Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1853-11-30
.----.,,>>.:M ARTINSBURG....
WEDNESDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 90, 1858.


anu previously diluucu TO the course OF the
Virginia Democratic Press, in rcprobation Of
the policy cfthe administration in its appoint
ment Of members Of the Freesoil party to Of
fee, we asked "where stands the Virginia
Republican now %
Although We had no disposition to irritatc,
or wound its vanity, but to do it ample JUS
tice, we protested that we did so, not because
of any weight which we attached to its opin-
ions, but because as one of the Southern
Presses, its sentiments might derive some i'm
portancc, if it sustained that policy.
We knew what it had said in the incipien-
cy of this now absorbing controversy, and VIC
quoted from its columns. We understood its
position then. Inthe reply which it furnishes
TO our question, 1t travels unnecessarily ont
of its way to cast an imputation upon our ca
pacity TO understand what its declared sem
timcnts had been. 1t had used plain Ian
guagc in an elaborate and explicit editorial,
which we as readily comprehended as cmphat-
ically condemned. Our object was not to
call for an explanation of that editorial, but
to know If IL stood By it yet We supposed
it might have hastily adopted its course or
had indiscreetly allowed others to commit it
in wrong dircction-and that it might pos
sibly, becoming convinced of its error, either
retract or give some indication of DISPOSE
ton no longer to uphold policy dangerous
in the extreme to the South, and which the
South almost universally regulates. If,
lowevcr, it still adhcres to its advocacy of
this administration policy, we desired to bring
it to the bar of public sentiment here, and
have that condemnation pronounced upon it,
which would remove any impression abroad,
that any party in this County sustained its
course.
1t answers our question, it is true, with
some unmeaning gencralties, and not with
that diroctness of response to the precise is
sue which should characterize conscientious
and unshrinking support of what it believed
to be right--but with sufficient fullness and
distinetness, it declares.
We are ,rilling to reiterate NOW crery
icord tina, pe THEN said"
What did it thcn say, and what does it re-
iterate n0lr.
That the administrations policy of "Na-
tionality" as it is tcrmed-thc ',fratcrniza-
ton of all sections of the Union" justified
the recognition of all as entitled to official
station--Free Sellers and Secessionists, who
pretended to lay aside their tcnets. The
Free Soil Syracuse Resolutions, rcaffirming
the Baltimore platform, arc quoted as furn-
ishing sufficient ground of acceptance of
desperate and unprincipled faction into the
Democratic fold. Thisi the policy and these
the reasons for it-both adopted, and rc-as-
serted only because the head of the party and
its subscryient organ proclaim it as mea-
sure Of the administration, and furnish the
spccious and dcspicable excuse for it. Des-
picable as it may be, Southern Press is
found with the craven spirit to justify and
laud line of policy fatal to the South. 1t
mustcrs the boldness to announce that IL must
be sustained
We desire distinctly to declare that these
sentiments of the "Republican" are not coun-
tenanccd in this community. We refer to no
parties-for it is a subject that obitcrates
party lines. No Whig-but few Democrats
If any, would deliberately sanction them -
If there be any doubt of this we invite a
public expression of the views of our people.
Some unusual influence has produced this
attempt of a Southern Press to mislead pub
lie opinion. Whether it be that its editor is
a government appointee, or that it suits the
personal schemes of him, who is understood
to control its columns, it is not for us to de-
eide. II we did not on so grave question,
deem it fit thus to allude to the causes which
induce it to pursue its otherwise unaccount-
able course, We should find ample excuse for
so doing, in the impudent personal allusion
in its last number-an allusion we cannot
characterize by any milder terms than false
and malicious. In the reply of the RepuJ.
liean, we are referred to the Presidents in
augural, and to his forthcoming message to
Congress. Doubtless the last, as the first,
will abound in professions of devotion to the
Union, the Compromise and the South
There will go up p@ans to the patriotism of
the President! Whathe says before he will
doubtless say again, and what he has done
before he may do again. We are not deal
ing, however, with the professions of the
President, but ivith the acts of his admins
tratiop. When the South now as with one
voice, is ready to declare that the obnoxious
policy must be abandoned the comforting
assurance is given to her, thar she must be
content with the promises in the Inaugural