New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-05-13
Parties AND PRINCIPLES

following reasons:
a." both moral and political cowardice to refuse to
commit party to lis opinions. There ou5hfto DC party
t- and Opinions, aud these should be expfesse1 Ia
bold aud unequivocal manner IL Is disgraceiu 10 pre-
sent candidate with a double face upon any srst'
national question HE which springs from puonc
duty under the Constitution. for with sucn an ins.ru
uenr OF dociSe and power 10 fail oacs upon, 'urfe
never any good reason doubtful or double opnioa
IA regard To plain requirement OF the ContituuOn
We mainssin too that whenever any parucuiar pro-
vision of the situou Is assailed and resisted As has
been that in regard ID the surrender OF Fugive Slave.
thai both unmanly and mean either - do fse the
question or 10 refuse express an opinion upon IL
There many things beyond the Constitution a. there
beyond party platforms concerning which an indie
peDdence Of all party acion Is not only allowable, OUT
without such Independence 20 think. speak, and act
party would be an iutolerable oppression.
We deny, too, that party conventions ought to De
debarred from intoxicating doctrines. They should
both ucucate and promote doctrines, and for good
many reasons First because il i, honest tn do go
and have faith in the maxim that IN POLITICS, as la
everything else honesty Ia the best policy Secondly
for the that, parties are the opponents 81
principles, they should be required to show their
hands Better, far, to sink into min orty, than 70
cheat another the country. We hold, TOO, tnat
conventions are peculiarly ntsed 70 lncu'cs's Pay
principles. They composed OF party men, formed
upon a party bssis, and opinion Ia expected OF and
from them by every intelligent constituency In the
county
IT'S opinions you see, The Express
would have the Wing party proclaim and
indorse. But ITS opinions are those wh'ch
distinguish 1t from its antagonist-those
which it was organized to maintain against
that antagonists opposition. Is the Fugi-
tive Slave Law, in this or any related sense,
Wing principle! Do you know man
to be Wing by hearing him contend that
the Fugitive Law, or Slave-catching in any
form, should be upheld, facilitated and per-
pstuated! In what imaginable sense can
support ofthe Fugitive Slave Law be made
[Whig] party test
But The Express urges that the Consti-
t1tional provision for surrender OF fugi-
tyes from labor has been assailed-there-
fore, this law ought to be Endorsed by
Wing National Convention. Is The En-
press willing to follow out this logic to its
Inevitable conclusions! There Isl Consti-
trtional provision that
THE citizens Of each State shall be entitled to all
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several
Stses'-
Yet, in ostentatious defiance thereof,
colored citizens of Northern States are now
exposed to Imprisonment and sale into
eternal bondage by the laws ofSouth Caro-
lima and several Slave States. Here is no
mere ebullition of repugnance to an odious
requirement, but a deliberate and persistent
enactment in defiance of the Constitution
by sovereign States. When The Express
helps US to procure law of Congress over
bearing this notification, and then carries it
into Wing National Convention and in
sists that it shall there be affirmed and de-
clared Interchangeable, we will see about
agreeing to like Endorsement ofits favorite.
But we object to doing every thing that may
be asked for Slavery and nothing for Free
dom.
The Express AYERS that party Conven-
tions s'should both inculcate and promote
doctrines" We, on the other hand, insist
that they should be content to proclaim and
declare the doctrines of the party. Dele
gates are not chosen to tell the party what
to believe, but to tell the world what it
does believe, and select candidates to be
supported by those who concur in its views.
A Convention which undertakes making
new creeds for its party will soon want a
new party for its creed.
The Express declares itself opposed to
''cheating one another or the Country
On that very ground we protest against any
National Wing Endorsement of the Fugi-
tive Slave Law as finality, because it
aOutd be cheating. A Wing Convention
may very properly pass resolves in favor
of all those principles and measures which
the Wing party holds distinctively and in
opposition to the dogmas of the opposing
party; but it would be very wrong for it to
pass resolve affirming the verify of the
Christian faith for example, though nine
tenths of its members fully believe that faith
of divine origin; because that is propo-
sition which all Wings do not affirm, and
which many who are not Wings do assent
to. Such resolve would convert no Wing
inhdel to Christianity, while it would very
probably ALLEVIATE some of them from Wing
gerry.
Now, how easy, yet how delusive, it
would be to say, "Better, far, to sink into
a minority, than shrink from affirming
our faith in Christianity" The ready an
swer is-Religious faith is one thing; Po-
itical affinities another; and no good can
result from an attempt to make chowder