Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1843-12-19

We have done with the subject.
DEMOCRATIC MEETING IN CHARLOTTESVILLE.
the Democratic Republicans OF Ai5emarle, assem-
bled pursuant I, adjournment, on MONDAY, te 1ta
instant. that being Court day, when, on m'toh u
She on F. Lake, Esq, Major Richard Pollard was
chosen Chairman oil the meetnS' Sah' A"f'
appointed Secretary. oha,
The Committee, which was appointed at November
co,,, repotted through Col. Thomas J. Randolph,
their Chairman, The following frea'nee and neA0
lions. in discharge Of the duty assigned them:
The period Off new election OF a President oil inc
ni,ed States rapidly approaching, and the tune nav
,nu actually arrived when the Democfauc hepuoieu"
na1Itv of The Union owe it to the cause OF truth 10 'he
pa ut and IN themselves, to prepare for a vigorous
and united effort in The coming contest-wE, d Poi
ton of The Republicans Of Albemarle, IN meeting as
sembled, deem it proper to reiletale w ptih''pI'
action by which we shall be governed IN mat contest
II is no part of our object 10 participate - tne suoeSs
as IN the manner of constituting the Democratic va
,,onaI Convention, and The proper person TO be nonii-
mated as the Democratic candidate Tor Tue rres aehcy'
We will not descend from the broad ana elevated piat.
form of principle, upon which we nave Planeu ~;
selyes-of principle, too, which, as we most Consul
sntiouslv bel eve, nearly concerns the great interests,
and the permanent prosperity OF the counuy-!o 'aAs
part in a suicidal wIangle with our own iiienus anu
brethren. We regard 1t as comparatively oil but i.''s
importance what man shall be PRESIDENT Oh Inc uh'isu
States 40 that our principles triumph, and be carried
i,,o the administration of the Government. This IS
the great object which we seek 10 attain-the para
mount end for which we struggle. we leave "
our adeersaries 10 pursue the opposite course. tAey
NAV rally around ONE MAN, form themselves INV
s,Ciuhs" 10 further his interests and advance has for
tune. and stake the success of their cause and the gerry
existence Of their party upon has elevation u me ! re-
sidency. They may, as some have ooht' merge 'nen
love of principle in their devotion 10 the man. anu
forgetting the country and its cause, sink their oppc-
s;i,on 10 what they themselves have heretofore consi-
dered The unwarran,able encroachments OF the fedefai
Government upon the reserved rights OF the States, IN
their blind zeal for the success of Henry Clay
Ours. is a higher, a nobler end: We sink all prefer
ences for men, in our devotion TO Inc cause; W seeA
the ee vation of certain principles 10 the Presidency;
and while our adversaries twit US because I'm the IAN
guage OF one OF their organs) We 'have no man around
whom 10 rally yet we are proud that IL IS So ana "neh
asked for our candidate, point 10 our principles. Inc
recent elections abundantly evince The wisdom OF tnis
course. Every where the contest has been cetween
| Democratic PRINCIPLES on the one side, and Henry clay
on the other: and almost every where The people nave
preferred principles 10 men. For these, among otnei
reasons, we repeat our determination TO abstain from
any participation, for the present at least, IN the DISCUS
sion in which some ill-advsed Democrats are engaged,
in relation to the selection of a proper candidate ior
the Presidency. When the proper time arrives, after
we have secured the fruits OF our many recent victories
over the Federalists, We shall take some part IN the
settlement of minor questions. But let US defeat ouF
adyersaries first, and settle any differences among our
selves Gf dlfferences we must have) Afterwards.
In declaring The principles by Which our course IN
the coming contest for the Presidency shall be regu-
lated, and which we believ to be the principles OF Inc
great Democratic Republican party OF the Union, II
might be sufficient to say, that we are, as we have ever
been. in favor of a strict and literal construction oil The
Federal Constitution and for confining the Federal
Government ripidly within the limits prescribed TO II
by that instrument. Upon this "abstraction we Pian'
ourselves. as it embcdies the whole OF our creed.
By not adhering 10 This cardinal maxim, most, II ro'
oil, the innovations, os well upon the Constitution o.
the Union, as upon the reserved rights Of the Stats
have crept into the administration OF The Federal 70
yernment. The Alien ard Sed'tion laws; the Bank Of
the United States; the Protective Tariff; TIE Drstribu'
ton of the proceeds Of the public lands; the Bankrupt
Nv; and Last, though not least, the recent Appor!ion
ment Bill, Justly called the "mandamus Act, all owe
their origin to repeated violations of this prime article
of the Republican creed. Each and all Of them are
alike violalive of The letter and spirit OF the Const'tu
ton, and destructive of the true character OF our Fe'
deral Union. Each and all of Them have a direct ten
dency, if they are not designed, to strip the states OF
their Just rights, and thus draw all practical power inle
the vortex OF Federal usurpatIon; and 10 each ana al
Of them the Republican party are now, as they eve
have been, irreconcilably opposed.
The first of this series Of Federal usurpations, thanks
to tho indomitabl0 spirit Of our Republican fathsr0' ~a'
straneled in its infancy. The others are practical CUES
tons and must largely enter into the approaching pre-
sidentral election.
The Bank of the United States, after the repeated De
E monstrations of the popular will against 1t, and particu
larly since its recent emphatic and overwhelming con
demna,ion by the election of nearly three -iourlns o
| the new Congress opposed to it, ought, in justice '
the peace and quiet, if not to the best interests OF th'
> country, TO be regarded as n settled question lhs
people, whenever the public mind has been brought u
: bear directly upon the question, have uniformly rejected
it. Still, the Federal party, well aware that unles
they are backed and sustained by the concentrated mo
ney power, their cause is ho peless, tenaciously adher
; to it, and continue to press 1t upon US. 10 such al
institution we are opposed, because, win tie hepuon
cans of 90, we believe il 10 be utterly at war with bot
the letter and spirit Of the Constitution. We believe
also, that it is as inexpedient as IL IS unconstitutional
r The present condition OF the country is a complete re
fotation of the specious reasoning OF the FederalIsts II
! favor of a Bank. The tone Of the money market wa
never more healthy, the exchanges were never so we
: regulated, as at this juncture; and ii now demonstrate
that such machinery is neither Unnecessary nor "Pro
{ per- to secure these objects.
: To a Tariff for Protection, we are equally opposed
a We can find 10 warrant in the Constitution Tor taxln!
e one, and much The llrger part of the people, for tn
benefit Of the other; or, for laying one section OF tn
Union under heavy contributions, 10 feed and pampe
$ the capitalists Of another. According TO our readtn,
e Of that instrument, the taxing power of the Fedora
Government is confined rigidly and exclusively t
raising money to meet the necessary and economical
expenses of that Government. We can no where I'm
: it laid down, that Congress may tax the farming an
e planting interests to 'raise money" to distribute in tn
shape of bounties 10 the manufacturers. sit is not s
+ written in the bond" To a Protective Tariff, unde
d the new name which its advocates have have given i,
we are still more opposed; bccanse-
i BY smuggling in, "Prolection' under the guise o
IS "Revenue, p" 1t attempts, BY false pret'nccs, TO cheat u
into acquiescence in this scheme for robbing US:
j. Because, by coupling Protection with Revenue, !
makes the amount of the former depend upon tn
amount of The litter, and thereby stimulates 10 vast
e and extravaganza in the public expenditures:
y Because, while it pretends to be a sTariff for Reve
nue., with incidental Protection" it is, in fact, a TART
for Protection, with incidental Revenue
e Because, when stripped Of its disguise, and touched
by the Ithuriel spear of Truth, it stands in all The ma
ked ,d~eiormiiy of a "Protective Tariff" with all III.
q incidents and attributes of such a Tarff-and
: Because by submitting to a Tariff having "Protec
/ ton for its object, no matter how modified, whethe
+ "inciden,al" or primary, discriminating or direct
j. we surrender the principle and admit the abstrac
+ right of the Federal Government to tax us for this OBJ
ject alone.
We are opposed TO q distribution Of the proceeds o
: the sales Of the public lands:
S Because, such a measure is, in our opinion, who'll
e unwarranted by the Constitution; and even if it wer
n constitutional,
d because, it tends to consolidation by creating a sor