The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-09-10

49,
reereLce to the exradition of slaves shout
be enforced Or not. 1t was fearful struggle.
Party lines were CELEBRATED were found
settling old political scores AMI battling side by
side under the banner Of the Union Cass and
Clay were early in the fed, as friends and CO
adjutors; Webster and Fillmore came next, and
then followed q long line of able and true men.
who, without distinction Of party, arFsyed
the mselves on tire side Of the constitution. De
tails are unnecessary--the compact OF union
was yinifieated-the amplest guarantees were
secured fu- the enforcement Of all ito proyi-
siOxr
But tie charm of party was broken. There
was nothing left to hold the wings to their
rickety platform. Their banks their protective
tariffs, their American system, their distribu-
ton of the proceeds of the public lands. had all
passed into obsolete things the public voice
the same that sustained the Union--had
| condemned them. Those measures entered
into the history of the whig party but
not into that of the public administration. The
democratic par ~ was based upon negative
rather than An affirmative principle 1t did not
propose to do; it only said such and such things
it would not allow to be done. And it did not
II had fully sustained its positions. and had
driven all propositions Of the opposite side
from the halls Of legislation and almost slenccd
the press on the subject. The Union struggle,
then, which had found its chief support among
| the democracy, became . vital principle in
| their political creed, and the central plank Of
| their platform Success seldom fails to sanctify
| an undertaking, and thus we find wings and
| democrats at Baltimore indorsing, with en-
| phasis, the compromise measures, which were
| a direct result of the abolition war which had
| been waged against the constitution.
| We come now to Gen. Pierce. He was noni-
| mated and boosted on to the democratic plat
form. He was free to roam over the broad
structure but not to abandon it. We all know
what he did. Having examined the various
pieces Of which it was composed, he planted
himself somewhere abont the centre, upon the
Union plank declaring that he did not take
that position because the democratic party had
indicated it, but because it exactly suited his
taste and feelings. There was something bold
and engaging-something patriotic and emo
bling. in that declaration. We liked 1.-THE
country liked 1.-THE Union wings liked tit
was, as The phrase goes, popular.
What was the struggle? Was il on the old
issues? No. 1t was review OF the recent
| compromise war, interspersed with elaborate
personal assaults upon General Pierce and upon
General Scott, his competitor. There was but
| one plank in the platform that stood the pres
sure Of the democracy in every State Of the
Union; that was the Baltimore endorsement OF
| the compromise measures; and this forces us d.
| rectly to the conclusion that General Pierce is
| the President Of the United States BY virtue Of
the strong Union tendencies ofthe country and OF
himself, as everywhere evinced before his cleo
ton. This fact is strengthened by what he
said in his inaugural address and by the end
less praise which that statesmanlke psper re-
ceived from all parties, save the Seward wing
of the whig interest in this State, which cuts
ne better figure than did the idiot pauper
writing his last will and testament on the sand
| A stricter party man than General Pierce is
not and cannot be, and shield himself from
popular odium. We speak Of party in it's Or
binary sense. The day of party had gone be
fore the rising Of his official sun. In saying
this we do not mean that he is called upon to
surrender his party views and principles, as
heretofore cherished by him in common with
the whole country. By no means. He could
not afford TO be partizan: his antecedents not
more than the circumstances attending his NO
mination and election, forbid it. THE true in
terests Of the country and his own fame alike
point him to higher destiny. and to more con-
genial labors.
!, His first act was the appointment Of his casi
| net. That it was altogether successful and
satisfactory, neither he or the country will
| claim, AS his advisers and not his governors
bis counsellors and not his directors, their posi-
| ton was not important or dangerous either to
| himself OF others.
The principle that guided him in their seiec-
iion was not a good one. BY it he undertook
more than he could do; and thereby put to
hazard his own reputation and the success OF
bis administration. He descended from ma
tional position OF unquestioned strength, into
the arena Of local quarrels and personal in
trigues He abandoned the position Of COM
mander to do the snbaitern work Of tic surgeon
aHd the nurse in the democratic camp. In
farming out executive patronage 10 the cabinet,
which had been collected from the odds AMI
ends Of all the old factions. he unwisely intro
duced into bis administration sll the irrecon-
cileable elements Of past quarrels and dissen-
sions. Freesoilism from New York, secession
ism from the South. unionism from all parts.
were jumbled into common reservoir, with
the vain hope that by passing them through
the executive filter, they would come out
purified and regenerated national patriots
In this work, Marcy, with all his expert
ence and wellknown ability as a political
intriguer and manager, was put up against
McClelland, who was supposed TO represent the
Cass strata Of The cabinet Davis, bold, ingeni-
Gus, and daring, was set against the quiet and