arl Schurz was selected as temporary chairman, and his
speech reflected the prevalent feeling of all Republicans. He exulted
in the great achievements of the party, now freshly recalled in its
first National Convention since the successful close of the war, and
proclaimed its purpose to finish and perfect the work of reconstructing
the Union on the broad basis of equal rights.

For permanent President of the Convention General Sickles and General
Hawley had both been prominently mentioned and warmly advocated. The
vote between them in the committee on permanent organization was a tie.
But New York bent every thing to the purpose of nominating Governor
Fenton for the Vice-Presidency, and feared that the selection of
General Sickles for the highest honor of the Convention might prejudice
his chances. By the casting vote of Hamilton Harris of Albany, a
special friend of Governor Fenton and a man of marked sagacity in
political affairs, the choice fell upon General Hawley. His speech on
taking the chair was earnest and impressive. He briefly reviewed what
the party had accomplished, in war and in peace, and emphasized the
obligation of crowning these triumphs with the permanent establishment
of equal and exact justice. He was especially forcible in rebuking the
current financial heresies and in insisting that the full demands of
the Nation's honor should be scrupulously observed. "For every dollar
of the national debt," he declared, "the blood of a soldier is
pledged." "Every bond, in letter and in spirit, must be as sacred as
a soldier's grave." As these patriotic maxims were pronounced by
General Hawley, the whole Convention broke forth in prolonged applause.

The platform, reported on the second day, succinctly stated the
Republican policy. It made two principles conspicuous: first, equal
suffrage; and second, the maintenance of the public faith. These were
the pivots on which the political controversy of the year turned. They
embraced the two supreme questions left by the war. The one involved
the restoration of public liberty, in harmony with public safety, in
the lately rebellious States. The other involved the honor of the
Republic in observing its financial obligations. The Reconstruction
policy rested on equal suffrage as its corner-stone, and the Convention
congratulated the country on its established success, as shown by its
acceptance already in a majority of the Southern States, and its
assured