William Alexander Linn, Horace Greeley Founder and Editor of The New York Tribune

[229] Liberal Republicans adopted a resolution in 1871 declaring that no citizen should be deprived of a just share in the Government; demanding the removal of all political disabilities; saying that the organization was unequivocally hostile to any tariff which fosters one industry or interest at the expense of another; and calling for a thorough reform of the civil service. The resolution also declared that “this committee, believing that it has no power to disband or consolidate with any other committee, expresses its willingness to call a State convention of Liberal Republicans to take into consideration measures for the unity of the party.” As an outcome of this action of the committee a call was issued for a State convention of Liberal Republicans, which was held in Jefferson City on January 24, 1872, with a representation from nearly every county. This convention, in turn, issued a call for a national convention, to be held in Cincinnati, on the first Monday in May next, “to take such action as their convictions of duty and public exigencies may require.” The platform adopted declared for universal amnesty and equal suffrage, tariff reform “by the removal of such duties as, in addition to the yielded revenue, increase the price of domestic products ”