784 



UNITED STATES. 



that declaration, but, believing that the restoration 

 of the civil service to tlie system established by 

 Washington, and followed by the early Presidents, 

 can be best accomplished by an Executive who is 

 under no temptation to use the patronage of his office 

 to promote his own reelection, I desire to perform 

 what I regard as a duty, in stating now mv inflexible 

 purpose, if elected, not to be a candidate for election 

 to a second term. 



On the currency question I have frequently ex- 

 pressed my views in public, and I stand by my 

 record on this subject. I regard all the laws of the 

 United States relating to the payment of the public 

 indebtedness, the legal-tender notes included, as 

 constituting a pledge and the moral obligation of the 

 Government, which must, in good faith, be kept. It 

 is my conviction that the feeling of uncertainty in- 

 separable from an irredeemable paper currency, with 

 its fluctuations of values, is one of the great obsta- 

 cles to a revival of confidence and business, and to a 

 return of prosperity. That uncertainty can be ended 

 in but one way the resumption of specie payment. 

 But the longer the instability connected with our 

 present money-system is permitted to continue, the 

 greater will be the injury inflicted upon our econom- 



ical interests and all classes of society. If elected, I 

 shall approve every appropriate measure to accom- 

 plish the desired end, and shall oppose any step 

 backward. 



The resolution with respect to the public-school 

 system is one which should receive the hearty sup- 

 port of the American people. Agitation upon this 

 subject is to be apprehended, until by constitutional 

 amendment the schools are placed beyond all danger 

 of sectarian control or interference. The Eepublican 

 party is pledged to secure such an amendment. 



The resolution of the convention on the subject 

 of the permanent pacification of the country, and the 

 complete protection of all its citizens in the free en- 

 joyment of all their constitutional rights, is timely 

 and of great importance. The condition of the South- 

 ern States attracts the attention and commands the 

 sympathy of the people of the whole Union. In 

 their progressive recovery from the effects of the 

 war, their first necessity is an intelligent and honest 

 administration of government, which shall protect 

 all classes of citizens in all their political and private 

 rights. What the South most needs is peace ; and 

 peace depends upon the supremacy of law. There 

 can be no enduring peace if the constitutional rights 



THE CAPITOL, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



of any portion of the people are habitually disre- 

 garded. A division of political parties resting merely 

 upon the distinctions of race, or upon sectional lines, 

 is always unfortunate, and may be disastrous. The 

 welfare of the South, alike with that of every other 

 part of the country, depends upon the attractions it 

 can off^r to labor, to immigration, and to capital. 

 But laborers will not go, and capital will not be vent- 

 ured, where the Constitution and the laws are set 

 at defiance, and distraction, apprehension, and alarm 

 take the place of peace-loving and law-abiding social 

 life. All parts of the Constitution are sacred, and 

 must be sacredly observed, the parts that are new 

 no less than the parts that are old. The moral and 

 material prosperity of the Southern States can be 

 most effectually advanced by a hearty and generous 

 recognition of the rights of all by all a recognition 

 without reserve or exception. With such a recogni- 

 tion fully accorded, it will be practicable to promote, 

 by the influence of all the legitimate agencies of the 

 General Government, the efforts of the people of 

 those States to obtain for themselves the blessings 



of honest and capable local government. If elected, 

 I shall consider it not only my duty, but it will be 

 my ardent desire, to labor for the attainment of this 

 end. Let me assure my countrymen of the Southern 

 States that, if I should be charged with the duty of 

 organizing an Administration, it will be one which 

 will regard and cherish their truest interests the in- 

 terests of the white and of the colored people, both 

 and equally and which will put forth its best efforts 

 in behalf of a civil policy which will wipe out for- 

 ever the distinction between North and South in our 

 common country. 



With a civil service organized upon a system which 

 will secure purity, experience, efficiency, and econo- 

 my, a strict regard for the public welfare solely in 

 appointments, and the speedy, thorough, and un- 

 sparing prosecution and punishment of all public 

 officers who betray official trusts ; with a sound cur- 

 rency ; with education, unsectarian and free to all ; 

 with simplicity and frugality in public and private 

 affairs ; and with a fraternal spirit of harmony per- 

 vading the people of all sections and classes, we 



