GEORGIA. 



347 



v )vernment, and to a faithful and economical 

 administration of public affairs." An attempt 

 to secure the cooperation of the " Liberal Re- 

 publicans " was not successful, the committee 

 of the latter, with whom negotiations were 

 carried on, sending the following communica- 

 tion to the convention : 



The committee of Liberal Kepublicans, whose com- 

 munication is before the Democratic Convention, 

 have conferred with the committee appointed by the 

 convention who have expressed themselves as indi- 

 vidually favorable to a union of the two elements, 

 upon the just basis of giving to the Liberal Kepub- 

 licans a fair representation upon the electoral ticket 

 according to their numbers, and they regret to learn 

 from the Democratic committee that in their judg- 

 ment it is impossible to carry such a measure through 

 the convention without a serious rupture. 



The Democratic committee have suggested that we 

 harmonize with the Democracy of the State, without 

 representation upon the ticket. W e are enabled to ap- 

 preciate the liberality of the invitation to unite with 

 the Democracy, without such recognition. We are de- 

 termined, however, that we will do no act which can 

 in any wtiy imperil the success of Greeley and Brown 

 in this State, and while we protest against the spirit 

 of illiberality which denies us representation upon 

 the electoral ticket which is to be put before the 

 people by those who have adopted our candidates 

 for President and Vice-President, we will place no 

 electoral ticket in the field, but will cast our votes 

 for the Greeley and Brown electoral ticket without 

 regard to the former political opinions of the indi- 

 vidual electors, or the manner in which they have 

 been brought before the people. But as to all mat- 

 ters connected with State elections we hold ourselves 

 at liberty to cast our suifrage in such manner as our 

 self-respect and our sense of duty to the country 

 may dictate. 



The Republicans of the State held their con- 

 vention at Atlanta on the 21st of August, and 

 nominated Dawson A. Walker for Governor. 

 Presidential electors were also nominated, and 

 the following resolutions adopted : 



Resolved, That this convention, in the name of the 

 Eepublicans of Georgia, hereby declares its devotion 

 to the principles of the Eepublican party of the 

 Union as declared by the National Convention at 

 Philadelphia in May last, and proudly ratifies the 

 nominations of Ulysses S. Grant for President, and 

 Henry Wilson for Vice-President ; commend those 

 candidates to the people of Georgia as statesmen 

 whose capacity, wisdom, and integrity have been 

 proven by the severest tests, as worthy guardians of 

 the public honor, and inflexible friends of Union, 

 liberty, and equal rights. 



Resolved, That the present General Assembly of 

 Georgia, by enacting penal laws calculated to ensnare 

 the innocent by its contrivances practically to wrest 

 the ballot from the poorer citizens ; by its faithless- 

 ness to the cause of popular education ; by denying 

 local government to citizens of certain municipali- 

 ties, and by its general unfriendliness to the classes 

 whose toil has largely built up the prosperity of the 

 State, has demonstrated its unfitness for its high 

 trust, and should be superseded by a body of more 

 wisdom, justice, and moderation, and of more devo- 

 tion to the welfare of the masses of the people. 



On the following day, August 22d, the 

 Democrats who did not favor the candidates 

 nominated at Cincinnati and Baltimore, for 

 President and Vice-President, held a conven- 

 tion at Atlanta, and appointed delegates to the 

 National Democratic Convention to be held at 

 Louisville, Ky., at the same time recommend- 



ing the names of Charles O'Conor, of New 

 York, and J. Proctor Knott, of Kentucky, as 

 suitable candidates for President and Vice- 

 President. The following platform, drawn up 

 by Alexander H. Stephens, was unanimously 

 adopted : 



Resolved, That the Government of the United 

 States is one formed by separate States ; that it is 

 one of limited powers, delegated by the States for 

 specific purposes and objects set forth in the Con- 

 stitution, and that it possesses of itself no original or 

 inherent power whatever. 



Resolved, That the Union established by the 

 Constitution is a Union of the States, federal in its 

 character, composed of States and thereby united, 

 and is incapable of existence without the States as 

 its constituent integral parts ; that the indestructi- 

 bility of the States, of their rights and of their 

 equality with each other, is an indispensable part of 

 this political system, and therefore the perpetua- 

 tion of the Union in its integrity depends upon the 

 preservation of the States in their political integrity 

 the Government of the United States being a Fed- 

 eral Kepublic, and not a consolidation of the whole 

 people into one homogeneous nation. 



Resolved, That the right of local State government, 

 with the subjection of the military to the civil au- 

 thority, and the security of the privilege of the writ 

 of habeas corpus in time of peace, with the power to 

 enforce the rights and promote the well-being of its 

 inhabitants, by such means as the judgment of its 

 own people may prescribe, and secured and guaran- 

 teed under the Constitution of the United States to 

 the several States of the Union; and that, too, not 

 "subject to any solemn constitutional obligation 

 upon the part of the Federal Government of any 

 kind whatever; but on the contrary, the Federal 

 Government is under a solemn constitutional obliga- 

 tion not to interfere in these matters in any way, 

 and, when it does so, it becomes a usurper of power, 

 an oppressive tyrant, and an enemy to the liberties 

 of the country." 



Resolved,, That the perpetuation of the Union, and 

 the maintenance of the Government as both were es- 

 tablished by the Constitution, and as both under the 

 Constitution have been expounded in the foregoing 

 resolutions, in conformity with the teachings of 

 Jefferson, Madison, and Jackson, have ever been 

 held as cardinal doctrines of the Democratic party, 

 and they are now reiterated with increased earnest- 

 ness, under the solemn conviction that the only sure 

 hope for the preservation of liberty rests in bringing 

 back the administration of the Government to these 

 principles, and in receiving it from the hands of those 

 whose admitted usurpations and revolutionary meas- 

 ures now threaten the entire overthrow of the whole 

 fabric of our system of free institutions, and the 

 erection in their stead of a consolidated empire. 



The election occurred on the 5th of Novem- 

 ber. The full vote cast for presidential elec- 

 tors was 138,906, of which 62,550 were in 

 favor of the election of Grant and Wilson, 

 V6,356 for Greeley and Brown, and 4,004 

 for O'Conor and Adams ; majority for Greeley, 

 13,806. The total vote for Governor was 

 151,014, of which Smith received 104,539 and 

 Walker 46,475 ; majority for Smith, 58,064. 



There was comparatively little disorder in 

 the State during the year. A riot occurred at 

 Savannah on the 29th of July, which grew out 

 of the persistent efforts of certain negroes to 

 ride in street-cars, which had been previously 

 reserved for white persons only. The negroes 

 had been ejected from the cars by some of the 

 passengers, and a conflict in the streets had 



