Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 3.djvu/277

Rh and vigorous pledge of a man known to be a man of honor. You can make this your campaign and relieve it of all vulnerable points of the party record. You can accomplish this by reiterating your own position on the financial question, and then by declaring: that the equality of rights without distinction of color according to the Constitutional amendments must be sacredly maintained by all the lawful power of the Government; but that also the Constitutional rights of local self-government must be respected; and that a policy must be followed which will lead this Nation into the second century of its existence, not as a nation divided into conquerors and conquered, but a nation of equal citizens united in common self-respect and patriotism; that dishonest practices in the administration of public affairs shall be prosecuted and punished with impartial and relentless rigor; that the offices of the Government shall cease to be the spoils of party victory; that the civil service shall be made again what the founders of the Government made it and designed it to remain, organized with sole regard to ascertained fitness and honesty, and not as a party agency or a system of rewards, favoritism and patronage; that to the accomplishment of this object you will, if elected, devote the whole energy of your Administration and by all Constitutional means endeavor to secure the permanency of the reform.

Such a declaration, put forth not as a mere customary endorsement of the platform but as an expression of your own views of public necessity, a proclamation of your own resolution and purpose in language bold and ringing, would electrify the country and call to your banner the best elements of the people from far beyond the lines of the party. It would make you stronger than the party, which seems necessary to render success sure. It would supply the manifest need of these times, and make