552 



MISSOURI. 



had fled to return, and civil order was reestab- 

 lished. Rewards were at once offered, to the 

 full extent authorized by law', for the appre- 

 hension of every one imprftated, and steps 

 were taken to discover the persons and elicit 

 the evidences necessary for prosecution. In- 

 dictments have been found against 54 persons, 

 charged with being engaged in the Gunn City 

 murders, all of whom were bailed in the sum 

 of $100,000, and their trials set for the Febru- 

 ary term of the Cass County Circuit Court, in 

 1873. 



The political campaign of the year in Mis- 

 souri was one of unusual interest. The move- 

 ment in national politics known as the "Lib- 

 eral Eepublican " movement had its inception 

 in a convention at Jefferson City, held on the 

 24th of January. It was one of the largest 

 conventions ever held in the State. Besides 

 the delegates representing the various coun- 

 ties, there were many persons present from 

 other parts of the country. The convention 

 was called to order by Colonel Grosvenor, 

 chairman of the State Central Committee, 

 and speeches were made by Governor Brown, 

 James M. Scovil, of New Jersey, and others, 

 while Senator Carl Schurz and others sent 

 letters expressing their sympathy with its 

 objects. Those objects are set forth with suf- 

 ficient clearness in the following resolutions : 



Resolved, That we, the Liberal Republicans of Mis- 

 souri, faithful now, as we were in the dark days of 

 civil war, to the vital principles of true republican- 

 ism, by no act or word will endanger rightful sover- 

 eignty of the Union, emancipation, equality of civil 

 rights, or enfranchisement. To these established 

 facts, now embedded in the Constitution, we claim 

 the loyalty of all good citizens. 



Resolved, That a true and lasting peace can come 

 only from such proposed reconciliation as enfran- 

 chisement has wrought in this State, nor can those 

 governments be pure or just in which the tax-payers 

 have no active part. We therefore demand, with 

 equal suffrage for all, complete amnesty for all, that 

 the intelligent and experienced of every State may 

 be welcomed to active service for the common wel- 

 fare. 



Resolved, That no form of taxation is just or wise 

 which puts needless burdens upon the people. "We 

 demand a genuine reform of the tariff, so that those 

 duties shall be removed which, in addition to the 

 revenue yielded to the Treasury, involve increase in 

 the price of domestic products,, and a consequent tax 

 for the benefit of favored interests. 



Resolved, That the shameless abuse of government 

 patronage for control of conventions and elections, 

 whether in the interests of an individual, a faction, 

 or a party, with the consequent corruption and de- 

 moralization of political life, demands a thorough 

 and genuine reform of public service. Those who 

 would suppress investigation forget that they owe a 

 higher duty to the country than to any party. "We 

 honor those Senators whose courageous course has 

 compelled the disclosure of grave misdeeds, and they 

 deserve the thanks and the hearty support of all good 

 citizens. 



Resolved, That local self-government, with impar- 

 tial suffrage, will guard the rights of all citizens more 

 securely than any centralized authority. It is time 

 to stop the growing encroachment of executive pow- 

 er, the use of coercion or bribery to ratify a treaty, 

 the packing of a Supreme Court to relieve rich cor- 

 porations, the seating of members of Congress not 



the 



elected by the people, the resort to unconstitutional 

 laws to cure Ku-klux disorders^ irreligion, or intem- 

 perance, and the surrender of individual freedom to 

 those who ask that the pleasure, practice, or creed, 

 of some shall be the law of all. We demand for the 

 individual the largest liberty consistent with public 

 order, for the State, self-government, and for the na- 

 tion, return to the methods of peace, and the consti- 

 tutional limitations of power. 



Resolved, That true Republicanism makes it not the 

 less our duty to expose corruption, denounce usur- 

 pation of power, and work for reforms necessary to 

 the public welfare. The times demand an uprising 

 of honest citizens to sweep from power the men who 

 prostitute the name of an honored party to selfish in- 

 terests. "We therefore invite all Republicans, who de- 

 sire the reforms herein set forth, to meet in national 

 mass convention at the city of Cincinnati, on the first 

 Wednesday of May next, at 12 M., there to take such 

 action as our convictions of duty arid the public exi- 

 gency may require. 



Delegates of the regular Republican party 

 met at Jefferson City, on the 22d of February, 

 to appoint representatives to the National 

 Convention, to be held in Philadelphia, in 

 June, and set forth the principles in accord- 

 ance with which they professed to act. These 

 principles were embodied in the following dec- 

 larations : 



We, the representatives of the Eepublican party of 

 the State of Missouri, in convention assembled, de- 

 clare as follows : 



1. We congratulate the people of Missouri, and of 

 i United States, that the principles of the Kepubli- 

 L party, as enunciated by the National Convention 



of 1868, and which have determined the internal und 

 foreign policy of the United States Government, have ' 

 realized the blessings of peace and prosperity at 

 home, and vindicated the honor, stability, and power 

 of the American republic among the nations of the 

 world, and we reaffirm our adherence to those prin- 

 ciples. 



2. That \ve heartily indorse the present national 

 Administration in its conduct of national affairs, and 

 point, with patriotic pride, to its great and lasting 

 achievements. It has given to the country peace and 

 prosperity : it has fulfilled its pledge that the will of 

 the people should be the paramount law of its ac- 

 tion ; it has established the credit of the country 

 upon a firm financial basis. By a steady adherence 

 to its obligations, and to its plighted faith, it has en- 

 hanced the value of public securities, and appreciated 

 the national currency to the verge of a gold standard. 

 It has reduced the public debt beyond all precedent, 

 and, at the same time, relieved the industry of the 

 country from vast burdens of taxation which were 

 necessarily imposed upon the people for the preser- 

 vation of the republic. It has rebuked corruption 

 and dishonesty wherever found to exist, and, with 

 firm, unsparing justice, it has meted out punishment 

 wherever the law has declared punishment to be due. 

 It has corrected abuses and chronic evils inherited 

 from the past. It has inaugurated and made zealous 

 endeavors to secure practical and efficient civil-ser- 

 vice reform. It has adopted a successful and humane 

 Indian policy. It has executed, with a firm hand, 

 the will of the people as expressed in the Constitu- 

 tion and the laws of Congress ; and, finally, nego- 

 tiated a treaty with Great Britain in the settlement 

 of intricate and threatening complications, which is 

 not less glorious as a vindication of the honor of the 

 American flag, than it is distinguished in establish- 

 ing a great and Christian principle of international 

 law. 



3. That, inasmuch as the disorganizing elements 

 of other States are now looking to Missouri for a con- 

 firmation of their hopes of a division in our ranks, 

 we take occasion to proclaim to the Republicans of 



