The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1849-01-17

contemporary mas u hluu'y WOIu ioi 10, VIC "'S -"
duced to transfer few of its remarks to our
columns.
In aludlng to that portion of the Presidents mes
cage which treats of the progress OF the Uaited
States, the Times says;--
MIR Polk has given an account Of American pro-
oress which will exotic the interest and admiration of
sb, Old World In the history Of States, there
any thing so rapid, and never did prstsrnstura,
erowth appear to rest 70 solid q foundation. All
that one has ever read Of families mulrioled the
ssnds on the shore of swarming tribes Of rising
citiss and prosperOus commons ealths copceu
trat.d and magnfed 10 this modern prodigy, whose
origin suggests In Us 90 many regrets, and
not little PRIDE"
This is very fiattering indeed, and we wish we
could return the compliment. The fact, however,
is apparent that for every step which we take IN a
forward direction, England goes back one. Every
individual of her population, whom the corruption
and ext avagance Of her government drives to our
shores, decreases her power and resources, and
adds to ours. Every revolution which takes place
in Europe, proves to the world the permanence and
stability of cur government and institutions, and
the certain End inevitable fate which sooner or
later awaits England, as she is now constituted, IN
respect to the form of her government. Passing
this over, however, we come to portion of the
remarks made by the Times, which we desire to
correct. In speaking of the election of General
Taylor, and the non-electon of Mr. Polk, that
journal says
But while We pass over domestic and copectura din
culties It Is impossible to forget that the who is
closing brilliant . presidency who has stretched
the cords his tabernacle to the Pacific ocean,
almost to the Isthmus Of Panama who that by
county from excessive imitation and deadly COL
lapse IL nevertheless rejected by the people has
served hnSs hinref not re. appointed and successor
fact cor dennis either the man or the nation One Of
them must be wrong"
Much surprise cannot be entertained at these
remarks, coming from this source. It is lmpos-
sble for the editor of the Times to speak under.
standlngly on subjects which he cannot estimate
properly, and Of which, at the best, he can have
but an imperfect conception of. The principle on
which our government Is based is that the ma
iority shall rule. This is our boosted privilege,
and 1t is one of which we are proud When
the nation, by The medium of the ballot, de-
clares the will Of the majority of its citizens,
the minority bow in acquiescence to the
will thus expressed. The majority having de.
clared In favor of another man than Mr.. Polk, the
minority are satisfied. All are exclted previous to
our elections, and during the canvass, and the
minority submit cheerfully TO the result, whatever
it may be- and it Is on this account that we are
clear of revolutions. We have revolution every
four years but in those periodical changes of our
government and rulers, we spill blood, we re.
sort not to physical force. Our weapon is the bal
lot, harmless piece of paper, with the names of
candidates of our choice printed upon 1.-THE said
paper not being large enough to form wadding for
a pistol ball. We deposit that simple piece of
paper in the ballotbox, and thus the will of the
people Is expressed. How truly simple, yet how
perfect, and just, and satisfactory Now, a
| majority of the people, at the recent presi.
destial election, decided In favor of Old
lack, precisely in the same way as the PEG.
| pie of France, on a very recent occasion,
| decided on having Louis Napoleon as their Presl.
dent, and all excitement with us has ceased Every
one is satisfied because The majority rules. At the
end of four years. the people of the United States
will elect another President. The fortunate can
didate may be the same Old lack, or he may be
another, but whoever he may be, the majority will
rule. Thus we will 60 on, from time to tIme-the
people voting, the majority rullng-and thus we
hope we shall 60 until the end, WHICH we again
hope and feel is long way off, MIR. Polk has, to
be sure, been rejected by the people, and so has
Gen. Cass and if the Times thinks that, IN re-
jecting them, slur has been cast either, 1t Is
perfectly welcome to do so. The nation, however,
is not wrong; and to say the least, that Journal in
drawing its premises and Its conclusion, knows
very little of the workings of our institutions The
time, however, may not be tar distant when the
| people of England will initiate those OF France in
modelling constitution after that OF the United
| States.
The CHARACTER OF THE CALIFORNIA EMF
oRANTs-The emgrants now leaving us for Cali.
| hp arko oh prdo Wv
BILE, and intelligent. They are men of energy
and enterprise, and full of enthusiasm. 1t is a
character Of the emigration that we do not (as
We illingly would) get rid OF the worst part-the
idle The rowdies, the agabonds-ofour population;
but we lose-with regret we say 1.-THE finest por-
ton of our youth, and all such as possess
some me ans-such as are not mpelled to emigrate
by want but who rush forward In eager haste to
the golden regions from sheer ambition. The
dIssolute. idle, and necessitous, who with brawny
arms and active limbs cucumber our almshouses,
and fill our streets with mendicants or burglars,
are those who arc lett behind not that the love of
gold is less profoundly impressed upon their hearts,
| but that they want the means of conveying them
away to the scene of the general scramble.
So much the better for California-so much the
worse for US.
Our great city Is vast reservoir, into which
streams Of humanity are ever pouring from all parts
of the world and in these streams there come,
sometimes, mixed up in the mass, some foul waters
which s'agnate among Us. We want some sewer,
occasionally, to carry them off. Meantime, the
stream flowing from us to California is a portion OF
our strength and our pride. Well, be it So Rather
than regrettng 1t, let us hope that our chivalrous
and adventurous youth who are hurryng forward
to the Ell Dorado, may In year or two return
home among us having succee ded in obtaining
the object of their pursult-gold and happiness
| couple which, by the bye, we have never as yet
In all our experience, seen living happily and Uni.
tediy together. But what an emigration this is
How singular are the elements which compose it,
when the gold contagion has seized even upou our
poets and they, too, running of from us Alas
To- ,ha H., Il Al