The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1851-12-25
Another Letter from Major Downing.
Dorningville, doira East IN The STATE Of Name
.Noren1Jer "a, 1851.
THE DOWyrNcvITTE pT.ATEORM

Donningviae, dorn East IN The STATE Of Maine
.Noren,Jer "a, 1851
THE DOWNINGvILLE PLATFORM.
Mr.. GALES e. SEAroS: Since my let,ci
to you two or three weeks ago, I've haa
another long talk with Uncle Joshua abou
the rickety cnnsarn Of our politics all oyei
the country, and abou. contriyin new
platform 10 stand on. Uncle Jusbua takes
hold Of The business like en- apostle Of lib
erty. He says something must be done,
or we are q gone-goose people; we can't
nevor get aloDg 10 this way, spill, up int
twenty parties, ard every one tighten 6Sir
al! the rest. When we didns use to have
but two parties, he SAYS, one or t'other
most always stood a chance TO Lcat, and
they that wasn't beat could take command
lof the ship, ned Trim the sails as they
thought best, man ths helm, and keep
her moving On tlie voyage. But now il's
one agin nineteen every where all oveflbe
country, and if The good old ship don't GET
ashore in the squabbIe, or run on the rocks
somewhere, il must be miracle ,hat'll
save her.
/ 'Ye see, Major says Uncle Joshua, Eve
must malgamate these twenty parties into
Two parties asin, somehow or other.
can't exactly see yet bow to do il; but the
thing must be done, or | say it's gone.
goose with US. All partie6hlways run out
after awhile aud have 20 begin anew. II
can't be helpt; it's the mater Of the thing.
il All crops will run out II you keep 'em too
long in the same Geld; and when you find
The land don't bear hardly no,hin but
weeds, it's best way to change the crop at
once. II was so with the fret two old par
ties, the Federa!ists and Republicans; they
bad something 10 fight about and keep ZEN,
alive for some years. Ono was afraid the
Federal Government wasn't strong enough
to get along well, and t'other was afraid Il
was too strong. And so they Fl. that bal,
tic out year after year, tiIl al last they got
used 10 the working ofsthc Government,
and found it didn't V4nk any tinkcrin
either way. And % hft off fehtin,
excep, little once il while for the fun Of
it; and the two parties began to be sociable
like, and to talk together across from one
rank TO t'oiher, and want afraid to come
mp so near as to reach n chaw of tobacco
across to one another on the pint Of the
baganut. At last they got kind Of mixed
up like. and some went one side and some
,'othcr, and forgot which side they belong
ed to- And 50 when Mr.. Monroe come in
and looked round to see how the ranks
stood, his FIRST words was, Why. fact, villa,
Jefferson once said, zoe are all Federalisfs;
,re Gre all Repabiicans, has come TO pses
And here the first two old psfties died ou,
aud new ones sprouted up and took their
]. places
i Here Uncle Joshua got up and went 10
the fse and knocked the ashes out Of his
pipe and ppt in little more tobacco, and
sot dow1 sgin.
sWeii NOW, Major, says he, .i,'s been
jest so with the lssksswo grea, parties, the
Wings and Dsmo1As As long as they
bad any thing q o6gbt about they could
keep their ranks stra5ght and tell Who -
who, and they did do it for gool y
years. One wanted great Nstion4 i,
and l'o,her didn't; one wanted v6Ty 3
tariff, and t'o,her wanted very low tariff
one wanted to drive ahead, like all pos
sess'd, with making roads AMI canals and
the like, and t'other didn't want to 60 a
step that way. And SO they drew the
lines and fit it out. How long and how
hard they e. needn't tell you, Major, for
you and Gineral Jackson had h1nd in il
and know all about il. Well, arter d while
both parties found out they could do as
well without great national bank as they
II a fhDt
quarrel. Then some Of them that wanted
la very high tariff begun to think they had
pitched it rather too high, and were willing
TO take>one considerable lower. And some
Iof them that wanted very low tariff be-
lgun to think, and TO feel too, that they had
lpiiched it too low, and legged for one con-
siderable higher. So the jig was up about
any more party fgh,in on that score
Well, as for roads and canals, every body
found out at last that them sort Of things
would 90 ahead any how, party or no par
lty, and it was no sort OF use to fight agin
'em. So here was the end ont. The old
parties have had their day; aud tell you,
Major, tl,ey are both as dead as herrins
THEY'VE died nateral death.'
.Why, Uncle Joshus,' says |, it seems
to me you are getting wild. Do you say
1.-The old parties are dead? Why, ain't Wings
and D6scra,s in every body's mouth from
morniusjll night? Haven't we got Whig
papers and Democrat papers from one end
Of the country to t'oiherP Dom, We every
day hear Of Wing meetings and Democrat
meetings ia al the States? Haven't Mr..
Donaldson and Greer got things all ca,
and dried for Democrat Baltimore Cln
yen,ion 10 nominate a President? And
lain't the Wing papers all the time talking
about national convention 10 nominate .
President on their sidei Then how can
you say the Wing aud Democrat pat.ies
are dead?
1 Here Uncle Joshua laid his pipe down,
and | sec he was in earnest; and Aunt
lKeziah laid her ni.lin work down, for she
4 sec he wss 10 arnest too. And Uncle
Joshua turned round to the, and says he
l.Nlajcr, Iteu you the old Whig oad Dem
ocrat parties are as dead as t,co old stamps
!. Their names may he alive yet, and some
folks may think for ! good while 10 come
that they are 6ghtin agin the Wing party
or agin the Democrat party, jest as Mr.
4 Richie thought he was 6ghtin agin the ole
Federal party for more than twenty years