Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1849-12-21
THE WILMINGTON JOURNAL.
WILMINGTON, N. c., FRIDAY, DEC. 81, Is49.



The speaIxcfslnp --0ouble dealing.
We have, under the proper head, given anaccount
of the excitement produced in the House Of Repre-
sentatives the 18th inst, by the discovery of the
attempted deception sought to be practised by Mr..
W. J. BRowN, of Indiana, and by which he almost
succeeded in being elected to the Office of Speaker of
the 31st Congress In spite of Mr. BRowN's attemp-
ted explanation, there can be no doubt that he al
lowed himself to be tempered with, and that he did
hold out implied promises to gentlemen occupying
different sides upon the slavery question. Had he
been elected somebody must have been betrayed and
if any faith is to be given to his letter to WMoT,
the South would have been the victim. But fortu-
nately before the deed was DONE the deception was
discovered and Mr. BRowN ceased to have a polti-
cal existence.
Painful and disagreeable the present position of
affairs at Washington certainly is We would prefer
that it should last till doomsday rather than
ganization be effected through fraud or deception,
and we should regard any democratic triumph OBJ
tanned through such means as being such only in
name-as being worse than defeat-as disgrace.
We havealways despised every species of double deal
ing in politics attempt to cajole all sides by
seeming to favor ALL we care not by whom such at
tempt is made or whether, as in the of BROWN,
it brings speedy detection and reprobaton or, in
that of General TAYLOR, it is accompanied by tenn
porary success and power. 1t is equally certain in
the end to be visited by the contempt and odium
which it deserves.
The conduct of the Federal party in tho last Presi
Dental campaign went far towards lowering the stan
dard of political honesty The position of their
ddate was doubtful and such to hold out hopes to
all parties and factions He was advocated in differ
ent sections of the Union being favorable TO the
Wilmot Proviso, or unfayorable to it, as the case
might be-; and with this double face he elected.
Nay, letters of his were even shown in which he
pledged himself to ratify any act which Congress
might choose to pass upon the subject. This was in
New England Another tale told here. Some
body is cheated But even now his position is as lit
tie defined ever and yet the upboders oths course
of policy-those who still adhere to General TAYLOR
in spite of the Janus-like aspect of his politics
ready to denounce the democratic party for the fault
of one of its members although that fault was disa
vowed, and that member repudiated as his
deviation from rectitudc and plain dealing was made
known. The Inconsistency is too glazing to require
further characterization. Would it not be better tC
first cast the beam out of their own eye before they
attempt to pull the mote out of their neighbours eye
0' The OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES smith Family.
We were completely at q loss to account for the
apparent mpossibility of eecting organization Of
the House of Representatives until in glancng ovel
the names of the members, we became aware Oft the
important fact that the House contained not one re-
preventative of the immortal SMITH family. The
murder was out The absence of that magic name
has so far defeated every attempt which has been
made. The very idea of organizing without SMITH
is thing unprecedented in the annals Of Congress
and every right-thnking mind must regard it as lit
tie less than sacrilege treason. Only to think Of
q crowd of $50 individuals from all parts of the
country and ynt mo SMITH Talk of meteors, shoot
ing stars, and other portentous phenomena but wha
are they to Congress without SMITH. We have
delegates from Oregon, Minnesota, and Deseret, ano
vet no representative from the independent and pop
ulous nations of the SMrTHs. The " KINGS" thu
"BRowN'sn and tho "JoNEs's," are there but still
the House cannot be organized without SMITH.
There is but one ray of hope for the Union. The
new member from the Territory of California, Il
said to be SMITH. Let him, by all means, be ad
mitted to seat Let him be Speaker, or any thing
else he pleases, so he can be secured. Like PADDY
MURPHY, he is the happy man perhaps more tortu
nate than his glorious prototype, he has shirt. l
even that could be captured, it might exert mag
influence. It should certainly be tried. In eonclu
sion we would remark that it seems as if their fate
had declared that to the completion Of Congress
SMITH is necessary and it is folly to war against TIN
fates. Let there be SMITH. So ends homil.
Selah. .------ -...-....
So a