Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1854-01-26

'ldUe potoer. If man supports the one, he
supports the other. If the party that sustains
the one is pro-slavery, the party which sup
ports the other is pro-slavery. If to support
the candidates of the one, is to support pro
slavery candidates, to support the candidates OF
the other is the same thing. If the uniting, or
forming a coalition with one, by Free Sellers,
is an abandonment of their principles, to form
a coalition with the other, is a like abandon
ment of principle. If it is said that the Wing
party was once a protested anti-slayery party, L
reply, that it never was as much SO, as the great
mass of the old line party were for several years,
while they voted and acted with the Free Soil
ers on their own anti-slavery platform. II 1t
is urged that Erastus Fairbanks, W. c. Kit
tredge and George Howes, protested anti-slavery
principles, answer that they could not pro-
TESS them stronger than John S. Robinson, j.
P. Kidder and John Page. IF it is charged that
the latter had apostatized, by supporting Frank
lin Pierce for President, l reply that they did
not do SO, until long after the former had apos-
tatized by supporting and upholding Willard
Fillmore, the Wing President who approved the
fugitive slave law! By forming coalition with
the democrats, the Free Sellers agreed to sup
port the old line candidates. By forming
coalition with the wings, they must agree to
support the whig candidates. Both set of can
didates belonged to pro-slavery parties, pro
Tossing the same pro-slavery creed, and having
entirely immaterial, so far as the anti-slayery
character of both the old parties was concerned,
which of the candidates of the two, the Free
Sellers supported. If by forming coalition
with one, the Free Sellers were guilty of treach-
cry to their principles, they would have been
equally as guilty If they had united with the
their admirers and supporters, say that the ma
iority of the Free Soil members of the legisla-
ture, who, by acting with the pro-slayery dem
ocrats secured the election of Free Sellers, to
to ten State Offices, six of them important ones,
abandoned their principles because they did not
rather unite with the pro-slauey Wings and
elect their State officers and get U. s. Senator
for t,Uo sessions of Congress only, and one or
tpo minor o6ices' The majority were exceed
ingly wicked-most unmitigatcd renegades be-
cause they would not abandon their principles by
uniting Nth the whgs instead Of the democrats
1t amounts to this and nothing more. The
Immortal fifteen" were longing to abandon
their principles by uniting with the pro-slayery
wings, and intended to do it, got all ready to
do it, and were only prevented from consum-
mating their treason to their principles and
party, by the democrats turning in and elect
ing Mr.. Needham the Free Soil candidate for
Speaker And this they did not propose to
do by an open understanding with all the Free
Soil members of the Legislature, but by Sc
cret understanding between the wings and them
selves Here Mr.. Barton himself, on this point
"On the second day of the session of the
legislature, | conversed with several of the
leading Wings, who were anxious to unite with
the Free Sellers. We, of tho GLOVER order,
so termed, assumed to act on our olcn response
bihty, and proposed to these whags 10 elect
their own candidates for Speaker, and to rote for
their candidates fer Cor. and Lieut. Gov. pro-
| uided they shouH assure us sufficient number Of
,chig uotes to SEIZURE The election of Mr. Shdfter,
Senator This proposal was accepted and they
agreed to ascertain the number of reliable wings
in each county, who would pledge themselves
to vote for Mr.. Shaftor ON these conditions"
Mr. Barton and his " unyelding " friends be-
gan, it seems, by yc'd'ng to the terms of Goa
lition with the whiss-BaIiimore Platform
Whgs-pro-slayery whigs--by which they
agreed to vote for the WING Speaker, wing Gov.
and whig Lieut.. Gov, and thus rcinstate the
old whig dynasty in power, in consideration
that the wings would pledge themselves to vote
for Mr.. Shaftcr t. s. Senator for two sessions
immaculate mon! Surely, lectures on politi-
cal purity and fidelity come with amazing grace
from men proposing such a course, to men who
did nothing more than to unite with another
party on what they considered much better
terms If the s. fifteen Justify themselves by
saving that they considered it was no abandon
ment of principles to vote for wing candidates,
in order to secure the election OF Free Sol
Senator, for few months, then those who uni
ted with the old line democrats, can justify
themselves by slying that they considered il
no abandonment of principles to vote TOR demo
cratic candidates, in order to secure the cleo
ton of u free soil Clerk, free soil Secretary O
State, Il free soil Auditor Of Accounts, a free
soil Sorgeant-at-Arns, free soil Bank Commits
sioner, and to PROSTATE the party that had sc
long tramped free sellers under their feet =
Is it better to elect Mr.. Slafter Senator for two
sessions, and keep the party in power whose
ascendency would certainly prevent his election
for six years, than to keep down the ascenden-
cy of that party, and thus prepare the way fol
the election of Senators for the long term =
Had not the majority of Our party in the Lcgis
laturc as good IL right to judge of the expedien.
cy of the course to be purs.cd, as the minorl-
ty1 Were they not as capable of Judging as
to what would best promote the ultimate success
of the Free Soil party Had they not done and
sacrificed as much for the party as the minority
Are they not entitled to be considered as firm
friends, and u l. advocates of the principles OF
free democracy, as their accusers, the unyleld-
ing fifteen I" How came they to be "unyield-
ingl" Simply because their own scheme of CO
alescing with the wings did not succeed. The
very last proposition for a coalition in the free
soil caucus, was made by one of the incorrupti-
BILE " fifteen," and that was to unite with the
wings If that proposition had been carried
into effect, all would have been right-there
would have been no dcreliction of principle
there would have been no "pcrfdy NO trea-
son-no traitors-all would have been purity
and fidelity, and a perfect triumph of free soil
principles! And why! Because wings and
free sellers would then have united, instead OF
the democrats and free sellers. The free soilers
could have embraced the Baltimore platform in
the arms of the wings, and been uncontamlna-
ted-uncorrupted and incorruptiblc! But to
embrace the same platform in the arms of demo-
crafts was the height of "perfdy" to free
soil principles! The 7" unyiclding could not
have acted ON the principle of no coalition wifh
other parties, aud in that way obtained U. S.
Senator, or any thing else. The only way they
could have accomplished their darling object,
the election of Mr.. .Shafter, was to abandon
their " unyielding position to prostitute
themselves to the base and unprincipled work of
supporting the candidate of the Baltimore Plat
form Parfy,-to do even as VIC pubHcans and
sinners did. form. a coalition and make their OPP
ponents elect their candidates, and you, Mr.. Ed
itor, charge us with "perfdy" because we
were not unyielding ''-becauso we did not
refuse to support the candidates of both the old
parties Had we done so, we should have got
neither State Officers, U. s. Senator, or any
thing else We are condemned because we did
not yield and bargain with the whigs and get
Mr.. Shafter into the Senate for short time !;
and we are condemned for not being " unyicld-
ing" and voting for no candidates but our own.
We abandoned our principles when we united