The Arkansas advocate., 1836-07-08

dency, finding warm response in the hearts of thousands of his countrymen, the minions { of power commenced furious war upon him The people have seen. with disgust this cru sade against an old and venerable man--and they rightly view 1t as q direct attack upon themselves. What! has 1t come to this, that no man can be spoken of by the people as their choice for high station, but he is i'm nediately to be assaiied by every epithet of reproach and vilifcation! Are we slaves, that WI dare not rebel against the dctaton of those who would fain be the masters of the people!
 The only objection against Judge White. upon which any stress IS laid, IS that he voted 1 for the Land Bill--a bill which proposes to divide ii she surplus revenue among the several States, in proportion to their population. Ot the propricty of this bill we entertain no doubt. The public debt is paid--and there l remains in the National Treasury a large surplus, which belongs to the people-and can therefore certainly be returned to the ] people. Placed as it now is, in the Opposite Banks, 1t is beneficial only to the speculator, and gives him power to oppFess the poor set tier. It Is therefore to the interest of the poor man that this money should be disposed of, in order to take away this power. The share of Arkansas would be about Sl50,G ,Go0 which Is certainly better thanpnothing. But whether this course be proper as not, It is very certain that General Jackson recom- mended 1t in lS29-and that Mir. Riyes and the present Secretary of the Navy have at different times advocated the passage of bills for the same purpose, before the national debt was paid. If Judge White errs in this mat ter, 1t is in good company.
 We have already extended this address to greater length than we intended. The subject has seemed to increase in importance, and we have found it impossible to do 1t jus tice in a shorter space. It now remains for us only to beg of the people of this State, of whom we are Q part, and who have each as much interest as we iii this matter, they will consider carefully and well, and weigh calmly and deliberately the reasons and the facts which we have presentation their serl- ous and deliberate consideration.
 If our glorious Constitution is of any value if we have any reverence for the memory, any respect for the opinions of the sages who sanctioned that great instrument-any desire for our own well being-any wish to leave to our children the same glorious legacy which our fathers left to us-if we wish to go down to our graves undeied by the touch or taint of slavery-it becomes us to be up and doing in this great battle for constitutional freedom. l It is proper that in the selection of men for every office wherein they may be instrument al in moulding the future destinies of this State, we should lay aside all personal pre- ference, partality and predilection-and look only to principle. Every man who fails to ] do so at the present crisis, Is not true to his country. The political horizon is already darkened with the clouds of approaching danger-and the omens of storm are rife in the atmosphere. We have full confidence in the integrity, the honesty and the virtue of 1 the common people-and we do verily be- i leve that they need only to be shown what is right and just, and what is proper for the security of their liberties, and they will pur- sue that course. But 1t IS likewise true that artful and designing men may keep the truth I from their eyes, and work in secret and at midnight for the overthrow of their liberties. We may hold our dearest rights with too loose a grasp--we may suffer them to escape from us unaware, and before we know that they are in danger. We may be cheated with the form of freedom, when we have lost the substance.
 We do therefore urge upon the people of this State to look we'll to the course they will adopt. The organization of their enemies is complete-all their engines of misrepresen- tation and falsehood are at work-and unless the people act in concert, and with deter imitation to succeed, the vote of Arkansas may be given to man who is not her choice. On whichever side, throughout the United States the balance may turn--whether we be ! found in a majority or a minority-let us be true to our princi ples-true to the sacred cause of human liberty! Let Arkansas, at least, show her contempt for the dictation of power and the orders of Convention and Can cus-and be found fighting i'll the front rank for the peoples rights, free suffrage and con- stitutional freedom
 X. PIKE, Chairman,
 JAMES B. KEATTS,
 c. ?. BERTRAND,
 ". TUCKER,
 J. H. REED,
 HENRY F. SHAW,
 T. w. GRAY,
 W. c. C.H0WELL, !. H. COOKIE,
 5. D. BLACKBURN,
 F. A. MORE,
 HARDY JONES, N. PEAY, President,
 J. A. MAUPIN, Secretary. To the Frccmen of' the Statc of .arkansas. FELLOW CITIZENS:
 Among the many beneficial results in- cidentto your change from Territorial to an independent State government, is the hieh privilege of electino Vour own