Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. III.djvu/159

 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES 125 United States relating to the payment of the pub lic indebtedness, the legal-tender notes included, as constituting a pledge and moral obligation of the government, which must in good faith be kept.&quot; He therefore insisted upon as early as possible a resumption of specie payments, pledging himself to &quot;approve every appropriate measure to accom plish the desired end,&quot; and to &quot;oppose any step backward.&quot; As to the pacification of the south, he pointed out, as the first necessity, &quot;an intelligent and honest administration of the government, which will protect all classes of citizens in all their political and private rights.&quot; He deprecated &quot;a division of political parties resting merely upon distinctions of race, or upon sectional lines,&quot; as always unfortunate and apt to become disastrous. He expressed the hope that, with &quot;a hearty and generous recognition of the rights of all by all,&quot; it would be &quot;practicable to promote, by the in fluence of all legitimate agencies of the general government, the efforts of the people of those states to obtain for themselves the blessings of honest and capable local government.&quot; He also declared his &quot;inflexible purpose,&quot; if elected, not to be a candidate for election to a second term a pledge which he never thought of breaking. The Democrats nominated for the presidency Samuel J. Tilden, who, having, as governor of New York, won the reputation of a reformer, at-