The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-06-11
The Platform OF the Philadelphia Conven-

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ton.
The Committee on Platform will this morn
ING present to the National Council at Philadel-
phia that portion of their platform which refers
to slavery: it will take high national ground:
will not advocate the disturbance Of the past
legislatioa of Congress in relation to Terrific |
ries; but, leaving matters in statu quo, will sug-
gest ~ for the future, such contests as that |
which arvse on the Nebraska question be avoided
by formally delegating to the people Of the Ter
ritories not only the right of making their own
laws and prescribing their own institutions,
but likewise that of electing their own Govern
ors and all officers except judges and marshais.
Persons on the spot, and well qualified to form
an opinion on the subject, seem to think that
this platform will be adopted by the Council
without split. We sincerely trust 1t may. In.
dependently Of all abstract considerations, it is
obviously the only one which holds out the least
promise of union between the various indepen-
dent Know Nothing bodies throughout the coun-
try. II the Know Nothings are to win the day
in 1856, it must be under this flag. Southern
ers can march under it, for it contains no germ
Of hostility to their property. All reasonable
men in the North can march under it, for it
binds them to nothing in the future beyond
thorough and faithful observance Of the consti-
tuition, and still leaves it as wholly in their
power as it is in that of the South to plant
new Territories and States with institutions
copgenial to their own. 1t involves
no sacrifice of principle on either side.
Those who deem the institution of slavery
injurious and wrong may crafty their hos
tility to it's spread by furthering emigration
while the South, on the other hand, may adopt
the same means of entrenching ITSELF if it sees
fit. No violence or injustice is done to either
section. In word, this platform appears like
ly to suit larger proportion Of citizens in all
parts of the country, than any other which has
been proposed, or might be devised, and is
therefore, strategically speaking, the best
which the Know Nothings could adopt for the
contest of 1856.
Considered abstractly, it commends itself by
it's close adherence to the principle of the Con-
stitution, which is, in point of fact, nothing
more than mutual forbearance and fairness. The
whole fabric of the confederacy is based on the
laws and govern themselves All the errors of
legislation which have been committed during
the past sixty-fve years. and all the discussions
which have menaced the duration of the Union,
can be traced to deviations from this theory
The moment Congress has overlooked the prin-
ciple that the right of government rests with
the people and with them alone, it has gone
wrong mischief has followed, and strife and
confusion have been the invariable result.
With respect to the States, most of the
more obvious cases in which this principle
was involved, have already arisen, and have
been settled after contest of more or less vio-
lence; but with regard to the Territories, the
sound precedent of 1854 is counterbalanced by
the unsound one of 1920, and a further case may
be needed to set the question at rest. The
Know Nothing Committee proposes to meet
any Isuch case on the only fair and proper
ground. They lay it down as their principle
that the people of the Territories shall manage
their own affairs without interference either
from Congress or the general government
Honestly, no man imbued with the spirit of the
free institutions of this country, and desiring
to deal with others as he would be done by, can
hold any other
1t is Of course open to the Eastern delegates
to testify their disapproval of this platform.
even to the extent of Withdrawing from the
Council and splitting the body. 1t is their bust
ness to decide whether such course, indepen-
IDENTIFY of its abstract character, would be best
calculated to attain their particular ends. 1t
is quite certain that the Middle States would
in such case hold with the South; and the
boilers would be left small minority in an
odd corner of the Union, where it is not even
certain thst they would outnumber the re-
mains Of the old parties We need not point
out TO such men as Governor Gardner or
Senator Wilson, that if it was their object
to paralyse the cause they represent, they
could pursue no better course than this
Reduced to an insignificant clique in New
England, and compelled to wage an exhaust
ing war with their local opponents the anti
slavery party would be completely neutralized,
and could exercise no perceptible influence on
the councils or policy of the confederacy. If
the free soiers really desire the success Of their
principles they must seek it by the closest union
with the ruling party in the State they must
connect themselves with it, command influence
in its councils, and avoid, as the most fatal con-
tingency that could occur, anything which
could lead to their isolation. This is the senti-
ment OF many of their wisest chiefs, and it is
one which is fully sustained by reflection and
reasoning. It is not by menace or clamor that
the South can be persuaded that slavery is a
wrong, or the Middle States convinced that dis
union would be blessing. The more buster
and violence proceed from the anti-slavery
party, the less their power to effect anything
and the more exclusive they show themselves