786 



UNITED STATES. 



flexibly adhered to in the approaching elections. 

 We further declare that we do not recognize in the 

 Baltimore Convention the essential conditions of a 

 truly National Convention. Its proximity to the 

 centre of all the interested influences of the Admin- 

 istration, its distance from the centre of the country, 

 its mode of convocation, the corrupting practices to 

 which it has been and inevitably will be subjected, 

 do not permit the people to assemble there with any 

 expectation of being able to deliberate at full liberty. 

 Convinced as we are, that in presence of the critical 

 circumstances in which the Nation is placed, it is 

 only in the energy and good sense of the people that 

 the general safety can be found ; satisfied that the 

 only way to consult it is to indicate a central position 

 to which every one may go without too much expen- 

 diture of means and time, and where the assembled 

 people, far from all Administrative influence, may 

 consult freely and deliberate peaceably with the 

 presence of the greatest possible number of* men 

 whose known principles guarantee their sincere and 

 enlightened devotion to the rights of the people and 

 to the preservation of the true bases of republican 

 government; we earnestly invite our fellow-citizens 

 to unite at Cleveland, Ohio, on Tuesday, the thirty- 

 first of May next, for consultation and concert of 

 action in respect to the approaching Presidential 

 election. 



People's Provisional Committee. B. Gratz Brown, 

 Mo. ; Stephen S. Foster, Mass. ; And. Van Antwerp, 

 N. Y. ; Bird B. Chapman, Ohio; Ezra C.Andrew, 

 Maine ; Henry A. Clover, Mo. ; Peter Engelman, 

 Wis. ; Caspar Butz, Illinois ; George Field, N. Y. ; 

 Edward Gilbert, N. Y. ; Thomas R. Ackland, N. Y. ; 

 B. H. Brooks, Cal. ; Peter Gillen, N. Y. ; Isaac W. 

 Hoff, N. Y. ; Wen. Herries, N. Y. ; James Hill, 

 Maine ; K. Heinzen, Mass. ; And. Humbert, Pa. ; 

 S. P. Dinsmore, D. C. ; J. W. Alden, N. J. ; L. Sie- 

 bold, Iowa; Wm. Morris Davis, Pa. ; E. M. Davis, 

 Pa.; W. H. Crame, Wis.; F. Muench, Mo.; J. 

 Quimby Webster, Maine ; W. F. Johnson, Pa. ; 

 Fried. Kapp, N. Y. ; Charles E. Moss, Mo. ; Ernest 

 Pruessing, 111. ; Wm. D. Robinson, Maine ; John S. 

 Savery, N. Y. ; G. Cluseret, N. Y. ; Emil Preetorius, 

 Mo. ; Nath. P. Sawyer, Pa. ; Ernest Schmidt, 111. ; 

 Albert Gilbert, Colorado ; James Redpath, Mass. ; 

 Walter H. Shupe, Ohio ; Wm. H. Smith, Maine ; P. 

 W. Kenyon, N. Y. ; James Taussig, Mo. ; Ph. Stop- 

 pelbien, N. Y. ; Samuel Taylor, N. Y. ; James S. 

 Thomas, Mo. ; J. F. Whipple, N. Y. ; Theo. Olshau- 

 sen, Mo. ; George M. Lowman, Pa. ; John Wallower, 

 Pa. 



This was soon followed by another call for 

 the same object, signed by a number of the 

 State officers of New York, as follows : 



To the People. Citizens of the United States who 

 mean to uphold the Union, who believe that the 

 rebellion can be suppressed without infringing the 

 rights of individual or of State, who regard the ex- 

 tinction of slavery as among the practical effects of 

 the war for the Union, and favor an amendment of 

 the Federal Constitution for the exclusion of slavery, 

 and who demand integrity and economy in the ad- 

 ministration of Government, are respectfully invited 

 to meet in Mass Convention, at Cleveland, on Tues- 

 day, the thirty-first day of May, inst., for consulta- 

 tion and concert of action in respect to the approach- 

 ing Presidential election. 



Lucius Robinson ; John Cochrane ; Andrew J. Col- 

 vin ; Thomas B. Carroll ; Edward Wade ; George W. 

 Demers : Ira Porter; Brace Millerd ; Howard Hold- 

 dridge ; Francis G. Fine ; Lemon Thomson ; Charles 

 Requa- Smith Requa; Thomas P. White, Ky. ; Ed- 

 ward Cole, Ky. ; Francis F. Williams, Ky. ; Smith 

 Thompson, Ky. ; Leroy McArdle, Ky. ; Wm. Bentley, 

 Ky. ; John F. Smithers, Ky. ; Davis S. Whiteley, 

 Ky. ; Peter McCall, Ky. ; Charles F. French, Ky. ; 

 Robert Kraus, Mo. ; Hanson Brent, Mo. ; J. B. Clair- 

 bour, Me. ; Wm. Freel, Mo. ; Charles H. Frost, Mo. ; 



Thomas J. Riddle, Mo. ; Wm. L. Bookstaver, Mo. 

 Fred. L. Braden, 111. ; Caspar 0. Fitch, 111. ; Wallace 

 Furman ; Frederick Smith ; Peter B. Lent, Ind. ; An- 

 drew F. Butler; Thomas Wilks; 0. Whaley, Mass. ; 

 Johnson Sterner; Alfred Moses; Leonard J. Timon ; 

 John F. Pendleton, N. J. ; Patrick Clare; Simon 

 Munson. 



A third call, signed by a considerable number 

 of prominent Abolitionists, also appeared for the 

 same object. Their objects were thus stated : 

 " The things demanded, and which we ask you 

 to join us to render sure, are, the immediate 

 extinction of slavery throughout the whole 

 United States, by Congressional action, the ab- 

 solute equality of all men before the law with- 

 out regard to race or color, and such a plan of 

 reconstruction as shall conform entirely to the 

 policy of freedom for all, placing the political 

 power alone in the hands of the loyal, and exe- 

 cuting with vigor the law for the confiscating 

 the property of the rebels." 



A convention of some five hundred persons 

 assembled at Cleveland in response to these 

 calls, and nominated Major-General John C. 

 Fremont for President, and John Cochrane, 

 Attorney-General of New York, for Vice-Pres- 

 ident. The political views or objects of the 

 Convention were expressed in the following 

 synopsis of resolutions : 



1. The Federal Union shall be preserved. 



2. The Constitution and Laws of the United States 

 must be observed and obeyed. 



3. The rebellion must be suppressed by force of 

 arms, and without compromise. 



4. The rights of free speech, free press, and the 

 habeas corpus must be inviolate, save in districts where 

 martial law has been proclaimed. 



5. The rebellion has destroyed slavery, and the 

 Federal Constitution should be amended to prohibit 

 its reestablishment, and to secure to all men absolute ' 

 equality before the law. 



6. Integrity and economy are demanded at all 

 times in the administration of the Government, and 

 in time of war the want of them is criminal. 



V. The right of asylum, except for crime, and sub- 

 ject to law, is a recognized principle of American 

 iberty; any violation of it cannot be overlooked, and 

 must not go unrebuked. 



8. The National policy known as the " Monroe doc- 

 trine," has become a recognized principle, and the es- 

 tablishment of an anti-republican Government on this 

 continent by any foreign power cannot be tolerated. 



9. The gratitude and support of the nation is due 

 to the faithful soldiers and the earnest leaders of the 

 Union army and navy for their heroic achievements 

 and deathless valor in defence of our imperilled coun- 

 try and civil liberty. 



10. The one-term policy for the Presidency, adopt- 

 ed by the people, is strengthened by the force of the 

 existing crisis, and should be upheld by constitu- 

 tional amendments. 



11. The Constitution should be so amended that 

 the President and Vice-President shall be elected by 

 a direct vote of the people. 



12. The question of the reconstruction of the Re- 

 bellious States belongs to the people, through their 

 respective representatives in Congress, and not to 

 the Executive. 



13. That the confiscation of the lands of rebels, and 

 their distribution among the soldiers and actual seU 

 tiers, is a measure of justice. 



Gen. Fremont accepted the nomination in a 

 letter addressed to a Committee of the Conven- 

 tion, on June 4th, as follows : 



ib 



