546 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



clared nominated, and his nomination then 

 made unanimous. 



For the office of Eailroad Commissioner, 

 Thomas J. Dinsmore, of Alstead, was nomi- 

 nated by acclamation. 



The following resolutions were unanimous- 

 ly adopted by the Convention: 



"We, the Democracy of New Hampshire, in Con- 

 vention assembled, enunciate the following declara- 

 tion of political faith as a basis of our political action : 



1. We reaffirm our unyielding devotion to the great 

 cardinal ideas of the perpetuity of the Union, su- 

 premacy of the Constitution, and maintenance of re- 

 served rights and equality of the States. 



2. We declare our firm adherence to the doctrines 

 embodied in the National Democratic platform adopt- 

 ed at St. Louis in June last, and we especially reiter- 

 ate the demand for administrative reform, so clearly 

 set forth in the platform, and so emphatically in- 

 dorsed at the polls in the election of Samuel J. Til- 

 den and Thomas A. Hendricks to the Presidency and 

 Vice-Presidency of the Republic, by a popular ma- 

 jority of 250,000, and a decided majority of the elec- 

 toral vote. 



3. We denounce the conspiracy organized at Wash- 

 ington by desperate and unscrupulous men among 

 the leaders of the Republican party to thwart the 

 clearly-expressed will of the people through t ;e 

 action of illegally-constituted and corruptly-con- 

 trolled Returning Boards at the South, as revolution- 

 ary and treasonable in purpose and effect, inasmuch 

 as it strikes at the very life of the elective franchise, 

 which is the basis and the vital principle of the Gov- 

 ernment. 



4. We denounce the conduct of President Grant in 

 giving aid and countenance to conspirators, by the 

 use of Federal troops, in restraining the lawfully elect- 

 ed governments in the States of South Carolina and 

 Louisiana from the fnee exercise of their legitimate 

 functions, and sustaining in the offices of State aud 

 Legislative halls defeated and usurping candidates 

 and illegal bodies, as a flagrant violation of the Con- 

 stitution and an outrageous usurpation of power, 

 which should receive the emphatic condemnation of 

 every patriotic citizep. 



5. We call upon the representatives of the people 

 and the States in the two houses of Congress, stand- 

 ing in the face of the deadly peril which threatens 

 tha overthrow of our institutions, to rise above par- 

 tisanship, and, standing upon the broad area of pa- 

 triotic statesmanship, to unite their efforts for a just 

 and peaceful solution of the difficulty in which the 

 country is involved, to the end that our constitutional 

 republican government may be perpetuated in its 

 purity and vigor, and the rights and liberties of the 

 people maintained inviolate. 



6. While we counsel calmness and moderation on 

 the part of the people in this grave emergency, we 

 claim it to be the unavoidable and paramount duty 

 of every true citizen to maintain and defend the Con- 

 stitution and form of government under which we 

 have lived and prospered for nearly a century past, 

 and to resist even to the last resort any and every at- 

 tempt that shall be made to overthrow'or subvert that 

 Constitution and Government. 



7. We call on all good citizens, without regard to 

 pi.rty associations, who believe with us that Samuel 

 J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hendricks have been fair- 

 Iv and legally elected President and "Vice-President 

 of the United States, to unite with us in demanding 

 that the will of the people, constitutionally expressed, 

 shall be carried into effect by their inauguration and 

 installation in office. 



8. Whereas, Recent events have conclusively de- 

 monstrated the fact that a standing army in time of 

 peace is a standing menace to the liberties of the 

 people, inasmuch as it is made the convenient instru- 

 ment of an unscrupulous Executive, we demand the 



immediate reduction of the Federal army to the low- 

 est figure absolutely required for garrison duty at the 

 forts and military posts of the Government, and for 

 the protection of our frontiers. 



Resolved, That the powers not delegated to the 

 United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by 

 it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, 

 or the people, and that neither the President of the 

 Senate, nor the Senate, nor the House of Representa- 

 tives, nor both houses together, have any authority 

 in respect to the electoral votes not expressly granted 

 by the Constitution, or plainly to be inferred from 

 the powers which are expressly granted by it. 



Resolved, That one of the most important rights 

 reserved to the States is the right of appointment of 

 quaMed persons as electors of President or Vice- 

 president of each State in such manner as the Legis- 

 lature thereof may direct, but that since the Consti- 

 tution of the United States to the extent to which it 

 applies is paramount authority, the appointment of 

 a disqualified person is null and void, and should be 

 so treated by both Houses of Congress. 



Resolved, That in entire harmony with and in fur- 

 therance of such right of appointment by a State, it 

 is the right and duty of the Senate and House of 

 Representatives, upon the opening of the certificates 

 of the electoral vote, to inquire what are the laws of 

 the State for the appointment of electors, and whether 

 those laws have been substantially complied with. 



Resolved, That the appointment of qualified electors 

 being a matter of State regulation, it follows that if 

 the Legislature of any State has by valid law pro- 

 vided a canvassing or returning board of one or more 

 officers to determine the result of an election, and 

 such board has been constituted as required by law, 

 and has kept within its jurisdiction, its findings, 

 however erroneous others may deem them to be, 

 must, in the absence of fraud, be conclusive. 



Resolved, That where the Legislature has attempted 

 to confer powers upon a returning board which are ex- 

 pressly forbidden to it by the Constitutionof the State, 

 or where the returning board has not been constitut- 

 ed as required by the law of its creation, or has not 

 kept within its jurisdiction, or has willfully and frau- 

 dulently, contrary to law, reversed the true majority 

 at the polls, the appointment of electors under such 

 illegal and fraudulent proceedings is not an appoint- 

 ment by the State, but is in fraud of the rights of the 

 State itself as well as of the other States, and should 

 be so treated by both Houses of Congress. 



Resolved, That the recent order of President Grant 

 to General Augur falsely assumes that there had been 

 a count of the votes in Louisiana by " a returning 

 board existing in accordance with law, and having 

 judicial as well as ministerial powers over votes," 

 whereas undisputed facts, publicly known, show that 

 the board was not constituted as required by law, in 

 that it consisted of but four members instead of 

 five, and of Republicans only, instead of persons of 

 different politics, and that by the Constitution of 

 that State no judicial power could be conferred on 

 such a board, even if full, and we solemnly protest 

 against any recognition of fraudulent and illegal pro- 

 ceedings of such board so illegally constituted. 



Resolved, That the provisions of the Constitution 

 for the return of electoral votes to the seat of Govern- 

 ment of the United States, directed to the President 

 of the Senate, make that officer simply the custodian 

 of the votes, and that further pro visions, that he shall 

 in the presence of the Senate and House of Represen- 

 tatives open all certificates, and the votes shall then 

 be counted, manifestly restrict his duty and author- 

 ity to the opening of the certificates, and any decla- 

 ration of votes by him can be no more authoritative 

 than a like declaration by the Speaker of the House. 



Resolved, That by the express language of the Con- . 

 stitution the person having the greatest number of 

 votes for President, "if such number be a majority 

 of the whole number of electors appointed, shall be 

 President," and it is not within the constitutional 



