566 



KENTUCKY. 



proceed to the business before it, when, to the aston- 

 ishment of all present, Col. Gilbert rose and stated that 

 the further business of said Convention was " arrested ;" 

 that those present would not be permitted to hold a 

 Convention within the Department under his com- 

 mand ; that if nominations were made the candidates 

 would be arrested, and, if elected, would not be per- 

 mitted to hold the office to which they might' be elect- 

 ed. He said he should preserve the list ofnames thus 

 obtained ; that, in certain contingencies, they might be 

 of great importance; that he required all present to 

 return peaceably and quietly to their homes, and to 

 refrain from all "seditious and noisy conversation !" 

 that whilst willing to allow the " greatest freedom con- 

 sistent with the times," he should repress all conduct 

 calculated to excite the people. He assigned as a rea- 

 son for this extraordinary proceeding, that the " Con- 

 servative Democratic Legislature of tue State" had 

 refused to allow the Convention the use of its hall, say- 

 ing that, had this refusal not been made, he might have 

 acted differently. He said the conservative democratic 

 papers of the State repudiated them as democrats, 

 and that said papers, as well as common rumor, as- 

 signed to them the character of rebel sympathizers. 



At the conclusion of these remarks, A. B. Chambers, 

 Esq., the representative from Gallatin county, present- 

 ed to Col. Gilbert the resolutions appended hereto, 

 which had been adopted at a primary meeting of the 

 Convention, as the resolutions which would be report- 

 ed to this Convention, and which, in the opinion of 

 said primary meeting and the committee on resolu- 

 tions, embodied the views of this Convention, and re- 

 quested that they be read, in order that the objects and 

 views of the Convention might be understood. This 

 proposition was declined by Col. Gilbert, who remark- 

 ed that the Convention must not be holden. 



Without intending to reflect upon Col. Gilbert, or 

 question the authority of the Federal Government 

 within the sphere of its constitutional powers, we, as 

 citizens and freemen of the Commonwealth, submit 

 that in the acts herein referred to, the constitutional 

 rights of citizens peacefully to assemble together, the 

 right of suffrage, and the right of free speech, as well as 

 almost every other right dear to freemen, have been in- 

 vaded by military authority, against which we enter our 

 solemn protest, and pray your honorable body to adopt 

 such legislation as in your wisdom will best conserve 

 those rights and protect the citizens of this Common- 

 wealth from military violence. 



D. MERR1 WETHER, 



P. D. State Convention. 



GEO. W. WILLIAMS, of Hancock. 



J. R. BUCHANAN. 



1. Resolved, That the political principles and views 

 set forth and promulgated by the Democratic National 

 Convention, particularly that held at Cincinnati on the 

 2d of June, 1856, in the 'form of resolutions adopted and 

 published to the American people as containing the 

 political faith and creed of the National Democracy, are 

 approved by this Democratic State Convention, reas- 

 serted, and again adopted. 



2. Resolved, As the leading idea in the National Dem- 

 ocratic faith, we again assert " that the Federal Gov- 

 ernment is one of limited power, derived solely from 

 the Constitution ; and the grants of power made there- 

 in ought to be strictly construed by all the depart- 

 ments and agents of the Government ; and that it is 

 inexpedient and dangerous to exercise doubtful con- 

 stitutional powers. 



3. Resolved, That this Convention, representing the 

 Democratic party in Kentucky, solemnly declare that 

 they stand opposed to the continuance and further 

 prosecution of the civil war now existing, for the rea- 

 sons and upon the grounds set forth in the preamble 

 and resolutions presented by Messrs. Grover and Bush 

 in the Senate and House of the Kentucky Legislature, 

 on the 19th of January, 1863, which preamble and res- 

 olutions were unanimously approved bv a meeting of 

 the democratic members of the Kentucky Legislature, 

 and other citizens of the Democratic party, convened 



at the Senate chamber in Frankfort, on the 29th and 

 30th of January, 1863, and are hereby approved and 

 adopted by this Convention. (Se pp. 564, 565.) 



4. Resolved, That the Union of the States cannot be 

 maintained and perpetuated, unless their constitutions 

 and laws, not inconsistent with the Constitution of the 

 United States, their rights and interests thereby in- 

 tended to be secured, and their reserved powers, are 

 respected and held inviolate by the General Govern- 

 ment, and unless that Government shall refrain from 

 the assumption and exercise of ungrauted powers. 



5. Besotted, That we will cooperate with such of the 

 adhering States as shall concur in opposing the con- 

 tinuance of the existing war, and in the adoption of 

 such pacific measures as may be best calculated to pro- 

 mote a lasting peace in the country and a permanent 

 union of all the States. 



Resolved, That we hail with feelings of the liveliest 

 satisfaction the recent victories of our democratic 

 brethren of the Western and Northwestern States, in 

 defence of " the Constitution as it is, and the Union aa 

 it was," and we congratulate the friends of constitu- 

 tional liberty everywhere upon these signal triumphs 

 of the true principles of republican government. 



The motion to suspend the rules failed. 



Says the " Louisville Journal," in July : 

 "The Convention was dispersed, and the move- 

 ment for the reorganization of the secession 

 party of Kentucky, under the name of democ- 

 racy, as respects public and formal action, 

 was suddenly arrested. At this point two 

 courses lay before the leaders of the movement. 

 They were compelled to abandon the move- 

 ment for the present election, or else to organ- 

 ize secretly, and selecting candidates in the 

 main from the new recruits of the party, with 

 but a comparative sprinkling of original seces- 

 sionists, quietly to put them in the field with- 

 out the intervention of any public or formal 

 action. In a word, they had either to throw 

 up their scheme for the present, or to prosecute 

 it by indirection. They unhesitatingly chose 

 the latter course. It is not probable that they so 

 much as seriously thought of the former. And 

 the course they chose they have pursued with 

 energy and with considerable skill. 



"The result, with respect to organization, 

 we are not able confidently to state, though 

 secret societies under the style of " Democratic 

 Associations " have been established certainly 

 in many parts of the Commonwealth and 

 probably in all ; but, with respect to candidates, 

 the result is at last before the public in a com- 

 plete " Democratic ticket " for the State, tho 

 candidates having been required to steal out to 

 their places in the ticket one by one or in littlo 

 groups, as the stars appear to steal into their 

 places in the twilight sky, the managers appar- 

 ently considering that to allow the ticket all aC 

 once to burst forth in constellated splendor 

 might challenge too forcibly the attention of 

 the authorities. But at last the ticket is out in 

 full." 



Meanwhile the majority of members of tho 

 Legislature, known as Union members, assem- 

 bled in the Hall of the Assembly, on the even 

 ing of Feb. 16th, and agreed to " recommend 

 to the Union Democracy of Kentucky thai; 

 they assemble by. delegation in convention in 

 Louisville on March 18th, to nominate suitablo 



