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emn and formal declaration of their independence of the | with foreign nations, or among the several States, are slave power, and of their fixed determination to rescue the Federal Government from its control;

Resolved, therefore, That we, the people here assembled, remembering the example of our fathers, in the days of the first Declaration of Independence, putting our trust in God for the triumph of our cause, and invoking his guidance in our endeavors to advance it, do now plant ourselves upon the National platform of Freedom in opposition to the sectional platform of Slavery.

Resolved, That Slavery in the several States of this Jnion which recognize its existence, depends upon State laws alone, which cannot be repealed or modified by the Federal Government, and for which laws that government is not responsible. We therefore propose no interference by Congress with Slavery within the limits of any State.

Resolved, That the Proviso of Jefferson, to prohibit the existence of Slavery after 1800, in all the Territories of the United States, Southern and Northern; the votes of six States and sixteen delegates, in the Congress of 1784, for the Proviso, to three States and seven delegates against it; the actual exclusion of Slavery from the Northwestern Territory, by the Ordinance of 1787, unanimously adopted by the States in Congress; and the entire history of that period, clearly show that it was the settled policy of the Nation not to extend, nationalize or encourage, but to limit, localize and discourage Slavery; and to this polIcy, which should never have been departed from, the Government ought to return.

objects of national concern, and that it is the duty of Congress, in the exercise of its constitutional powers, to provide therefor.

Resolved, That the free grant to actual settlers, in con sideration of the expenses they incur in making settlements in the wilderness, which are usually fully equal to their actual cost, and of the public benefits resulting therefrom, of reasonable portions of the public lands, under suitable limitations, is a wise and just measure of public policy, which will promote in various ways the interests of all the States of this Union; and we therefore recommend it to the favorable consideration of the American people.

Resolved, That the obligations of honor and patriotism require the earliest practicable payment of the national debt, and we are therefore in favor of such a tariff of duties as will raise revenue adequate to defray the necessary expenses of the Federal Government, and to pay annual instalments of our debt, and the interest thereon. Resolved, That we inscribe on our own banner, "Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men," and under it we will fight on, and fight ever, until a triumphant victory shall reward our exertions.

WHIG NATIONAL CONVENTION, 1852. This body assembled at Baltimore on the 16th Resolved, That our fathers ordained the Constitution of June, and chose Gen. John G. Chapman, of of the United States, in order, among other great national Md., as presiding officer, and, after an exciting objects, to establish justice, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty; but expressly denied session of six days, nominated Gen. Winfield to the Federal Government, which they created, all con- Scott as President, on the 53d ballot, as follows: stitutional power to deprive any person of life, liberty,

or property, without due legal process.

coMr Ballots.

Resolved, That in the judgment of this Convention, Congress has no more power to make a Slave than to make a King; no more power to institute or establish Slayery than to institute or establish a Monarchy: no such power can be found among those specifically conferred by the 2. Constitution, or derived by just implication from them. Resolved, That it is the duty of the Federal Government to relieve itself from all responsibility for the exist- 5. ence or continuance of slavery whorever the government possesses constitutional authority to legislate on that 7. subject, and it is thus responsible for its existence. Resolved, That the true, and in the judgment of this Convention, the only safe means of preventing the ex-10. tension of Slavery into Territory now Free, is to prohibit 11. Its extension in all such Territory by an act of Congress. 12. Resolved, That we accept the issue which the Slave 13. power has forced upon us; and to their demand for more 14. Slave States, and more Slave Territory, our calm but final 15. answer is, no more Slave States and no more Slave Ter-16. ritory. Let the soil of our extensive domains be kept 17. free for the hardy pioneers of our own land, and the op- 18. pressed and banished of other lands, seeking homes of 19. comfort and fields of enterprise in the new world.

Scott.

Fillmore.

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Resolved, That the bill lately reported by the committee 21. of eight in the Senate of the United States, was no com- 22. promise, but an absolute surrender of the rights of the 28. Non-Slaveholders of all the States; and while we rejoice 24. to know that a measure which, while opening the door for 25. the introduction of Slavery into Territories now free, 26. would also have opened the door to litigation and strife 27. among the future inhabitants thereof, to the ruin of their peace and prosperity, was defeated in the House of Representatives, its passage, in hot haste, by a majority, embracing several senators who voted in open violation of the known will of their constituents, should warn the people to see to it, that their representatives be not suffered to betray them. There must be no more Compromises with Slavery; if made they must be repealed.

Resolved, That we demand freedom and established institutions for our brethren in Oregon, now exposed to hardships, peril and massacre by the reckless hostility of the Slave Power to the establishment of Free Government for Free Territories; and not only for them, but for our new brethren in California and New-Mexico.

Resolved, It is due not only to this occasion, but to the whole people of the United States, that we should also declare ourselves on certain other questions of National Policy: therefore,

Resolved, That we demand Cheap Postage for the People; a retrenchment of the expenses and patronage of the Federal Government; the abolition of all unnecessary offices and salaries; and the election by the people of all civil officers in the service of e government, so far as the same may be practicable.

Resolved, That River and Harbor improvements, when demanded by the safety and convenience of commerce

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146 119 27 128 80 58. 159 112 21 134 128 80 Necessary to choose-147. William A. Graham, of North Carolina, was nominated for Vice-President on the second ballot.

The Convention adopted the following

PLATFORM:

The Whigs of the United States, in Convention assembled, adhering to the great conservative principles by which they are controled and governed, and now as ever relying upon the intelligence of the American people, with an abiding confidence in their capacity for self-gov. ernment, and their devotion to the Constitution and the Union, do proclaim the following as the political sentiments and determination for the establishment and maintenance of which their national organization as a party was effected.

First. The government of the United States is of a limited character, and it is confined to the exercise of powers expressly granted by the Constitution, and such as may be necessary and proper for carrying the granted powers into full execution, and that powers not granted or necessarily implied are reserved to the States respectively and to the people.

Second. The State Governments should be held secure

to their reserved rights, and the General Government NAYS-Maine, 4; Connecticut, 1; New-York, 22; sustained on its constitutional powers, and that the Pennsylvania, 6; Ohio, 15; Wisconsin, 1; Indiana, 6; Union should be revered and watched over as the palla- | Illinois, 5; Michigan, 6; California, 4-70.

dium of our liberties.

Third. That while struggling freedom everywhere enlists the warmest sympathy of the Whig party, we still adhere to the doctrines of the Father of his Country, as announced in his Farewell Address, of keeping ourselves

free from all entangling alliances with foreign countries, and of never quitting our own to stand upon foreign ground; that our mission as a republic is not to propagate our opinions, or impose on other countries our forms of government, by artifice or force; but to teach by example, and show by our success, moderation and justice, the blessings of self-government, and the advantage of free institutions.

powers.

GEN. SCOTT'S ACCEPTANCE.
Gen. Scott accepted the nomination and Plat

form in the following letter.

WASHINGTON, June 24th, 1852. SIR: I have had the honor to receive from your hands the official notice of my unanimous nomination as the Whig candidate for the office of President of the United States, together with a copy of the resolutions passed by the Convention, expressing their opinions upon some of the most prominent questions of national policy.

Fourth. That, as the people make and control the Government, they should obey its constitution, laws and This great distinction, conferred by a numerous, intellitreaties as they would retain their self-respect, and the gent and patriotic body, representing millions of my respect which they claim and will enforce from foreign the very eminent names which were before the Convencountrymen, sinks deep into my heart; and remembering Fifth. Government should be conducted on principles tion in amicable competition with my own, I am made to of the strictest economy; and revenue sufficient for the feel, oppressively, the weight of responsibility belonging expenses thereof, in time, ought to be derived mainly to my new position. Not having written a word to profrom a duty on imports, and not from direct taxes; and cure this distinction, I lost not a moment after it had on laying such duties sound policy requires a just dis-been conferred in addressing a letter to one of your memcrimination, and, when practicable, by specific duties, substance of my reply to the Convention: and I now have bers, to signify what would be, at the proper time, the whereby suitable encouragement may be afforded to the honor to repeat in a more formal manner, as the occaAmerican industry, equally to all classes and to all por- sion justly demands, that I accept the nomination with the tions of the country; an economical administration of resolutions annexed. The political principles and measthe Government, in time of peace, ought to be derived ures laid down in those resolutions are so broad that but from duties on imports, and not from direct taxation; little is left for me to add. I therefore barely suggest in and in laying such duties, sound policy requires a just this place, that should I, by the partiality of my country. discrimination, whereby suitable encouragement may be men, be elevated to the Chief Magistracy of the Union, I afforded to American industry, equally to all classes, and shall be ready, in my connection with Congress, to reto all parts of the country. agement of the public domain, so as to secure an early commend or approve of measures in regard to the mansettlement of the same, favorable to actual settlers, but consistent, nevertheless, with a due regard to the equal rights of the whole American people in that vast national inheritance; and also to recommend or approve of a single alteration in our naturalization laws, suggested by my right of citizenship, who shall faithfully serve, in time of military experience, viz.: Giving to all foreigners the war, one year on board of our public ships, or in our land forces, regular or volunteer, on their receiving an honorable discharge from the service. In regard to the general policy of the administration, if elected, I should, of course, look among those who may approve that policy for the agents to carry it into execution; and I should throughout the Whig party, without attempting to reseek to cultivate harmony and fraternal sentiments duce its members, by proscription, to exact uniformity to my own views.

Sixth. The Constitution vests in Congress the power to open and repair harbors, and remove obstructions from navigable rivers, whenever such improvements are necessary for the common defense, and for the protection and facility of commerce with foreign nations, or among the States-said improvements being in every instance national and general in their character.

Seventh. The Federal and State Governments are parts of one system, alike necessary for the common prosperity, peace and security, and ought to be regarded alike with a cordial, habitual and immovable attachment. Respect for the authority of each, and acquiescence in the just constitutional measures of each, are duties required by the plainest considerations of National,

State and individual welfare.

Eighth. That the series of acts of the 32d Congress, the Act known as the Fugitive Slave law included, are received and acquiesced in by the Whig party of the United States as a settlement in principle and substance of the dangerous and exciting questions which they embrace; and, so far as they are concerned, we will maintain them, and insist upon their strict enforcement, until time and experience shall demonstrate the necessity of further legislation to guard against the evasion of the laws on the one hand and the abuse of their powers on the other-not impairing their present efficiency; and we deprecate all further agitation of the question thus settled, as dangerous to our peace, and will discountenance all efforts to continue or renew such agitation, whenever, wherever, or however the attempt may be made; and we will maintain this system as essential to the nationality of the Whig party, and the integrity of the Union.

The above propositions were unanimously adopted with the exception of the last, which was carried by a vote of 212 to 70: the delegates who voted against it being supporters of Scott as against Fillmore and Webster in the ballotings above given.

But I should at the same time be rigorous in regard to qualifications for office, retaining and appointing no one either deficient in capacity or integrity, or in devotion to liberty, to the Constitution and the Union. Convinced that harmony or good will between the different quarters of our broad country is essential to the present and the future interests of the Republic, and with a devotion to those interests that can know no South and no North, I should neither countenance nor tolerate any sedition, disorder, faction or resistance to the law or the Union on any pretext, in any part of the land, and I should car y into the civil administration this one principle of military conduct-obedience to the legislative and judicial departments of government, each in its constitutional sphere, saving only in respect to the Legislature, the possible resort to the veto power, always to be most cautiously exercised, and under the strictest restraints and

necessities.

Finally, for my strict adherence to the principles of the Whig party, as expressed in the resolutions of the Convention, and herein suggested, with a sincere and earnest purpose to advance the greatness and happiness of the Republic, and thus to cherish and encourage the cause of constitutional liberty throughout the world, avoiding every act and thought that might involve our country in an unjust or unnecessary war, or impair the faith of jurious to the interests of society and dangerous to the Union, I can offer no other pledge or guarantee than the known incidents of a long public life, now undergoing the severest examination in my associate on the ticket, and with a lively sense of Feeling myself highly fortunate my obligations to the Convention, and to your personal courtesies, I have the honor to remain, sir. with great

The vote by States, on this (Compromise) treaties, and discountenancing all political agitations inresolution, was as follows:

YEAS-Maine, 4; New-Hampshire, 5; Vermont, 5; Massachusetts, 8; Rhode Island, 4; Connecticut, 4 New-York, 11; New-Jersey, 7; Pennsylvania, 21; Dela ware, 3; Maryland, 8; Virginia, 14; North Carolina, 19; South Carolina, 8; Georgia, 10; Alabama, 9; MisBiss ppi, 7; Louisiana, 6; Onio, 8; Kentucky, 12; Ten-esteem, your most obedient servant, nessee, 12; Indiana, 7; Illinois, 6; Missouri, 9; Arkansa. 4; Florida, 3; Iowa, 4; Wisconsin, 4; Texas, 4 ; To HON. J. G. CHAPMAN, President of the Whig Na --212. tional Convention.

WINFIELD SCOTT.

DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION-1852.

This Convention assembled at Baltimore on the 1st of June, John W. Davis, of Indiana, presided, and the two-thirds rule was adopted. Gen. Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, was nominated for President on the 49th ballot, as follows:

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of the people, and calculated to place the business of the country within the control of a concentrated money power, and that above the laws and the will of the people; and that the results of Democratic legislation, in this and made between the two political parties of the country have all other financial measures, upon which issues have been demonstrated to candid and practical men of all, parties, their soundness, safety, and utility, in all business pursuits.

Resolved, That the separation of the moneys of the Government from Banking Institutions, is indispensable for the safety of the funds of the Government, and the rights of the people.

Resolved, That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the Constitution, which makes ours the land of liberty, and the asylum of the oppressed of every nation,. have ever been cardinal principles in the Democratic faith; and every attempt to abridge the privilege of becoming citizens and the owners of soil among us, ought to be resisted with the same spirit which swept the alien and sedition laws from our statute book.

Resolved, That Congress has no power under the Constitution to interfere with, or control the domestic institutions of the several States, and that such States are the sole and proper judges of everything appertaining to their own affairs, and prohibited by the Constitution; that all efforts of the Abolitionists or others, made to induce Congress to interfere with questions of Slavery, or to take incipient steps in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequences; and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger the stability and permanency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend of our political institutions.

Resolved, That the foregoing proposition covers, and is intended to embrace, the whole subject of Slavery agitation in Congress; and therefore, the Democratic party of the Union, standing on this National Platform, will abide by, and adhere to, a faithful execution of the acts known as the Compromise measures settled by the last Congress -the act for reclaiming fugitives from service or labor included; which act, being designed to carry out an express provision of the Constitution, cannot with fidelity thereto be repealed, nor so changed as to destroy or impair its efficiency.

Resolved, That the Democratic party will resist all attempts at renewing in Congress, or out of it, the agitation of the Slavery question, under whatever shape or color the attempt may be made.

[Here follow the Resolutions of 1848, against the distribution of the proceeds of the Public Land Sales, and against the abridgment of the veto power of the President.]

Resolved, That the Democratic party will faithfully abide by and uphold the principles laid down in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1792 and 1798, and in the report of Mr. Madison to the Virginia Legislature in 1799; that it adopts those principles as constituting one of the main foundations of its political creed, and is resolved to carry them out in their obvious meaning and import.

Resolved, That the war with Mexico, upon all the principles of patriotism and the law of nations, was a just and necessary war on our part, in which no American citizen should have shown himself opposed to his country, and neither morally nor physically, by word or deed, given aid and comfort to the enemy.

Resolved, That we rejoice at the restoration of friendly relations with our sister Republic of Mexico, and earnest we enjoy under Republican Institutions, and we con ly desire for her all the blessings and prosperity which gratulate the American people on the results of that war which have so manifestly justified the policy and conduct of the Democratic party, and insured to the United States

indemnity for the past, and security for the future. Resolved, That, in view of the condition of popular institutions in the old world, a high and sacred duty is devolved with increased responsibility upon the Democracy of this country, as the party of the people, to uphold and maintain the rights of every State, and thereby the Union of States, and to sustain and advance among them constitutional liberty, by continuing to resist all monopolies and exclusive legislation for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many, and by a vigilant and constant adherence to those principles and compromises of the CONSTITUTION, which are broad enough and strong enough to embrace and uphold the Union as it is, and the Union as it should be, in the full expansion of the energies and capacity of this great and progressive

Resolved, That it is the duty of every branch of the Government to enforce and practice the most rigid economy in conducting our public affairs, and that no more revenue ought to be raised than is required to defray the necessary expenses of the Government, and for the gradual but certain extinction of the public debt. Resolved, That Congress has no power to charter a Na ional Bank; that we believe such an institution one of leadly hostility to the best interests of the country, ta gerous to our republican institutions and the liberties' people.

FREE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION-1852.

10. That no permanent settlement of the Slavery question can be looked for except in the practical reThe Free-Soil Democracy held a National cognition of the truth that Slavery is sectional and FreeConvention at Pittsburgh, on the 11th August, dom national; by the total separation of the General 1852, Henry Wilson, of Mass., presiding. All Government from Slavery, and the exercise of its legiti mate and constitutional influence on the side of Freethe Free States were represented, together with dom; and by leaving to the States the whole subject of Delaware, Virginia, Kentucky and Maryland. Slavery and the extradition of fugitives from service. John P. Hale, of N. H., was nominated for Presi-soil; and that as the use of the soil is indispensable to 11. That all men have a natural right to a portion of the dent, with Geo. W. Julian, of Indiana, for Vice-life, the right of all men to the soil is as sacred as their President. The Convention adopted the fol- right to life itself. lowing:

PLATFORM:

Having assembled in National Convention as the Democracy of the United States, united by a common resolve to maintain right against wrong, and Freedom against Slavery confiding in the intelligence, patriotism, and discriminating justice of the American people, putting our trust in God for the triumph of our cause, and invoking his guidance in our endeavors to advance it, we now submit to the candid judgment of all men the following declaration of principles and measures: 1. That governments, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, are instituted among men to secure to all those inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with which they are endowed by their Creator, and of which none can be deprived by valid legislation, except for crime.

2. That the true mission of American Democracy is to maintain the Liberties of the People, the Sovereignty of the States, and the perpetuity of the Union, by the impartial application to public affairs, without sectional discriminations of the fundamental principles of human rights, strict justice and an economical administra

tion.

8. That the Federal Government is one of limited powers, derived solely from the Constitution, and the grants of power therein ought to be strictly construed by all the departments and agents of the Government, and it is inexpedient and dangerous to exercise doubtful constitutional powers.

4. That the Constitution of the United States, ordained to form a more perfect Union, to establish Justice and secure the blessings of Liberty, expressly denies to the General Government all power to deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law; and, therefore, the Government having no more power to make a slave than to make a king, and no more power to establish Slavery than to establish a Monarchy, should at once proceed to relieve itself from all responsibility for the existence of Slavery, wherever it possesses

constitutional power to legislate for its extinction.

5. That, to the persevering and importunate demands of the Slave power for more Slave States, new Slave Territories and the nationalization of Slavery, our distinct and final answer is no more Slave States, no Slave Territory, no nationalized Slavery, and no national Legislation for the extradition of Slaves.

6. That Slavery is a sin against God, and a crime against man, which no human enactment nor usage can make right; and that Christianity, humanity, and patriot

ism alike demand its abolition.

7. That the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, is repugnant to the Constitution, to the principles of the common law, to the spirit of Christianity, and to the sentiments of the civilized world. We therefore deny its binding force upon the American people, and demand its immediate and total repeal.

8. That the doctrine that any human law is a finality, and not subject to modification or repeal, is not in accordance with the creed of the founders of our Government, and is dangerous to the liberties of the people.

9. That the Acts of Congress, known as the Compromise Measures of 1850, by making the admission of a sovereign State contingent upon the adoption of other measures demanded by the special interest of Slavery ; by their omission to guarantee freedom in the free Territories; by their attempt to impose unconstitutional Imitations on the power of Congress and the people-to admit new States; by their provisions for the assumption of five millions of the State debt of Texas, and for the payment of five millions more, and the cession of a large territory to the same State under menace, as an Loducement to the relinquishment of a groundless claim, and by their invasion of the sovereignty of the States and the liberties of the people through the enactment of an unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional Fugitive Slave Law, are proved to be inconsistent with all the rinciples and maxims of Democracy, and wholly inadequate to the settlement of the questions of which they are claimed to be an adjustment.

12. That the Public Lands of the United States belong to the People, and should not be sold to individuals nor granted to corporations, but should be held as a sacred trust for the benefit of the people, and should be granted in limited quantities, free of cost, to landless settlers. 18. That a due regard for the Federal Constitution, a sound administrative policy, demand that the funds of the General Government be kept separate from Bankreduced to the lowest possible point; that no more revenue ing institutions; that inland and ocean postage should be should be raised than is required to defray the strictly necessary expenses of the public service, and to pay off the public Debt; and that the power and patronage of the Government should be diminished, by the abolition of all unnecessary offices, salaries, and privileges, and by the election, by the people, of all civil officers in the service of the United States, so far as may be consistent with the prompt and efficient transaction of the public busi

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15. That emigrants and exiles from the old world should find a cordial welcome to homes of comfort and fields of enterprise in the new; and every attempt to abridge their privilege of becoming citizens and owners of the soil among us, ought to be resisted with inflexible determination.

16. That every nation has a clear right to alter or change its own government, and to administer its own concerns in such manner as may best secure the rights and promote the happiness of the people; and foreign interference with that right is a dangerous violation of the law of nations, against which all independent governments should protest, and endeavor by all proper means to prevent; and especially is it the duty of the Amerithe world, to protest against, and by all proper means can Government, representing the Chief Republic of to prevent the intervention of kings and emperors against Nations seeking to establish for themselves Republicar or constitutional governments.

17. That the Independence of Hayti ought to be recognized by our Government, and our commercial relations with it placed on the footing of the most favored nations.

18. That as by the Constitution, "the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States," the practice of imprisoning colored seamen of other States, while the vessels to which they belong lie in port, and refusing the exercise of the right to bring such cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, to test the legality of such proceedings, is a flagrant violation of the Constitution, and an invasion of the rights of the citizens of other States utterly inconsistent with the professions made by the slaveholders, that they wish the provisions of the Constitution faithfully observed by every State in the Union.

19. That we recommend the introduction into all treaties hereafter to be negotiated between the United States and foreign nations, of some provision for the amicable settlement of difficulties by a resort to decisive arbi

trations.

20. That the Free Democratic Party is not organized to aid either the Whig or Democratic wing of the great Slave Compromise party of the nation, but to defeat them both; and that repudiating and renouncing both, as hopelessly corrupt, and utterly unworthy of confidence, the purpose of the Free Democracy is to take possession of the Federal Government, and administer it for the better protection of the rights and interests of the whole people.

21. That we inscribe on our banner, Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor and Free Men, and under it will fight on and fight ever until a triumphant victory shall reward our exertions.

22. That upon this Platform the Convention presents to the Amrican people as a candidate for the office of

President of the United States, JOHN P. HALE, of New-person should be deprived of life, liberty or property
Hampshire, and as a candidate for the office of Vice-
President of the United States, GEORGE W. JULIAN, of
Indiana, and earnestly commend them to the support
of all Freemen and all parties.

without due process of law, it becomes our duty to maintain this provision of the Constitution against all attempts to violate it for the purpose of establishing Slavery in any territory of the United States, by positive legislation, prohibiting its existence or extension therein. That we

ture, of any individual or association of individuals, to give legal existence to Slavery in any territory of the United States, while the present Constitution shall be maintained.

The result of this contest was an overwhelm-deny the authority of Congress, of a territorial legisla ing triumph of the regular Democracy: Pierce and King carrying every State except Massachusetts, Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee, which cast their votes for Gen. Scott. The Free Democratic vote in several States would have given those States to Scott, had it been cast for him.

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION— 1856.

This Convention met at Philadelphia on the 17th of June, and chose Col. Henry S. Lane, of Indiana, as presiding officer. An informal bal

lot for President resulted as follows:

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Resolved, That the Constitution confers upon Congress sovereign power over the territories of the United States power it is both the right and the duty of Congress to for their government, and that in the exercise of this

prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism -Polygamy and Slavery.

Resolved, That while the Constitution of the United States was ordained and established by the people in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common de fense, and secure the blessings of liberty, and contains ample provisions for the protection of the life, liberty and property of every citizen, the dearest constitutional rights of the people of Kansas have been fraudulently and violently taken from them-their territory has been invaded by an armed force-spurious and pretended legislative, judicial and executive officers have been set over them, by whose usurped authority, sustained by the military power of the Government, tyrannical and unconstitutional laws have been enacted and enforcedthe rights of the people to keep and bear arms have 19 been infringed-test oaths of an extraordinary and entangling nature have been imposed, as a condition of exercising the right of suffrage and holding office-the right of an accused person to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury has been denied-the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and 8 effects against unreasonable searches and seizures has been violated-they have been deprived of life, liberty and property without due process of law-that the freedom of speech and of the press has been abridged-the right to choose their representatives has been made of no effect-murders, robberies and arsons have been instigated and encouraged, and the offenders have been allowed to go unpunished-that all these things have unani- been done with the knowledge, sanction and procurement of the present Administration, and that for this Vice-manity, we arraign the Administration, the President, his high crime against the Constitution, the Union and Huadvisers, agents, supporters, apologists and accessories, either before or after the facts, before the country and bring the actual perpetrators of these atrocious outrages, before the world, and that it is our fixed purpose to and their accomplices, to a sure and condign punishment, hereafter.

18

.....

14

18

.. 15

12

8 Kansas..

9

7

14 Nebraska..

71 Kentucky

5

4

9 California..
3
80 89

12

Pennsylvania.... 10
Delaware..
Maryland...
Ohio....

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New-York also gave two votes for Sumner and one for Seward.

Col. John C. Fremont was thereupon mously nominated.

William L. Dayton was nominated for President, receiving, on the informal ballot, 259 votes to 43 for David Wilmot; 110 for Abraham Lincoln; 7 for Thomas Ford; 35 for Charles Sumner; 4 for Cassius M. Clay; 15 for Jacob Collamer; 2 for J. R. Giddings; 2 for W. F. Johnston; 46 for N. P. Banks; 1 for A. C. M. Pennington; 5 for Henry Wilson; 9 for John A. King; 3 for Henry C. Carey; and 8 for Gen. S. C. Pomeroy of Kansas. A formal ballot was then taken, when Mr. Dayton was nominated unanimously

The Convention adopted the following

PLATFORM:

ted as a State of the Union, with her present free ConstiResolved, That Kansas should be immediately admittution, as at once the most effectual way of securing to her citizens the enjoyment of the rights and privileges to which they are entitled; and of ending the civil strife now raging in her territory.

Resolved, That the highwayman's plea, that "might makes right," embodied in the Ostend Circular, was in every respect unworthy of American diplomacy, and would bring shame and dishonor upon any government or people that gave it their sanction.

Resolved, That a railroad to the Pacific Ocean, by the most central and practicable route, is imperatively demanded by the interests of the whole country, and that the Federal Government ought to render immediate and efficient aid in its construction; and, as an auxiliary thereto, the immediate construction of an emigrant route on the line of the railroad.

This Convention of Delegates, assembled in pursuance of a call addressed to the people of the United States, without regard to past political differences or divisions, who are opposed to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, to the policy of the present Administration, to the extension of Slavery into Free Territory; in favor of admitting Kansas as a Free State, of restoring the action Resolved, That appropriations by Congress for the of the Federal Government to the principles of Washing-improvement of rivers and harbors, of a national characton and Jefferson, and who purpose to unite in presentIng candidates for the offices of President and VicePresident, do resolve as follows:

Resolved, That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Constitntion is essential to the preservation of our Republican Institutions, and that the Federal Constitution, the rights of the States, and the Union of the States, shall be preserved.

ter, required for the accommodation and security of our existing commerce, are authorized by the Constitution, and justified by the obligation of government to protect the lives and property of its citizens.

This contest resulted in the election of the Democratic nominees, Buchanan and Breckinridge, who received the electoral votes of

New-Jersey, T; Pennsylvania, 27; Delaware, 8; Virginia, 15; North Carolina, 10; South Carolina, 8; Georgia, 10; Alabama, 9; Mississippi, 7; Louisiana, 6; Tennessee, 12; Kentucky, 12; Indiana, 18; Illinois, 11; Missouri, 9; Arkansas, 4; Florida, 8; Texas, 4; Califor nia, 4.-174.

Resolved, That with our republican fathers we hold it to be a self-evident truth, that all men are endowed with the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that the primary object and ulterior designs of our Federal Government were, to secure these ights to all persons within its exclusive jurisdiction; that, as our republican fathers, when they had abolished For Fremont and Dayton: Maine, 8; New-Hampshire, Blavery in all our national territory, ordained that nc5; Vermont, 5; Massachusetts, 13; Rhode Island, 4;

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