floor, at the close of the proceedings of the convention, was adopted with but one dissenting vote:

The first concern of all good government is the virtue and sobriety of the people, and the purity of their homes. The Republican party cordially sympathizes with all wise and well-directed efforts for the promotion of temperance and morality.

A convention of a party which adopted the name of American was held at Washington on the 14th of August. It was attended by 126 delegates, of whom 65 represented New York, and 15 were from California. On the second day of the convention a contest which had divided the meeting from the first led to a split, and all the members except those from New York and California seceded and held a convention of their own. The issue which broke

up the convention was the apportionment of votes. The two States most strongly represented desired that each delegate should have one vote, while the minority insisted upon the usual rule of other conventions, that the State or the Congressional district should be the unit for voting power, rather than the individual delegate. The seceders from the convention made no nominations. The New York and California members who were left, not without some friction, completed their work. They nominated for President James Langdon Curtis, of New York, and for Vice-President James R. Greer, of Tennessee. Mr. Greer subsequently declined the nomination. The following platform was adopted:

Resolved, That all law-abiding citizens of the United States of America, whether native or foreign born, are politically equals (except as provided by the Constitution), and all are entitled to, and should receive, the full protection of the laws.

Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States should be so amended as to prohibit the Federal and State governments from conferring upon any person the right to vote unless such person be a citizen of the United States.

Resolved, That we are in favor of fostering and encouraging American industries of every class and kind, and declare that the assumed issue "Protection vs. "Free Trade" is a fraud and a snare. The best "protection " is that which protects the labor and life blood of the republic from the degrading competition with and contamination by imported foreigners; and the most dangerous “free trade ” is that in paupers, criminals, communists, and anarchists, in which the balance has always been against the United States.

Whereas, One of the greatest evils of unrestricted foreign immigration is the reduction of the wages of the American workingman and working-woman to the level of the underfed and underpaid labor of foreign countries; therefore

Resolved, That we demand that no immigrant shall be admitted into the United States without a passport obtained from the American consul at the port from which he sails; that no passport shall be issued to any pauper, criminal, or insane person, or to any person who, in the judgment of the consul, is not likely to become a desirable citizen of the United States; and that for each immigrant passport there shall be collected by the consul issuing the same the sum of one hundred dollars ($100), to be by him paid into the Treasury of the United States.

Resolved, That the present naturalization laws of the United States should be unconditionally repealed.

Resolved, That the soil of America should belong to Americans; that no alien non-resident should be permitted to own real estate in the United States, and that the realty possessions of the resident alien should be limited in value and area.

Resolved, That no flag shall float on any public buildings, municipal, state, or national, in the United States, except the municipal, state, or national flag of the United States, — the flag of the stars and stripes.

Resolved, That we reassert the American principles of absolute freedom of religious worship and belief, the permanent separation of church and state; and we oppose the appropriation of public money or property to any church, or institution administered by a church. We maintain that all church property should be subject to taxation.

The canvass which followed the nomination of candidates presented no remarkable features until a short time. before the election. Political clubs took somewhat unusual prominence in the contest. They were enabled to make their work more effective by forming State and National leagues, and thus gaining the advantage which is derived from organized and concerted effort.

The tariff was the great issue. It was the chief topic upon which the Republican and Democratic candidates dwelt in their respective letters of acceptance. It was the subject discussed from the stump and in the party journals. The Democrats distinctly pledged themselves that, if they should gain full control of the government, they would reduce the tariff, taking for general principles in the method of reduction the system sketched by the "Mills bill." The Republicans, on the other hand, committed themselves unreservedly by a declaration that they would sweep away the whole internal revenue system before they would abandon any part of the protective duties on imports. The public discussion was very earnest. There were, however, prior to the election itself, no tecided indications how the battle was going to result. Although each side professed confidence that it would win from the enemy electoral votes of States not counted as doubtful, there was little real expectation on either side of such a result. The Democrats were evidently sure of the entire Southern vote; and the Republicans had no fear of losing any Northern State, except Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Indiana. Upon these States, therefore, most of the energy of both parties was concentrated.

Two weeks before the election a strange incident occurred, and the importance attached to it for no doubt it had a certain influence in the election shows how highly wrought was political feeling at that time. A cor

respondence was published between a person, who adopted the fictitious name of Charles F. Murchison, and Lord Sackville, the British Minister at Washington. The false Murchison represented himself to be a former British subject, now naturalized as an American, but cherishing a love for the mother country, and asking Lord Sackville's advice as to how he should vote at the coming election. The incautious reply of Lord Sackville, who fell into a trap set for him, implied, though it gave no direct advice, that a vote for the Democratic candidate would be rather more friendly to England than one for Mr. Harrison. The correspondence was published on October 24. The Republicans seized upon it as confirming what they had insisted upon, when discussing the Mills bill, that the Democratic tariff policy was good for England's interest, but bad for America. The President quickly perceived the use that was to be made of the incident, and took his measures accordingly. The view was taken that the advice given by Lord Sackville was an interference by a foreign minister with the internal politics of this country, a repetition on a small scale of the impertinence of Citizen Genet during the administration of Washington. The attention of Lord Salisbury was called to the matter; and when the British premier failed to regard Lord Sackville's indiscretion as a serious offence, if indeed he regarded it as an offence at all, the President directed that the British minister be informed that he was no longer persona grata, and that his passports should be given to him. The incident was variously regarded at the time. Some deemed the whole affair an amusing illustration of the tendency to magnify what is really insignificant when an election is pending. Those who took it, or affected to take it seriously, vented their indignation, according to the party to which they respectively belonged, upon the sharp politician who prepared a pitfall for the diploma

tist, or upon the minister, who, they said, had revealed the partiality of the government he represented for one of the two parties. Great Britain took the expulsion of Lord Sackville so seriously that it refused to appoint another minister until after the close of Mr. Cleveland's administration.

The number of States participating in the election was, as before, thirty-eight. The Democrats carried the entire South, together with the States of Connecticut and New Jersey. The other States of the North, including the doubtful States of New York and Indiana, chose Republican electors. The popular and electoral votes were given as follows: