The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-02-01


cess" which lasted somewhere about month,
and in which some half dozen lawyers were
employed at an expense Of SOME eight hundred
dollars TO the master, will satisfy the good peo-
Pile Of the South, that the said law will be car
ried out in good faith throughout all the North
especially in Vermont 1t il probable, there
fore, that we shall hear no more Of resistance,
retaliation, or secession, except among traitors
and disunonists, and that in future the lion Of
the North and the lamb of the South will liz
down in loving communion together. If such
should be the case, it is not becoming ia me to
disturb the harmony Of the Union, and for the
present shall refrain FROM advocating what
conceive to be the rights which the people Of
the South'do not deem worth defending. The
Spartans said, @If Alexander wishes to DO god
let him be god."--I say, if the s nth wishes to
be degraded. let it be degraded. This letter
will BE- devot d to the position Of the North.
and especially Of the Empire State.
have often heard Southern pol ticians com
plain Of not being able to comprehend the mys-
teries Of New York politics; that the State
seemed to be always turning on pivot and
changing from one extreme to another, appa-
rcntly without sufficient cause, 80 that she
could never be depended upon for any settled
policy, or any consistent course Of political ac-
ton. TO their eyes she seemed always tapping
her sails to the wind, and then bearing away full
sail to the opposite point Of the compass from
that whence she started. There is great deal
OF truth in this. Bat there is no such thing as
an effect without cause, ard nothing incompre-
hsnsible in the conduct of man, but notions
without motives, The subject is curious, both in
political as we'll as philosophical point Of view,
and shall proceed to show that these appa-
rently unaccountable snmmersetts in politicians,
and these sudden revolutions Of parties, result
from causes that must necessarily produce pre-
cisely such consequences.
The fact is, that ever since the FIRST triumph
Of the Democracy oyer tho long established
Federal or Wing ascendency in this State, the
two parties have been SO equally divided, that a
feather would turn the scale. In this state Of
things it is always in the power of small fac
ton to decide political pontssts. The least
furry Of what is termed an aexcitement,'
whether moral, political, religious, or pecuniary,
is sufficient to give the victory to whichever
party can enlist It as an aaxiliary, Hence, New
York has for considerable time past been in
fact governed by contemplate minorities-isr-
hum quids-which holding the balance of pow
or, decided the contest In favor of that party
which was willing to bid highest for its support
This, in few words, is the basis of our political
structure; and now for the workmen employed
in erecting the building,
A great majority will not say all--those
most conspicuousy indefatig BILE in our party
struggles, consists of men who make politics
the sole business of their lives. II is as much
profession as law, pbysic, or divinity. They are
in fact TRADING POLITICIANS, who deal In the ar
ticlc, exactly as they would in dry goods or
groceries-that is-get the highest price for
their services, and lease them to those who Of
for the best terms There are two classes Of
these one Wholesale, the other retail Dealers
one buys or sells by the package, the other by
the piece, or the yard; one, consequently, cx-
poets the largest loaves and choicest fishes, the
other is content with the crust and the scales in
the division of the spoils. The wholesale dealer
appeals to great sectional interests, sometimes
through the pocket. at others through the con-
science. The retailer, like the little devil in
Rabelais, is conteuL to raise tempest in a
parsley bed, and gets up canal, a railroad, a
bridge, or some other great public Improvement,
appealing directly to the private interests of a
county, town, or some particular class of me-
chancs, manufacturers, or laboscvs The high
est Of oil the achievements Of tho wholesale
trading politician. however, is blowing the Goals
of great fanatical excitement 1t Is on this last
hobby that most of our great politicians have
for years past ridden into power, and conse-
quently it has become the most potent iustru-
ment in fashionng every great statesman for
public honors, or public profits.
The first great excitement was that Of Anti
Masonry. which being dexterously seized upon
by some Of the most sagacious of our trading
politicians. such as the venerable manager of
the great fancy ball at Saratoga and the slippery
eel Of the Albany Evening journal, was blown
into n flame that consumed nearly all the old
landmarks Of the two great contending parties
The head manager. and Billy Morgan's ghost,
became the great leaders Of the new party; the
former was in due time transplanted to the great
conservatory Of dollhouse plants Mt Washing
ton and the latter, it is believed, has been laid
by the exorcisms Of the Abolitionists. Some
think it is still wandering In the neghborhood
of Fort Niagara and that it may be raised again
by the III tie efforts Of the head manager, and
the Albany Epening Journal. When the former
made his debut as a cabinet minister at Wash
ington, it was said remember, that being
asked to what party he belonged, he answered
with great simplicity, "tbe Morgan excitement .