with slavery. He persists in keeping thirty millions of people at war rather than listen to an overture of peace in which the abandonment of slavery is not the key-note, and yet has thus publicly and officially avowed, over and over again, his repudiation of purposes now dis closed, and the lawless character of acts now boldly done. The coup d &at does not show a more shocking political immorality. Other Presidents have been inconsistent, contradictory, and illogical. Mr. Lincoln is the first President who has dared to do that which, when charged upon him, he had before, repudiated, branded as lawless, as a perjury, and as a crime. Louis Napoleon shed some blood to get power, violated some oaths, broke some pledges. But he broke not half so many as Abra ham Lincoln has confessedly broken, and where the present Emperor shed rills of blood the pres ent President will pour rivers, if thirty millions of people are to be kept waging the bloodiest and most gigantic of the world s civil wars until the South surrenders its property, its prejudices, and its local self-government. The Baltimore Convention, which renominatcd Mr. Lincoln, resolved, That we approve the determination of the govern? ment of the United States not to compromise with reb els, or to offer any terms of peace except such as may be based upon an unconditional surrender of their hos tility, and a return to their first allegiance to the Con stitution and laws of the United States; and that we call upon the government to maintain their position and to prosecute the war with the utmost possible vigor to the complete suppression of the rebellion, in full re liance upon the self-sacrificing 1 patriotism, the heroic valor, and the undying devotion of the American peo ple to their country and its free institutions. Even the Convention " of office-holders and con tractors," as they were dubbed by one of his own organs ; even the men of corruption and of shoddy who renomiuated Mr. Lincoln, made but one con dition to peace " the unconditional surrender of hostility," which can only mean the restoration of the authority and integrity of the Union. To this single condition Mr. Lincoln subjoins " the aban donment of slavery." And the limes, his own organ, confesses that the people will not sustain him in demanding that ultimatum. Indeed, they will not. What right has the President to plant an insurmountable barrier in the paths of peace ? WATCHWORDS FOR PATRIOTS. MOTTOES FOB THE CAMPAIGN, SELECTED FROM GENEKAL McCLELIiAN S WRITINGS. The true issue for which we are fighting is the preservation of the Union and upholding the laws of the general government. Instructions to General J3urn- side, January 7, 1862. We are fighting solely for the integrity of the Union, to uphold the power of our national government, and to restore to the nation tne blessings of peace and good order. Instructions to General Halleck, November 11, 1861. You will please constantly to bear in mind the precise issue for which we are fighting ; that issue is the preservation of the Union and the restoration of the full authority of the general government over all portions of our territory. Instruc tions to General Bucll, November 7, 1861. We shall most readily suppress this rebellion and restore the authority of the government by religiously respecting the constitutional rights of all. Instructions to General JBuell, November 7, 1861. Be careful so to treat the unarmed inhabitants as to contract, not widen, the breach existing between us and the* rebels. Instructions to General J3uell, November 12, 1861. I have always found that it is the tendency of subordinates to make vexatious arrrests on mere suspicion. Instructions to General JSuell, November 12, 1861. Say as little as possible about politics or the negro. Instructions to General Burnside, January 7, 1862. The unity of this nation, the preservation of our institutions, are so dear to me that I have willingly sacrificed my pi-irate happiness with the single object of doing my duty to my country. Letter to Secretary Cameron, October, 1861. Whatever the determination of the Government may be, I will do the best I can with the Army of the Potomac, and will share its fate, whatever may be the task imposed upon me. Letter to Secretary Cameron, October, 1861. Neither confiscation- of property, political executions of persons, territorial or ganization of States, nor forcible abolition of slavery should be contemplated for a moment. Letter to President Lincoln, July 7, 1862. In prosecuting this war, all private property and unarmed persons should be strictly protected, subject to the necessity of miltary operations. Letter to the President, July 7, 1862. Military arrests should not be tolerated, except in places where active hostilities exist; and oaths, not required by enactments constitutionally made, should be neither demand nor received. Letter to the President, July 7, 1862. A declaration of radical views, -especially upon slavery, will rapidly disintegrate our present armies. Letter to the President, July 7, 1862. If it is not deemed best to entrust me with the command even of my own army, I simply ask to be permitted to share their fate on the.field of battle. Dis patch to General Ilalleck, August 30, 1862. In the arrangement and conduct of campaigns the direction should be left to professional soldiers. General McClelland Report. By pursuing the political course I have always advised, it is possible to bring about a permanent restoration of the Union a re-union by which the rights of both sections shall be preserved, and by which both parties shall preserve their self- respect, while they respect each other. General McClellaris Report. I am devoutly grateful to God that my last campaign was crowned with a vic tory which saved the nation from the greatest peril it had then undergone. Gen eral McClellaris Report. At such a time as this, and in such a struggle, political partisanship should be merged in a true and brave patriotism, which thinks only of the good of the whole country. General McClellaris West Point Oration. FOURTEEN DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED APR ~6 1962 240ct LD 21-100m-2, 55 (B139s22)476 General Library University of California Berkeley Pamphlet 4 Binder Gaylord Bros., Inc. Stockton, Calif. .M. Reg. U.S.Pat. LIBRARIES CD3flS110b3 ^ THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY