The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-09-04
GO M M UNIC ALTON s.
NT ~ ~ For the Union.
WING PROMISES VS.. WING PERFORM

" WI M " ~ ~ n ~ A. "
For the Union
WING PROMISES VS.. WING PERFORM
ANCES.
liza stranger to the rise and progress OF parties in
the United States should find himself at fault In dis
corning the general characteristics Of the selfsyed
swing" party as coutradis.nguished from the real
wings Of the revolution, one more familiar with
public history could readily deliver the inquirer OF
his dilemma, by saying TO him, that il is remarkable
only for peculiar fecundity Of promise, AMI most
hopeless barrenness Of performance. Like the
great none we'd monster Sf which il has been both
the advocate and excmplar--the parent and pro-
tector--the wing party has uniformly abounded in
the most sacred stipuanons, on paper-every one OF
which il has as invariably. violated and trodden
under foot in practice. BY that superior sagacity
Of the illustrious JACKSON, which enabled him al
most intuitively to divine and defeat the intentions
of his enemies coupled with that unquaing lntre-'
pidty which recognised no fear save that OF omit
ting right and committing wrong, the monster
monopoly hurled from the stool OF dominion II
had wickedly usurped. Now, it has reached such
depth of humiliation, that even its feed nd vocaies
and pensioners find the confession wrung IN reuct-
ance from their lips, that its resuscitaton has be-
come an "obsoete idea,n and is no longer their in
tcnlion. The chief Of the Hamiltonian hereses is,
therefore, abandoned TO worse fate than befe the
serpents strangled by the hand of the strong man
immoralized by the records of heather mythology.
But, notwithstanding this gigantic mandatory of
paperpromises now fills an ignominious grave, the
spirit which animated it in life still survives. BY
some sort of wonder working metempsychosis, the
vitality which formerly existed IN that "whted
sepuchren of affiliated monopolists, seems to have
taken up its abode IN the soul Of whigery, and is
conducting 1t to precisely the results. To
"hold the word of promise to the ear, and break it
to the hope" has become essential to whigdom,
is the air inhale to the preservation Of animal
existence.
In the memorable contest of 1910, the campaign
of "log-cabins" and 'hard-cider," Henry Clay
then already the recognised "embodiment'' of wing
principles, in public speech, delivered in Hanover
county, Virginia, boldly proclaimed from the tri-
pod, that the election Of Gen. Harrison would per
Sc, exercise such powerful influence on The bust
ness rami6cations Of the country, to Immediately
enhance the wealth of the nation to the amount of
some thirty or forty mions.-and this, too, before
single measure of the administration had been
developed! Well, the contamination so devoutly
invoked by the "sage of Ashland" didcome TO pass
but with it, such gratifying results as he had so
confidently predicted Business, instead of reviving
langushsd more, and more, and more; and the prices
of labor and produce continued to fall, until the
truth was practically exempli6ed, that, ''as federal
ism rises, the country sinks" and pice versa.
Now, we have never regarded it as the province
of our functonaries to interfere in the industrial
pursuits Of the people, pro or con. Government has,
IN this respect, been not inapuy likened unto a
strong wall erected around fertile garden, which,
whilst contributes nothing TO productiveness within
yetperforms an invaluable Office in protecting ii from
depreciation from without. But, to convert govern
ment into an instrument of favoritism for one class
of the community, at the expense of the best inter-
ess of another class, equally meritorious, amounts
to an understandable perverson of its legitimate
functions, and renders it task-maser whose exac-
tons are too grievous to be borne. When there
fore, our wing opponents, as well in 1910 AS in 1874,
81.
vainly sought to fater the public with stipua-
tons which they had not the ability to perform in
the utmos, hour Of success. And should they, now
hereafter despite the bitter lessons of the past
repeat their fragrant essays upon the (supposed)
public credulity, they NAV be safely measured by
that infallible standard OF morality, which sure
to detect knavery beneath the conduct of those
drones in society who come into strange places,
and affect the possession of immense wealth. and the
ability to scatter uncomfortable benefits among
people whom they are oil the while studying how
most effectually to plunder, and deceive!
But the wings might also, with much TRUTH be
characterized as the party of prophecies. In this
they prove themselves master. Judges of the human
heart. The past and present are spread like an un-
broken mirror to view; but the future is hidden
by an impencirable veil. Whether wisely or not,
human curiosity is forever excited to lift the curtain,
and penetrate the mysteries in the prospective.
Hence astrologers and soothsayers necromancers
and fortune-telers, have ever been regarded with
sort of superstitious reverence. The wings have
studied this key to the passions long and well; and
with what marked adroitress have they touched it
IL Clay and Frenghuysen were crowned with the
plaudits Of nations love, the land to be
cred with governmental mama, the waters cover
the sea But if the award should be for Polk and
Dallas, the horrors of the Pandora casct would be
Embossed ruin and disaster would stalk abroad in
the streets at MONDAY! business was to be worn out
at the elbows, and past the meridian of patching
H. L.. Al
spell of some wizard imp sent up from Pandemo-
mum ships were to rot upon deserted waters, in
noseless obscurty. railways were TO become prey
to rust, from mere want of friction; and canals 10
serve no other end than to breed miasma and the
ague All these calamites, and ten thousand more
ten times more terrible, were to descend like tide
Of consuming lava upon the heads of an infatuated
and hard-hearted people!
And now, we proudly ask, how have these mel
ancholy forebodings been fulfilled Where the
traces of all this irremediable disaster Are they
contained in the fresh impetus given everywhere to
The hand of honest industry, since James X. Polk
and his able cabinet have grasped the reins Has the
aborer less to do, and does he receive less reward
for his hire now, than formerly Do our hardy ag
return from the markets with heavier
hearts and lighter pockets than if Mr. Clay had
been elected Do the warehouses of our merchants
exhibit that "beggarly account of empty boresn
predicted by wing croakers and prophets' How
many vessels arc rotting upon the stocks? How
many locomotives have ceased their kissing upon the
railways How many boatmen's horns have stop
ped their echo the mountains and in the Valleys
How many ron-worl1s have blown out, or up or
DOWN Let Pennsylvania tell the tale, where fur
naces and rolling-mills springng up as by the
spirit of enchantment. And last, but not least,
where is the bosom that was TO have swept like a
destructive hurricane over unfortunate New Eng
land, arres,ing the spindle and the loom, and eject
Ing hecatombs Of victims from abandoned factories
as the dead thrown out by the waves Of the sea-
Echo answers, Wherei Marks of desolation and
anguish are nowhere to be seen; but in lieu thereof
overgrown monopolisls still found realizing the
most cxorbtant profits upon their capital, (not
their abor,) and still seen bettening upon the
honest industry of those whom last fall, they CO.
creed by hundreds into condition Of worse than
political vassaagc. Instead of "black bread" and
starvation, manufacturers are yet
reyelling in more than oriental magni6cencc-
which they enabled to do by reason Of the
extraordinary immunities which combination Of
al.