pelled to denounce and abhor it. Yet we concede that in the States where it exists it is politically beyond our reach. But as we cannot deny our responsibility concerning it, so long as it finds protection under the laws of the federal Government, so we will never cease to war against it so long as the purpose of the constituiton shall remain unaccomplished to secure the blessings of liberty to all within its power. 2. That in following in the footsteps of the fathers of the republic, who regarded freedom the national, and slavery the sectional sentiment, we best vindicate their claims to enlighten patriotism, and our own to be considered loyal supporters of the Government they established; and that opposition to any extension of slavery, ad to any augmentation of its power, is clearly the duty of all who respect the doctrine or the practice of the wisest and ablest of the framers of the constitution. 3. That the attempt now pending in Congress to repeal the enactment by which the vast territory north of the Missouri compromise line was dedicated to freedom is an outrage upon justice, humanity and good faith; one by which traitorous ambition, confederated with violation of a solemn and time-honored compact, is seeking to inflict upon the nation a deep and indelible disgrace. We denonnce the scheme as infamous; and we call upon the people to hold its authors and abettors to the most rigid and righteous accountability. 4. That executive patronage has grown to be an evil of immense magnitude ; consolidating the power of the Government into the hands of the incumbent of the Presidential mansion to a degree subversive of all proper accountability to the people; and for which there is no adequate remedy short of a transfer of this power from the President to the people. 5. That we are in favor of cheap postage by land and sea; of free grants of land out of the public domain in limited quantities to actual settlers; of harbor and river improvements, national in their character; and of grants by the Government in aid of the railroad to the Pacific, in such form as shall best avoid the wasteful splendor of Government jobs and secure the early completion of the road. 6. That upon questions of state policy we are in favor of the re-enactment of the law for the suppression of the traffic in intoxicating liquors, with such amendments as shall remove all constitutional doubts and secure the highest degree of efficiency to the law; we are in favor of general laws under which capital may be associated and combined for the prosecution of works of public improvement and of various industrial pursuits; we are in favor of free schools, and of such a disposition of the public money as shall promote the interests of the State rather than the interests of any individual or corporation; and especially are we opposed to the loaning of public money at one per cent. interest. 7. That the subjects likely to be presented to the action of the next Legislature are such as require the selection for the offices of senators and representatives of men of sound head, of business capacity and of unimpeachable integrity; and we take the liberty of commending this subject to the seasonable and thoughtful consideration of the electors of this State, for we are assured that it is only by such selections for this important trust that wise legislation can be accomplished, and the recurrence of scenes which linger painfully in the memory of the people, can be effectually prevented. At the evening session the committee on nominations reported the following ticket, which was accepted by the convention : Governor-Kinsley S. Bingham. Auditor General -Philotus Hayden. Attorney General--Hovey K. Clarke. Commissioner of Land Office-Seymour B. Treadwell. Additional resolutions were adopted recommending the Michigan Free Democrat to the confidence and support of the party, recommending thorough local organization, and advising the dis tribution of documents. The following State Central Committee was appointed S. A. Baker, Samuel P. Mead, Samuel Zug, J. W. Childs, R. R. Beecher, W. W. Murphy, D. C. Leach. Of the speeches made at the convention, we find but little contemporaneous record. The nominee for Governor, Kinsley S. Bingham, was "vociferously called" and made a short speech, which was received with rapturous applause. rapturous applause." Mr. Henry Barnes and Mr. H. H. Emmons also spoke briefly. 66 THE FIRST REPUBLICAN CONVENTION. The following call was published in the Tribune: To the People of Michigan: "A great wrong has been perpetrated. The slave power of this country has triumphed. Liberty is trampled under foot. The Missouri compromise, a solemn compact entered into by our fathers, has been violated, and a vast territory dedicated to freedom has been opened to slavery. "This act, so unjust to the North, has been perpetrated under circumstances which deepens its perfidy. An administration placed in power by Northern votes has brought to bear all the resources of executive corruption in its support. "Northern senators and representatives, in the face of the overwhelming public sentiment of the North, expressed in the proceedings of public meetings and solemn remonstrances, without a single petition in its favor on their table, and not daring to submit this great question to the people, have yielded to the seductions of executive patronage, and, Judas-like, betrayed the cause of liberty; while the South, inspired by a dominant and grasping ambition, has, without distinction of party, and with a unanimity almost entire, deliberately trampled under foot the solemn compact entered into in the midst of a crisis threatening to the peace of the Union, sanctioned by the greatest names of our history, the binding force of which has, for a period of more than 30 years, been recognized and declared by numerous acts of legislation. Such an outrage upon liberty, such a violation of plighted faith, cannot be submitted to. This great wrong must be righted, or there is no longer a North in the councils of the nation. The extension of slavery under the folds of the American flag, is a stigma upon liberty. The indefinite increase of slave representation in Congress is destructive to that equality between freemen which is essential to the permanency of the Union. "The safety of the Union, the rights of the North, the interests of free labor, the destiny of a vast territory and its untold millions for all coming time, and, finally, the high aspirations of humanity, for universal freedom,-all are involved in the issue forced upon the country by the slave power and its plastic Northern tools. "In view, therefore, of the recent action of Congress upon this subject, and the evident designs of the slave power to attempt still further aggressions upon freedom, we invite all our fellow citi zens, without reference to former political associations, who think that the time has arrived for a union at the North to protect liberty from being overthrown and down-trodden, to assemble in mass convention on Thursday, the 6th of July next, at 1 o'clock, P. M., at Jackson, there to take such measures as shall be thought best to concentrate the popular sentiment of this State against the aggression of the slave power. This convention was an unwieldy body, an incongrous assemblage; and from the nature of things there were discordant views and conflicting interests. But all were animated by patriotic motives, and there was a general realization of the absolute necessity of union, and a manifest disposition to subordinate personal interests and private judgments on minor points, to the common good. In the convention there were a considerable number of shrewd and sagacious politicians, in the best sense of the word, who saw what was needed, understood the material they had to deal with, and by masterly management preserved harmony, and brought about desired results. After the appointment of the committee on resolutions the gentlemen composing it withdrew about 10 or 15 rods away, to a clump of trees on the edge of the oak opening, a point which is now marked by the intersection of Franklin and Second streets. There, some standing and some sitting on the grass, they deliberated upon the first Republican platform ever constructed. The leading spirit in the committee was unquestionably Jacob M. Howard. He had prepared and carefully written out the resolutions before leaving Detroit, and the platform was agreed to substantially as he had drawn it up, a few minor changes being suggested by different members of the committee, and adopted. The main difference of opinion was over the additional planks touching upon affairs of State policy, which were proposed by Austin Blair, and which were not agreed to by the committee, but submitted by him as a minority report, and finally adopted by the convention, as shown in the record. There was no great discussion over the adoption of the name, which seems to have been favorably received by the entire committee. The committee to nominate the State ticket was compelled to exercise no little discretion in reconciling differences of opinion and personal judgment, considerable resistance being made to dropping some of the names on the Free-Soil ticket and the substitution of Whigs in their stead. RESULTS OF A PROHIBITION CONVENTION. Toward the close of 1875 a convention of Jackson county prohibitionists was held. The following named gentlemen were chosen to represent the interests of the organization in their respective townships: Blackman, Wm. Gunn; Columbia, Dr. L. M. Jones; Concord, Nathan Shotwell; Grass Lake, Dr. Willis; Hanover, Horace Gifford; Henrietta, Richard Holling; Leoni, Mrs. H. A. Reed; Liberty, Jedediah Palmer; Napoleon, William Blackmar; Norvell, Deacon Reed; Parma, Frederic Richardson; Pulaski, L. D. Jacobs; Rives, H. G. Cole; Sandstone, A. Avery, Jr.; Springport, A. Bryan; Spring Arbor, Amos Bradford; Summit, Benanual Bradford; Tompkins, H. Adams; Waterloo, "Pastor Baptist Church;" First Ward, Rev. Moses Smith; Second Ward, Dr. Egbert Ward; Third Ward, W. P. Fifield; Fourth Ward, Rev. J. B. Drew; Fifth Ward, Rev. J. H. Keeler; Sixth Ward, Mrs. E. A. Goss; Seventh Ward, Rev. E. M. Lewis; Eighth Ward, Deacon James. After the appointment of this county committee the dual resolution subscribed was unanimously adopted: "That there is needed in all parts of the county, earnest, systematic and persevering efforts. That meetings should be held in every township, and if practicable, in every school district; that temperance literature should be widely distributed, and that no means should be left untried to enlighten public opinion upon the important issue to be decided in November, 1876. That the chairman of each township and ward committee in this convention appointed be expected to complete his own committee by the addition of four co-laborers and proceed to action without delay. The renewal of saloon prayer-meetings was again attempted; but the ladies were politely repulsed at Reis Bros., and ceased the pursuit of their useful labors. HONEST-MONEY LEAGUE. In June, 1878, a large number of the most influential citizens of Jackson city and county signed an appeal to those who believed in a national currency, as distinguished from an irredeemable paper money, to assemble at Jackson July 1, with a view of organizing an honest-money league. The meeting proved a complete success, and added, by its influence and appropriate resolutions, another barrier to the great number which must be forced, prior to the adoption, by the United States, of an irredeemable currency, or any section of such an utopian scheme. THE JACKSONITES. There has been an organization in this county for a number of years known as the "Andrew Jackson Association," which numbered 185 in 1879, and whose principles are: That the old Jeffersonian principles, as exemplified by Andrew Jackson, of individual freedom and liberty properly regulated by laws enacted by the people, as against the arbitrary idea of a strong, absolute government, independent of and above the people, are no less important at the present time than when they were first established; that the present generation has been largely educated in a direction calculated ro overthrow these time-honored principles, and establish on their tuins the ancient idea that the government is everything-the people nothing; and that it is a duty incumbent on us to recall the attention of the present and rising generation, so far as lies in our power, to those elementary principles of freedom and free government, under the operation of which, for over 60 years, our nation prospered and flourished beyond all other people. At a meeting held Jan. 8, 1879, Benjamin was elected president, Sanford Hunt vice president, and W. N. Buck secretary. ELECTION RETURNS. The following is the official vote of every general election from 1837 to 1880. To save space we omit the votes for some of the candidates, but enough is given to show the relative strength of each party: |