CHAPTER XIV.
HAYES.
" … and to put forth my best efforts in behalf of a civil policy which will forever wipe out in our political affairs the color line and the distinction between North and South, to the end that we may have, not merely a united North or a united South, but a united country."
Rutherford B. Hayes, Inaugural Address, March 5, 1877.
The Sixth Republican National Convention met at Cincinnati, Ohio, June 14, 1876, and, as already noted, for the first time since 1860 there was to be a contest for the presidential nomination. James G. Blaine was most prominently mentioned during the months preceding the Convention, and was unquestionably the favorite of a majority of the delegates when they met. His friends were united and enthusiastic, but there was a factional opposition, led by Mr. Conkling, of New York, that united on the seventh ballot and resulted in the nomination of a candidate who had received comparatively little attention before the Convention met. The next strongest candidates after Mr. Blaine seemed to be Oliver P. Morton, of Indiana, and Benjamin H. Bristow, of Kentucky, both of whom had rendered conspicuous services to the party and to the country. Other candidates were Roscoe Conkling, of New York, Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, and John F. Hartranft, of Pennsylvania. The Convention was called to order by Edwin D. Morgan, who named Theodore M. Pomeroy, of New York, temporary Chairman. The usual committees were appointed and Edward McPherson, of Pennsylvania, was reported as permanent Chairman. Gen. Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut, reported the following platform:
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, 1876.
When in the economy of Providence, this land was to be purged of human slavery, and when the strength of government of the people, by the people, and for the people was to be demonstrated, the Republican party came into power. Its deeds have passed into history, and we look back to them with pride. Incited by their memories to high aims for the good of our country and mankind, and looking to the future with unfaltering courage, hope and purpose, we, the representatives of the party, in national convention assembled, make the following declaration of principles:
1. The United States of America is a nation, not a league. By the combined workings of the national and state governments, under their respective constitutions, the rights of every citizen are secured, at home and abroad, and the common welfare promoted.
2. The Republican party has preserved these governments to the hundredth anniversary of the nation's birth, and they are now embodiments of the great truth spoken at its cradle: "That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that for the attainment of these ends governments have been instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Until these truths are cheerfuly obeyed, or, if need be, vigorously enforced, the work of the Republican party is unfinished.
3. The permanent pacification of the southern section of the Union and the complete protection of all its citizens in the free enjoyment of all their rights, is a duty to which the Republican party stands sacredly pledged. The power to provide for the enforcement of the principles embodied in the recent constitutional amendments is vested by those amendments in the Congress of the United States, and we declare it to be the solemn obligation of the legislative and executive departments of the government to put into immediate and vigorous exercise all their constitutional powers for removing any just causes of discontent on the part of any class, and for securing to every American citizen complete liberty and exact equality in the exercise of all civil, political, and public rights. To this end we imperatively demand a Congress and a Chief Executive whose courage and fidelity to these duties shall not falter until these results are placed beyond dispute or recall.