E375 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 0DDD5D7TE0a ^ - ^' ' " .. *o K'. '-n.. 0^ o , • > ^^. cV^ - -> !OV. -y * '^ \ %*^''*/ V'^\/ %*^'-*/ o I X -. ^ "^^.r. .0 -^ AN TO THE PEOPLE OF OHIO, ON THE IMPORTANT SUBJECT OP THE JVEXT PRESIDENCY: BY " THE COMMITTEE JiPPOIJSrTED FOR THAT PURPOSE, AT A COXYEXTIOX 0¥ l>ElLEaATT?lS FROM THE DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF THE STATE, \ ASSEMBLED AT COLUMBUS, ON Wednesday, t\\e l^tVi day ol 3\iVy, 182.4?. CINCINNATI: L»oker & Reynoldf^ Printers. % THE PEO PLE^ TICKETr^"^ FOR PRESIDENT, ^.NDREW JACKSON: Recommended to the People of tlie United States, by bis i)Lue Democratic Principles. Stern Integrity, Long Experience, Eminent Talents, and Transcendent Services to his Country. "Jackson, all hail I onr country's pride and boast. "Whose mind's a council, and whose arm's a host! Remembrance lon^ shall keep alive thy fame, And future ages venerate thy name." " Freemen, cheer the Hickory Tree, — In storms its boughs have sheltered thee; O'er Freedom's Land its branches wave, ''J was planted on the Lion's Grave." FOR VICE PRESIDENT, JOH^ C. CALH OLW. OHIO SAC^K^OX eO^CYEXTlOX. At a convention of Delegates from different sections of the state, held at Columbus, pursnant to public notice, on Wednesday the I4th of July, 1824, for the purpose of formiuiT a full ticket of Electors of President and Vice-President, for the state of Ohio, who would vote for General AN- DREW JACKSON as President, and John C. Calhoun as Vice-Presi- dent of the United States, — Thomas Rigdcii, of Knox county, was ap- pointed Chairman, and H. H. Leavitt^ of Jefferson county, was chosen Secretary ; when it was unanimously agreed to support the following ELECTOItiL TICKET: ROBERT l.VCAS.ofPikecowUi/; JOSEPH BARKER, Washington; BENJAMLN JONES, Wayne; JOHN M'ELVAIN, Frankhn; WILLIAM PIATT, Hamilton; GEORGE TROUT, Perry; JOSEPH HOUGH, Bulltr; GEORGE SHARP, Belmont; JOHN DEVOR, Dark;* JOHN PATTERSON, Jefferson; THOMAS GILLESPIE, Green; GEORGE M'COOK, Columbiana; ROBERT MORRISON, ^rfaw5; WILLIAM RAYEN, Trumbull; VALENTINE KEFFER, Piekaway; HUGH M'FALL, Richland. Resolved., That Elijah Hayward, of Cincinnati, and Joseph M. Hays and Caleb Atvvater, of CirclevJllc,be a Committee of Correspondence, and that they liavc power to fill any vacancies which may occur in the foregoing ticket. _ Resolved, That said Committee be requested to projiarc and publish an address to the people of Ohio, on the approaehing Presidential Election. THOMAS RIG DON, Chairman. H. IL Leavitt, Secretary. 'Philip Gunckle, Esq. of Montgomery county, was nominated by the Convention, but having declined serving, the Committee have su)ij)lied his place by John Ukvor, a soldier of 70', an undeviatiug Rcpublican> and a zealous advocatg and supporter of Gcueral JACKSON. TO TlllE TEOTliE, 0¥ ORIO Fellow-Citizens, — . It was not from any peculiar attachment to his person, nor from any interested views (o his individual benefit and advantage, that a numerous and respectable portion of the American People have brought forward, as a candidate for the next Presidency, General ANDREW JACKSON; but it has been from a full and solemn conviction that his great talents, stern political integrity, unfeigned republicanism, and long and faithful services in both civil and military capacities, pre-eminently qualify him, above all others, for that high and responsible station. Born for his country, and from his infancy devoted to its liberty and inde- pendence, he was early distinguished for ardent and unshaken patriotism, for a strong and vigorous intellect, and for thoee powers of mind and active virtues, which have subsequently contributed so essentially, to sustain the honour and promote the prosperity of the nation. Even in youth, he was not unknown to fame; for he is almost as old in glory as he is in yeara. When, therefore, the period had arrived, that it became necessary fjr the people of the United States to select from among themselves, the man most worthy to fill the Executive chair of government, as successor to the venerable Monroe, one whose past conduct furnished the strongest assurances of a mind capable of embracing tlie great concerns of the nation; public sentiment, public policy, a deep sense of duty, gratitude, honour and patriotism, pointed to JACKSON as possessing the highest claim to the confidence and support of his country. Impressed with these views and sentiments, the citizens of Penn- «ylvania, alike distinguished for their republican principles and a warm and steady attachment to our federal Union, with an unanimity unprecedented, and a magnanimity pure as it was liberal, announced to their fellow citizens of other states, a de- cided preference for the Hero of New-Orleans. The nomination 4 of General JaclcRon, at the Harri?biirs:h Convention, was imme- diately followed by similar expressions of public opinion, in various parts of the United States, emanating from the primary assemblies of the people, until it became manifest to every im- partial observer, that whatever might.be the result of the present contest for the Presidency, General Jackson was the prominent and most popular candidate. It is not unknown to you, that a year ago last winter, an attempt was made by certain members of our State Legislature, to pre- possess your minds on the subject of the next Presidency, and, through the influence of their official stations, aided by the im- posing character of a Legislative cavcus, secure the votes of Ohio to Mr. Clay. The dangerous consequences which flow from Legislative interference with popular elections, in producing an undue bias U|»on the public mind and in affording facilities to intrigue and corruv tion, has rendered that mode of nomination to public office, peculiarly objectionable. In addition to its evil tendency, in producing faction, discord and domestic divisions, it is predicated on principles totally inconsistent with our repub- lican institutions, and subversive of the rights of the citizen. There is an implied acknowledgment, in every such measure, that the people are not capable of judging for themselves, of ttiatters in which they only are concerned, and are unworthy of the inestimable privileges which have been secured to them by the constitution. That Legislative caucusing .s pernicious in its influence and effects upon the moral character and public reputa- tion of a state abroad, and upon the peace and tranquillity of society at home; we have the most irrefragable proof in the political history of NeW'York, for the last ten years. We have there seen the members of her Geneial Assembly, dictating to the people and directing and controling every important state election, and creating parties and dissensions of the most malig- nant and alarming character, until that great and powerful state has lost its weight and influence in the Union, and become a prey to the worst species of despotism. Legislative usurpation. Shall it be said, that Ohio has also become the sport of intriguing demagogues, and like New-York, subject to the wickedness and distraction of an organized system of oflice brokerage, and aristo- cratic domination? The power to prevent it is in your hands; and it is not doubted, you possesii the will and the energy neces- sary to preserve the state from so humble and degrading a con- dition. 5 It was wisely provided, by the framera of the National com- pact, that to preserve the sdoam of Legislation pure and uncon- taminated,and fo guard against corruption and the intrigues which naturally grow out of Cabinet iiilluence and patronage, no Sena- tor or llepresentative should be an Elector of President and Vice President. This express inhibition to the interference of the members of Congress, in the election of our chief Executive magistrate, except in the case provided for in the constitution, cannot be misunderstood without design, nor violated without usurpation. "The constitution of our country, like the Book of the Law and the Testimony of the Hebrews, is in language so plain as to rest on a level with every capacity. Place it in the hands of a man of common and ordinary intelligence and under- standing, and although he may not be able to give the various constructions of particular words, or the difl'erence which would arise with the alteration of a comma here, and a colon there, yet he would present you with its plain and obvious meaning.''' He would tell you, that the constitution was formed by those who had long been coi tending against tyranny and oppression; that the object was to establish a government p?«-e/?/ Republican^ and to make the election of President dependent on the voice of the people; and that the members of Congress could not laufuUy take any part in -such election, until it was ascertained that no choice had been made by the Colleges of Electors. — And yet, in direct hostility to this principle, and in open defiance of the pub- lic sentiment, a minority of the members of Congress, less than one fourth of the whole number, on the 14th day of February last, went into CAUCUS, and nominated William H. Crawford, the Secretary of the Treasury, for President, and Albert Gallatin, ihe. former Secretary of the Treasury, {ov Vice President; — and this daring attempt to direct and control the most important elec- tion in any country, and under any government, has been urged upon your consideration as republican, as a Regular nomination, by its principal managers and the partisans of the Treasury can- didates! The lame and impotent argument, founded on the assertion that the members of Congress, in making these nomi- nations, acted in their private capacity and not as members of Congress, can only be considered as a pitiful quibble; for it is from their official character, and from that aione, they claim influence and authority for their proceedings. This is not idle declama- tion; it is fact, and has become incorporated with the events of the age, into the political history of the country. 6 V Whenever the national Legislature overlenp the barriers of the conslitutioo and interfere with the elections of the people, it becomes a corrupt and arrogant Aristocracy, dictatorial and arbitrary, restrained by no law and governed by no rule, consistent with the rights of man, or warranted by the principles of our government. That spirit of faction which is directed to private objects and personal aggrandizement, exclusive of the public good, swept from the old world the Republics of former times, polluted the temple of Liberty, and introduced the evils and eurses of that appalling despotism which now pervades the eas- tern continent, and enslaves the people. If a general system of Legislative dictation, as that adopted by the advocates of Mr. Crawford, is sufl'cred to prevail and control the public voice, and influence the exercise of our most important rights, such, too, u ill be the fate of .America. But if we regard our highest inter- ests, if we venerate that inheritance of freedom which has descended to us from the fathers of the Revolution, and would preserve it unj)olluted for our children and for posterity, we must resist every attempt to corrupt the purity of our elections. We must promptly resist every measure which is calculated to in- crease the power and influence of the Legislature, at the expense of the constitutional rights and sovereignty of the people, in this there can be no middle neutral ground. The advocates and supporters of Congressional and Legislative caucusing, are with- out excuse. Their conduct is at war with the fundamental prin- ciples of all our governments, and hostile to those republican maxims by which our whole political system is sustained.-' It is for the citizens of Ohio to determine, whether they will pas- sively submit to the dictation of a power, essentially aristocratic and concentrated, a power which disregards right, and formed to promote the objects of private ambition and personal aggran- dizement; or, by a firm and vigorous eflbrt, throw ofl' the de- grading imputation, stand forth in all the glorious attributes of freemen, prostrate the enemies of the right of s'lffrage, and honourably contribute to preserve the Democracy of the nation. There are now before the public, four candidates for the Presidency; — Mr. Crawford, Mr. Adams, Mr. Clay, and General Jackson. In addition to the consideration of their respective merits, their ability and (itncss for so exalted a station, and the means which have been employed to promote their election, it rs highly proper and important, at this time, to enquire into the propriety and expediency of selecting the first olUcer of the 7 Republic from the principal Secietaries of the government. The great power and immense patronage which is absolutely vested in, or indirectly exercised by, the heads of the State and Treasury Departments, atford opportunities for intrigue and electioneering, no where else to be found in the nation, at all times sufficient to create the most powerful parties, and distract and paralyse the operations of government. It is from the exercise of this power and patronage, in the hands of Mr. Craw- ford and Mr. Adams, while the ambition of each has been directed to the Presidential chair, we musit impute that bitter animosity and vindictive temper, which prompts and inspires their respective partizans, in their conduct towards each other. Already these parties have assumed the attitude and character of factions, as hostile and malignant as any that has ever existed in the country, since the adoption of the Federal constitution. And it is now too apparent to the whole Union, any longer to be concealed or disguised, (hat if either of these gentlemen should succeed to the Presidency, the nation would be literally distracted with two contending parties, losing sight of the interests of the people, in a virulent nnd selfish contest for power. How impor- tant then it is, that we bestow our suffrages ou some other indi- vidual; one who is alike distinguished for his talents, his firmness and experience, and standing aloof from the intrigues and cabals of the day, will administer the government as his judgment and prudence shall dictate; and being pledged to none, will call into the public service the most intelligent and virtuous part of the com- munity! Whatever, therefore, may be the separate merits and qualifications of these cabinet candidates, ii is submitted to your serious and deliberate consideration, Avhether, under the jjeculiar circumstances in which Mr. Crawford and Mr. Adams are now supported for the Presidency, and the relation in which they have long stood to the government and to each other, it is not your imperious duty, as «he sacred and respo'^sible guardians of the public freedom, to bestow your votes on a man who has no attach- ments but those for his counUy, and has been concerned in do intrigues, but those to defeat its enemies. The efforts which have been made and are yet making, to place Mr. Clay at the head of the government, has unfortunately produced a division among those who entertain the same senti- ments, as to a national policy, and who advocate the same system of measures. This division has become a sul)ject of very general regret, and ought no longer to continue, as the supporters of Mr. 8 Clay have publicly announced they do not calculate on his elec tion, except through the dangerous medium of the House of Representatives; — and since the late refusal of the Legislature of New-York, to give the choice of electors of that state to the people, no reasonable expectation can be entertained, that he will receive sufficient support (in the event of no choice by the colleges of electors) to be one of the three highest candidates. There is another and equally powerful reason to regret the exertions which are making in his support, and which we think must have considerable weight with every candid and reflecting mind. Mr, Clay is much younger than either of his competitors, and eight years hence, will be younger than the present or any former President, when first entering on the duties of that office. He is not so old as General Jackson by eight or nine years, and belonging to the same section of the Union, it would be invidious to suppose, he is very solicitous to supplant that soldier of the Revolution, and the Hero and devoted Patriot of trco Wars, in the honors or the aflections of his country. But whatever may have been the motives of his advocates, in tirst bringing him forward as a candidate, and whatever may now be their policy in continuing to urge his claims and pretensions upon the public, we do not, at this time, perceive any benefit which can possibly result to himself or his friends, by any further exertions in his favor. U has ever been the policy, as it has been the settled practice of the American people, to select the Chief Magistrate of the Republic, from the venerable sages of tue nation; and in making the selection, to prefer that man, whose age, long experience, and great public services, give a commanding dignity to office, and are calculated to insure the respect of foreign powers. This policy is founded in the soundest maxims of polit- ical expediency, and as its practical operation has largely con- tributed to raise the nation to a high rank in the contemplation of the world, it can no longer be doubted, that it comports with the genius and stability of our government. A departure from it, therefore, at this time, when sectional prejudices and local interests, with the passions and partialities of man, have been marshalled and brought forth in hostile array, to promote the objects of personal ambition, would be certainly presumptuous, if not' hazardoift in the extreme. But we cannot doubt, that the good sense of the people will prevail, and that the intelli- geucc and patriotism of the country will triumph over evoy innovation upon the settled usages of the republip, and preserve the constitution. 9 To General Jackson none of these objections will af)ply. Full of years and of glory, "by a life devoted to honourable pui"suits," he is not only older than any of his competitors, but he IS THE LAST OF THAT VENERABLE BAND OF REVOLUTIONARY Patriots, who can or ever will be offered to the nation, as a candidate for the highest office in her gift. Standing exclusively upon his own merits and upon the affections and gratitude of his country, for whose liberty he h-.v^ fought and bled, and for whose security and independence he has conquered; no Congressional Caucus has been held to sustain and give character to his cause; — no Cabinet influence and patronage has been employed to pro- mote his election. But, unaided by any such or other improper means, and opposed by an organised corps of Leading men and intriguing politicians, in almost every state of the Union, he is emphatically the CANDIDATE OF THE PEOPLE; to whom alone he looks for support, and from whom alone do his friends expect success, and anticipate his elevation to the head of the government. General Andrew Jackson* was born at Waxsaw, in the state of South Carolina, on the 15th of March, 1767, two years after his parents with a young family, consisting of two sons, emigrated to that place from Ireland. While an infant, he had the misfor- tune to lose his father, who died at the close of the year 1767, when he and his elder brothers were left to the slender protec- tion and tender solicitude of their mother. Notwithstanding the very limited resources of the family, his anxious parent struggled with her circumstances, and contrived to keep her youngest son at an academical institution, in which the learned languages and the higher branches of education were taught, until he was fourteen years of age. At this period, the Vandal progress of the British arms, in the revolutionary war, had penetrated to that section of country, and the youthful Jackson, fired with the spirit of the times and the wrongs of a bleeding country, left his school, and with his surviving brother, enrolled himself in the army of the republic and became one of its active and suffering defenders. Previous to this, his eldest brother had joined the American Standard, and lost his life at the battle of Stono. Soon, however, the superior power of the British forces overrun and subjugated that portion of the state, and the two young Jackson's *This brief sketch of the life of Gen. Jackson, has been principally digested from Mr. Waldo's memoirs of that officer. B 10 were made prisoners of war. His brother died of the woand* he had received from a haughty and tyrannical British officer, after they had been made prisoners; and his mother, disconso- late and broken hearted at the accumulated misfortunes of her family, soon followed her two eldest sons, and sunk into the grave. Thus was Andrew Jackson, now the pride of the nation and the terror of its enemies, at the age of fifteen years, left alone in the world, with no human being in his native country of whom he could claim atTinity or relationship. With a constitution greatly impaired with the toils and fatigue of a camp, and the sufferings of a cruel imprisonment, as if to make the cup of his calamity overflow, he was violently seized with the small pox, and narrowly escaped that grave to which all his family had been consigned. At the age of sixteen, when the Revolutionary struggle was over and the independence of the country secured, he returned to his literary studies, and continued at the schools until he had completed that education which qnalitied him for those noble and patriotic pursuits, so fruitful of glory to his country and of fame and honour to himself. Having studied the profession of the law, in the year 1788 he emigrated to the state of Tennessee, then under the particular government of the United States, and called the south west Territory. In this Territor) he was early app> inted Attorney General, which office he held for many years with great reputation to himself, and with advantage to the impartial administration of justice. When that state was admitted into the American Union, in 179G, An- drew Jackson, who had been a leading member of the Convention which formed its constitution, was appointed Major General of all the militia of the state, and by its citizens elected their first member of Congress. In 1797, his constituents, sensible of his superior qualifications as a legislator, raised him to the higher and more responsible station of Senator in Congress. At this period, the two great political parties of the republic were in array against each other, and being a zealous republican and of course in the minority, he could not brook the idea of being com- pelled to encounter the plots of political intrigue, and the domi- nation of an arrogant majority; and in 1799, resigned his seat in the Senate and returned to the rank of a private citizen. Scarcely, however, had he reached Tennessee, when he was called upon to perform the duties of one of the most important offices under the state government, that of Judge of the Supreme Court, to which 11 he had been appointed without his knowledge and contrary to his wishes and inclination. This office he also resigned, after discharging the duties of it for a short period, and retired to his estate on the banks of the Cumberland, where for many years he enjoyed in the bosotn of his family, (hat domestic felicity, and social happiness, which is always produced by an attachment for private worth, mingled with respect for dignity of character. Thus have we seen him, at the age of twenty two, Attorney General of a District; — at twenty nine, a member of the Conven- tion which formed the constitution of an independent st^.te; at the same age, Major General of all the Militia of Tennessee, and a Representative in Congress; — at thirty, a Senator in Congress; and at thirty two, a Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, The history of our country presents but few instances, if any, of an individual who has, so early in life, been called to till so many important oflices, and in such rapid succession. But those who knew him intimately were best qualitied to form a just estimate of his talents, and those high attributes of mind, which have given him distinction in whatever station and under what- ever circumstances he has been placeil. But however honorable and successful has been his career in civil life, it is almost forgotten by his countrymen, in the con- templation of his brilliant military achievments. The mind of Jackson, and that energy of character and promptness of decision which has supported him and sustained the cause of his country, in situations of peculiar difficulty and danger, seem to have been formed for the public service, and to have been singularly adapted, to the strong necessities of the nation. On the breaking out of the late war between the United States and Great Britain, in 1812, being still Major General of the Tennessee iMilitia, he was called by the dictates of duty and of patriotism, to defend in the field, those great national interests, he had long and ably advocated in the Cabinet. From this period, he has constantly engrossed the attention of the whole nation, as one of the most distiaguished and illustrious of her sons. — From this time, his deeds of patriotism and of glory have become subjects of public history, and will descend with those of Washington, as the brightest in the annals of freemen, to the latest posterity. Who, then, can contemplate the life of Andrew Jackson, and the services he has rendered to his country, without feeling the deepest interest in his welfare, and the most profound respect and veneration for his fame and IS character? Born in comparative ob Correspondence for CALEB AT WATER, \ the State of Ohio September 13, 1824 39 W -ftp *!i;i:* '^ V .'•<>, ^cv .0^ ^ * •i^ * A^'\^^^^:\ c°^.^>o /w^-.\ < ^^0^ '/ .^*^°- anlv B?^»ftiil5aWS3ffl