Frederic Bancroft and William A. Dunning

“ It naturally brought into the foreground the discussion of men rather than measures, of personalities rather than principles. While most of his associates arrayed themselves in active and eager support of this or that candidate for the nomination, he refrained from announcing any preference, and strove only to insure that the convention should be free from the ignoble methods and influences which usually characterized such assemblies, and that no man should be nominated who did not represent, in antecedents and character, the highest ideals of Republicanism and reform. ”

“ I confess frankly to you that I cannot tell yet what I shall do for my part. I ask you only to believe that whatever I may do will not be dictated by any selfish motives, but by the sincerest regard for you and my best convictions of duty. ”

“ Grant and his faction carry at present everything before them by force majeure. The organization of the Republican party is almost entirely in the hands of the office-holders and ruled by selfish interest. In all you say about Grant, you are unquestionably right. You ask me, what can be done to avert the calamity of another four years of such rule? I answer, we must act with energy. I am fully determined not to sit still. I doubt now whether we can prevent his nomination. The men who surround him stop at nothing. But I shall not support him. Neither shall I support the Democrats. ”

“ The Liberals assembled at Cincinnati May 1st. Schurz was acknowledged to be, as Horace White wrote at the time to Trumbull, “the leader and master mind of this great movement.” As was inevitable, however, men and interests that were alien to the aims and ideals of its leader had become involved in the movement, and these disturbing elements made themselves conspicuous from the outset. Against the spirit of intrigue and petty jealousy which they manifested, Schurz entered an eloquent protest. ”

“ That a candidate should actually be named at Cincinnati was considered by some influential Liberals, notably Trumbull, as neither necessary nor desirable. All that they aimed at was so imposing a demonstration of reform sentiment among Republicans as to convince the administration faction that the renomination of Grant would mean the loss of the election. In the background, however, always lay the possibility of action according to the Missouri precedent of 1870—a nomination that should be endorsed by the Democrats in case the heart of the Grant faction should be hardened beyond relenting. ”

“ Now, I am working for substantial results, and I see many cheering signs of the times. The great evil we have to overcome is that party spirit which turns everything to selfish advantage and has created a sort of terrorism to which but too many submit. ”

“ You ought to be the great leader of this movement which will create the party of the future. It is the only manner in which the equal rights of all can be permanently secured in the South. All your Ku Klux and enforcement-laws avail nothing, if we do not find the means to control public opinion, and this is the way to do it. ...
“I know that in the efforts I am now making, I have the hearty sympathy of large masses of people, not only Democrats by any means, but Republicans who are not corrupted by the patronage or frightened by official terrorism. ”

“ On May 9th, a leader opened with these words: “There is nothing more agreeable than to find reason to believe that our estimate of a public man has been less favorable to him than his merits deserve; with regard to the Cincinnati convention especially we must make this revision of our judgment in reference to Senator Schurz. ”

“ Here in the West you can observe clearly how this movement is disintegrating the Democratic party. Our action in this State last fall has disorganized that party altogether. The late rebels are doing admirably well. They pronounce themselves without reserve for the new order of things; the old Democratic leaders can do so little with them that they despair of their own party. ”

“ That element which was least inspired with the great and noble tendencies of this movement stands before the people as its controlling power, and that element cannot conduct a campaign like this successfully.” The letter contained reiterated expressions of undiminished confidence in Greeley's personal uprightness: “I am very far from suspecting you of having been a party to this arrangement. I believe in you as a pure and honest man.” In conclusion Schurz wrote that he was not clear “whether it is best to go on in the direction we have taken or to begin again at the beginning. ”

“ That the Democrats should have exacted so heavy a price for their alliance with the Liberals confirmed in Schurz his despair of progress through the old party. His hope was that the organization would disintegrate and that the liberal men of it would individually join the party of reform.
By the middle of April it had become clear to the well-informed that the Grant Republicans, though seriously disturbed by the Cincinnati movement, were resolved to persist in their purpose of a renomination. The adhesions to the Liberal cause had been formidable in numbers and importance ”

“ This was far from the method of uncompromising devotion to principle as Schurz had conceived it; it was an initial concession to the idea of availability, and the fact and manner of Greeley's nomination completed the deviation thus begun. Under date of May 11, 1872, Schurz wrote to Samuel Bowles, the editor of the Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican: “I cannot yet think of the results of the Cincinnati convention without a pang. I have worked for the cause of reform in the largest sense of the word in good faith. ”

“ But I think,—in fact I firmly believe,—in case of Grant's nomination we shall have a third movement on foot strong enough to beat both him and the Democrats. I have commenced already to organize it, and when the time comes, I think it will be ready for action. ...
“A very large number of Southerners, especially young men who have become disgusted with their old leaders, care nothing about the Democratic party; but they detest Grant. They are sincerely willing to uphold the new order of things in every direction, if they are generously treated. ”