UNITED STATES. 



701 



any organization that shall desire the furtherance of 

 the end contemplated ; which committee be further- 

 more empowered to urge before Congress the ex- 

 pressed wishes of this convention. 



Whereas, We believe that the pulpit is a mighty 

 power in controlling minds on the question of re- 

 form : therefore, 



Be&olved, That it is the opinion of this committee 

 that it is the duty of every minister of the Gospel to 

 urge from the pulpit the reform now going forward 

 in favor of universal liberty and equal rights to all 

 men. 



Resolved, That, while we must cheerfully acknowl- 

 edge our gratitude to all who have labored and voted 

 for the removal of the unjust disabilities against our 

 people in regard to voting, we are under special obli- 

 gations to the radical press and people of the distin- 

 guished State of Iowa, and also of Minnesota, for 

 their able advocacy of impartial suffrage, and their 

 late great victory at the polls. 



Resolved, That we congratulate the nation on the 

 success of the reconstruction policy of Congress in 

 the restoration of so many of the States lately in re- 

 bellion to their normal relation with the Federal 

 Union, despite the determination and desperate oppo- 

 sition of Southern rebels and their Northern sympa- 

 thizers, and we earnestly appeal to Congress to com- 

 plete the work so auspiciously inaugurated by estab- 

 lishing governments in those States yet unrecon- 

 structed, at the very earliest time possible, in conso- 

 nance with the wishes of the loyal citizens of said 

 States, and in the hands of men loyal to the Govern- 

 ment of the United States, who will administer the 

 laws on the broad principles of justice and equality 

 to all. 



Resolved, That the liberties of the citizens of this 

 country can never be safe or uniform while the States 

 are acknowledged to be the only power to regulate 

 the suffrage. 



Whereas, By the laws of the District of Columbia all 

 persons, without regard to caste or color, are required 

 to aid in bearing the burdens of the Government, all 

 should be admitted to a full enjoyment of its bless- 

 ings and whereas, under the existing laws of the 

 said District, our people are excluded from the jury- 

 box : therefore, be it 



Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by 

 the Chair to memorialize Congress in this matter, 

 with a view of securing the rights of our race in this 

 respect and in every other. 



Resolved, That it is proper and opportune that we 

 should now reaffirm the sentiments of our fathers 

 with reference to African colonization, as expressed 

 by them in 1816, and give such other testimony 

 against it as is justified by its history to the present 

 hour. 



Resolved, That while we desire, indeed would aid 

 in the success of our cause, to the extent of pur op- 

 portunities, any enterprise having for its object the 

 improvement of mankind in any part of the world, 

 we nevertheless here enter our stern protest against 

 the action of any class of men who would compro- 

 mise our popular status by asserting that our duty^ to 

 Africa is more binding upon us than upon other citi- 

 zens of our country. 



Another convention, designated as the "Irish 

 National Republican Convention," composed 

 of 221 delegates, assembled in Chicago, on July 

 4th. Its object was to effect an organization 

 among Irishmen belonging to the Eepuhlican 

 party. The views of the convention were 

 expressed in the following resolutions : 



Resolved, That it is the duty of the Irish people in 

 this republic 

 their BUT 

 right o 

 color, creed, or sex. 



Resolved, That loyalty to the American Kepublic is 



a fixed and unalterable determination to stand by the 

 only free government on earth, and to preserve and 

 defend it against the attacks and machinations of all 

 its_ enemies is the first political duty which the Irish 

 citizens of this country are called upon to discharge. 



Resolved, That to spread the principles of freedom 

 is a duty we owe to ourselves and to the oppressed 

 people of the earth, and one which, by all means 

 consistent with international obligations, we are 

 bound to discharge. 



Resolved, That we ask for the oppressed people of 

 our native land, for Cuba, and the down-trodden of 

 all enslaved lands, the sympathy and support of the 

 people and Government of the United States. 



Resolved, That we protest against the presence of 

 the armed despotism of Europe on this continent, and 

 pledge our hearty cooperation to any plan adopted 

 for their removal. 



Resolved, That free trade, falsely so called, is a cun- 

 ning and selfish device of the enslavers of mankind, 

 and saps the very foundation of American prosperity 

 and independence ; and that we, in the interests of 

 the entire American people, claim full and adequate 

 legislative protection to American industry, and for 

 those only who maintain the principle of protection, 

 and who will make honest efforts to embody it in a 

 protective tariff, should the votes of Irishmen in 

 America be given. 



Resolved, That the tendency which induces so many 

 to neglect the cultivation of the soil and congregate 

 in great cities, we mark as an evil, and one which con- 

 signs many of the Irish people of this country to 

 life-long misery ; we therefore declare our determina- 

 tion to take measures to afford facilities to our fellow- 

 countrymen to settle down in the free and fertile 

 lands of this great and glorious country. 



Resolved, That we rejoice in the triumphant success 

 of the Eepublican cause at the late presidential elec- 

 tion, and pledge to President Grant our cordial and 

 earnest support in preserving and defending the great 

 principles of human liberty at home and abroad. 



Resolved, That the existing neutrality laws being 

 instrumental only in aiding the monarchies of the 

 earth in sustaining their oppressive system of gov- 

 ernment, and having on various occasions placed the 

 American Government in the anomalous position 

 of using their power for the support of said govern- 

 ment, and receiving only in return active and open 

 hostility from the British Government, we hereby 

 pledge ourselves to labor for their entire repeal. 



The first resolution was passed by a vote of 

 49 to 41, the words " or sex " being the chief 

 objection to it. There was also a division on 

 the seventh. A resolution was adopted, after 

 considerable debate, requesting Congress to pass 

 a law making foreigners to be citizens after 

 one year's residence in the country. A reso- 

 lution was also passed in favor of the forma- 

 tion of immigration societies ; also one against 

 any distinction as to race or color in the mem- 

 bership of trades'-union associations. 



The proceedings of this convention failed to 

 attract any special public attention. 



A National Labor Convention, or Congress, 

 assembled in Philadelphia, on August 16th, 

 consisting of delegates from the various labor 

 unions organized throughout the country. The 

 following resolutions, expressing the views of 

 the congress, were adopted : 



Resolved, That laborers in all departments of useful 

 industry are suffering from a system of monetary laws 

 which were enacted during the late war as measures, 

 it was assumed, " necessary to the life of the nation," 

 and which is now sought to be perpetuated in the in- 

 terest of bondholders and bankers, as a means to 



