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Cu. XII.]

THE COMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

or less direct, with war and its terrors, are of historical importance and needful to be placed on record.

It was one of the severe trials at this period in our country's history, that the time had arrived when it was necessary to go through the proper preliminaries, and then for the people, by their suffrages, to make choice of him who was to be the president of the United States from and after the 4th of March, 1865. Mr. Lincoln's term of office would expire at that date; and it was now to be determined whether he should be reelected to carry on to its completion the present policy of the government, or whether some other citizen should be placed in this most responsible and difficult position. That such an election, always abundantly exciting, had become necessary in the midst of a civil war, when men's passions were roused to a fearful extent, was a strain upon the American system of government which foreboded dangerous and possibly fatal consequences. It was an entirely new thing in our history; wise and thoughtful men looked uneasily at the state of public affairs, and feared even more than they hoped; and many a dark cloud hung over the political horizon. "The public debt was stead ily and rapidly increasing. Under the resistless pressure of military necessity, the government, availing itself of the permission of the Constitution, had suspended the great safeguard of civil freedom, and dealt with individuals, whom it deemed dangerous to the public safety, with as absolute and relentless severity as the most absolute monarchies had ever shown. Taxes were

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increasing; new drafts of men, to fill the ranks of new armies, were impend ing; the democratic party, from the very beginning hostile to the war, and largely imbued with devotion to the principle of state sovereignty on which the rebellion rested, and with toleration for slavery, out of which it grew, was watching eagerly for every means of arousing popular hatred against the government, that they might secure the transfer to their own hands; and the losses, the agonies, the desolations of the war, were beginning, apparently, to make themselves felt injuriously upon the spirit, the endurance, the hopeful resolution of the people throughout the loyal states." Yet the duty was to be performed; it could not be evaded; and the people entered upon the work before them with a profound sense of the magnitude of the interests involved, and of the obligations resting upon them to see that the Republic suffered no harm through their negligence or lack of patriotic effort.

Preparations for the nomination of candidates were begun in the spring of 1864. For a time, there was considerable hesitation as to the course to be pursued. A portion of the party, which placed Mr. Lincoln in the presidential chair, was strongly opposed to his continuance in office. The radical and sweeping anti-slavery leaders deemed Mr. Lincoln too slow and uncertain for their wishes; active and ambitious men were dissatisfied with the president for not giving them the opportunity to advance their own as well as their country's interests; and office seekers, * Raymond's "Life of Abraham Lincoln," p 547.

in no small number, resented the lack of discrimination at Washington in not placing them in positions of trust and emolument. As it was impossible for Mr. Lincoln to please every body among his supporters, even under the most favorable circumstances, so he offended numbers in the republican party, by declining to act upon their advice, or by determining upon great and critical measures in a way which they did not approve. It was no wonder, then, that, under the pressure of various motives and causes, efforts should be made to bring forward other prominent men, such as Secretary Chase, Gen. Grant, Gen. Fremont, etc., and to obtain for some of these the nomination in place of Mr. Lincoln.

The earliest movement of a direct kind for nominating candidates for the presidency was made by a convention which assembled at Cleveland, Ohio, on the 31st of May. Some 350 representatives or delegates met at the time appointed, having come from fifteen of the different states, and the District of Columbia. Gen. John Cochrane of New York presided. Resolutions were adopt ed, asserting that "the Constitution and laws of the United States must be maintained;" that "rights of free speech, free press, and the habeas corpus be held inviolate, save in districts where martial law has been proclaimed;" that the rebellion has destroyed slavery, and the Federal Constitution should be amended to prohibit its re-establishment and to secure to all m n absolute equality before the law; that "the national policy, known as 'The Monroe Doctrine,' has become a

1864.

recognized principle; and that the es tablishment of an anti-republican gov ernment on this continent by any for eign power cannot be tolerated." The question of "the reconstruction of the rebellious states" was pronounced to | "belong to the people through their representatives in Congress, and not to the executive;" and it was declared, "that the confiscation of the lands of the rebels, and their distribution among the soldiers and actual settlers, is a measure of justice." Having passed these, among other resolutions, the convention nominated Major-General John C. Fremont for president of the United States, and Gen. John Cochrane for vice presi dent. Fremont's letter of acceptance was dated, New York, June 4th, in reply to the letter of the nominating committee of the convention, in which he was styled "the standard bearer of the radical democracy of the country." He expressed himself strongly in hostility to the policy of President Lincoln, and ap proved of the platform of the convention, except the proposed confiscation. He also expressed himself ready to withdraw from the field, if the Baltimore convention should “nominate any man whose past life justified a well grounded confidence in his fidelity to our cardinal principles.'

The Union and Republican convention met at Baltimore on the 7th of

* According to Mr. Raymond's statements," the con

The posi

tion which Fremont had here taken at once separated

vention, the nomination, and the letter of acceptance fell dead upon the popular feeling.. him from those who had been his truest friends,” etc.-"Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 552. For the proceed ings of the Cleveland convention, the documents etc, in full, see McPherson's "History of the Rebellion " pp 410-414.

CH. XII.]

ACTION OF THE BALTIMORE CONVENTION.

457

The resolutions were adopted with great unanimity, and Mr. Lincoln was nominated by the vote of all the delegates present, except those from Missouri, who were previously pledged to vote for Gen. Grant. After a brief contest in the convention, Andrew Johnson, military governor of Tennessee, was nominated for vice-president, in place of Hannibal Hamlin, the present incumbent. Mr. Lincoln was informed directly of the result, as was also Mr. Johnson; and both accepted their nominations. The executive committee of the convention sent Mr. Lincoln a letter announcing the result, and the president, under date of June 27th, replied in a courteous but characteristic manner, especially thanking the convention because they had not forgotten the soldier and the sailor, who " must and will be forever remembered by the grateful country for whose salvation they devote their lives."

June. It numbered nearly 500 dele enth advocated the "Monroe doctrine" gates, who came from the various loyal in strong terms, not to allow any for states, as well as others from Tennes- eign interference in the affairs of the see, Missouri, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Western Continent, etc. The convention was organized by plac ing ex-governor Dennison, of Ohio, in the chair, determining upon the credentials of delegates, etc. Mr. Raymond, of New York, as chairman of the committee on resolutions, reported, the next morning, a series of eleven resolutions, in which were clearly set forth the principles and policy of the Union and Republican party. The first resolution pledged the members and all Union men to support the government to the full in crushing the rebellion; the second applauded the determination of the government not to make any compromise with the rebels, but to prosecute the war with the utmost vigor; the third called for the extirpation of slavery and an amendment to the Constitution to that effect; the fourth gave utterance to words of eulogy upon the patriotism and valor of the soldiers and sailors in the army and navy; the fifth applauded warmly Abraham Lincoln, his policy, his measures, his unselfish patriotism, etc.; the sixth urged the need of harmony in the national councils; the seventh affirmed that the gov. ernment was bound to protect all those in its service, without regard to distinction of color; the eighth urged the fos tering and encouraging of foreign immigration; the ninth advocated the speedy construction of the Pacific Railroad; the tenth declared the necessity of rigid economy and responsibility in regard to public expenditures, of a just system of taxation, etc.; and the elev

VOL. IV. 58.

The nomination of Mr. Lincoln for a second term was, on the whole, quite acceptable to the great body of those who supported the government in its course of policy and action. The opposition, however, was active and ener getic, and several of the president's acts were discussed with no friendly feeling, and censured in the bitterest terms. Among these was the case of a Cuban named Arguelles, who, at the close of

proceedings of the convention in detail, see McPherson's "History of the Rebellion," pp. 403–409.

*For Andrew Johnson's letter of acceptance, and the

1863, had taken up his residence in New York. Early on the morning of May 11th, Arguelles was seized by authority of the president, and secretly placed on board of a steamer which sailed immediately for Havana, to be delivered up to the Spanish authorities as a criminal. Congress directly asked the president for information, and Mr. Seward furnished a report, May 30th, with the documents. According to these it appeared, that Don José Augustin Arguelles, an officer in the Spanish army in Cuba, had captured a slave expedition, while he was acting as Lieut. Gov. of the district of Colon, in Cuba. It was subsequently discovered, that he had, with the connivance of the curate of Colon, made representations to the. Spanish government that 141 of the recaptured negroes had died of the small pox, though in fact, he had sold them into slavery, and succeeded in escaping to the United States, where, as above stated, he was arrested and handed over to the Cuban authorities. Arguelles had received some $15,000 as his share of the prize, and had left Cuba on leave of absence for twenty days. There being no extradition treaty between our country and Spain, the Cuban government could take no proceedings before the courts in the matter, and the only question was, whether the president would take the responsibility of ar resting Arguelles and sending him back or not. Mr. Lincoln determined to as sume the responsibility, and Arguelles was seized and sent off, before an appeal to any of the courts could be made in his behalf. The U. S. Marshal, Robert Murray, who effected the arrest,

was indicted by the grand jury of New York for kidnapping Arguelles, and was brought before the court of sessions and held for trial.

This assumption of power on the part of the president, even his admirers admit, was of very doubtful expediency, to say the least, and it afforded the opponents of the administration abundant opportunity of denouncing those who denied the right of asylum, who exceeded the legal powers entrusted to them, who insulted the laws and courts of the land, and who thereby endan gered the rights and liberties of the citizen. Mr. Seward excused the ac tion of the president, on the ground that it was done "in virtue of the law of nations and the Constitution of the United States," and that "a nation is never bound to furnish asylums to dangerous criminals who are offenders against the human race." This excuse and defence, however, were held to be weak and insufficient, and the govern | ment suffered, to no little extent, for its action in this matter.

It had been a subject of complaint, on various occasions, against the present administration, that it was in the habit of exceeding its just prerogatives, by undue and unlawful interference with the freedom of the press. This was illustrated in the case of proceedings against two of the daily journals published in New York City, and the occasion was taken to berate the government, in the severest manner, for its tyranny and highhanded usurpation of power. It appears, that an unscrupulous but skilful fellow forged a procla mation under the name of the presi

CH. XII

THE FORGED PROCLAMATION.

459

dent, and timed its delivery at the now, Mr. Lincoln was sharply censured offices of several New York papers very for daring to interfere with the freedom late in the evening, so that it was put of the press. The governor of New in type, without special examination, York-no friend to the administraand appeared the next morning, May tion-ordered the district attorney to 18th, in the Journal of Commerce and take steps at once for prosecuting and the World. At the time, Grant was punishing all who had been connected engaged in the bloody struggle at with the shutting up the newspaper Spottsylvania, Sigel had been driven offices. The matter was brought be back, and Butler was held in check. fore a grand jury, which, after due conThe pretended proclamation announced sideration, deemed it best not to interthat Grant's campaign was virtually closed, and that "in view of the situation in Virginia, the disaster at Red River, the delay at Charleston, and the general state of the country," the 26th day of May was to be observed as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer, and a fresh draft was directly to take place of 400,000 men. The malice of this document was plain enough; it was published on the morning when the steamers sailed for Europe; and be ing telegraphed all over the country, before the forgery was discovered, it produced a wide-spread alarm for several days.

The action of the government was prompt and decisive. Not only was the forgery denounced instantly from Washington, but the two papers above named were seized by government orders and their publication suppressed. The author and abettors of the forged proclamation were ferreted out and sent to Fort Lafayette, and the Journal of Commerce and the World resumed their issues after a few days, it being evident that they had published the false and malicious paper through inadvertence, and not of evil purpose. As in the Arguelles case, so

fere, and reported that it was "inexpedient to examine into the subject." Gov. Seymour was not satisfied with this result, and by his direction the matter was taken in hand by the city judge, who issued warrants to arrest Gen. Dix and all the officers who had acted under his orders in the present case. Gen. Dix appeared, and the subject was ably discussed, after which the judge, on the 1st of August, gave his decision that he should hold Dix and the rest concerned for the action of the grand jury of the city and county. No further proceedings, however, were ever taken, and the whole matter rested at this point.*

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