of those blessings, and a proper regard for those to whom you hope to transmit them, will be sufficient to impel you to declare with no doubtful voice your unchangeable determination that the Government shall not be broken up. Compared with the interests involved with the great question, all other interests are of but little importance. If the Government which establishes and maintains social order is forever to exist at the mercy or caprice of disappointed ambition, there is but little of all we now enjoy that will not in the loss of its stability lose its value. Shall it be said that we have neglected or put in peril the proper settlement of this question by our party differences? These are now of but little moment. They are mere shadows to allure us from the pursuit of the substance. Without value, nay, disgraceful alike to victor and vanquished, will be those triumphs of party which are celebrated over the ruins of a dismembered Government. The Republican Union State Convention met in Columbus, Thursday, September 5th. The night before the city was filled with delegates and interested spectators. A great meeting was held that evening which was addressed by William Johnston and Samuel Carey, of Hamilton County, and G. Volney Dorsey, of Miami. To show its loyalty, Columbus was almost buried in bunting, with Old Glory" proudly displayed on every hand. The delegates gathered at the theatre in the morning at eleven o'clock the building having been profusely decorated with flags, banners and stirring mottoes. Among the participants were many new and, what would have been considered a few months previous, very strange faces in a Republican Convention. Many whom the accurate observer had noticed as most active convention factors were absent at the front, in response to the President's call, willing, if need be, to die that the life of the Nation. might be preserved. Thomas G. Mitchell, of Hamilton County, was chosen Temporary Chairman and John C. Groom, of Franklin, Secretary pro tem. On assuming the chair Mr. Mitchell made an address full of patriotism, which was loudly cheered. He said in part: This is no ordinary political convention. One duty, it is true, is to select the best candidates to be voted for, but that is a duty that has been performed annually for half a century. We meet under circumstances the like of which never called us together before. The whole fabric of our beloved Government is shaken from center to circumference. Our bright and glorious old flag is being desecrated, and in our very midst are many, who by capitulation, are disposed to sustain traitors in the attempted destruction of our Constitutional liberty. Our actions here must be brief, harmonious and unanimous. This Convention should announce to the world that it supports but one proposition, namely: We have a Government and its life is threatened; but as patriots we mean to see that it shall not even be dismembered. Every one who is not heartily sustaining the Government is against it. He who even hesitates at this time is an enemy of the Government. We should never submit to or compromise with traitors. The power to suppress treason is the power of self-preservation. That power is in the hands of the people and of their Government, and they must use it. The great truths of the American Revolution are written in letters of light which the sunbeams of time have converted into luminous letters of gold, and if need be the baptism of blood will be offered for their consecration. The various Committees were appointed and a recess was taken until two o'clock in the afternoon. Those who composed these Committees were: 3. Credentials: 1. John B. Warren, Hamilton. 2. S. L. Snodgrass, Hamilton. James A. Watt, Preble. 4. Charles W. Wells, Shelby. 5. M. B. Plummer, Lucas 6. E. E. Wilkins, Brown. 7. John Q. Smith, Clinton. 8. George F. Stayman, Delaware. 9. Charles O. Tillottson, Sandusky. 10. M. B. Bartlett, Jackson. II. A. J. Wright, Perry. 12. William Bander, Pickaway. 13. J. M. Clark, Morrow. 14. R. R. Connelly, Wayne. 15. Richard Lanning, Coshocton. 16. Benjamin Crane, Muskingum. 17. Charles J. Albright, Guernsey. 18. Charles Rhinehart, Summit. 19. A. McReynolds, Lake. 20. F. E. Stowe, Mahoning. 21. John McCook, Jefferson. Permanent Organization and Rules: 1. N. Bartlett, Hamilton. 2. S. J. Thompson, Hamilton. 3. Edwin W. Davis, Butler. 4. Edwin B. Taylor, Darke. 5. Ezra Brown, Williams. 6. Amos Dawson, Highland. 7. A. McDowell, Fayette. 8. Philander B. Cole, Union. 9. John F. Hinkle, Hardin. 10. J. M. Shackleford, Gallia. II. Lot L. Smith, Athens. 12. Jerome Buckingham, Licking. 13. O. E. Kellogg, Erie. 14. L. A. Sheldon, Lorain. 15. John Caskey, Holmes. 16. W. F. Curtis, Washington. 17. J. M. Kirkbride, Noble. 18. Seraphim Meyer, Stark. 19. James Mason, Cuyahoga. 20. Charles E. Glidden, Trumbull. 21. A. A. Sweeney, Carroll. Resolutions: 1. George B. Hollister, Hamilton. 2. M. W. Oliver, Hamilton. 3. Lewis D. Campbell, Butler. 4. Barton S. Kyle, Miami. 5. George Laskey, Wood. 6. David Gaston, Adams. 7. Andrew G. McBurney, Warren. 8. Benjamin Stanton, Logan. 9. John J. Steiner, Seneca. 10. Ralph Leete, Lawrence. II. Hocking H. Hunter, Fairfield. 12. John W. Andrews, Franklin. 13. George H. Safford, Huron. 14. Samuel Humphreyville, Medina. 15. Joseph C. Devin, Knox. 16. William P. Sprague, Morgan. 17. Daniel Peck, Belmont. 18. Luther Day, Portage. 19. George Willey, Cuyahoga. 20. Benjamin F. Wade, Ashtabula. 21. James W. Reilly, Columbiana. State Central Committee: 1. John B. Warren, Hamilton. 2. Peter Zinn, Hamilton. 3. Israel Williams, Butler. 4. Timothy E. Cunningham, Allen. 5. Octavius Wa ters, Fulton. 6. Chambers Baird, Brown. 7. W. B. Fairchild, Greene. 8. George F. Startsman, Delaware. 9. John Bartram, Marion. 10. Samuel M. Penn, Ross. II. Franklin P. Remple, Hocking. 12. James H. Smith, Franklin. 13. Isaac Gass, Richland. 14. C. C. Wick, Ashland. 15. Levi Sargent, Tuscarawas. 16. George Benedict, Washington. 17. Joseph C. Douglas, Guernsey. 18. Alphonso Hart, Portage. 19. Peter Hitchcock, Geauga. 20. George F. Brown, Trumbull. 21. Samuel B. Shotwell, Harrison. At the hour for convening the theater was packed with delegates and spectators, and several persons, imagining that they felt the building shaking, almost created a panic by rushing out under the supposition that it was about to crumble to pieces. motion the Convention adjourned to the hall of the House of Representatives, but that proving inadequate another adjournment was taken, to the east terrace of the State House. On Thomas Ewing, ex-United States Senator, and the first Secretary of the Interior of the United States, was elected President of the Convention. On taking the chair he said, according to extracts from the notes of a newspaper reporter: This Convention is one of momentous importance. Our country is in a situation the most trying in its history. We meet as the representatives of the people to express their will, feeling and purposes and to give voice to their behests. It is their purpose to support the Government and put down the rebellion. To do this, force, physical and moral, must be employed. Men differ as to ways and means, but the only method by which the power of the Nation must be exercised is through the arm of the lawfully constituted authority of the country. Those who do not support our Chief Executive do not support the Government. The time may have been otherwise, but it is not now. When our Capital is threatened by a hostile force of armed rebels it is no time for us to refuse our support. We must meet force with force. I remember the time when South Carolina in her Nullification Act threatened rebellion. I had always opposed General Jackson politically, but at that time myself and twenty other Whigs went to the President and promised him our support. The Ship of State is among breakers now. I do not propose to inquire what Lincoln has done or what Buchanan has done; let that all pass. Let all past differences among us be laid aside; our duty is to save the country. Since 1854 I have had no political home; have belonged to no party; but now give adherence to the party of the people. Let Democrats and Republicans balance their accounts and begin anew. Ever since 1833 South Carolina has been educating her sons in the heresy of rebellion. That State will never return to the Union of her own accord. It is the only State that has declared by the voice of the people in favor of secession, but she, along with the others, must be brought back by the strong arm of the law. I have heard many objections to President Lincoln's Administration, but myself have only one. In the kindness of his heart Lincoln forbore too long, and did not exercise the full strength of the Government soon enough. On the question of the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus by President Lincoln I can not say if it has been strictly in accord with the Constitution to the very letter of the law. The only fault I find is that it has not been suspended in half the cases it ought to have been. But this one thing I am certain of he who fails to uphold our President in this crisis is an enemy to the United States Constitution and its laws. For its nominee for Governor the Convention selected David Tod, of Mahoning County. He had been Chairman of the Douglas Convention at Baltimore in 1860, and before that had been nominated by acclamation by the Ohio Democrats (in 1844 and again in 1846) as their candidate for Governor. Benjamin Stanton, of Logan, was nominated on the second ballot for Lieutenant Governor over Benjamin Eggleston and Samuel F. Cary, of Hamilton; Samuel Galloway, of Franklin; John J. Williams, of Marion; Hezekiah S. Bundy, of Jackson; and Horace M. Stokes, of Warren. G. Volney Dorsey was nominated for Treasurer of State over George B. Wright, of Licking, and Benjamin F. Stone, of Ross, on the first ballot. Dr. Dorsey was called upon to address the Convention, and responded in a few remarks in which he said that at the expiration of his term of office he would be found still fitted to travel among the people with his friend Judge Johnston, who had said in his speech that he was ready and willing to accompany on the stump any Democrat who had not stolen anything." For Supreme Judge, Josiah Scott, of Butler, was nominated, but a single ballot being taken. His opponents were Simeon Nash, of Gallia, and Henry C. Whitman, of Fairfield. Joseph H. Riley, and William B. Thrall, both of Franklin, were named for the office of Comptroller of the Treasury, and Riley was nominated. For Secretary of State, Benjamin R. Cowen, of Belmont, was chosen on the first ballot. The others voted for were-S. D. Harris, of Franklin, Thomas C. Jones, of Delaware, Rodney M. Stimson, of Washington, Thomas Shearer, of Ross, and Moses H. Kirby, of Wyandot. John F. Torrence, of Hamilton, was nominated for Member of the Board of Public Works on the second ballot over J. L. Haskins, David Anderson, J. R. Converse, J. M. Vincent and A. English. Of the candidates those heretofore Democrats were Tod, Dorsey and Riley. The Republicans were Stanton, Scott and Cowen. Torrence was a member of the American party. The following is the platform which was adopted with unanimity and great cheering: Resolved, 1. That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon the country by the disunionists of the Southern States, now in revolt against the Con stitutional Government and in arms around the Capital. 2. That in this National emergency, banishing all feeling of mere passion or resentment, we will recollect our duty to the whole country; that this war is not waged on our part in any spirit of opposition, nor for any purpose of conquest or subjection, nor for the pur pose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of the States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the Union with all the dignity, equality and rights of the several States unimpaired; and that as soon as these objects are accomplished, the war ought WHEREAS, The Federal Constitution was adopted on the 17th day of September, 1787, and the Farewell Address of WASHINGTON was promulgated on the 17th day of September, 1796, and whereas at the present juncture in National affairs it is right and expedient for the people to consider the principles which underhe our Federal Union, therefore, be it Resolved, That this Convention recommend that in every county in our State the 17th day of September, 1861, be observed by our citizens in mass meeting assembled, and that the Union Central Executive Committee is hereby instructed to issue such a call as will cause this recommendation to be generally known. While this preamble and resolution met the approval of the delegates and presumably of the State Committee also, there is no record of their having been observed either by the Committee or the people. Indeed, as the editor of one of the leading papers of the State remarked editorially, when attempting to give some reliable news of the following election, "the public mind and the public press seem so absorbed by the war that the matter of communicating anything else evidently occupies but a minor place in the public estimation." So it was all through the war. Every person was so keenly interested in what was occurring on the field of battle that many matters of political importance were wholly ignored or mentioned so briefly and casually that it is now almost impossible to link the fragments together. Very little space was devoted by the newspapers of the day to the reports of State or even National Conventions. After giving three cheers for "Tom Ewing" and the other officers of the Convention and three rousers for the country and the Constitution, the Convention adjourned sine die. On the following day the Union State Executive Committee met and organized. James H. Smith, a former editor of the Statesman, was elected Chairman and Benjamin F. Martin, Secretary. The others constituted an advisory board and were Isaac J. Allen, Thomas Sparrow, George M. Parsons, Chauncey N. Olds and John Geary. The Union men of the State rallied to the support of the ticket nominated by the Republican Convention, although the Democrats made an active canvass and denounced the administration of Lincoln at every opportunity. At their second State Convention, August 7th, they nominated the following candidates: Governor, Hugh J. Jewett, of Muskingum County; Lieutenant Governor, John Scott Harrison, of Hamilton; Judge of Supreme Court, Thomas J. S. Smith, of Montgomery; Secretary of State, William W. Armstrong, of Seneca; Treasurer of State, George W. Holmes, of Hamilton; Comptroller of the Treasury, Wayne Griswold, of Knox; Member of Board of Public Works, Jabez W. Fitch, of Cuyahoga. The resolutions adopted declared in substance that the Democratic party was not responsible for the war, but that it was "the natural offspring of misguided sectionalism, engendered by fanatical agitators North as well as South;" that the war should not be waged for the purpose of overthrowing the established institutions. of the States;" favored a National Convention to settle the existing difficulties between the two sections; denounced the "corruption, extravagance, incompetency and favoritism" shown in the State and National war departments; thanked the soldiers who had been compelled to fight under inexperienced officers," and denounced the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus as unconstitutional. Mr. Harrison declined to accept a nomination on the Democratic ticket, and the State Committee thereupon substituted the name of John G. Marshall, of Brown County, as the candidate for Lieutenant Governor. Notwithstanding the fact that a large number of the qualified voters of the State had gone to the front and that the war absorbed the public attention to a great degree, there was a large vote polled, but it was considerably less than that cast at the Presidential election of the preceding year. "The 200,000 Democrats of the State" did not all materialize," and the Republicans elected all their State candidates by large majorities, and carried both branches of the Fifty-fifth General Assembly, which was divided politically as follows: Senate: Republicans 26, Democrats 8. House: Republicans 74, Democrats 23. OFFICIAL VOTE FOR STATE OFFICERS. For Governor: David Tod, Rep............... Hugh J. Jewett, Dem.. Tod's majority..... For Lieutenant Governor: For Secretary of State: Cowen's majority. For Treasurer of State: G. Volney Dorsey, Rep... Dorsey's majority.. For Judge of Supreme Court: Scott's majority..... For Comptroller of the Currency: Joseph H. Riley, Rep........... Wayne Griswold, Dem.. Riley's majority..... For Member of the Board of Public Works: Torrence's majority.... .207,439 .151,548 55,891 .207,443 151,987 55,456 206,376 .150,977 55,399 .207,373 .151,832 55,541 |