The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1855-06-16
SATURDAY MoRNING:::::::::JUNE le
Platform of the American Party.


The following is telegraphed as the Plat
form reported by the majority of the Com
mittee of the Philadelphia American Con-
vention. We are glad to hear the Abolition
lists who have SO unfortunately got in this
Convention, intend to leave it if they cannot
carry out their peculiar views. We hope
they will not only leave the Convention but
leave the American party. They have been
a curse to every party they ever touched, and
especially will they prove such to this young
party of progress which cannot and will not
narrow itself down to the limits of any one
idea. We hope this platform will be
adopted, or has been adopted already We
simply desire that the American party sh ould
have nothing TO do with the slavery question,
and that the attempts of Abolition fanatics
and slaveholding ultrasts to criminate this
party against or for slavery, may alike fail:
The Platform Committee of the American
National Convention, adopted the following
resolutions upon Slavery question:
RESOLVED, That the American party having
arisen out of the ruins, and in despite Of the
cannot be held in any manner responsible
for the obnoxious acts, or violated pledges of
either.
That the systematic agitation of the
slavery question, by those parties, has ele-
waited sectional hcstilties into positive ele-
ments of political power, and brought our
institutions into peril. 1t has, therefore,
become the imperative duty of the American
party to interpose, for the purpose of giving
peace to the country, and perpetuity to the
Union.
That as experience has shown that it is
impossible to reconcile opinions, so extreme
as those which seperate these dsputants,
and as there can be no dishonor in submit
ting to laws, the National Convention has
deemed it the best guarantee to common JUS
tce and future peace, to abide by and main
tain existing laws, upon the subject of slave
ry, as final and conclusive settlement of
that subject, in spirit and substance.
That regarding it the highest duty 60 avow
these opinio ns upon subject SO important,
in distinct and uDquestionable terms, it is
decided as the sense of this Council, that
Congress, possessing no power under the
Constitution to legislate upon the sub ect OF
slavery in the States, or exclude any State
from admission into the Union because its
constitution does or does not recognize the
institution of slavery, as part of the social sys-
TEN, and expressly pretermitted any express
sion of opinion upon the power of Congress
to establish or prohibit slavery.
That it is the sense of this Council, that
Congress ought not to legislate on slavery
as it exists in the District of Columbia, and
that any interference of Congress with slave.
ry, as it exists in said District, will be VIC
lation of the spirit and intention of the com.
pact, by which Maryland ceded it, to the
Middle States, and breach of National
faith.
The Platform was adopted by vote of II
to l4-the Abolitionists opposing in body
on one side, and national men supporting OF
the other. The Aboitionsts will make al
effort to carry their views. failing in which
they will leave the convention.