t has accomplished in the past, I feel that I
have a right to appeal to you not to cloud the magnificent record which
this grand organization has made. So far as the colored man is
concerned, you found him a slave; you have made him a free man. You
found him a serf; you have made him a sovereign. You found him a
dependent menial; you have made him a soldier. I therefore appeal to the
members of this Convention, in the name of the history of the Republican
party, and in behalf of justice and fair-play, to vote down this unjust,
unfair, unwise and unnecessary proposition which has been presented by
the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania."

CHAPTER XXX

ARGUMENT ON PROPOSED CHANGE OF REPRESENTATION IN CONVENTION

In addition to the reasons already given there are many others that
might be urged against the proposed change of representation.

In the first place, the present plan is based upon the sound and stable
principle upon which the Government was organized. Representation in
Congress is not based upon votes or voters, but upon population. The
same is true of the different State Legislatures. All political
parties,--or, at any rate, the principal ones,--have adopted the same
system in the make-up of their State and National Conventions. The
membership of the National Convention being based upon each State's
representation in Congress, the State Conventions, with perhaps a few
exceptions, are based upon the representation in the State Legislatures
from each county, parish, or other civil division. It is the fairest,
safest, best, and most equitable plan that can be devised or adopted.

Under this plan or system, no State, section or locality can gain or
lose representation in any party convention through the application of
extraneous or questionable methods, either by the action of the
government or of a political party. The representation in Congress and
in the different State Legislatures, which is based upon population,
fixes the representation from each State in the different National
Conventions and in many of the State Conventions. Any other plan or
system,--especially that which is based upon the number of votes cast
for the candidates of the party as officially ascertained and
declared,--would have a tendency to work serious injustice to certain
States and sections. In fact, it would have a tendency to sectionalize
the party by which the change is made.

Under the present system, for instanc