MAH 8 1920 LIBRARY Asher & Hands Caminidge Party- National convention COPYRIGHTED CHARLES W. JOHNSON. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL UNION REPUBLICAN CONVENTION, HELD AT CHICAGO, MAY 20TH AND 21ST, 1868. REPORTED BY ELY, BURNHAM & BARTLETT, CHICAGO, CHICAGO: EVENING JOURNAL PRINT, No. 46 DEARBORN STREET. OFFICIAL APPOINTMENT. HEADQUARTERS OF THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE, At a session of the National Executive Committee, this day held, it was "Resolved, That Messrs. Ely, Burnham and Bartlett, Official Reporters "of the Courts of Chicago, be hereby appointed the Official Reporters of the "proceedings of the National Union Republican Convention, to be held at "the City of Chicago on Wednesday, the 20th day of May, at 12 M., for the "purpose of nominating candidates for the offices of President and Vice"President of the United States." MARCUS L. WARD, OF NEW JERSEY, Chairman. JNO. D. DEFREES, OF INDIANA, Secretary. NATIONAL UNION REPUBLICAN CONVENTION. WEDNESDAY, May 20, 1868. The National Union Republican Convention, to nominate candidates for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States, assembled in Crosby's Opera House, Chicago, Illinois, at 12 M., in response to the following call: NATIONAL UNION REPUBLICAN CONVENTION. The undersigned, constituting the National Committee designated by the Convention held at Baltimore on the 7th of June, 1864, do appoint that a Convention of the Union Republican party be held at the City of Chicago, on Wednesday, the 20th day of May next, at 12 o'clock M., for the purpose of nominating candidates for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States. Each State in the United States is authorized to be represented in said Convention by a number of delegates equal to twice the number of Senators and Representatives to which each State is entitled in the National Congress. We invite the co-operation of all citizens who rejoice that our great civil war has happily terminated in the discomfiture of rebellion; who would hold fast the unity and integrity of the Republic, and maintain its paramount right to defend to the utmost its existence, whether imperiled by a secret conspiracy or armed force; of an economical administration of the public expenditures; of the complete extirpation of the principles and policy of slavery, and of the speedy re-organization of those States whose governments were destroyed by the rebellion, and the permanent restoration to their proper practical relations with the United States, in accordance with the true principles of a republican government. MARCUS L. WARD, of New Jersey, JNO. D. DEFREES, of Indiana, Secretary. J. B. CLARK, New Hampshire. S. A. PURVIANCE, Pennsylvania. D. B. STUBBS, Iowa. H. C. HOFFMAN, Maryland. N. EDMUNDS, Dakota. THOS. G. TURNER, Rhode Island. Chairman. S. F. HERSEY, Maine. S JUDD, Wisconsin. H. H. STARKWEATHER, Connecticut. D. R. GOODLOE, North Carolina. J. P. CHAFFEE, Colorado. CONVENTION CALLED TO ORDER. Gov. MARCUS L. WARD, of New Jersey, Chairman of the National Executive Committee, called the Convention to order at the prescribed hour, and spoke as follows: DELEGATES TO THE NATIONAL CONVENTION OF THE UNION REPUBLICAN PARTY-You have assembled at the call of the National Convention to nominate its standard-bearer for the ensuing campaign; to declare your unswerving attachment to union and liberty; and to pledge that you will take no step backward in the work of reconstructing the rebel States and re-establishing the Union. [Applause.] You are here to bear witness that the war, so gallantly and so gloriously waged for the life of the nation, was not a failure. You are here to point to a Republic boundless in extent and resources, guarded and protected by one common flag, and upheld by a patriotic and loyal people. [Applause.] An emancipated race has been lifted from the debasement of slavery, and, to-day, with the Union men of the South, re-organizes, in the name of liberty, the Governments and institutions of the rebellious States. The history of the Republican party is a record of the true progress of the nation. It has successively met and conquered all those hostile parties represented by the effete ideas and perishing institutions of the past, and it must now determine to vindicate anew its measures and its policy, by the wisdom and courage which plan, and the determination and labor which organize, victory. In this spirit you are here assembled to perform the responsible duties assigned you, and I doubt not your action will meet the approval of the vast constituency you represent. The nation understands that neither armed treason nor political treachery can arrest the triumph of our cause and the success of our candidates. [Great applause, and display of national flags.] If, as indicated by the unanimity of feeling which prevails, you shall designate as our leader the great captain of the age [great applause], whose brilliant achievements in the field have been equaled by his wisdom in the Cabinet [applause], the nation will greet it as the precursor of victory to our cause and of peace to the Republic. [Loud applause.] Bishop Simpson will offer prayer. PRAYER. MATTHEW SIMPSON, D. D., then offered the following prayer: Oh, Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth! Thou art the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Thou hast laid the foundation of the earth, and Thy hands have formed the heavens. We praise The♦ for all Thy mercies Thou hast conferred upon us as individuals, as communities, and as a nation. While we deplore our manifold sins, we bless Thee for life and for reason, for a glorious revelation, the gift of Thy Son, our Saviour, and for the hope of a blissful immortality. As a nation, we praise Thee for the goodly heritage which Thou hast given us-so vast in extent, so immense in its resources. We praise Thee for the deeds to which Thou didst inspire our fathers, and the precious memories which they have left to us. We thank Thee for the institutions with which our land has been blessed-for our civil and religious liberties. We thank Thee for the right to meet and deliberate; we bless Thee for the freedom which breathes through all classes of society, and especially we praise Thee, Oh, our Father and our God, that in the midst of all our trials Thou hast ever |