MISSOUKI. 



521 



5th of August for their State Convention, and 

 recommending county meetings to be held on 

 the 20th of July, to appoint delegates. The 

 convention' was held at St. Louis, and nomi- 

 nated John S. Phelps, for Governor ; Norman 

 J. Coleman, for Lieutenant-Governor ; Ber- 

 nard Poepping, for Secretary of State ; J. A. 

 Hackaday, Attorney-General ; Charles C. Bos- 

 sier, Auditor ; Robert Hundthanen, Treasurer. 

 The following is the platform as unanimously 

 adopted : 



The Democracy of Missouri, in convention assem- 

 bled, looking only to living issues and cordially in- 

 viting the cooperation of every lover of constitutional 

 liberty, regardless of past or present party associa- 

 tions, do, in view of the condition of the State and 

 nation, proclaim and resolve as follows : 



1. That we hail with unbounded satisfaction the 

 nomination of Horatio Seymour and F. P. Blair for 

 President and Vice-President of the United States 

 upon a platform of principles bold, earnest, sound, 

 and trutnful ; that with fixed purpose and uncon- 

 querable zeal we will labor in this canvass to the end 

 that our country may be redeemed, regenerated, and 

 disenthralled. 



2. While we are willing to protect the colored race 

 from every assault upon their natural rights, we are 

 unalterably opposed to negro suffrage and negro 

 equality, its logical sequence. The proposition now 

 pending in this State to admit to the elective fran- 

 chise the untutored African while thousands of intel- 

 ligent, industrious, and law-abiding white men are 

 excluded from the ballot-box, is a gross insult to our 

 race and a ghastly mark of contempt for the common- 

 est principles of justice. 



3. That the declaration of the Missouri Eadicals in 

 their platform that they " cherish no revengeful feel- 

 ings toward those who fought in fair, open battle, 

 though for an unjust cause : and stand ready to restore 

 to them every political privilege at the earliest mo- 

 ment consistent with State and national safety," is a 

 transparent falsehood, in view of the fact that, though 

 the reasoning of the United States Supreme Court in 

 the adjudication of cases proves the Missouri test-oath 

 unconstitutional, null, and void, this party of pro- 

 scription still requires the oath to be administered, 

 and is at the present moment reorganizing its po- 

 litical machinery through the infamous registration 

 law to give a strained and unwarrantable interpreta- 

 tion of that oath. 



4. We challenge the world to produce in the whole 

 history of tyranny a parallel to the lawless violence, 

 the harsh oppression, the grinding, inexorable des- 

 potism of the Radical party of Missouri in its dealings 

 with the people. The rule of that party has brought 

 utter demoralization into almost every branch of the 

 public service, through its officials and honored rep- 

 resentatives has robbed the State of millions of monej-, 

 lavished countless thousands upon party favorites, and 

 squandered thousands more on useless and extrava- 

 gant expenditures. Murderers and thieves are eulo- 

 gized as great citizens and Christian gentlemen ; de- 

 stroyers of a free press, and invaders of peaceful com- 

 munities are held up for applause and public honor ; 

 the plunderers of the Treasury are unimpeached and 

 unindicted ; the perpetrators of matchless villanies 

 are welcomed as respectable members of radical 

 Legislatures, radical caucuses, and radical conven- 

 tions. 



5. That we enunciate as a legal proposition that 

 every citizen of lawful age, having resided in the 

 State and county the length of time required by law, 

 has the right of suffrage ; but we urge upon every 

 loyal voter in the State to register and vote. While 

 we demand a fair and impartial registration of all 

 qualified voters under the law, we condemn and dis- 

 countenance any improper interference with, or at- 



tempts to intimidate, the registration officers in the 

 proper discharge of their official duties; that, sup- 

 porting and obeying all laws regularly enacted, the 

 Democracy are the party of law and order, and their 

 accession to power will give peace and tranquillity to 

 this distracted land. 



6. The condition of our State, no less than the true 

 principles of political and official action, demands 

 frugality and economy, the contraction of expendi- 

 tures^ the lessening of taxation, and, in short, the 

 adoption of a rigid policy of retrenchment and re- 

 form. 



The registration of qualified voters took place 

 in August and September. The provisions of 

 the new law were regarded with great dissatis- 

 faction by the conservative people of the State, 

 and, as the test-oath had been pronounced un- 

 constitutional by the Supreme Court of the 

 United States, it was argued by Democratic 

 newspapers and orators that no citizen would 

 be guilty of legal perjury who should take the 

 oath ; and then, if the name of such person was 

 placed on the list of "rejected voters," it was 

 said the burden of proof would fall on the 

 registrars to show that he had been guilty of 

 any disloyal act. The registrars, however, 

 took a different view of the law, and abso- 

 lutely refused, in many cases, to receive the 

 names of persons who avowed themselves ready 

 to subscribe to the required oath. This led to 

 much bitter feeling, and in some cases to dis- 

 turbances of the peace, though none of these 

 disorders were of a very aggravated description. 

 It was claimed that the number of persons, 

 who applied for registration, answered all the 

 questions of the registrars, and took the " oath 

 of loyalty," and yet were disfranchised, was 

 not less than twenty thousand, while the whole 

 number disfranchised in the State was placed 

 at thirty thousand. 



At the election, which occurred in Novem- 

 ber, Joseph H. McClurg was chosen for Gov- 

 ernor by a majority of 19,328, the whole vote 

 being 144,887: for McClurg 82,107, for Phelps 

 62,780. The whole vote for presidential elec- 

 tors was 145,459, the majority in favor of the 

 election of Grant being 25,883. The Legisla- 

 ture had again submitted to the vote of the 

 people a proposition to strike the word "white" 

 from the provisions of the constitution re- 

 lating to the right of suffrage. The whole 

 vote on this amendment was 129,289 ; 55,236 

 were given in favor of the change, and 74,053 

 against it: majority against negro suffrage, 

 18,817. Nine members of Congress were 

 chosen at the same election, six of whom were 

 Eepublicans. 



A decision was given in the Supreme Court, 

 at the March term, of some general interest, 

 whereby it was determined that the property 

 of Washington University was subject to tax- 

 ation by the State, notwithstanding a special 

 exemption expressed in its charter. At the 

 time the charter was granted there was nothing 

 prohibiting the Legislature from allowing such 

 exemption, but the present constitution of the 

 State declares that " no property, real or per- 

 sonal, shall be exempt from taxation, except 



