PENNSYLVANIA. 



563 



regulation to secure. "We have also shown that none 

 oAhe features of this law subvert the rights of the 

 true electors of this city, and that it is the only test of 

 the constitutionality or any provision contained in 

 the law. 



It is true there is a kind of liberty this registry law 

 will destroy. It is that licentiousness, that adulterous 

 freedom which surrenders the polls to hirelings and 

 vagabonds, outcasts from home and honest industry ; 

 men without citizenship or stake in the government ; 

 men who will commit perjury, violence, and murder 

 itself. To prevent this is the purpose of this law, 

 and it should have the aid of fair men of all parties 

 to give it a fair trial, and secure its true end. It may 

 have defects doubtless it has ; and what system 

 devised by the wit of man has not ? But its defects, 

 if any, should be remedied as they are disclosed by 

 experience. The law is not unconstitutional. It is 

 a part of the political system of the State, on which 

 its offices and its very continuance depend ; and we, 



as a court, have no right to put hands upon the whole 

 system on the grounds of mere hardship, and 



for 



defects of regulation which are not clear or palpable 

 violations of the letter or very spirit of the consti- 

 tution. 



The political campaign was opened by the 

 Republicans, the State Central Committee of 

 that party having met in February, and re- 

 solved that the next Union Eepublican State 

 Convention should be held in the city of Phil- 

 adelphia on the 23d of June. The State offi- 

 cers to be elected were the Governor of the 

 Commonwealth, and one judge of the Supreme 

 Court. On the appointed day, the delegates 

 who had been chosen in the various dis- 

 tricts assembled, and were called to order by 

 Galusha A. Grow, chairman of the State 

 Central Committee. James A. Graham, of 

 Alleghany County, was chosen as president on 

 the permanent organization. General John "W. 

 Geary was nominated for the office of Governor 

 by 122 votes out of a total of 133 ; and Henry 

 W. Williams, of Alleghany County,, was nomi- 

 nated for Judge of the Supreme Court, by ac- 

 clamation. A committee of thirty, consisting 

 of one from each senatorial district, prepared 

 the following platform, which was unanimously 

 adopted : 



Resolved, That we rejoice in the glorious national 

 victory of 1868, which is bringing peace, happiness, 

 and prosperity, to us as a nation. 



Resolved, That we wholly approve the principles 

 and policy of the Administration of General Grant, 

 and we heartily indorse every sentiment contained in 

 his inaugural address, and especially do hereby ratify 

 and approve the late amendment to the Constitution 

 of the United States proposed by Congress, known 

 as the fifteenth amendment. 



Resolved, That we have confidence that the General 

 Administration will wisely and firmly protect the 

 interests of the nation in respect to our just claims 

 against Great Britain, and that we indorse the action 

 of the Senate in rejecting the Johnson-Clarendon 

 treaty, known as the Alabama claims. 



Resolved, That we heartily sympathize with the 

 struggling people of all nations in their efforts to 

 attain universal freedom and the inalienable rights of 

 man. 



Resolved, That we cordially indorse the adminis- 

 tration of Governor John W. Geary, as wise, econom- 

 ical and honest, and that it deserves, as it has received, 

 the approval of the people of Pennsylvania, and we 

 especially commend nis uniform efforts to restrain 

 the evils of special legislation. 



Resolved, That in Hon. Henry W. Williams, our 

 candidate for the Supremo Bench, wo present a 

 learned, pure, and patriotic jurist, who will adorn 

 the high position to which we propose to elect him. 



Resolved, That we reiterate and affirm our adherence 

 to the doctrine of protection as proclaimed in the 

 ninth resolution of the platform adopted at the State 

 Convention of March 7, 1866. 



Resolved, That we indorse the ticket this day nom- 

 inated, and pledge to it our hearty and cordial sup- 

 port. 



Resolved, That the chairman of this convention is 

 hereby authorized to appoint a chairman of the State 

 Central Committee on the joint recommendation of 

 the candidates this day nominated ; and that the 

 State Central Committee shall consist, during the 

 coming campaign, of the same number of delegates 

 from each county as the last committee, and they be 

 appointed by the senatorial and representative dele- 

 gates, except Alleghany County, which shall have 

 eight members. 



The Democratic Convention was held at 

 Harrisburg, on the 14th day of July, and nom- 

 inated Asa Packer for the office of Governor, 

 and 0. L. Pershing for Judge of the Supreme 

 Court. The principles of the party were em- 

 bodied in the following declarations : 



1. That the Federal Government is limited to the 

 grants contained in the Federal Constitution; that 

 the exercise of doubtful constitutional powers is 

 dangerous to the stability of the Government and the 

 safety of the people ; and the Democratic party will 

 never consent that the State of Pennsylvania shall 

 surrender her great right of local self-government. 



2. That the attempted ratification of the pro- 

 posed fifteenth amendment to the Federal Consti- 

 tution by the radical members of the last Legislature, 

 and their refusal to submit the same to a vote of the 

 people, was a deliberate breach of their official duty 

 and an outrage upon every citizen of the State, and 

 the resolution making such ratification should be 

 promptly repealed, and the amendment submitted to 

 the people at the polls for acceptance or rejection. 



3. That the Democratic party of Pennsylvania 

 is opposed to conferring upon the negro the right 

 to vote ; and we do emphatically deny that there is 

 any right or power in Congress or elsewhere to im- 

 pose negro suffrage upon the people of this State in 

 opposition to their will. 



4. That reform in the administration of the Fed- 

 eral and State governments in the management of 

 their financial affairs is imperatively demanded. 



5. That the movements now being made for the 

 amelioration of the condition of the laboring man 

 have our most cordial cooperation. 



6. That the legislation of the late Eepublican 

 Congress, outside of the Constitution, the disregard 

 of the majority therein of the will of the people and 

 sanctity of the ballot-box, in the exclusion from their 

 seats in Congress of Representatives clearly elected, 

 the establishment of military governments in States 

 in the Union, and the overthrow of all civil govern- 

 ment therein, are acts of tyranny and usurpation that 

 tend directly to the destruction of all republican 

 government, and the creation of the worst forms of 

 despotism. 



7. That our soldiers and sailors, who carried the 

 flag of our country to victory, must be gratefully re- 

 membered, and the guarantees given in their favor 

 most faithfully carried into execution. 



8. Equal rights and protection for naturalized 

 and native-born citizens at home and abroad ; the 

 assertion of American nationality which shall com- 

 mand the respect of foreign powers and furnish an 

 example of encouragement to people struggling for 

 national integrity, constitutional liberty, and undi- 

 vided rights. 



9. That the present internal revenue and tax- 



