The Smoky Hill And Republican Union

THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Address of the National Union Executive Committee to the People of the United States.

New York, October 14, 1864.

Fellow Citizens—The elections of Tuesday last give splendid auguries of the result of the Presidential contest, now so near at hand. The great central States of the Union have pronounced, in unmistakable tones, their condemnation of the principles, the purposes and the candidates of the Chicago Convention. Although the great issue was presented only indirectly for their action, they have branded as false the declaration of that assemblage that the war for the restoration of the Union has proved a “failure”—and have stigmatized as unpatriotic and cowardly its demand, made in the midst of our most splendid triumphs, for a “cessation of hostilities,” and a compromise with the men who are assailing, in armed Rebellion, the nation’s life.

In Pennsylvania, the Old Keystone State, although there was no State ticket to arouse enthusiasm or stimulate exertion, the Union men have elected eighteen out of the twenty-four members of Congress, secured a large majority in both branches of the Legislature, and carried the State by a popular majority of not less than Fifteen Thousand.

In Ohio, without any special effort, the Union men have elected sixteen out of the nineteen. The Democratic candidate for the Vice Presidency, George H. Pendleton, has been overwhelmed in his own district—all the prominent leaders of the Chicago movement who dared to present themselves for public judgment, have been condemned by decisive verdicts—the Legislature has a large Union majority in both branches, and in the State at large the Union cause has a popular majority of not less than Eighty Thousand.

In Indiana, where the Copperheads made the most desperate and determined struggle they have met the most signal defeat and overthrow. Their organization was perfect, their means abundant, and their efforts marked by the utmost vigor and determination. But they have been utterly routed by the most decisive majority which the State has given for many years. Although she had more than forty thousand soldiers in the field, from whom the opposition party had withheld the right to vote, the Union men in that gallant State have gained three Members of Congress, sent Schuyler Colfax back, in spite of the most desperate efforts to defeat him, to the seat he has so long adorned, chosen a Union Legislature, re-elected the gallant and patriotic Governor Morton by a majority of Fifteen Thousand, and overwhelmed, with the lasting stigma of popular condemnation, the conspirators who had dared, in aid of the Rebellion, to organize upon her soil a movement of armed resistance to the constitutional authority of the United States.

Fellow Citizens! These results may well fill your hearts with confidence that in November the popular voice will demand that the rebellion be crushed by “force of arms,” and that there be no cessation of hostilities until the integrity of the Union is restored and the supremacy of the Constitution re-established over every foot of the national domain. They leave no room for doubt as to the settled sentiment and purpose of the American people. The Union victories of September in Vermont and Maine indicated unmistakably the feelings of New England. New York has never failed to sympathize in political sentiment with Pennsylvania. Illinois always votes with Indiana, and the overwhelming majority in Ohio renders certain the verdict of the mighty West.

But take care that the very splendor of these victories does not betray you into fatal inactivity! Let them stimulate you to fresh exertions—not lull you into a false security! These contests are only the preliminary skirmishes of the grand engagement. The battle is but just begun; it will not be closed until the last vote drops into the ballot box at sun-set on the 8th of November next. Our opponents now will not abandon the contest; they will only fight with the greater desperation on account of the check they have sustained.

Besides this, it is not enough that we secure a victory. The Union cause deserves and demands at our hands an overwhelming triumph. We owe it to the flag we serve; to the memory of the noble hearts who have died in its defense; to the heroes who are even now rallying, in blood and fire, to the rescue of its starry folds, to put such a brand of popular condemnation upon its foes as shall leave them neither heart nor strength to assail it from this time forward forever!

Signs, moreover, are not wanting that the allies of the Rebellion, represented at Chicago, are prepared, if the contest be close, to resist the verdict of the people now, as it was resisted four years ago by armed Rebellion. Threats of such a purpose have been freely uttered. Secret organizations, looking to such a movement have been perfected. Arms and ammunition have been secretly accumulated in the Western States. And the Chicago Convention itself refused to adjourn sine die after its legitimate business had been transacted, but on motion of Wickliffe of Kentucky, an open ally of the Rebellion, and in imitation of the Jacobin clubs of Revolutionary France, resolved itself into a permanent body for the avowed purpose of taking such steps as emergencies might require between now and the fourth of March next. To what do these preparations look if not to a repetition on Northern soil of the secession movement in the Southern States: to fresh attempts to arouse rebellion against the will of the people, if that will should be pronounced against them.

For these reasons, Fellow Citizens, and for every reason connected with the welfare, the honor, the salvation of our beloved country, it is of the utmost importance that you should give in November an overwhelming majority for the Union cause. With proper exertion you can carry every Loyal State in the Union for the Union Candidates. Let that be the aim of your efforts! Be content with nothing less.

Remember that the contest is not one for party ascendancy. You are not fighting for a party victory. The stake for which you are contending is nothing less than the honor and the life of your country. Remember that failure now is failure forever; that a triumph of the Cessation and Surrender policy of the Chicago Convention leads inevitably to a recognition of the Rebel Confederacy, with slavery as its corner-stone to the disruption of this glorious Union and the overthrow of Democratic and Republican principles all over the world. Give not such a triumph to the foes of Freedom abroad and the enemies of equal rights at home! Let not England and France thus glory in the destruction of this Imperial Republic. Let the world understand that the American people still cling to the principles of their fathers—that they will still maintain against all hostility the integrity of their Union, the authority of their Constitution, and the honor and supremacy of their glorious Flag.

We call upon Union Committees, Loyal Leagues, and all other organizations formed for the purpose of vindicating and maintaining the Union cause, to redouble their efforts. Let them perfect their organization, instantly, everywhere. Let them send to this Committee for such Documents as will enlighten the people in their respective localities upon the great issues involved in the canvass; they will be furnished gratuitously, on the sole condition that they are faithfully used. Let speakers in every town and every district address the judgment and the patriotic sentiment of the people, and rally them to the support and defense of our principles and candidates. Let full and prompt provision be made, in advance, for bringing voters to the polls, for preventing frauds, and for securing in this sharp crisis of the country’s fate the vote of every citizen who has an interest in the preservation of the nation’s life.

Let special care be taken to secure, for every SOLDIER and for every SAILOR, who is fighting in the field or on the sea in defense of the country and its flag, the exercise of his right to vote. If any man’s right of suffrage is sacred it is his. See to it that he is not deprived of it by negligence or cheated in its exercise by fraud. Send agents to the army to secure it for him. Where the action of hostile Legislatures has refused him the right to vote in the field, procure for him a furlough, if military necessity will allow, that he may vote at home.

Fellow-Citizens! But one month more remains for effort. If that month be properly employed, the vote of every loyal State can be secured for the representatives and candidates of the Union cause. There is not one among them all that, upon any just and fair canvass, will deliberately pronounce the war in which so many of our sons and brothers have laid down their lives a “FAILURE,” or echo the demand of the Chicago Convention for a cessation of hostilities just on the eve of victory, and for a disgraceful surrender to an exhausted and beaten foe.

On behalf of the National Union Executive Committee,

Henry J. Raymond, Chairman.

F. D. Sperry, Sec’y.