Litchfield enquirer., 1851-11-27
LoCoFOco VICTORIES.

LOCOFOCO VICTORIES.
That very many important victo
Tieshave been gained by locofocoisn
this year, it would be useless t.
deny. But what have they gained
in the great principles for which
they have been so long contendlng
What progress has been made il
those peculiar doctrines Of the. party
under which they have professed tc
act? To gain these victories they
havebeen obliged to cater to the pre-
JUDGES of many men of discordan
vicws-to eject their boosted pyra
mid, they have been obliged to en-
ploy building material not properly
their own.
Let us examine for a while the
progress they have made in principle.
In Pennsylvania, to conciliate the
E. coal and iron interests of many coun-
ties, especially Schuylkill, they were
obliged to promise that the democrats
in Congress would be friends ofpro-
lection. The democracy of Berks,
influenced by the same promises, are
now endeavoring to make the Tariff
part Of the locofoco creed. In New
Jersey, forgetting their distinctive
principles, they have been hoisted
into office on the back Of all anti
monopoly prejudice. In New York.
by riding the Union hobby in one
county and the Abolition hobby IN
another, and by the aid of Anti
rentisln, they have carried a potion
of their ticket, and have gained the
offices at the expense of consistency
and principle. At the South, the
victories they claim have been Union
victories, produced by the abandon
ment Of old party lines and old party
principles.
In Ohio, they have gained the
upper hand by their opposition to
the Fugitive Law; in Maryland, by
its support.
The old tenets are given up for
new code Of political law. Hostility
to the banking system has been sue
ceeded by "a demand for free banks
throughout the whole West. and in
stead of the battle cry Of SHOWN with
the banks" is heard the doctrine ola
bank at every mans elbow. As for
the Tariff, there have been as many
phases Of opinioninthe late elections
az there were places to electoneer
in. Protection. to one branch-jn-
cidental protection-a tariff for rey-
enue alone-entire free trade-have
each their ADVOCATES. Where the
whole party is, il would be difficult
to tell, Opposition to internal i'm
provements has been relinquished,
wherever the public lands could be
obtained to construct a railway.
But of all abandonment of party
distinctivencss, and Of old cherished
party principle, the coalition in Mas
sacbusetts presents the strangest as
pect. Even If ultimate success is
obtained in that State, what political
principle has been established or po-
lltical tenet proved, except that ito
the victors belong the spoils."
Victories thus obtained by the
abandonment of old principles-vic-
tories, secured for the mere erjoy-
ment OF office-where not a recog-
nized principle has been advanced,
nor the real progress Of the party
aimed at, can never be stable. No
thing can remain firmly fixed after a
pessical contest, but those principles
WHICH rye done something for the
growth, the rrogress and the pros
perity Of the natfo~ Where no POI
iitical principle has been = issue, the
Iictory will be but temporary !. and
she very changes Of one year butpre>.
pare the public mind for Others the
next IL Courant.