Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1854-09-27
!. InE claanNG ELEcraoN.


therefore consider calmly and dispassionateIy |
without prejudice, and without Excitement, the |
reasons why We should reject VIM. Bigler, the
present incumbent Of the executive chair.
And first, Gov. Bigler should be opposed, |
because his election will be claimed all over
the country as endorsing the infamous Nebras-
ka swindle. He is clearly and distinctly the
Nebraska candidate, claimed as such. by all
the supporters of the present imbeclle Admin
istration. Will the freemen of the North con-
sent to endorse by their votes, the violation OF
one Of the most sacred covenants ever entered
into by free people? Will they tacitly bow
in homage before the altar of Southern Slav-
cry, and by their suffrages, permit the virgin
soil of. our territories to be stained with the
blood and tears of thousands of human beings
held in bondage? While the freemen of Penn
sylvania rejoice in their Liberty, will they
prostitute the great engine by which that lib
erty is secured to them, the ballot box, to the
unholy purposes OF slavery, and consent that
The lash and groans shall re-echo through the
forests of Kansas and Nebraska, consecrated to
freedom, by most sacred and holy compact
Secondly Gov. Bigler should be opposed
because he is in favor of the Public Works still
remaining a burthen and curse to the tax
payers of the Commonwealth. These Works
are in the hands of his party, and are the
strongest cords by which that party is bound
together; it is therefore idle to say that he or
they, are willing to yield them up at the call
| of the oppressed people. Gov. Bigler oppos-
! ed the Sale of the Public Works when he was
| in the Senate, notwithstanding it was carried
in Pennsylvania by twenty thousand majority.
| He argued against it in his annual message to
| the last Legislature. 1t is true he signed
bill. but ii was so burthened down with restric-
| tions and conditions, that it was impossible to
! find a purchaser He stands, then, opposed to
| the sale, the candidate of the party who have
| their exclusive control, and who have never
vet expressed their willingness to relinquish
| them. Win the taxpayers of Pennsylvania
! consent, by their votes, to rob themselves an
nually of some two hundred and fifty thousand
dollars? Will they still allow this blot and
blemish to disgrace the otherwise fair escutch-
! con of the keystone State, and vomit forth its
! corruption and putrefaction into the very ark
of their libertes-the ballot box? Will they
permit themselves to be robbed and plundered,
| at the mercy of a band of political desperadoes,
with their arms elbow-deep in the public treasu-
ry? aEa-
Third, Gov Bigler Should be opposed, be-
cause he declines to come out openly on the
question of division of the School Fund for
| sectarian purposes. Attempts have been made,
and are now -H-s fso1f
| Schools, to suit the purposes of sectarianism.
| Let these attempts come from whatever source
| they may, they should be repealed and indig
nantly frowned upon by every American citi-
| zen. Whenever Gay church. whether Catholic
or Protestant, seeks to obtain the exclusive
/ control of that fund or any portion Of it, no
+ freeman, let him belong to what party ketnay,
can regard it in any other light than as wan
/ ton and unholy attack upon one of our most
sacred institutions, thai must meet his stern,
unyielding, and deadly opposition. This,the
is distinctive issue, and will any Pennsylva-
nian consent to prostitute our system OF gra-
tuitous education by Common Schools, to the
designs Of sectarian bigotry and intolerance?
Will they vote for a candidate whose opinions
on that question have been studiously conceal
ed, and who is claimed as the especial friend
of that sect, which seeks, through the School
System, to instil its poisonous influence into
the minds aud hearts Of their children2
- Fourth, Coy. Bigler should be opposed, be-
cause of his equiYocal position ON the Temper
ance question. He is claimed by the Demo
cratic Uaioa as. opposed to it. He has ,Vetoed
the Lager Beer Bill passed last session. Heis
the acknowledged candidate Of the Lager Beer
party, and his letter to the State Temperance
Convention was declared ssunsafisfactory 10
On the other hand, he is claimed by Dir. Pat
rick, and John Chambers, to be in favor of a
Prohibtory Law. They allege they have his
seprivate letter" in which he pledges it his
support and approval. This, then, is his posi-
tion; and will the temperance men trust a man
with the custody of theirgreat enterprise, who
Prohibatory Law trust him2 viii they, not
rather vote for candidate who distinctly and
unequivocally avows his principles, and who
has the independence to maintain them before
the world {! sare
Fifth, GOV. Bigler should be opposed, be-
cause of his trucking to the Roman Catholic
bvote. He appointed James Campbell his At
| torney General, after the People had defeated
him for the Supreme Bench, for the very evil
dent purpose of modifying the sect of whiehhe
was member. His appointment of Lazzareto,
Physician, and Whisley Inspector, We're of
the same character, and for the same purpose
With these things plainly in view, can any in
teiligent Catholic, consent to such bargain
and sale2 Will the members of that church,
allow themselves to be set up, and like sheep
in the market, be knocked down to the high
est bidder? Win any American citizen feon-