Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held at New York, July 4-9, 1868.: Reported by George Wakeman, official reporter of the Convention.

OFFICIAL PROCEEDIYGS OF THE Letter of Acceptance from Hon. Horatio Seymour. UTICA, August 4. GENTLE.EN: When, in the city of New York on the 11th of July, in the presence of a vast multitude, on behalf of the National Democratic Conven tion, you tendered to me its unanimous nomination as its candidate for the office of President of the United States, I stated I had no words "adequate to express my gratitude for the good-will and kindness which that body had shown to me. Its nomination was unsought and unexpected. It was my ambition to take an active part, from which I am now excluded, in the great struggle going on for the restoration of good government, of peace and prosperity to our country. But I have been caught up by the whelming tide which is bearing us on to a great political change, and I find myself unable to resist its pressure. You have also given me a copy of the resolutions put forth by the Convention, showing its position upon all the great questions which now agitate the country. As the presiding officer of that Convention, I am familiar with their scope and import; as one of its members, I am a party to their terms. They are in accord with my views, and I stand uponl them in the contest upon which we are now entering, and shall strive to carry them out in future, wherever I may be placed in political or private life." I then stated that I would send you these words of acceptance in a letter, as is the customary form. I see no reason, upon reflection, to change or qualify the terms of my approval of the resolutions of the Convention. I have delayed the mere formal act of communicating to you in writing what I thus publicly said, for the purpose of seeing what light the action of Congress would throw upon the interests of the country. Its acts, since the adjournment of the Convention, show an alarm lest a change of political power will give to the people what they ought to have, - a clear statement of what has been done with the money drawn from them during the past eight years. Thoughtful men feel that there have been wrongs in the financial manag,ement which have been kept from the public knowledge. The Congressional party has not only allied itself with military power, which is to be brought to bear directly upon the elections in many States, but it also holds itself in perpetual session, with the avowed purpose of making such laws as it shall see fit, in view of the elections which will take place within a few weeks. It did not, therefore, adjourn, but took a recess, to meet again if its partisan interests shall demand its reassembling. Never before in the history of our country has Congress thus taken a menacing attitude towards its electors. Under its influence, some of the States organized by its agents are proposing to deprive the people of the right to vote for Presidential electors, and tho first bold steps are taken to destroy the rights of suffrage. It is not strange, therefore, that thoughtful men see in such action the proof that there are with those who shape the policy of the Republican party, mnotives stronger and deeper than the mere wish to hold political power; that there is a dread of some exposure which drives them on to acts so desperate and impolitic. Many of the ablest leaders and journals of the Republican party have openly deplored the violence of congressional action, and its tendency to keep up discord in our country. The great interests of our Union demand 176

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Title
Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held at New York, July 4-9, 1868.: Reported by George Wakeman, official reporter of the Convention.
Author
Democratic National Convention
Canvas
Page 176
Publication
Boston,: Rockwell & Rollins, printers,
1868.
Subject terms
Campaign literature -- United States

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"Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held at New York, July 4-9, 1868.: Reported by George Wakeman, official reporter of the Convention." In the digital collection Making of America Books. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ahm4870.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 1, 2025.
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