Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 July 1884 — THE INDEPENDENTS. [ARTICLE]

THE INDEPENDENTS.

Proceedings of the Conference Held in York. [Associated Press Report] A meeting of Independents opposed to Blaine and Logan took place to-day (July 22) at the University Club Theater. For an hour before the time fixed there was an unusual stir In that generally quiet locality, and inside the corridors Of the little theater consultation of Independents was busby carried on.. Am<cg the more prominent faces noticeable were Goerge William Curtis and Carl Schutz. The latter was the center of an interested and animated group. Clarence Bowes, of the Independent, and other seceling members of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club were present. The Secretaries had made up lists of those who were to be present, which showed Massachusetts to be more numerously represented than any other State except New York. A lew from New Jersey and Connecticut and some from more distant States were on the roll. Among the Massachusetts delegates were the following: From Boston. George W. Hale, F. C. Lowell, and J. B. Gardner; Cambridge, Jabez Fox, G. W. Wright, F. B. V. Kern, Col. T. W. Higginson, A. M. Howe, and J. B. Thayer; Concord, Samuel Hoar, Arthur J. Fuller, and Messrs, Chapman and Hudson; Fail River, S. Borden; New Bedford, F. B. Summers and W. C. Lawson; Brookline, Theodore Lyman; Quincy, E. S. Huntington, Josiah Quincy, W. B. Rice, William Everett, and Hr. Slade; Woburn, W. V. Kelly; Newton, Col. A. A. Pope, J. R. Canter, J. F. Ober, F. F. Raymond, and J. S. Fallow; Chelsea, A. D. Bosson; Dedham, F. J. Stevenson; Lexington, Cornelius Wellington and C. S. Osgood. There were delegates present from New Haven, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. - The hall was well filled when the meeting was called to order. Among the prominent members of the Independent party present were Carl Schurz. Clarence W. Bowen, Benjamin H. Bristow, W. C. Beach, and Francis C. Barlow. The appearance of George William Curtis on the platform evoked cheers of applause. Mr. Curtis called the conference to order at near noon, and welcomed the delegates. He read the call tor the conference. Charles R. Codman was elected President. The list of Vice Presidents and the names of theEnr_rollment Committee were br6ad, iiichiding Carl Schurz, Gen. Barlow, and C. J. Bonaparte of Maryland. The nominees were all elected. Col. Codman made an address, in which he said: "You confer great honor on me in choosing me to preside over the deliberations of, not a body bf office-holders, but of citizens, whose only desire is for the good of the whole country. We have decided to cast aside party affiliations for the time being. The nomination of the Republican party for the Presidency is an insult to American manhood. Blaine has not cleared his record from the charges that he used his public office for private gain, and we fear that he will continue his usual methods; that he will prove no dead-head in any enterprise he may embark in. We make no charges against his private character, but Blaine is not tit to be President of the United States. There is no great issue clearly defined between the two parties, so that We have to confine ourselves to the question of the fitness of the candidates.’’ After Chairman Codmau had concluded his speech, the Hon. Carl Sehurz moved that a committee be appointed to act on resolutions and the address. _ Carried Horace E. Deming, of Brooklyn, said he believed this conference would leave behind it some work that would show it intended to do some fighting during the campaign. He moved that a committee be appointed to report on a plan of permanent organization. Carried, and a committee wifs appointed with Mr. Deming as Chairman. 'The committees retired for consultation, and CqLTheqdore Lyman,'of Brookline, Mass., made an address. He bad no objection to parties. It was a dangerous thing to be an "Independent" for several reasons. There was even the risk of being called a "crank.” < Thomas Bacon, of New Haven, said the Independent movement had grown to an enormous strength. Col. T. W. Higginson, of Massachusetts, said he never saw a more gratifying assemblage. It reminded him of the gatherings in the times of the anti-slavery a gitation. That movement was successful, and he believed this would be. ' As the Committee on Resolutions was not ready to report a recess for an hour was taken. When the conference reassembled, the Secretary made a statement in regard to letters received by the New York committee from citizens in various States from Maine to California. Mr. Quinby, of New Jersey, said that to save the Republican party Blaine must be beaten, and that for every Democrat in New Jersey that wanted to vote for Blaine there were five Republicans who would vote for Cleveland. F. Claflin,.of Illinois, said.th.ew wara: very-strong Cleveland element among the Republicans in the West; President Seelye, of Amherst, said he was not prepared to join the Democrats, but was in favor of having a separate candidate. He also made a plea for temperance principles. The Committee on Permanent Organization recommended that a National Committee should be appointed, and the Chair appointed the following: From New Y’ork—Carl Schurz, Theodore Bacon. John H. Cowing, Charles H. Miller, R. P. Bowker, George W. Folsom, Ethan Allen Doty, George Walton Greene, and Horace E. Deming. From Massachusetts—William H. Forbes, Joseph Tucker, Joseph H. Walter, Samuel Hoar, Phineus Pearse, George V. Leverett, and Winslow Warren. From Connecticut—S. El Baldwin, O. P. Armstrong, and H. W. Farnam. From New Jeisey—Daniel Drake Smith, Simeon Huntington, and W. GLJleckham. From Pennsylvania—F. B. Reeves, Stewart W’ood, and Joseph Parish. Chairman Codman and Mr. Claflin, of Illinois, were added to the committee. Carl Schurz, in behalf of the Committee on Resolutions, said there was no intention to make a platform for the new party, but only an appeal for government. George William Curtis read, the Address, which is as follows:

THE PLATFORM. The paramount issue of the Presidential election of this year is moral rather than political. It concerns the national honor and character, and the honesty of the administration, rather than the general policies of government, upon which the platforms of the two parties do not essentially differ. No position taken by one platform is seriously traversed by the other. Both evidently contemplate a general agreement of public opinion upon subjects which- have been long in controversy, and indicate an unwillingness to declare, upon other and cardinal questions, views which in the present condition of opinion might seriously disturb the parties within themselves. Parties, indeed, now cohere mainly by habit and tradition; aud since the great issues whicti have divided them have beeu largely settled, the most vital political activity has been the endeavor of good citizens in both parties to adjust them to living issues and to make them effective agencies of political progress and reform. The indispensable necessity of this course has long been apparent, for in a ’time of profound peace at home and abroad the most threatening national peril is Insidious political corruption, a mercenary and demoralizing spirit, and a tendency the result of what is well described by Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, as "The shameless doctrine that the true way by which power should be gained in the republic is to bribe the people with offices created for their service, and the true end for which it should be used when gained is the promotion of selfish ambition and the gratification of personal revenge.” But this doctrine, naturally, has produced results which are still more alarming. The corrupt spirit and tendency have so rapidly developed that the,seek political power not only to grati'.y ambitfOif and revenge but, to promote private gain. They decide appeals to the public conscience, defend the soiled reputations of public men by the bold asseition that all public men are equally guilty, declare that success in obtaining eminent position disposes of every imputation and suspicion Of wrongdoing, and despising all practical measures to reform the system of official patronage which fosters dishonest politics, makes a great party nominally responsible for prolonged and monstrous fraud, and proclaims that it is the duty of every citizen, who for great and beneficent ends has habitually supported ttje party, to. regard the success of the.rarty at an election Without regard to the character of those whom it selecis as its executive agents to be a supreme national necessitv. A tendency more fatal to the public'welfare cannot be conceived; and when by public Indifference or misunderstanding this < orrupt spirit is able'to demaud that the country shall ap> rove it by acce ding to it the highest honor in its gift, every pa riotlc citizen must perceive that no duty could be more pressing, vital and imperative than that of baffling and defeating the demand. If the Republican Convent:on had presented a candidate whose character and career were the pledge of resolute contest with the tendencies that we have described; if they had foretold a stem dealing with political corruption, and a rigorous TOrrection of the vast abuses which long and undisturbed tenure of power by any party is sure to breed; if the success of the candidate had promised inflexible honesty of administration, purifi-

cation of the Government, and the elevation ®f the party standard, every Republican voter would have gladly supported the nomination. But these are precisely the anticipations' which the nomination forbids. It offers a candidate who is an unfit leader, shown by his own words and his acknowledged acts, which are of official record, to be unworthy of respect and confidence: who has traded upon his official trust for his pecuniary gain; a representative of men, methods, and conduct which the public conscience condemns, and which illustrate the very evils which honest men would reform. Such a nomination does not promise in the Executive chair inflexible official Integrity, cool and wise judgment, a sole regard for the public welfare, and an unshrinking determination to promote reform in the civil service and ceaselessly pursue and punish public robbers of every kind and degree. The Independent voters have generally supported the Republican nominations as more surely promising reform than (those of the Democratic party. The Independents, however, cannot support a nomination which is the culmination of a tendency that they would correct. Republicans cannot hope that under such a leadership as we have mentioned the abases of the past can be corrected or the party reformed. We are very proud of the great record and services of the Republican party, but not with our consent or connivance shall the record be disgraced. Every party must be frequently renewed by the intelligent independence of its own members, or it will sink from an agency to recure good government into a remorseless despotism. The Republican party first sprang from moral sentiment. It was the party of political morality and of personal liberty. It appealed directly to the consqjence of the citizen. But like all parties it was a political agency, not to be worshiped but to be carefully held to the spirit and purposes on which and for which it was organized. “I do not know,” said Mr. Seward, thirty years ago, when heleft the Whig party to join the'Republican. “Ido not know that it will always or even long preserve its courage, its moderation, and its consistency. If it shall do so it will secure ami save the country. If it too shall become uniaithful, as all prec ding parties have done, it will, without sorrow or regret on my part, perish as they are perishing, and will give place to another and truer and better one.” This reasoning must not be forgotten. It is with a profound conviction of its wisdom that the Republicans, faithful to their party, but holding with the great Republican fathers that political morality and purity of administration are more precious than party, are now constrained to oppose the Republican Presidential nomination in the interest of what they believe to be pure Republicanism, of the public welfare, and of the honor, of the American name. The Republican nomination has for a time superseded all other issues by raising the question of official honesty. -- - THis question Cannot be avoided except upon the plea that the official character of the candidateneed not be considered? And that in order to secure a partv President the members of the party ought to vote for any candidate who has been regularly nominated. This is the plea beyond which —party madness cannot go. ’’Acquiescence in it would require the surrender of the self-respect of every voter. There can be no candidate so unfit that this plea would not demand his support, and Republican success justified fiy the argument which defies the public conscience would be the overthrow of the vital principles of the narty, and show that the spirit and character which created its great traditions are rapidly perishing. Upon the practical questions of the tariff and finance and other questions upon which both parties are divided within themselves we are also divided in.opinion. We shall vote, therefore, ip our choice of Representatives and other officers according to our individual opinions of their political views and their personal character. Divided on other questions, we are united in the conviction that the. foundation of office and honor should be pure, and that the highest office in the country should be filled by a man of absolutely undisputed integrity. As there is no distinctive issue upon public policy presented for the consideration of the country, the character of the candidate becomes of the highest importance to all citizens who do not hold that party victory should be secured at any cost.’ While the Republican nomination presents a party whom we cannot support, the Democratic narty presents one whose name is the synonym of political courage and honesty and administrative reform. He has discharged every official trust with sole regard to tfie public welfare and with just disregard at mere partisan or personal advantage, which, with the applause and confidence of both parties, have raised him from the chief executive administration of a great city to that of a great State. His unreserved, Intelligent, and sincere support of reform in the civil service has firmly established that reform in the State and cities of New York; and his personal convictions, proved by his official acts, more decisive than any possible platform declarations, are "a guarantee that in its spirit and in its letter the reform would be enforced in the National Administration. His high sense of duty, his absolute and unchallenged official integrity, his inflexible courage in resisting party pressure and publio outcry, his great experience in the details of administration, and his commanding executive ability and independence are precisely the qualities which the - political situation demands in the chief executive officer of the Government to resist corporate monopoly on one hand and demagogue Communism on the other, and at homo and abroad, without menace or fear, to protect eveiy right of American citizens, and to respect every right of friendly States by making political morality and private honesty the basis of constitutional administration. He is a Democrat who is happily free from all association with the fierce party differences of the slavery contest, and whose financial views are in harmony with those ot the best men in both parties, and coming into public prominence at a time when official purity, courage, and character are of chief importance, he presents the qualities and promise which independent voters desire, and which the great body of the Republicans, believing these qualities to be absolutely indispensable in the administration of the Government at this time, do not find in the candidate of their own party. Such independent voters do nut propose to ally themselves inextricably with any party. Such Republicans do not propose to abandon the Republican party nor to merge themselvi s in any other party; but they do propose to aid in defeating the Republican nomination, which, not for reasons of expediency only, but for high moral and patriotic considerations, with due regard for the Republican name and for the American character, was unfit to be made. They desire not to evade the proper responsiliillty of American citizens by declining to vote, and they desire also to make their votes as effect ve as possible for honest, and pure ,and w se administration. How.can such voters who, at tjds election, cannot conscientiously support the Republican candidate promote the objects which they desire tb accomplish more surely than by supporting a candidate who represents the qualities, sijirit, and purpose which they all agree in .believing to be of controlling importance in this election? No citizen can rightfully avoid the issue or refuse to cast his vote. The ballot is a trust. Every voter is a trustee for good government, bound to answer to his private conscience, for his public acts. This conference, therefore, assuming that the Republican and Independent voters who for any reason cannot sustain the Republican nomination desire to take the course which, under the necessary conditions and constitutional methods of the Presidential election, will most readily and surely secure ■ the result at which they aiim, respectfully recommend to all such citizens to support the electors who will vote for Grover Cleveland in order mqst effectually to enforce their conviction that nothing could more deeply stain the American name and prove more disastrous to the public welfare than the deliberate indifference of the people of the United States to the im reusing public corruption and to the want of official integrity in the highest trusts of Government. Mr. Curtis, during the reading, was frequently interrupted by applaus’% and when he had finished the resolutions wero adopted without a dissenting voice. Mr. William Everett, of Massachusetts, offered a resolution naming- Cleveland and Hendricks as the nominees of the conference. Laid on the table, and soon after the conference adjourned on motion of Mr. Lvman, o - . Massachusetts. After the adjournment the Conference National Committee went into session and discussed a plan tor pe manent organization, but no definite action was taken and the matter was referred to a sUu-< ommittee consisting of Mess.s. Deming and Miller, of New York, and Pearce, of Massa< husetts, to report plans. It was also decided to have an Executive Committee of ten, who shall have power to increase their number. The reports t>om general committees in the various 1 States were reserve !, and it , was thought that the most efficient work could be done in New York, New Jersey,’ Connecticut, and Massa•■•itnsetV*. and strong efforts will be made to carry those States where State Committees can be organized, as also in Pennsylvania. Toe sentiments expressed show that the majority of the members are in favor of conducting the campaign in an independent manner, with perhaps occasional conferences with the Democrats to avoid possible collision. A Parisian dame recently gave a ball to her female friends, and asked each to bring a living animal. All Except three brought their husbands. "Before thb. construction of modern machinery for pin-'makiiig-pins were soexpensivie 1 that “pin money” became a household word.