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FLORIDA. 



overthrow of this party in power; and we cordially 

 invite the cooperation of honest men of all shades 

 of political opinion to unite with us equally in sus- 

 taining and enforcing the following principles : 



1. Fidelity to the Constitution and all its amend- 

 ments. 



2. Retrenahment and economy in Federal and 

 Sbate administration. 



3. Lessening the burdens of labor by a reduction 

 of taxes and offices. 



4. Free schools exempt from all sectarian control. 



5. Opposition to centralization as well as Fed- 

 eral interference with local government. 



6. Exposure and punishment of corruption in 

 officials. 



7. Equal rights and equal justice to all, irre- 

 spective of race or sectional residence, and a hearty 

 and cordial welcome to immigrants from all sections. 



ALLIGATOR. 



S. B. Conover persisted for some time in run- 

 ning as an opposition Republican candidate for 

 Governor, but finally withdrew on the 5th of 

 September. 



On the 23d of October the Republican Cam- 

 paign Committee issued an address, in which 

 the following statements were made : 



The coming election is the crisis of free govern- 

 ment in Florida ! 



Our Democratic opponents realize already that 

 their defeat is inevitable unless they can stifle the 

 voice of the people by fraud and violence, and de- 

 ter the masses of our party from casting their ballots 

 on the day of election. 



Information, absolutely reliable, has been received 

 at these headquarters, that evil-designing men in 

 the southern counties of Georgia are preparing to 

 invade our State in armed bands on the 7th day of 

 November next, for the purpose of intimidating Re- 

 publicans from casting their ballots, and to stir up 

 riots and bloodshed. Georgia, now Democratic by 

 . eighty thousand majority, proposes to assist the 

 Democrats of Florida in wresting from our people 

 the rights guaranteed us by the Constitution and 

 laws of our common country. Your committee deem 

 it advisable that the plans of the invaders be made 

 known to every Republican in the State of Florida, 

 and that immediate aetion be taken in every county 

 bordering on the State of Georgia to defeat this ne- 

 farious scneme. Let it be made known that, while 

 we cherish no ill will or bitterness toward any per- 

 son, while we desire to live in peace and quietness, 

 while we are ready to bear and forbear, and make 

 any sacrifice consistent with honor and manliness, 

 to protect the good name of our State, we will not 

 tolerate interference by the desperadoes or bullies 

 of another State. Let it be known that if they come 

 here on the day of election with the purpose of in- 

 terference in our matters, they do it at their peril, 

 and that the consequences of their evil deeds and 

 intentions must rest upon their own heads it may 



be before they have penetrated far enough into the 

 State to put their schemes into effect. 



Let all Republicans remember that upon their own 

 vigorous and determined action during the next 

 twenty days depends, in a great measure, the preser- 

 vation of Republican government in Florida. 



The Republican party want peace and harmony, 

 and that not one dishonest vote be cast at the com- 

 ing election. Every man who is legally entitled to 

 vote must be permitted to do so, as his conscience 

 dictates. 



On the 31st of October Governor Stearns 

 issued the following proclamation : 



EXECUTIVE OFFICE, ) 

 TALLAHASSEE, FLA., October 31, 1876. ) 



In view of the excited condition of the public 

 mind, and the, in some degree well-founded, appre- 

 hensions of coming trouble, growing out of the oit- 

 ter political canvass now in progess in this State, 

 and in order to secure a fair, full, and legal expres- 

 sion of the popular will through the ballot-box, to 

 preserve the reputation that Florida has already 

 achieved as a peaceable and law-abiding State, and 

 to prevent the possibility of any occurrence that 

 would bring disgrace upon her people and tend to 

 mar her bright and promising future a future in 

 which every citizen has an equal and vital interest 

 I, Marcellus L. Stearns, Governor of Florida, hereby 

 issue this proclamation to all the people of the 

 State. 



I earnestly call upon all citizens to temper zeal 

 with discretion ; to deprecate fraud, violence, or dis- 

 order, and to exert their individual and collective 

 influence to allay excitement, and to secure peace 

 and order; and I advise that no citizen shall carry 

 arms, either openly or concealed, to political meet- 

 ings, or to the polls on election-day, but that all 

 should trust to the law and its officers alone, assur- 

 ing them that the whole power of the government 

 will be exercised to protect the people in the full 

 enjoyment of every right which the law gives to 

 them. I call upon the judicial officers of every cir- 

 cuit, and upon the sheriffs of every county, to make 

 such preparations as may be necessary, to the full 

 extent of their authority, to prevent or to punish 

 fraud or violence, if any should be attempted or 

 committed ; and I command every inspector of elec- 

 tion, and every other officer or person charged with 

 the conduct of the election, or the preservation of 

 peace and order, to discharge their duties firmly and 

 in strict conformity to the law. 



I recommend that the municipal authorities of all 

 towns and cities throughout the State require the 

 closing of all places where intoxicating liquors are 

 sold, and prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquors 

 within their respective jurisdictions from midnight 

 of Saturday, the 4th day of November, until mid- 

 night of Tuesday, the 7th day of November, and 

 that the sheriffs of each county shall see that no in- 

 toxicating liquor is sold at any place within his 

 county, outside of any incorporated town or city, 

 within the same period. 



Should bands of armed men, citizens of this or of 

 any other State, appear at any voting precinct for 

 the purpose of unlawfully influencing the election at 

 such precinct, or of interfering in any manner, with 

 the free exercise of the elective franchise by citizens 

 of this State, the sheriff and his deputies will pro- 

 ceed at once to disperse, or to arrest, such persons, 

 and, if necessary, to call the power of the county to 

 their assistance ; and in case of the escape of any 

 person guilty of any such unlawful act, or of aiding, 

 abetting, or countenancing the same, they shall ascer- 

 tain and report the name and residence of such per- 

 son, whether a citizen of this or any other State, to 

 the proper prosecuting officer, in order that such per- 

 son may be indicted, pursued, and brought to jus- 

 tice. 



While the State is able and prepared to enforce 



