MASSACHUSETTS. 



METHODISTS. 



005 



tercet of civilization and tho most immediate duty im- 

 posed upon tho people of Mattsachu 



Bttolvtd, That tliis can bo done by nothing else ex- 

 cept by votes. 



Jtetolvvl, Tlmt reason and experience teach that 

 nothing is to be ho(>ed in this warfare from men or 

 from parties who compote for the liquor vote, or who 

 fear a manly utterance upon thin great i.sue ; and that 

 the traiho can neither bo suppressed nor effectually 

 checked except by a party avowing that object and by 

 men elected to do it. 



Ifaoletti, That to this end we again present to our 

 fellow citizens tho names of men whoso election would 

 proclaim that public condemnation of the liquor-truffle 

 which must necessarily precede its destruction. The 

 task before us is hard, tho way may lengthen out, but 

 there is no other path for us to follow. >Vo commend 

 our cause and our course to the considerate judgjnent 

 of good citizens, and invoke tho prayers of Christian 

 men and women. 



Stsolved. That, as intemperance is an enemy to the 

 home and deals its heaviest blows at the heart of wo- 

 man, wo therefore invite her earnest prayers and effi- 

 cient work in behalf of our cause ; and "wo look for- 

 ward with eager hope for tho day when sex shall bo 

 no longer a condition of suffrage, and woman may be 

 permitted to uso tho ballot, as she surely will, for 

 her own protection, and for tho protection of society, 

 against the cruol wrongs of the liquor- traffic. 



The Democratic State Convention was held 

 in Boston on October 7th. The nominations 

 for State officers resulted as follows : For Gov- 

 ernor, John Quincy Adams ; for Lieutenant- 

 Governor, William K. Plunkett ; for Secretary 

 of State, Michael T. Donohoe ; for Treasurer and 

 Receiver-General, David N. Skillings; for Au- 

 ditor, Charles R. Field ; for Attorney-General, 

 Richard Oluey. The folio wing resolutions were 

 adopted : 



The Democrats of Massachusetts, in Convention as- 

 sembled, reaffirm the national Democratic platform of 

 1876 as on authoritative exposition of the principles of 

 our party, and congratulate our political brethren of 

 the whole country that these principles were endorsed 

 in tho national canvass by tho suffrages of a decided 

 majority of the American people and of the Electoral 

 College. 



We denounce upon the guilty Republican party 

 stern retribution for tho great public crime by which, 

 the people were defrauded of their right to be gov- 

 erned by a ruler of their choice, and by which the 

 elective principle was wounded in its most vital part. 



Our thanks are duo to the Democrats in Congress 

 for their efforts to enforce economy in public expenses, 

 to abolish useless offices, and to correct manifola 

 abuses in public affairs t not least of which are the ex- 

 clusion of intelligent citizens from the jury-box and 

 the levying and maintaining of an army of official 

 hirelings around tho polls for partisan purposes. 



We believe in self-government by tno people, and 

 desire that the polls shall be free from tho interference 

 of Federal bayonets directed by tho intrigues of a Fed- 

 eral partisan Executive. 



We believe the purity of tho ballot-box can bo bet- 

 ter preserved through State authority than by Federal 

 interference. 



Wo protest against laws which authorize tho arrest 

 of citizens at tho polls without warrant or hearing, and 

 the suppression of their votes by imprisoning their 

 persons until after the election, as upturning the foun- 

 dation of free government ; ana wo call on Congress to 

 aid the people and rescue the freedom of the elections, 

 undeterred by Republican clamors or Presidential ve- 

 toes. 



The Democratic party has always denied that any 

 constitutional power existed in the Federal Govern- 

 ment to make anything a legal tender in the payment 

 of debts except gold and silver. 



We affirm the obligation of public and private con- 

 tracts, and demand that mihhc money ought to be 

 kept in the Treasury of the United States, free from 

 control or use by speculators or favorite bankers. 



We rejoice with the country at the large and re- 

 newed prosperity that attends agricultural and manu- 

 facturing pursuits, but we deprecate that Republican 

 policy which, having destroyed our ship-building, 

 placed the currying trade of the products or our soil m 

 the control of foreign flags, and almost banished our 

 flag from the seas, and imperiled the pursuit of tho 

 fisheries among our hardy population, has rewarded 

 Great Britain with spoils she never could have con- 

 quered, and abandoned tho trident of the seas to her 

 hands. 



Tho election, held on November 4th, result- 

 ed in the choice of Long, Republican, as Gov- 

 ernor, by 122,751 votes, against 9,989 for Ad- 

 ams, Democrat, 109,149 for Butler, Democrat 

 and National, and 1,645 for Eddy, Prohibition- 

 ist. The other Republican candidates were 

 elected by votes ranging from 126,252 for 

 Lieutenant-Governor to 129,024 for Secretary 

 of State. 



The state of parties in tho Legislature was as 

 follows : 



METHODISTS. I. METHODIST EPISCOPAL 

 CUUECII. The following is a summary of tho 

 statistics of the Methodist Episcopal Church 

 as given in the volumes containing the " Min- 

 utes of the Annual Conferences" for 1879: 



