Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 4.djvu/255

Rh going out I destroy all the influence and power for good I may possess. I have written you at great length, my dear Mr. Schurz, and with entire frankness and of course in the most absolute confidence. I wished you to know just why I act as I do. I want you to realize that however mistaken I may be I act from a sense of duty and from a conviction that I have a debt of honor which I must pay no matter how disagreeable and distasteful it is. Believe me that I am sincerely grateful for your letter and your kind interest. I shall never forget either and am, most truly yours, &emsp; 



&emsp; I received your kind letter of the 14th this morning, and am sincerely glad you have accepted what I said to you, in the right spirit. Of course I regret that it has had no effect, especially as the reasons you give for the course you have chosen do not seem to me conclusive. Our duty to the country, which we discharge at the ballot-box, is in all respects paramount to any duty we may owe to the party. In my opinion there is nothing that could overrate the former.

I can understand that you do not like the Democratic party. But it seems to me that the effect upon our political morals certain to be produced by the election of a man with a notoriously corrupt record, to the Presidency of the United States, will be infinitely more detrimental to the public welfare than anything a Democratic Administration might bring with it. The latter would in the worst case be temporary, the former lasting. In this respect my convictions are so strong that I should have worked and voted against Blaine under any circumstances, asking only that the opposing candidate be an honest man.

However, you have made your choice, and further