566 



MISSOURI. 



lar objects was held at Jefferson City on the 

 31st of May. Among the delegates at large 

 sent to the National Convention were Gov- 

 ernor Hardin and ex-Governor Woodson, and 

 the favorite candidate for President was T. A. 

 Hendricks, of Indiana. The platform adopted 

 was as follows : 



1. Fidelity to all the provisions of the Constitution 

 of the United States. 



2. Perpetual union of States, with local self-govern- 

 ment in every section. 



3. Civil service reform and restitution of tests of 

 honesty, fidelity, and capacity, as qualifications for 

 public office . 



4. Retrenchment and economy in Federal, State, 

 and municipal administration ; lessening the bur- 

 den of labor by a reduction of offices and taxation. 



5. Exposure' and speedy punishment by penal laws 

 of corruption and speculation in the administration 

 of public affairs. 



6. Private use and appropriation of public funds 

 by State custodians means embezzlement and rob- 

 bery ; official accountability exacted and enforced by 

 better administration of civil and criminal laws. 



7. Free schools, exempt from all sectarian con- 

 trol ; a free press, accountable for abuses to civil and 

 criminal laws. 



8. The preservation of public faith and credit, and 

 honest payment of the public debt. 



9. That we are in favor of a repeal of the resump- 

 tion act of January, 1875 ; but inasmuch as the Na- 

 tional Convention of the Democratic party is to 

 be held within the next thirty days, we deem it in- 

 expedient to adopt any resolutions respecting the 

 currency or finances of the country, but refer the 

 same to such convention, hereby pledging ourselves 

 to support its platform, and to give the electoral ticket 

 of Missouri for its nominee. The Democratic party 

 is the party of the Constitution, the party of reform, 

 and the party of economy, and if intrusted with the 

 administration of the Federal Government will hold 

 it to be its present and pressing^ duty to restore full 

 and perfect equality among the States against the ag- 

 gressive usurpations of centralized power ; to estab- 

 lish the moral character of the Government and elim- 

 inate crime as a common characteristic of political 

 life ; that the present deplorable condition of the 

 morals and business interests of the country is the 

 result of corrupt and partisan administration, and 

 that reform is absolutely necessary for the relief of 

 the people and the preservation of the Government, 

 and that this can only be done by a change of ad- 

 ministration. 



The Democratic Convention for the nomina- 

 tion of candidates for State officers and presi- 

 dential electors was held at Jefferson City, on 

 the 19th of July. The State ticket agreed 

 upon was as follows: For Governor, General 

 John S. Phelps; for Li euten ant-Governor, H. 

 0. Brockmeyer ; for Secretary of State, Mi- 

 chael K. McGrath ; for Auditor, Thomas Hol- 

 laday ; for Treasurer, Elijah Gates ; for At- 

 torney-General, Jackson L. Smith ; for Regis- 

 ter of Lands, James E. McHenry; for Rail- 

 road Commissioners, James Harding, for the 

 term of six years ; J. S. Marmaduke, for the 

 term of four years ; and John Walker, for the 

 term of two years. The following resolutions 

 were unanimously adopted : 



1. That we, the Democracy of Missouri, in State 

 Convention assembled, do hereby indorse, adopt, 

 and reaffirm, the national Democratic platform adopt- 

 ed at St. Louis on the 28th day of June, 1876. 



Resolved, That we hail with enthusiasm the nomi- 



nation of Governor Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, 

 for President, and of Governor Thomas A. Hen- 

 dricks, of Indiana, for Vice-President, as the strong- 

 est possible combination the Democracy of the 

 Union could have selected for the suffrages of the 

 American people, and in their great and varied civil 

 services, eminent abilities, pure civic and honorable 

 record, without spot or blemish ; that in their elec- 

 tion the people have a certain guarantee of reform, 

 that the Constitution will be preserved intact, the 

 laws executed vigorously and without distinction to 

 race, color, or creed, with protection and equality 

 guaranteed to life, liberty, and property, to every 

 citizen of the Union ; and we hereby pledge the 

 State of Missouri to ratify their nomination by sixty 

 thousand majority. 



Resolved, That we point with pride to the admin- 

 istration of Charles H. Hardin, Governor of Missou- 

 ri, as a model one in the history of the State, and 

 challenge comparison for it with that of any other 

 State in the Union ; and, upon the honorable record 

 thus made in the management of our State affairs, 

 we invite all good men to cooperate with us in our 

 determination to present and elect a State ticket that 

 shall "prove a worthy successor to Governor Charles 

 H. Hardin and his associates in the various State 

 offices. 



The Republican nominating convention took 

 place at Jefferson City, on the 9th of August. 

 The following State ticket was agreed upon : 

 For Governor, G. A. Finkelnburg ; for Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor, C. C. Allen ; for Secretary 

 of State, Eugene F. Weigel ; for Treasurer, 

 John F. Severance; for Auditor, George R. 

 Smith ; for Attorney-General, A. W. Mullins ; 

 for Register of Lands, Richard Drain ; for Su- 

 preme Judge, David Wagner; for Railroad 

 Commissioners, T. R. Allen, E. D. Harper, and 

 Isaac Hayes. 



The platform adopted was as follows : 



Resolved, by the Republican party of the State of 

 Missouri in convention assembled: 



1. That, as the preservation of our nation from 

 destruction from a rebellion incited, and fT four 

 years continued, by the leaders and followers of the 

 Democratic party was, under Divine Providence, ac- 

 complished by the Republican party, so we hold that 

 the perpetuation of our existence as a nation and the 

 maintenance of our civil liberties depend upon the 

 continuance in power of the Republican party. 



2. That we should regard the election of Samuel 

 J. Tilden to the presidency of the United States as 

 a national calamity, as practically reopening the is- 

 sues settled by the war, by placing in power as com- 

 mander-in-chief of the army and navy one whose 

 political record identities him with those who hold 

 the doctrine of secession and are opposed to coercive 

 measures to maintain the integrity of the Union. 



3. That the bold and impudent assumption by the 

 Democratic national platform and the letters of its 

 candidates, that the Democratic party is a party of 

 reform, is groundless, false, and brazen pretense of 

 virtue which it has not, and is shown to be so by the 

 past history of that party in city, State, and national 

 government, and is especially illustrated and proved 

 by the recent nomination for the office of President 

 of a man wlr>se life has been devoted to the service 

 of railroad corporations ; who originated the scheme 

 by which combinations destroyed competition, and 

 in transportation have robbed the producers of the 

 West of millions annually ; who has amassed enor- 

 mous wealth by jobbery in railroad stocks and 

 bonds ; who was the personal and political friend 

 and associate of William M. Tweed during the pe- 

 riod of his stupendous robberies, and who stands 

 condemned by the testimony of Horace Greeley as a 



