534 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



Resolved, That the gigantic railroad monopolies 

 must be broken up. 



Rtsolved, That the liberties of this people impera- 

 tively demand that the far-reaching and deadly hand 

 of capital, as it appears in the infamous monopoly 

 known as the Associated Press, must be torn from 

 the throat of public intelligence. The telegraph com- 

 panies must be forced to Bell the daily news upon 

 equal terms to any paper desiring to purchase the 

 same. 



Resolved, That the payment of a poll-tax as a con- 

 dition of exercising the right of tlie ballot is a viola- 

 tion of democratic principles and tends to corrupt 

 the legislator, and all such odious restrictions should 

 be abolished. 



Resolved, That no person should be taxed for that 

 which he owes; inotherwords,for the purposes of tax- 

 ation, all persons shall have the right to deduct from 

 the value of their estates the sum of the mortgages 

 thereon, and said mortgages should be assessed to 

 the persons to whom they are due. 



Resolved, That the system of letting out convict la- 

 bor by contract is detrimental to the interests of the 

 workingmen, and should be abolished. 



Resolved, That the public lands are the property of 

 the people; therefore they should be reserved for 

 actual settlers, aided to their settlement by Govern- 

 ment, and protected in their possession by just laws. 



General Benjamin F. Butler was nominated 

 as their candidate for Governor, with only 

 two dissenting votes. The nominations for the 

 other State offices were referred to the State 

 Central Committee to be made. 



The State Democratic Convention was called 

 to assemble at Worcester on September 18th. 

 As the primary meetings began to be held for 

 the appointment of delegates to this Conven- 

 tion, it became apparent at once that the friends 

 of Genera] Butler were seeking to have selected 

 as many delegates as possible in favor of his 

 nomination as the Democratic candidate for 

 Governor. Their success was such as to cause 

 an immediate alarm among the leaders of the 

 party, and the following declaration appeared 

 on September l^th : 



At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the 

 Democratic State Central Committee held yesterday 

 afternoon, the following vote was adopted : 



Voted, In the opinion of the Executive Committee 

 of the Democratic State Committee, under the call 

 for the State Convention, no person, known by his 

 acts or declared opinions to be in favor of nomi- 

 na^ing, through the Democratic Convention, as a can- 

 didate for Governor or for any State office, a person 

 who is not a recognized member of the Democratic 

 party, is entitled to sit or vote in the Democratic 

 State Convention. 



In answer to the above, the following ap- 

 peared on the next day from General Butler : 

 BOSTON, September 13, 1S7S. 



No caucus, no Legislature can bind a succeeding 

 one. They can not delegate a powerthey do not hold, 

 ivyery caucus is a power unto itself, the expression 

 of the people's will. The powers of State, city, and 

 town committees are simply ministerial, extending 

 only to the calling to order of a new caucus. Power 

 rises from the people, and does not descend from 

 committees or conventions. If delegates are elected 

 by a Democratic caucus duly called, they will be ad- 

 nutted. Do not doubt it. I will see that Democrats 

 as well as others have fair play. B. F. BUTLER. 



At an early hour on the day of the Conven- 

 tion the delegates in favor of General Butler 



were present in large numbers, and took posses- 

 sion of the hall where the Convention was to be 

 held. When the State Central Committee fully 

 realized that the friends of General Butler had 

 control of the hall, they informed the Mayor 

 (Pratt) of the state of ati'airs. The Mayor went 

 to the hall, appeared on the platform of the 

 Convention, and said he had learned from 

 members of the State Committee that they 

 were the lessees of the hall, and that it had 

 been forcibly opened and occupied during the 

 night, and repeated that those present must 

 retire or be ejected by the officers. The as- 

 semblage declared that they found the doors 

 standing wide open when they came there, and. 

 further, that the Democratic State Committee 

 were their servants, not masters, and they 

 would take from their servants' shoulders all 

 responsibility for the hall, and would not be 

 ejected. Again the Mayor tried to compro- 

 mise, but could promise the Butler men nothing 

 satisfactory in case they heeded his requests. 

 Finally he asked them for the last time if they 

 would retire from the hall, and, upon their re- 

 fusal, he frankly said, "Then, gentlemen, you 

 can remain, for I have no legal power to for- 

 cibly eject you." This announcement was fol- 

 lowed by rounds upon rounds of cheers for the 

 Mayor. The Mayor then retired, and informed 

 the State Committee that in his opinion said 

 hall " could not be cleared except by violence 

 and perhaps bloodshed." The Committee then 

 voted to adjourn the Convention, and issued 

 the folio wing address : 



"WoBOESTER, September 17, 3S7& 



To tJie Democrats of Massachusetts : Whereas a del- 

 egate Convention of the Democrats of Massachusetts 

 for the nomination of candidates for State officers 

 was called by the State Central Committee of tho 

 Democratic party, to be holden at Worcester this 

 day ; and whereas it is found at the hour of assem- 

 blage of said Convention, that Mechanics' Hall, the 

 hall engaged by the Committee for holding the Con- 

 vention, is in possession of a mob publicly announ- 

 cing itself as acting in the interest of Benjamin F. 

 Butler, which entered the hall by stealth and by 

 force, by ladders through the windows and breaking 

 down the doors ; and whereas the Mayor of Worces- 

 ter informs said Committee by letter, a copy of which 

 is hereto appended, that said hall can not be cleared 

 and placed within the control of said Committee with- 

 out force, and probably bloodshed : now, therefore, 

 the State Central Committee of the Democratic party 

 of Massachusetts, believing that said Convention can 

 not with safety be held this day at Worcester, and 

 declaring the right of free and peaceful assemblage 

 of all deliberative bodies gathered for political pur- 

 poses as the foundation principle of all Democratic 

 action, do hereby declare andproelaim said Conven- 

 tion called to be holden at Worcester postponed to 

 meet at Faneuil Hall, in Boston, on Wednesday, Sep- 

 tember 25th, at 11 o'clock A. M. 



EDWARD AVEEY, Chairman. 

 GODFREY MOESE, Secretary. 



At noon the hall was crowded, and Charles 

 M. Strauss, of Hingham, a member of the State 

 Committee, read from the platform the notice 

 issued convening the Convention. Major M. 

 J. McCafferty, of Worcester, was designated as 

 temporary Chairman. A Committee onCreden- 



