led upon the treasury, the power of the
general government would be crippled, and the honors won by our
people in subduing rebellion would be a subject of reproach rather
than of pride. The only safeguard from these evils is the election
of a Republican President, and the adoption of a liberal Republican
policy which should be fair and even generous in the south, but
firm in the maintenance of all the rights won by the war. Our
election in Ohio last fall shows that even under the most adverse
circumstances we can win on this basis.

"Every movement made by this Democratic House of Representatives
is an appeal to every man who ever voted with the Republican party
to rally to its support again, and to every man who fought in the
Union army to vote with us to preserve the results of his victory.

"All we need is such a presidential ticket as will give assurance
that we mean to stand by our principles, and that will administer
the government honestly and economically.

"As to candidates, the drift of public opinion is rapidly reducing
the list and has already settled adversely the chances of many of
them. Above all, it has positively closed the question of a third
term. The conviction that it is not safe to continue in one man
for too long a period the vast powers of a President, is based upon
the strongest reasons, and this conviction is supported by so many
precedents set by the voluntary retirement at the end of a second
term of so many Presidents that it would be criminal folly to
disregard it. I do not believe General Grant ever seriously
entertained the thought of a third term, but even if he did, the
established usage against it would make his nomination an act of
suicide.

"It would disrupt our party in every Republican state.

"Happily for us we do not need to look for the contingency of his
nomination.

"Among the candidates now generally named, I have no such preference
that I could not heartily support either of them. They are men of
marked ability, who have rendered important public services, but,
considering all things, I believe the nomination of Governor Hayes
would give us the more strength, taking the whole country at large,
than any other man. He is better known in Ohio than elsewhere,
and is stronger there than elsewhere, but the qualities that have
made him strong in Ohio will, as the canvass progresses, make him
stronger in every state. He was a good soldier, and, though not
greatly di