Butte record., 1856-11-01
The Great and Paramount Issue.

The new fusion, or Republican party, as
they miscall themselves, contend th1t Ito
great and paramount issue is, ''The agrees
ion of the slave power" Their leading ora
tors say that the great question is, Arc
you in favor Of freedom or are you in favor
OF slavery :" and they are now doing every
| thing in their power to combine all the North
| against the South. They deny that tncy
| would dissolve the guion Mr.. Senator
Sumner says, I'VE are for the Union, pror..
ded ne can drive Slavery out of it,
But suppose they cannot drive it out Of
the States or ont of the territories, and keen
the South in the Union, what then Let Mr.
Speaker Banks answer He says then. ~
am willing to let the Union slide :" Anoth,
er disunion witness for Fremont. The New
York National anti sla very Standard, speal,
of 1.-THE necessary division of the Nation in
to two parts-the Northern and the SoutL-
ern-of which the principles shall be Slave.
ry and Anti-slavery." But" says the
Standard, ''the lines are now drawn AMI
the hosts are now encamped over again>J
each other. The attempt 10 keep up delu-
sive alliance with natural enemies has been
abandoned"
The Boston Liberator supports Fremont
and holds the following language The L.
s Constitution is a covenant with death,
and an agreement With hell" And this is
the issue made public in the Liberator since
Fremonts nomination but one issue--thc
dissolution Of the Unon-a pew revolution
has begun; another secession Is 80 take
place, and freedom for all secured apon u
| = 4, Il III
| This plausible question, then. Are you
Tor freedom or you for slavery = is net
the real issue. The real question is, Are
you for the Constitution or against it Are
you for upholding the government Of the
| United States or for anarchy, revolution,
and disunion !" That is the question. If
you are Tor the Constitution, then You are
tor the existence of the Union under that
Constitution just as it stands, with slavery
| existing. just as our fathers found it. Not
as a National, but as State right institu-
ton, with the principle inseperable FROM ;he
right OF self government that grows oat Of
it, to wit the right Of every political COM
munty to regulate that matter for Them
selves under the Constitution. That is the
Democratic doctrine to settle all these sec
tional and geographical d fferences. which
by agitation are made SO often to threaten
the Union
rhe Democratic party propose clear ami
DISTINCT settlement of all these sectional
: quarre!s. It is the principle of non inter-
yention by Congress with slavery in the
States aud in the territories " That IS sim
ply the fundamental doctrine Of Democratic
institutions the right of self goyeYDmcnt--
a wonderful pacihcator, if We viii only ap-
: ply it to the Union, the State, the terrific, Y.
each in lis proper sphere, each under its
, own proper constitution
! No National, conservative. iute'lieent ci +
, izen can close his eyes to he fact that the
choice is narrowed down between buchanan
and Fremont-betwecn the Constitution as
represented by the one, and di~union as rep
resented by the other. The election Of Fre-
mont would disstlve every tie binding these
States together. The national men in the
North and South who s:lll support Mr. Fill
more are either the willing or unwilling al
lies Of Mr.. Fremont. though Mr. Fillmore
has denounced in terms of withering, bur
: ming eloquence the platform upon which
! Fremont stands
The fearful issue--the eminent danger-
these evil times require aud demand / na-
rional, conservative men-all true patriots
to unite readily, cordially, heartily upon the
strongest national candidates, Buchanan
and Breckenridge. and rebuke the 81 rt that
tends to disunion, by electing them by over
whelming majoritics.