Missouri EUtb Campaign Tracts, NUMBER ONE- ADDRESS TO THE OF THE UNITED STATES. Dedicated to Working Men Every-Where. PUBLISHED BY THE ■' ^ISSOURI CLUB," Headquarters, Temple Building, COR. FIFTH AXD WALNUT STREETS, ST. LOUIS. ADDRESS TO THE LABOR REFORMERS OF THE UNITED STATES. ?I V STRIKES A EUROPEAN REMEDY. The rupture called " Strikes " so prevalent in the several countries of Europe, especially in that work- shop of the world, England, has been openly intro- duced for the first time into the United States in the year of grace 1872. IN A REPUBLIC AN UNMIXED EVIL. The disagreement which begets these quarrels is pregnant with unmixed evil, and the arrival of the invader on the shores of the Republic is as untoward as the visit of any of the choleras of Asia. THE TRUE MODE OF REDRESS IN A REPUBLIC. Nor is the mode of the redress of social or political wrong the same in the British Monarchy and in the American Republic ; the labor of this country, that is, the vast majority of the people thereof, holds that edged sword, the ballot, in their hands, to vindicate their rights authoritatively, a privilege denied the great mass of British subjects ; hence strikes are necessarily familiar in England, being the only mode of the expression of their dissent left them, whilst in our country they are not merely a novelty but a mistake. THE GREAT STRIKE OF AMERICAN LABOR. The great strike of American Labor, constitu- tional and appropriate, is to be made in November, 1872, at the quadrennial election, when the people as a whole emphatically declare themselves : not in platoons nor in battalions as the British workman fights his Cotton Factor or his Iron Founder, or as the various trades, the Mason, the Carpenter, the Crispin, the Bricklayer, the Machinist, the Plasterer, the Stone Cutter, the skilled workman in Iron, in Wood, in Leather, in Grains, in Textures, in Mines, in Soils, separate themselves into Units for self-vin- dication, and as Units are invariably overthrown; because in these Monarchies they have no common basis to stand on, no common remedy to resort to, no voice potential to utter, no power of election to wield, no Presidential nor Legislative Agency to select, obedient to the will of Labor and controlled by the influence of its opinion, expressed at the Polls. THE INTEREST OF ALL LABOR A UNIT. Labor, however divided into many forms, has but a single and a united interest, and the injury done to • any grade or trade thereof, vitally affects the whole. No branch of the public service, but the mechanic is found in its van, and the highest office in the gift of the American people, is just now in the charge of a man who has, not many years past, earned his live- lihood by his labor. LABOR, THE GREAT MASTER, QUALIFIES MEN FOR EVERY DUTY OF LIFE. Nor does the pursuit of the works of the Great Master unfit the citizen for the successful perform- ance of the responsible duties that arise on the oc- casions when the destinies of nations become involved, for when the blow was struck to shatter this Union into fragments, it was warded off, you will find, by soldiers who had ceased to know or never knew war as a profession, and had stepped from the multitudi- nous ranks of peaceful labor for the purpose. AMERICAN LABOR AND EUROPEAN LABOR STAND ON DIFFERENT GROUNDS. No common interest exists between American labor and European labor for them to combine on. In England, labor, skilled or unskilled, is a serf with- out exception, possessed of no power of authoritative utterance, and driven with dogged determination to resort to self-destruction for moody revenge. In America labor is the Lord of the polls, and has but to elect its Agency to carry out its policies. The American mechanic can only sympathise with his European brother, and aid him by his pattern alone. THE RELATIONS BETWEEN AMERICAN LABOR AND CAPI- TAL MUST NEEDS BE EARLY DISPOSED OF. That the question of the relations between labor and capital must be promptly taken up, and analysed with the skill and courage of Legislative anatomy, to the end that the duties which each owes the other be ascertained and no extortion tolerated, in order to the restoration of harmony between these unbound- ed interests which never should have been ruptured, for the welfare of the whole, has now become im- perative, so as, if nothing else, to avoid an entangling 3 alliance between dissociated powers in America and Europe, in a form which the insight of the founder had not foreseen, but has none the less warned us against. LABOR A NATIONAL, NOT A LOCAL OPERATOR. This is the vital policy, practicable and competent, for American labor in all its grades and professions to adopt, and the present is the opportunity to enact it. Labor is a national not a local operator, and as it holds in its hands all the winning points it should . play them for its own profit in the National contest of 1872. CANDIDATES ON THE OTHER POLICIES ALREADY IN THE FIELD. There are important public policies submitted to • the iudement of the American people, to be passed upon by them soon, and the Representatives of these policies are already selected as Presidential Candi- dates for election ; they are open to the scrutiny of oppressed labor especially, and independent of the attitude which each of these gentlemen occupies on the minor questions— as Labor deems them— their published declarations, and above all, their action heretofore on the subject of the rights of American labor, are of intense importance. MR GREELEY'S SCOPE OF AVOWAL AND ADVICE ON THE LABOR QUESTION A WIDE ONE. HAS HE MADE PROPER USE OF IT ? A wider scope of avowal and advice in behalf of American labor has been within the reach of the good fortune of one of these candidates. For more than a quarter of a century, Mr. Greeley has filled the station of an exalted Journalist, a Public Adviser, whose judgments were spread out world-wide in a daily press of large circulation; he is a gentleman ot observation and industry, anxiously ready to grapple with theories, and self conscious of a capacity to sound the profoundest depths of all economies and of all logics. He who should dare cast a doubt upon his ability to know all that newspaper man knows, would come under the peril of his pride ; yet during the long period he has presided over the functions o the Press its columns are entirely innocent of any dis- cussion of the rights of American labor; the sing- song praises of its higher amount of wages compar- atively and which is owing to its dearth alone, are scattered through his pages profusely, as they are found echoed in the mouth of every Penny Politician and in the columns of every puerile Journal in the country; but the profundities of the economy which should regulate the joint interests of labor and capital have never been plumbed by his surface pen, nor ever comprehended within the precincts of his showy philosophy. OUTCRY OF RAVENOUS PARTIZANS AND ABSURDITIES O f BI-FOLD NOMINATIONS. The methodical out-cry of ravenous partisans and the absurdities of bi- fold nominations so contradictory and conflicting as to make their political action atro- cious, devoid of all principle and repulsive to every tradition of the Republic, may be endured or laughed at by the labor of the country in other days ; but a crisis has now arrived which will not tolerate this toleration. European combinations have spread themselves in every city of the Union, and the Labor wisdom of the country, of which Mr. Greeley is no thorough exponent in emergencies, whatever of her other qualities he may know and illustrate, must interfere to stay the plague. APPEAL TO THE HISTORY OF THE GRANT ADMINISTRA- TION FOR A DIFFERENT POLICY IN RESPECT TO LABOR. We appeal to the history of the present adminis- tration, if President Grant has not spoken and acted altogether differently ; his enunciations in the behalf of American labor are official and of record ; they are manifestly all his own, without any promptings from advisers other than his pure convictions ; the squander of the Public Lands on Railroad Corpor- ations, which Mr. Greeley has pushed to such an extreme, with an intensity of endorsement which stopped at nothing, the President has peremptorily stayed, and thus reserved the National Domain in the future for the homestead use of the labor of the country; a majestic policy more full of good feeling, common sense and lasting benefits to the Republic than all the thin theory his philosophic competitor has woven for a lifetime. President Grant is not great and loquacious on paper agriculture, and it be- hoves American labor to see to it that the Railroad Proteges of the Honorable Ex-Journalist be not again restored to power. GRANT THE FIRST PRESIDENT WHO HAS PRESENTED THE WRONGS DONE AMERICAN LABOR BEFORE THE NATION. No other President than Mr. Grant has presented to Congress in his messages the question of the wrongs which American labor suffers, for solution; National attention was never before drawn to this most vital subject, nor was the indifference, nay con- tempt, with which labor appeals were before without exception treated by the Press and the Congress, corrected and silenced until the authoritative voice of President Grant gave them recognition and pres- tige. Since then labor fills the largest space in public recognition, and even the haughty Democracy, which occupied office for fifty years with no other treatment of American labor than neglect and coldness, now begins to feel it is a power in elections and pays it some small attention. PROOF OF HIS ACTION IN BEHALF OF AMERICAN LABOR. We have the honor to present the following official papers : Extract from President Grant's message to Con- gress, $t/i Dec., 1870. "The construction of some of these thoroughfares (Railroads) has undoubtedly given a vigorous impulse to the development of our resources and the settle- ment of the more distant portions of the Country. It may however be well insisted that much of our Legis- lation in this regard has been characterized by indis- criminate and profuse liberality. The United States should not loan their credit in aid of any enterprise undertaken by States or Corporations, nor grant lands in any instance unless the projected work is of acknow- ledged National importance. I am strongly inclined to the opinion that it is inexpedient and unnecessary to be- stow subsides of either description ; but should Con- gress determine otherwise, I earnestly recommend that the rights of settlers and of the public be more effectually secured and protected by appropriate leg- islation." President's Message — Extract — 5M Dec. 1871. — "I renew my recommendation that the public lands be regarded as a heritage to our children, to be disposed of only as required for occupation and to actual settlers. Those already granted have been in great part disposed of in such a way as to secure access to the balance by the hardy settler who may wish to avail himself of them, but caution should be exercised in attaining so desirable an object. Educational in- terests may well be secured by the grant of proceeds of the sale of public lands to settlers. I do not wish to be understood as recommending in the least degree a curtailment of what is being done by the General Government for the encouragement of Education." In conformity with the recommendation of the message, Mr. Hoar, member from Massachusetts, a Republican, introduced into the House of Representa- tives, the following bill creating a commission in which labor should have a member representing it, to be appointed by the President, to inquire into these relations, and to report to Congress, which bill passed the House and was reported, but not finally acted on as yet in the Senate. Copy of a bill passed the House of Representatives, Washington, Dee. 20th, 1871, entitled: A bill to provide for the appointment of Commis- sioners on the question of wages and hours of labor and a division of profits between labor and capital in the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives of American Congress assembled. : Sec. 1. That there shall be appointed by the Presi- dent by and with the advice of the Senate, a commit- tee of three persons of whom one shall be practically identified with the labor interest of the country and who shall be selected from civil life solely and with reference to their character and capacity for an honest and impartial investigation, who shall hold office for a period of one year from the date of their appoint- ment unless their duties shall have been sooner accom- plished, who shall investigate the subject of wages and hours of labor and a division of the joint profits of labor and capital between the laborer and capitalist, and the social education of all, and the sanitary con- dition of the laboring classes of the United States, and how the same are affected by the existing laws regulating commerce, finance and currency, provided that said Commissioners shall be appointed irrespect- ively of political or partizan considerations and from civil life. Sec. 2. That said Commissioners shall receive an annual salary of $5,000 each, shall be authorized to employ a Clerk, and shall report the result of their investigation to the President, to be by him transmit- ted to Congress. Bill passed, Ayes 134, nays 36. N_ b. — It was strenuously opposed by Mr. Camp- bell, of Ohio, and the Democratic members of the House at large. Also the President's response to the Japanese Em- bassy wherein he vindicates before the representatives of one of the greatest commercial nations of the East, the elevation and dignity of American labor. RECEPTION OF THE JAPANESE. Washington, March 4, 1872.— The Japanese Em- bassy was presented to the President to-day, and a com- plimentary speech was made by the Japanese Minister who introduced the embassy. It was followed by an address from Iwakura, and a response by President Grant. The members of the Cabinet were present, together with all the naval dignitaries, in full uniform, and also Vice President Colfax, Speaker Blaine, &c. ADDRESS OF IWAKURA. The following is the address of the Ambassador to the President, delivered by Iwakura : " His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, our august sovereign, has sought since the achievement of our national recon- struction to attain a more perfect organization in the administrative power of his government. He has studied with interest the results attained by Western nations, and having a sincere desire to establish per- manent and friendly relations with foreign powers on still closer footing, he has commissioned us as his ambassadors extraordinary to all Powers having trea- ties with Japan. Upon the soil of your country we first present our credentials, delivering to you personally the letter ot our august sovereign at this public official audience. The objects of the mission with which we are charged by our government are somewhat set forth in this letter. We are authorized to consult with your gov- ernment on all international questions, directing our efforts to promote and develop wide commercial rela- tions, and draw into closer bonds the strong friend- ship already existing between our respective people Thus we expect to gain fresh impulse m the paths ot progress, gaining good from every form of civilization. This we shall aim to do while in the exercise of strict integrity to our national interest, so trustingly confi- ded by a generous sovereign, and shall earnestly hope to receive your kind co-operation in facilitating the task assigned us by our government. We gladly avail ourselve of this happy meeting to convey, personally to your excellency, our sincere wishes for your continued prosperity and happiness, and, as national representatives, we extend the same wish to all the people of the United States. THE PRESIDENT'S RESPONSE. The President then responded : Gentlemen : I am gratified that this country and that my administration will be distinguished in his- tory as the first which has received an embassy from a nation with which the United States was the first to establish diplomatic and commercial intercourse. The objects which you say have given rise to your mission do honor to the intelligence and wisdom of your sovereign, andreflect great credit on you in hav- ing been chosen as the instruments for carrying them into effect. The time must be regarded as gone, never to return, when any nation can keep apart from all others and expect to enjoy prosperity and happi- ness which depend more or less upon the mutual adoption of improvements, not only in the science of government, but those of the other sciences and arts which contribute to the dignity of mankind and to the national wealth and power. Though Japan is one of the most ancient organized communities and the United States rank among the recent, we flatter ourselves that we have made some improvements on the political institutions of the na- tions from whom we are descended. Our experience leads us to believe that the wealth, power and happi- ness of a people are advanced by their encouragement ot trade and commercial intercourse with other powers, by the elevation and dignity of labor, by the practical adaptation of science to manufactures and arts, by in- creased facilities of frequent and rapid communica- tion between different parts of the country, by the encouragement of emigration, which brings with it the varied habits and diverse genius and industry of other lands ; by a free press, by freedom of thought and conscience, and liberal toleration in the matters of religion, not only to the citizens, but to all foreign- ers resident among us. It will be a pleasure to us to enter on that consulta- tion on international questions in which you say you are authorized to engage. The improvement of com- mercial relations between our respective countries is important and desirable and cannot fail to strengthen the bonds which unite us, and I will heartily co-oper ate in so desirable an object. Your kind wishes for me personally, gentlemen, are cordially reciprocated. I trust that your abode with us may be agreeable to you and may contribute to a more intimate acquaintance and intercourse between our respective peoples. The utmost interest was manifested by the large company present in the exercises. UNDER THE LEAD OF GRANT THE LABOR SIEGE WILL END IN A SURRENDER. Thus for the first time in the history of the country have the claims for legislative recognition and redress which labor makes, been cordially entertained and solemnly acted on by a President whose words are acts, not promises, and who undertakes no expe- dition but what he brings to a successful close; the mighty army of labor enrolled under his command can environ the stronghold of monopoly when reach- ed, and men may confidently rely the siege will end in a surrender. IT IS SUPERFLUOUS TO ADVISE AMERICAN LABOR THE COURSE IT SHOULD TAKE IN THE PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST OF 1872. It is superfluous to counsel those whose conviciions ■— ^are quickened bv self-interest, whose knowledge is gathered from the truth of experience, and whose courage quails not before the clamors of a party- colored mob of leaders ravenous for office under the cry of country ; labor remembers how, when the chiefs of the Democratic majority of this new-fangled coalition last held power, they openly betrayed every trust they owed the Union, false as perjury to faith, and trampling the welfare of industry under the iron hoof of war, to perpetuate their supremacy ; when Mr. Geeley and his few followers attach themselves to this crowd, they become merged in the mass and identify themselves with the unabridged volume of the enemies of labor. THE HOSTILE RECORD OF MR. GREELEY, AND HIS CO- ADJUTORS APPEALED TO. We appeal to the record of these men. We omit the estrangement and the carnage of the great crime, but it is idle to demand of the American people to ignore and to forget that the result of this needless rebellion is the wrong labor complains of to-day, for no conflict ever arose with capital until superinduced by the enormity of civil war ; search for any combi- nations of labor, any trades unions, any co-operative engagements entered into between American freemen and European subjects on the question of strikes from the foundation of the government until the era of the rebellion, and you search in vain. INEVITABLE CONCLUSION. The conclusion then is inevitable, that if the leaders of the Democracy, the men with whom Horace Greeley now strikes hands so strangely, in whose bosom he reposes, and to whose policy he must bend beyond dis- pute, had kept the peace in 1861, the prosperity of American labor would be to-day unbroken. NATIONAL LABOR CANNOT BE INVOKED IN BEHALF OF LEADERS WHO HAVE DISRUPTED IT. Can national labor of whatever grade or class be invoked with any color of cause to aid in November the leaders of a once mighty party, who not merely disrupted the Democracy itself, but prostrated by the same blow the labor welfare of all parties ? and has not this great mishap been the main if not the only cause of the formation of the Republican party, which is nothing more than Democracy purified ? purged of the name as well as of the guilt of the leader's, when they be- came drunk with power, and aimed to perpetuate it at the sacrifice of all the interests of the Republic, in- cluding labor the chief. CORRUPTION CHARGED UPON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY BY THE ENEMIES OF LABOR. But corruption is charged upon the Republican patty and a determination to continue President Grant in office at any cost. The President himself is not exempt from onslaught; he accepts gifts, loves horses, smokes cigars and confers office on relatives ; these charges are set to music by their newspaper press, and the variations they pile on them, crowd out the original airs until the music itself is drowned in the medley. DEMOCRATIC LIBERTY THEORETICALLY PURE, BUT THE SULL1AGE OF A CORRUPT PRESS RENDERS THE SPARKLING STREAM UNFIT TO DRINK BY MAN OR BEAST. Democratic liberty is theoretically pure, but when the surface drainings and the sulliage of a corrupt Press flow into the sparkling stream, its waters become un- fit to drink by either man or beast ; a fouler flow never tugged itself slowly along from a slaughter house or the public jakes into a neighboring stream, be it the Hudson or the Mississippi, corrupting the waters and poisoning the air, than the brutal assaults daily made through the current of the Democratic press upon the unostentatious, modest and retiring man who occupies the White House of the Nation rather as a guest than as a host. This of him personally : the evenness of his manner, the quiet cordiality of his address, the absence of all pretense, the fitness with which he fills the lofty niche the people put him into, bespeak more to Americans than the fictitious tales which portray him a sensualist and a sport. The doctrine of the equality of men in a Republic was never more exem- plified by any President who has filled the office, nor has the purity of domestic life been ever better en- acted for daily example and endorsement, by any man in or out of that chair, than by its present occupant. CHARGES AGAINST THE PRESIDENT. But he accepts gifts and confers office on relatives. We first enter a plea of guilty, that General Grant admires a horse and smokes the weed ; we enter it for policy's sake, if nothing else, because if every voter in America who is equally guilty of these crimes votes for Grant, Greeley, who does neither, can abide in Chippaqua the balance of his life, or resume the tripod after he has recovered from his defeat. The bloated notices that are bestowed on the private tastes of a pub- lic man, which no gentleman descends to, are stubborn proof that his official course is unassailable. jefferson's nepotism. President Jefferson, an American authority indeed, has declared himself as to the impolicy of the Chief Magistrate conferring office upon relatives. The value of the advice, for it is advice merely, can be estima- ted by the conformity thereto of the illustrious founder himself; he has confuted the efficacy of his words by the necessity and therefore the practical wisdom of his action ; there is no principle involved in the suggestion, merely expediency, for it would be odious and abhorrent to enact that the kinsfolk of a Nation's choice were bastardized by his election ; had their blood tainted, and that the choice made of a man to rule the Republic for a term of years ostracised a lineage, whilst at the same time it made it illustrious ; this would resemble the policy of Asiatic dynasties which, when one branch or family thereof secures the throne, takes the precaution to put ' the others to death, lest they should afterwards dispute the succession. Mr. Jefferson observed the rule during his incum- bency, but violated it very becomingly before his death. He was elevated to the Presidency partly be- cause of the services rendered by him to his country, the same as General Grant, with this difference that the difficult task of the illustrious founder was to dis- cover and point out the orbit in which the Union should revolve without jar, that of the illustrious soldier, to keep the constellation in its course with- out the aberration of a single star. THE PUREST PATRIOT IN ALL HISTORY BEQUEATHES f HIS SOUL TO GOD AND HIS DAUGHTER TO HIS COUNTRY. ' Jefferson's services to the American people (for in stern truth a patriot has no legitimate claim except what the consciousness of duty compensates) were recognized by the Presidency, yet in his will he re- sumed the office, as it were, when he bequeathed "his soul to God and his daughter to his country ;" here- in he cancelled in effect the expediency he had before recommended, and asked for more than he could him- self give, if he had appointed his child to a Post- office. Nature spoke aloud, although the utterance may be translated into the word "pension," and the purest patriot in all the histories, the discoverer and enunciator of the doctrine of equality, the foundation rock of the Republic , yielded to a duty which nature sanctifies and good men approve. NO CRIME IN THE PRESIDENT TO LET HIS VENERABLE FATHER CONTINUE IN A COUNTRY POSTMASTERSHIP. It is no crime, for crime is ever secret, that Presi- dent Grant did not strip his venerable father of a country postmastership to which a predecessor had appointed him. Though negative, it is a pious act, worthy of an honest man who knew no shame in it and kept no secret ; the father of a corrupt President could easily accomplish millions as secret service reward ; the father of an upright Chief Magistrate rests content with the pittance derived from an humble office. PENSIONS ARE REPUBLICAN EXCEPTIONS, BUT NEITHER THE CONSTITUTION NOR THE CONGRESS, NOR THE REPUBLIC FORBID THE AFFECTIONS NOR CAN QUENCH THE LOVE OF MEN FOR THEIR BENEFACTORS. Republican doctrine pays as it goes, and regards pensions as exceptional. Had Washington been a monarchist and conquered the rebel colonists, the *3 shaft that sleeps on the verge of the Potomac would have long since climbed into the clouds, a finished memorial. The widow of a British Governor Gen- eral of India, lately assassinated by an Asiatic fanatic, had conferred on her a life pension of twelve thou- sand dollars annually, with a reversion, by Parlia- ment, although the Vice-Roy had subdued no rebellion, nor had had even time to excite one. General Grant performed his military duty to his country satisfactorily, and drew his pay as an officer therefor. The genius of the Republic could confer no titles on him, vote him no sums of money, no lands nor houses, erect him no monuments, carve him no statues. The Constitution discountenances these things; but neither the Constitution nor the Congress nor the Republic forbids the affections nor quenches the love which tens of thousands of men entertain as warmly to-day for General Grant as for their own blood, on account of the personal benefits they reaped as the result of the restoration of their country to them by the quiet but determined soldier. THE PRESIDENCY IS NOT VOTED MEN AS A REWARD FOR SERVICES RENDERED SOLELY. The Presidency was not voted General Grant by the people as a reward merely for his services ; they believed that the man who saved the Union could govern it, and they believe so still ; but it is on their own behalf they install him. It is proof conclusive that President Grant as President never accepted gifts from any one, for had he done so, the know- ledge of the fact would be buried too deep for re- cognition ; yet all the world knows the few and com- paratively insignificant presents made him for his war services. If a man quenches the fire an incen- diary has set to my dwelling in which my family sleep, or rescues our lives in a ship wreck, I will prove my gratitude to the hero, and spurn the right of men or nations to interfere with me, nor shall any one be my benefactor and deny me the privilege of recipro- city, without the fulfillment whereof the good deed is but half done, through dread of calumny. THE DESTINY OF AMERICAN LABOR TO-DAY IN ITS OWN HANDS. THE PATH OF TRAVEL TO SUCCESS IS CLEAR. The labor of the United States has to-day its own destiny in its own hands ; the path which leads to success is blazed out in these stray suggestions so clearly, that every labor voter in the land can easily discern it : blazed out amid a wilderness of uproar 14 and confusion raised for the purpose of beguiling men by the basest combination of hostile elements that ever threw the Republic into confusion. THE CONFIDENCE DUE A CANDIDATE ' WHO BARGAINS TO EVADE A CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY AND A CON- STITUTIONAL OATH. What confidence can a voter, Democratic or Re- publican, who is interested above all other questions in the honest success of the Labor cause, have even in the oath of a candidate, who throws upon others, say a majority of the members of the House of Representatives, the responsibility of the disposal of a great commercial principle, "the tariff," which he has unswervingly maintained during a lifetime, shift- ing from under it himself, and solemnly avowing he will "approve" their judgment, although adverse to his own, which he bargains beforehand to repudiate ? Are the provisions of the Instrument baubles that Mr. Greeley can play with, to prove him an expert in political gaming? Will he nullify in advance a Constitutional power, the Veto, with the exercise of which a President is charged by the fundamental law as a duty he dare not evade? Has it been even breathed before that a Presidential candidate ever bar- gained with a body of the constituency of the Republic, that to secure their nomination he would guarantee in advance a breach of the Constitution in one of its vital provisions, which he had to swear in the presence of the American people he would "preserve, protect and defend" before he entered upon the office?* Has the gentleman ever read the Constitution of the country understandingly? If so, that oath, above all, could not escape him, and he knew its binding efficacy when he made this astound- ing contract. THE CONSTITUTION QUOTED ON MR. GREELEY. "Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall before it becomes a Law be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it with his objections, to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the *NOTE. — Before he (the President elect) enter on the execu- tion of his office he shall take the following oath or affirmation : " I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." — Sec. I, Art. 2, of the Constitution of U.S. J 5 objections at large on their journal and proceed to reconsider it." — Sec. 7, Article 1, Constitution of the United States. "If he approve he shall sign it," saith the Con- stitution imperatively; but saith Mr. Greeley. "If the House approve, although I disapprove, I shall sign it." Where here is the mock philosophy and the boasted honesty we hear of? It is a precious promise which has no pattern anywhere outside the door of a gambler's den, where fraud is the prin- ciple of the lot and principle the profit. greeley's ambition a coward, and his heart would fail him to write himself down " perjurer." he would cheat the democracy. Nor do we believe the gentleman would keep faith with the Democracy. The man who could enter into such a compact is but an ambitious coward, and his heart would fail him when he was about to write himself down "perjurer;" the genius of the Consti- tution would arrest him in the act, and fear in the absence of courage would save him from himself.* What becomes of the Constitutional virtue of Mr. Reverdy Johnson and of Mr. Charles Sumner, who sustain or are about to sustain Greeley's perfidy? They are dragons of Constitutional virtue no more. What becomes of the American people, if they fail not to elect a man who promises if elected to trample on their Constitution, although he swears to it? Greeley's contract poisons the political element, and men turn up and die in shoals in the polluted stream. There is but one honest candidate as yet before the American people for the Presidency. *NOTE. — Senator Hendricks, a man of ability, and a man of purity otherwise, indorses this political turpitude ; he must feel a profound contempt for the intelligence of the masses of his party if he expects them to be convinced by force of his sham- bling indorsement of the Greeley bargain. The fierce bark of the honest watch dog announcing that a burglar had broken into the Old Homestead, and was plun- dering it of its valuables, the jewels of the past, worn by Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln and the rest, was kicked out of Voorhies, and the mastiff himself compelled to slink back into his kennel with a sullen growl. The tenants of the tombs at Monticello and the Hermitage have turned in their graves and have set their faces against the nomination at Baltimore. " Cincinnati we know not, for it was mongrel. But Baltimore raised our banners, then lowered them in the dust and sullied them. We repudiate her proceedings. Philadelphia altered our name, but saved our principles. We accept the change." i6 THE DAY OF PUBLIC MEETINGS AND OF NEWSPAPER H0WLING3 GONE BY, IN THE PRESENCE OF THE DE- MANDS OF AMERICAN LABOR. Labor of America ! — The day of public meetings is gone by — their utility, if they ever had much, is lessened in the presence of the responsibilities of the coming election. The severe duties of self-govern- ment are invoked more seriously now than ever be- fore during the existence of the Government. Let no man or party divert you by impassioned address, artful resolution, loud denunciation, _//'///c«>. \VM. H. MAURICE, Treasurer. Y(T| «7i »»■»«[ wi^> i\[\\_ Secretary. C. L. DeRANDAMIE, Assistant Corresponding Secretary. All correspondence will be addressed to the Corresponding Secretary at the Headquarters of the Club. N LIBRARY OF CONGRESS II II 111 lllh HI 013 789 531 6