Mississippi palladium. [volume] (Holly Springs, Miss.) 1851-1852, 1851-09-19
From the South Side Democrat.
TIE wHG PARTY.


contendins respecting the system that shall
be pursued, under the second, they are
candidates for strvitude. and are only de-
batting whose livery they shall wear
This distinction between party and .fartioa
is as it is happily expressed and it indi-
Gates, in the compass ola solitary sentence,
the fundamental and essential difference
between the Democratic and Wing parties.
The Democratic party is party; it is
founded on principle, and it pursues sys-
tenn. But the Wing party is a mere faction,
inasmuch as it is based upon no cha, acter-
istic and essential principle and pursues no
distinctive and settled policy. The great
principle of Democracy is embodied in the
assertion, that tie less Of tile Government
tie better. Standing upon this platform. the
Democratic party have constantly and bold
" maintained the capacity of the people
oyo0ey-u rtcmsreves,~a and have denied the
necessity of creating strong system of
Government to coerce them; they have
striven perpetually to restrict the idea of
Government within the narrowest possible
limits, and have resisted every attempt to
extend it beyond the necessary application
From this vital and eternal principle have
sprung all the great measures of the De-
mocratic party; hence their contant strug
gle for a free and uncontrolled commerce
hence their advocacy of an independent
treausury and hence their unvarying de-
votion to individual rights and to popular
liberty. Viewing all Government as fet-
ter imposed upon man by the necessities of
his corrupt nature, they have striven to re-
lease him from his thraldom as his pro-
gress in civilization made him more ca
pable of self-govemment. This is the
leading idea and the living principle of the
Democratic party, and the system it pur-
sues is the legitimate consequence of this
principle. When, however, we analyze
the varying and frequently contradictory
professions of the Wing party, We find
they have no fundamental principle and
pursue no given system-that, in truth,
they are not party, but mere faction
AS originally organized, the party which
assumes the denomination of Whig, did rally
upon common platform of principle, and
were engaged in the pursuit of coherent
system. Their fundamental principle was
the opposite of that which constituted
the basis of the Democracy-distrusting
mans capacity for self-government, they
embraced the idea of a strong controlling
Government, and their notion of Govern
ment was embodied in monarchy. Hence,
the earliest members of the Wing party,
as Alexander Hamilton and others were a.
vowed admirers of the British Government,
and were anxious to model the American
Constitution after its fashion. All the
measures for which the Wing party once
contended SO ardently sprung from this ru-
dimentas principle, and were intended fully
to accom- olish its development. Commerce
they will not leave to the regulation of its
own laws, but must needs hamper and di-
rect it by Governmental interference. The
finances of the country they wish to subject
to the arbitrary control of the Government
The rights of the States inasmuch as
they limit and coun:ervail the authority
of the Central Governu ent and oppose a
barrier to its uncontrolled sway, the Wing
party have ever striven to sweep away
All the measures they ever proposed were
designed for the accomplishment of those
objects. But the principle upon which the
Wing party formerly rallied has been scou-
ted by the American people, and all their
measures have met with nothing but repro
baton and defeat. In battle they have
been vanquished, until, dwindled to a
handful of dispirited stragglers, they have
renounced the fatal cause for which they
contended, and no longer constitute party.
but are mere faction. 1t is indisputa-
bly, true, that the small and Insignificant
association of men called Wings stand up
on noprinciple and pursue no system. A
band of political .flli6usters. they regard
not the cause, but rally around the chief
tain who promises to lead them to conquest
and spoils. They proclaim no principles
and they propose no measures. With
hungry avid;ty they seize upon the accident
Of the moment. and clutch greeday at tere-
ry passing cireunastaace rhich contributes
to their aggrandizement. For principle
they have pretext, and for system they SUBJ
stitute 6nesse- Their policy is but ano-
ther name for stratagem. And when it
happens that through contrivance and
fraud. they possess themselves of the Of
fees of the Government their triumph is
complete for as they fought only for party
aggrandizement, they have no utter OF
measures to propose for the good of t1e
country. The Tariff Of '46, the Indepen-
dent Treasury. the Mexican War, the con-
quest of California, are monuments of q
Democratic administration but of Whie
misrule, where are the fruits ? The Gal
phin swindle and Cuban proclamation
The vessel is moving from an impulse pre-.
viously impaired. whilst the present crev