legislature as unconstitutional: who has per- Grant to the confidence of the American people, sistently and corruptly resisted, by every means and believing that its victories under his guidance in his power, every proper attempt at the re- in war will be illustrated by him in peace by construction of the States lately in rebellion; such measures as shall secure the fruits of our who has perverted the public patronage into an exertions and the restoration of the Union upon engine of wholesale corruption; and who has a loyal basis, we declare it as our deliberate conbeen justly impeached for high crimes and mis-viction that he is the choice of the soldiers and demeanors, and properly pronounced guilty thereof by the vote of thirty-five Senators. sailors of the Union for the office of President of the United States. 9. The doctrine of Great Britain and other Eu- 2. That in the maintenance of those principles ropean powers, that because a man is once a which underlie our Government, and for which subject he is always so, must be resisted at every we fought during four years, we pledge our hazard by the United States, as a relic of feudal earnest and active support to the Republican times, not authorized by the laws of nations, party as the only political organization which, and at war with our national honor and inde-in our judgment, is true to the principles of loypendence. Naturalized citizens are entitled to alty and equality before the law. protection in all their rights of citizenship, as though they were native-born; and no citizen of the United States, native or naturalized, must be liable to arrest and imprisonment by any foreign power for acts done or words spoken in this country; and, if so arrested and imprisoned, it is the duty of the Government to interfere in his behalf. 10. Of all who were faithful in the trials of the late war, there were none entitled to more especial honor than the brave soldiers and seamen who endured the hardships of campaign and cruise, and imperilled their lives in the service of the country; the bounties and pensions provided by the laws for these brave defenders of the nation are obligations never to be forgotten; the widows and orphans of the gallant dead are the wards of the people-a sacred legacy bequeathed to the nation's protecting care. 3. That speaking for ourselves and the soldiers and sailors who imperilled their lives to preserve the Union, we believe that the impeachment of Andrew Johnson by the House of Representatives, for high crimes and misdemeanors in office, and his trial before the United States Senate, have presented unmistakable proofs of his guilt, and that whatever may be the judgment of the tribunal before which he is arraigned, the verdict of guilty has been rendered by the people, and we regard any Senator who has voted for acquittal as falling short of the proper discharge of his duty in this hour of the nation's trial, and as unworthy of the confidence of a brave and loyal people. 4. That the soldiers and sailors recognize no difference between native and adopted citizens, and they demand that the Government shall protect naturalized citizens abroad as well as those of native birth. LICAN NOMINEES. 11. Foreign immigration, which in the past has added so much to the wealth, development, LETTERS OF ACCEPTANCE OF THE REPUBand resources, and increase of power to this republic, the asylum of the oppressed of all na. tions, should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy. 12. This convention declares itself in sympathy with all oppressed peoples struggling for their rights. 13. That we highly commend the spirit of magnanimity and forbearance with which men who have served in the rebellion, but who now frankly and honestly coöperate with us in restoring the peace of the country and reconstructing the southern State governments upon the basis of impartial justice and equal rights, are received back into the communion of the loyal people; and we favor the removal of the disqualifications and restrictions imposed upon the late rebels in the same measure as the spirit of disloyalty will die out, and as may be consistent with the safety of the loyal people. 14. That we recognize the great principles laid down in the immortal Declaration of Independence, as the true foundation of democratic gov ernment; and we hail with gladness every effort toward making these principles a living reality on every inch of American soil. Soldiers and Sailors' National Convention, at 1. Resolved, That the soldiers and sailors, steadfast now as ever to the Union and the flag, and fully recognizing the claims of General Ulysses S. General Grant's Letter. WASHINGTON, D. C., May 29, 1868. General JOSEPH R. HAWLEY, President Nat. Union Republican Convention: In formally accepting the nomination of the National Union Republican Convention of the 21st of May instant, it seems proper that somə statement of views beyond the mere acceptance of the nomination should be expressed. The proceedings of the convention were marked with wisdom, moderation, and patriotism, and I believe express the feelings of the great mass of those who sustained the country through its recent trials. I endorse their resolutions. If elected to the office of President of the United States, it will be my endeavor to administer all the laws in good faith, with economy, and with the view of giving peace, quiet, and protection everywhere. In times like the present it is imdown a policy to be adhered to, right or wrong, possible, or at least eminently improper, to lay through an administration of four years. New political issues, not foreseen, are constantly arising; the views of the public on old ones are constantly changing, and a purely administrative officer should always be left free to execute the will of the people. I always have respected that will and always shall. Peace and universal prosperity, its sequence, with economy of administration, will lighten the burden of taxation, while it constantly reduces | living brethren in the enjoyment of that nationthe national debt. Let us have peace. ality, for which, side by side with the nativeWith great respect, your obedient servant, born, our soldiers of foreign birth laid down U. S. GRANT. their lives. Mr. Colfax's Letter. Hon. J. R. HAWLEY, President Nat. Union Republican Convention. DEAR SIR: The platform adopted by the patriotic convention over which you presided, and the resolutions which so happily supplement it, so entirely agree with my views as to a just national policy, that my thanks are due to the delegates, as much for this clear and auspicious declaration of principles as for the nomination with which I have been honored, and which I gratefully accept. When a great rebellion, which imperilled the national existence, was at last overthrown, the duty of all others devolving on those intrusted with the responsibilities of legislation evidently was to require that the revolted States should be readmitted to participation in the Government against which they had warred only on such a basis as to increase and fortify, not to weaken or endanger, the strength of the nation. Certainly no one ought to have claimed that they should be readmitted under such rules that their organization as States could ever again be used, as at the opening of the war, to defy the national authority, or to destroy the national unity. This principle has been the pole star of those who have inflexibly insisted on the congressional policy your convention so cordially endorsed. Baffled by executive opposition, and by persistent refusals to accept any plan of reconstruction proffered by Congress, justice and public safety at last combined to teach us that only by an enlargement of suffrage in those States could the desired end be attained, and that it was even more safe to give the ballot to those who loved the Union than to those who had sought ineffectually to destroy it. The assured success of this legislation is being written on the adamant of history, and will be our triumphant vindication. More clearly, too, than ever before does the nation now recognize that the greatest glory of a republic is, that it throws the shield of its protection over the humblest and the weakest of its people, and vindicates the rights of the poor and the powerless as faithfully as these of the rich and the powerful. I rejoice, too, in this convention, to find in your platform the frank and fearless avowal that the naturalized citizens must be protected abroad, "at every hazard, as though they were native-born." Our whole people are foreigners or descendants of foreigners. Our fathers established by arms their right to be called a nation. It remains for us to establish the right to welcome to our shores all who are willing by oaths of allegiance to become American citizens. Perpetual allegiance, as claimed abroad, is only another name for perpetual bondage, and would make all slaves to the soil where first they saw the light. Our national cemeteries prove how faithfully these oaths of fidelity to their adopted land have been sealed in the life blood of thousands upon thousands. Should we not then be faithless to the dead if we did not protect their It was fitting, too, that the representatives of a party which had proved so true to national duty in time of war should speak so clearly in time of peace for the maintenance untarnished faith as regards its debt, the cost of our national of national honor, national credit, and good existence. comment on a platform which has elicited such I do not need to extend this reply by further hearty approval throughout the land. The debt of gratitude it acknowledges to the brave men who saved the Union from destruction-the frank approval of amnesty based on repentance and loyalty the demand for the most thorough economy and honesty in the Government-the sympathy of the party of liberty with all throughout the world who long for the liberty we here enjoy-and the recognition of the sublime principles of the Declaration of Indepenbanners they are to be written in the coming dence, are worthy of the organization on whose contest. Its past record cannot be blotted out or forgotten. If there had been no Republican party, slavery would to-day cast its baleful shadow over the republic. If there had been no Republican party, a free press and free speech would be as unknown from the Potomac to the Rig Grande as ten years ago. If the Republican party could have been stricken from existence when the banner of rebellion was unfurled, and when the response of "no coercion" was heard at the North, we would have had no nation today. But for the Republican party daring to risk the odium of tax and draft laws, our flag could not have been kept flying on the field till the long-looked-for victory came. Without a Republican party, the civil rights bill, the guarantee of equality under the law to the humble and the defenceless as well as to the strong, would not be to-day upon our national statute-book. With such inspirations from the past, and following the example of the founders of the republic, who called the victorious general of the Revolution to preside over the land his triumphs had saved from its enemies, I cannot doubt that our labors will be crowned with success. And it will be a success that will bring restored hope, confidence, prosperity and progress, South as well as North, West as well as East, and above all, the blessings under Providence of national concord and peace. Very truly, yours, SCHUYLER COLFAX. The nomination of General Grant was made on the first ballot. That of Mr. Colfax occurred on the fifth ballot, as follows: Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana. 115 Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine. 28 25 25 Democratic, at New York, July.* The Democratic Party, in National Convention assembled, reposing its trust in the intelligence, patriotism, and discriminating justice of the people, standing upon the Constitution as the foundation and limitation of the powers of the Government, and the guarantee of the liberties of the citizen, and recognizing the questions of slavery and secession as having been settled, for all time to come, by the war or the voluntary action of the Southern States in constitutional conventions assembled, and never to be renewed or reagitated, do with the return of peace, demand: First-Immediate restoration of all the States to their rights in the Union under the Constitution, and of civil government to the American people. Second-Amnesty for all past political offences, and the regulation of the elective franchise in the States by their citizens. Third-Payment of the public debt of the United States as rapidly as practicable; all moneys drawn from the people by taxation, except so much as is requisite for the necessities of the Government, economically administered, being honestly applied to such payment, and where the obligations of the Government do not expressly state upon their face, or the law under which they were issued does not provide that they shall be paid in coin, they ought, in right and in justice, to be paid in the lawful money of the United States. Fourth-Equal taxation of every species of property according to its real value, including Government bonds and other public securities. Fifth-One currency for the Government and the people, the laborer and the office-holder, the pensioner and the soldier, the producer and the bondholder. upon foreign imports, and such equal taxation under the Internal Revenue laws as will afford incidental protection to domestic manufactures, and as will, without impairing the revenue, impose the least burden upon and best promote and encourage the great industrial interests of, the country. Seventh-Reform of abuses in the administration, the expulsion of corrupt men from office, the abrogation of useless offices, the restoration of rightful authority to, and the independence of, the executive and judicial departments of the Government, the subordination of the military to the civil power, to the end that the usurpations of Congress and the despotism of the sword may cease. Eighth Equal rights and protection for naturalized and native-born citizens at home and abroad, the assertion of American nationality which shall command the respect of foreign powers, and furnish an example and encouragement to people struggling for national integrity, constitutional liberty, and individual rights and the maintenance of the rights of naturalized citizens against the absolute doctrine of immutable allegiance, and the claims of foreign powers to punish them for alleged crime committed beyond their jurisdiction. In demanding these measures and reforms, we arraign the Radical party for its disregard of right, and the unparalleled oppression and tyranny which have marked its career. After the most solemn and unanimous pledge of both Houses of Congress to prosecute the war exclusively for the maintenance of the Government and the preservation of the Union under the Constitution, it has repeatedly violated that most sacred pledge under which alone was rallied that noble volunteer army which carried our flag to victory. Instead of restoring the Union Sixth-Economy in the administration of the it has, so far as in its power, dissolved it, and Government; the reduction of the standing army subjected ten States, in time of profound peace, and navy; the abolition of the Freedmen's Bu- to military despotism and negro supremacy. It reau and all political instrumentalities designed has nullified there the right of trial by jury; it to secure negro supremacy; simplification of the has abolished the habeas corpus, that most sacred system, and discontinuance of inquisitorial modes writ of liberty; it has overthrown the freedom of assessing and collecting Internal Revenue, so of speech and the press; it has substituted arbithat the burden of taxation may be equalized trary seizures and arrests, and military trials and lessened; the credit of the Government and and secret star-chamber inquisitions for the conthe currency made good; the repeal of all enact-stitutional tribunals; it has disregarded in time ments for enrolling the State militia into national of peace the right of the people to be free from forces in time of peace; and a tariff for revenue searches and seizures; it has entered the post and telegraph offices, and even the private rooms Unanimously reported from this Committee on of individuals, and seized their private papers and Resolutions: Alabama-Charles C. Langdon. Arkansas-A. H. Garland. California-A. H. Rose. Connecti- letters without any specific charge or notice of cut-Tilton E. Doolittle. Delaware-James A. Bayard. affidavit, as required by the organic law; it Florida-Wilkerson Call. Georgia-Henry S. Fitch. has converted the American Capitol into a basIllinois-Wiliam J. Allen. Indiana-Joseph E. McDonald. Iowa-John H. O'Neil. Kansas-George W. tile; it has established a system of spies and Glick. Kentucky-William Preston. Louisiana-James official espionage to which no constitutional B. Eustis. Maine-Richard D. Rice. Maryland monarchy of Europe would now dare to resort; Stevenson Archer. Massachusetts-Edward Avery. Michigan-Charles E. Stuart. Minnesota-James J. it has abolished the right of appeal on imporGreen. Mississippi-Ethelbert Barksdale. Missouri- tant constitutional questions to the supreme vada-J. A. St. Clair. New Hampshire-J. M. Campbell. judicial tribunals, and threatens to curtail or New Jersey-Jacob R. Wortendyke. New York-Henry destroy its original jurisdiction, which is irrevoWilliam G. Gilmore. Oregon-R. D. Fitch. Pennsyl- learned Chief Justice has been subjected to the C. Murphy, North Carolina-Robert Strange. Ohio cably vested by the Constitution, while the vania-Franklin W. Hughes. Rhode Island-Thomas Steere. South Carolina-Wade Hampton. Tennessee- most atrocious calumnies, merely because he Edmund Cooper. Texas-George W. Smith. Ver- would not prostitute his high office to the supmont-Charles N. Davenport. Virginia-Thomas S. Bocock. West Virginia-John Davis. Wisconsin-James port of the false and partisan charges preferred A. Mallory against the President. Its corruption and ex Charles Mansur. Nebraska-Charles F. Porter. Ne travagance have exceeded anything known in history, and, by its frauds and monopolies, it has nearly doubled the burden of the debt created by the war. It has stripped the President of his constitutional power of appointment, even of his own cabinet. Under its repeated assaults the pillars of the Government are rocking on their base, and should it succeed in November next and inaugurate its President, we will meet as a subjected and conquered people, amid the ruins of liberty and the scattered fragments of the Constitution. And we do declare and resolve that ever since the people of the United States threw off all subjection to the British Crown the privilege and trust of suffrage have belonged to the several States, and have been granted, regulated, and controlled exclusively by the political power of each State respectively, and that any attempt by Congress, on any pretext whatever, to deprive any State of this right, or interfere with its exercise, is a flagrant usurpation of power which can find no warrant in the Constitution, and, if sanctioned by the people, will subvert our form of government, and can only end in a single centralized and consolidated government, in which the separate existence of the States will be entirely absorbed, and an unqualified despotism be established in place of a Federal union of co-equal States. And that we regard the reconstruction acts (so called) of Congress, as such, as usurpations and unconstitutional, revolutionary, and void. That our soldiers and sailors, who carried the flag of our country to victory against a most gallant and determined foe, must ever be gratefully remembered, and all the guarantees given in their favor must be faithfully carried into execution. That the public lands should be distributed as widely as possible among the people, and should be disposed of either under the pre-emption of homestead lands, or sold in reasonable quantities, and to none but actual occupants, at the minimum price established by the Government. When grants of the public lands may be allowed, necessary for the encouragement of important public improvements, the proceeds of the sale of such lands, and not the lands themselves, should be so applied. That the President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, in exercising the power of his high office in resisting the aggressions of Congress upon the constitutional rights of the States and the people, is entitled to the gratitude of the whole American people, and in behalf of the Democratic party we tender him our thanks for his patriotic efforts in that regard. Upon this platform the Democratic party appeal to every patriot, including all the Conservative element and all who desire to support the Constitution and restore the Union, forget ting all past differences of opinion, to unite with us in the present great struggle for the liberties of the people; and that to all such, to whatever party they may have heretofore belonged, we extend the right hand of fellowship, and hail all such co-operating with us as friends and brethren. cordially with the workingmen of the United States in their efforts to protect the rights and interests of the laboring classes of the country. [Offered by Mr. Vallandigham, and adopted the last day of the convention.] Resolved, That the thanks of the convention are tendered to Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, for the justice, dignity, and impartiality with which he presided over the court of impeachment on the trial of President Andrew Johnson. [This last was offered by Mr. Kernan, of New York, after the nominations and immediately before the final adjournment, and was carried by acclamation.] Soldiers and Sailors, at New York, July. Whereas a mutual interchange of views between members of this Convention and delegates to the Democratic National Convention, has fully confirmed us in our previously entertained opinion of the purity and patriotism of that body, and fully justifies the belief that in the selection of candidates and in the construction of a platform the Convention will be governed by the spirit of the address adopted by this body on the 6th inst.; therefore, relying upon this belief, Resolved, That we will support its nominees for President and Vice President of the United States, and that on our return home we will induce our late comrades in arms to unite with us in yielding to them a united support. [Reported from the Committee on Resolutions and adopted-yeas 287, nays 7.] Resolved, That the declaration of principles adopted by the Democratic National Convention be and the same is hereby ratified and approved, and that the secretary communicate to that Convention a copy of this resolution forthwith. Resolved, That the President of the Convention appoint a committee of five to wait upon General George B. McClellan, and assure him that although we are called upon by duty to support the nominee for the Presidency of the National Democratic party now in Convention, our confidence in him is unimpaired, and that our love for him is as ardent as ever, and that the highest honor that this Convention could confer upon him would but poorly express our esteem for him. Also, that the said committee be requested to ask him to come and assist us with all his ability during the coming campaign. Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention, and of all patriotic and right-minded citizens, are due to the President of the United States for the removal of E. M. Stanton from the War Department of the Government, a position which the said Stanton has disgraced and dishonored ever since his appointment to that office, by his many acts of cruelty-both to the Union and Confederate soldiers—and by his official acts of tyranny; and that the soldiers and sailors should, on all occasions, meet him with the same feelings of outraged dignity and patriotism that he was received with, on an ever-memorable occasion, in the city of Washington, from that great and glorious soldier. General William Tecumseh Sherman. [The last three resolutions were offered in the Resolved, That this convention sympathize | Convention, and adopted unanimously, under a suspension of the rule requiring the reference of | in defiance of the express language of the Conall resolutions to the committee on resolutions.] Pending the resolutions reported from the committee above, General Thomas Ewing, jr., of Kansas, offered this resolution: stitution, have erected a military despotism in ten of the States of the Union, have taken from the President the powers vested in him by the supreme law, and have deprived the Supreme Resolved, That the faith of the republic to its Court of its jurisdiction. The right of trial by creditors, as pledged in its laws, is inviolable, jury, and the .great writ of right, the habeas and the public burdens should be lightened by corpus-shields of safety for every citizen, and vigilant economy in expenditures, and never by which have descended to us from the earliest repudiation; that all the bonds of the United traditions of our ancestors, and which our revoStates issued after the passage of the legal ten-lutionary fathers sought to secure to their posder act, and not by law expressly payable in coin, should be paid when redeemable in legaltender notes, but without undue inflation of the currency, or at the option of the holders, converted into bonds bearing a low rate of interest; that the national bank currency should be retired and its place supplied by legal tenders, so as to save to the Government interest upon the amount of that circulation, and that the policy of permitting banks to supply nearly half of the national currency-allowing the five-twenty bonds, bearing, as they do, interest at the rate of nearly nine per cent. per annum, to run beyond the date when they become redeemable, and of contracting the currency until it shall rise to the value of gold, is a policy which favors the few against the many, is oppressive to the laboring and the debtor classes, and tends to bring upon the country the dishonor of repudiation. [He moved for the suspension of the rule requiring reference to the committee, which was lost-yeas 78, nays 197; and the resolution was accordingly referred, and not again considered.] General Blair's Letter. OMAHA, NEBRASKA, July 13, 1868. General GEORGE W. MORGAN, Chairman Committee National Democratic Convention. GENERAL: I take the earliest opportunity of replying to your letter, notifying me of my nomination for Vice President of the United States by the National Democratic Convention, recently held in the city of New York. terity forever in the fundamental charter of our liberties-have been ruthlessly trampled under foot by the fragment of a Congress. Whole States and communities of people of our own race have been attainted, convicted, condemned, and deprived of their rights as citizens, without presentment, or trial, or witnesses, but by congressional enactment of ex post facto laws, and in defiance of the constitutional prohibition denying even to a full and legal Congress the authority to pass any bill of attainder or ex post facto law. The same usurping authority has substituted as electors in place of the men of our own race, thus illegally. attainted and disfranchised, a host of ignorant negroes, who are supported in idleness with the public money, and combined together to strip the white race of their birthright, through the management of freedmen's bureaus and the emissaries of conspirators in other States; and, to complete the oppression, the military power of the nation has been placed at their disposal, in order to make this barbarism supreme. The military leader under whose prestige this usurping Congress has taken refuge since the condemnation of their schemes by the free people of the North in the elections of the last year, and whom they have selected as their candidate to shield themselves from the result of their own wickedness and crime, has announced his acceptance of the nomination, and his willingness to maintain their usurpations over eight millions of white people at the South, fixed to the earth with his bayonets. He exclaims: I accept without hesitation the nomination"Let us have peace." 'Peace reigns in Wartendered in a manner so gratifying, and give saw" was the announcement which heralded you and the committee my thanks for the very the doom of the liberties of a nation. The kind and complimentary language in which you empire is peace," exclaimed Bonaparte, when have conveyed to me the decision of the con- freedom and its defenders expired under the vention. sharp edge of his sword. The peace to which Grant invites us is the peace of despotism and death. I have carefully read the resolutions adopted by the convention, and most cordially concur in every principle and sentiment they announce. My opinion upon all of the questions which discriminate the great contending parties have been freely expressed on all suitable occasions, and I do not deem it necessary at this time to reiterate them. Those who seek to restore the Constitution by executing the will of the people condemning the reconstruction acts, already pronounced in the elections of last year, and which will, I am convinced, be still more emphatically expressed by the election of the Democratic candidate as The issues upon which the contest turns are the President of the United States, are declear, and cannot be obscured or distorted by the nounced as revolutionists by the partisans of sophistries of our adversaries. They all resolve this vindictive Congress. Negro suffrage, which themselves into the old and ever-renewing the popular vote of New York, New Jersey, struggle of a few men to absorb the political Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Connecticut, and power of the nation. This effort, under every other States have condemned as expressly conceivable name and disguise, has always char- against the letter of the Constitution, must acterized the opponents of the Democratic party, stand, because their Senators and Representabut at no time has the attempt assumed a shape tives have willed it. If the people shall again so open and daring as in this contest. The ad- condemn these atrocious measures by the elecversaries of free and constitutional government, | tion of the Democratic candidate for President, |