696 



OHIO. 



1. Resolved, That we are, as we ever have been, the 

 devoted friends of the Constitution and the Union, and 

 we have no sympathy with the enemies of either. 



2. Resolved, That every dictate of patriotism re- 

 quires that, in the terrible struggle in which we are 

 engaged for the preservation of the Government, the 

 loyal people of the Union should present an unbrokren 

 front ; and therefore all efforts to obtain or perpetuate 

 party ascendency by forcing party issues upon them, 

 that necessarily tend to divide and distract them, 

 as the Abolitionists are constantly doing, are bos- 

 tile to the best interests of the country. 



3. Resolved, That the Abolition party, by their de- 

 nunciation of the President whenever he has manifest- 

 ed a conservative spirit, by their atrocious defamation 

 of our Generals who were exposing their lives for 

 their country, and who needed and merited its hearty 

 support, by their acts and declarations tending to pro- 

 mote insubordination in our armies, and a want of 

 confidence in their commanders, and by their persist- 

 ent representations of all conservative men in the loyal 

 States as sympathizers with the rebels, have given im- 

 mense aid and comfort to the rebel cause, and encour- 

 aged them to hope for ultimate success. 



4. Resolved, That we have seen with indignation the 

 intimation of the Governor of Massachusetts, that 

 that State will be slow in furnishing her quota of 

 troops, unless the war be carried on for purposes of 

 emancipation. When the Nation is straining every 

 nerve, and pouring out its blood and treasure like 

 water, to preserve its existence, it is monstrous that 

 a conditional Unionism that places Abolitionism above 

 the Constitution, and the success of a party above 

 the integrity of the Republic, should thus rear its 

 head in high places and seek to dictate the conduct 

 of the war. 



5. Resolved, That while we would mete out merited 

 and legal punishment to the plotters of, and leaders in, 

 the rebellion, we are opposed to the contemplated 

 sweeping and indiscriminate acts of confiscation and 

 emancipation, by Congressional legislation or Execu- 

 tive proclamation, because : 



I. We do not believe that such acts would be consti- 

 tutional. 



II. We believe that by driving the rebels to despera- 

 tion, and converting Union men at the South into reb- 

 els, they would have the effect to indefinitely prolong 

 the war, afford a pretext for foreign intervention, and 

 render the restoration of the Union next to, or quite, 

 impossible. 



III. Because, if practicable and carried out, they 

 would engender a feeling of bitterness between the 

 different sections of the Union that would not be al- 

 layed for generations to come, and that would be an 

 ever-present cause of danger and disturbance to the 

 public peace, a source of perpetual weakness in the 

 Government, and an ever-present incentive to foreign 

 Powers to interfere in our domestic concerns, and to 

 promote a disruption and overthrow of the Republic. 



IV. Because they would destroy, in a great degree, 

 if not entirely, for many years to come, the industrial 

 interests of a large section of the country, and most 

 injuriously affect the interests of the whole people. 



V. Because the immediate and indiscriminate eman- 

 cipation of the slaves would be an act of inhumanity to 

 them. 



VI. Because such an emancipation would throw up- 

 on the border free States, and especially upon Ohio, an 

 immense number of negroes to compete with and un- 

 derwork the white laborers of the State, and to consti- 

 tute, in various ways, an almost or quite unbearable 

 nuisance, if suffered to remain among us. And we 

 would deem it unjust to our gall ant soldiers to see them 

 compelled to free the negroes of the South and thereby 

 fill Ohio with a degraded population to compete with 

 these same soldiers upon their return to the peaceable 

 avocations of life. 



[No. 7 condemns the Legislature for not prohibiting 

 the immigration of negroes into Ohio ; No. 8 opposes 

 taxation for the purchase of the freedom of slaves, and 

 denounces the frauds and corruptions of the Federal 



Administration ; No. 9 praises the bravery and devo- 

 tion of the Ohio troops ; No. 10 condemns the refusal of 

 the Legislature to let the soldiers vote ; No. 11 protests 

 against all violations of the Constitution :] 



Resolved, That we hold sacred, as we do all other 

 parts of that instrument, the following provisions of 

 the Constitution of the United States : 



" The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeach- 

 ment, shall be by jury ; and such trial shall be held in 

 the State where the said crimes shall have been com- 

 mitted." 



" Congress shall make no law respecting an estab- 

 lishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise 

 thereof; or abridging the freedom of spee'ch, or of the 

 press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assem- 

 ble, and to petition the Government for a redress of 

 grievances." 



" The powers not delegated to the United States by 

 the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, 

 are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the peo- 

 ple." 



" The right of the people to be secure in their per- 

 sons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable 

 searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no 

 warrant shall issue but upon probable cause, supported 

 by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the 

 place to be searched and the persons and things to be 

 seized." 



" No person shall be held to answer for a capital or 

 otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or 

 indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in 

 the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in act- 

 ive service, in time of war and public danger; nor to 

 be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due 

 process of law ; nor shall private property be taken 

 for public use without just compensation." 



"In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy 

 the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial 

 jury of the State and District wherein the crime shall 

 have been committed, which District shall have been 

 previously ascertained by law ; and to be informed of 

 the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be con- 

 fronted with the witnesses against him ; to have com- 

 pulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, 

 and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence." 



And we utterly condemn and denounce the repeated 

 and gross violation by the Executive of the United 

 States, of the said rights thus secured by the Constitu- 

 tion ; and we also utterly repudiate and condemn the 

 monstrous dogma that in time of war the Constitution 

 is suspended, or its powers in any respect enlarged be- 

 yond the letter and true meaning of that instrument. 



Resolved, That we view with indignation and alarm 

 the illegal and unconstitutional seizure and imprison- 

 ment, for alleged political offences, of our citizens 

 without judicial process, in States where such process 

 is unobstructed, but by Executive order by telegraph 

 or otherwise, and call upon oil who uphold the Union, 

 the Constitution, and the laws, to unite with us in de- 

 nouncing such flagrant violation of the State and Fed- 

 eral Constitutions and tyrannical infraction of the 

 rights ^and liberties of American citizens; and that 

 the people of this State cannot safely and will not sub- 

 mit to have the freedom of speech and freedom of the 

 press, the two "great and essential bulwarks of civil 

 liberty, put down by unwarranted and despotic exer- 

 tion of power. 



The republican electors were represented in 

 a convention designated " Union State Conven- 

 tion," which assembled at Columbus, August 

 21, and organized by the election of Benj. F. 

 Stanton as presjdent. The following candi- 

 dates were nominated : secretary of State, Wil- 

 liam S. Kennon ; attorney general, Chauncey 

 N. Olds ; school commissioner, Wm. D. Henkle ; 

 board of public works, Ira B. Gregory. The 

 views of the convention were expressed by the 

 following resolutions : 



