come simply as a man so hostile to Grant that he tried to make [a] “reform President” out of poor old Greeley and failed miserably.
What I seek is not a sham break-up of parties, such as the Greeley movement promises, but a real break-up, involving something more than the construction of a new party machine out of the pieces of the old ones. But I see no hope of this from electing Greeley. Bowles, White and the rest are to me preaching the very doctrines now, against which we have been all thundering for three years. They are accepting blindly a grossly unfit candidate at the hands of a bellowing Convention and are going to support him solely because he is “available”; not because they have the smallest reason to expect from him any support of their principles, but because he promises a change of officers, and they are denouncing as silly and dishonest all those who, having supported the Cincinnati Convention for better things, now refuse to “fall into line,” as they call it. If this be not the old “party tyranny,” pray what is it?
I shall look for your speech with great interest and trust it may not appear till I get back from my holidays. I am going off yachting for three weeks, heartsick of politics.
Be assured of my continued esteem and my earnest good wishes. I am so persuaded of the possibilities of every kind that is good, which are open to you, that I am intensely anxious you should make no mistake. This must be my excuse for the freedom with which I am writing. Keep yourself for the great party of the future, if you can, and believe me
THE ADDRESS OF THE LIBERAL REPUBLICANS[1]
The Administration now in power has rendered itself guilty of a wanton disregard of the laws of the land and
- ↑ This served as introduction to the first Liberal-Republican campaign document, issued probably in June, 1872. That it was written by Schurz is proved by the rough draft in pencil in the Schurz MSS.
