American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1856-01-12
From lie american Democrat.

'o's Will hieritcu oDloquy. y! shame,
where is thy blush?
From the american Democrat.
The Party Of the sevon Principles.
a deed has just been enacted in the
! Virginia Legislature of bascncss so un-
uttorablc that it almost surprizes us,
although the actors were pscudo-Dem-
ocrats.
1t is well known that during the pes.
thence which desolated the cities of
Norfolk and Portsmouth last summer,
large sums of money were transmitted
to the authorities for the benefit of the
sufferers. In Portsmouth a considera-
bic portion of the fund thus received
remains unexpended, and the people
they to whom it bclongs-asked the
Legislature for an act of incorporation
authorizing certain persons to take and
hold it for the benefit of an institution
devoted to the widows and orphans of
those who had fallen victims to the fe-
yer. In accordance with the wishes of
h's constituents, the delegate from
Portsmouth prepared bill, which was
on its regular course through the House
when 1t was proposed to strike out the
names Of the persons designated as
trustees, and to substitute others. In
the course of Il debate, which sprunr
| up on the occasion, it came out that
the objection to the persons indicated
was that they were members of the A.
mcrican party! The first names in
the list were those Of the Mayor and
Council OF Portsmouth-thc persons
! who had administered this fund during
tho pestilence, and upon whom the care
OF the sick and the regulation of the
police had devolved. The next were
those of persons who had endcarcd
themselves to their fellow citizens by
their unwearicd attention to the sick,
and had, in several instances, been
themselves Frustrated by the fever
The President and Secretary of the
Howard Society were among the mum
bcr These names, on motion eff n Lo-
cofoco member of this Locofoco House,
were expungcd, and those of Locofocos
put in their place! The citizens of
Portsmouth are thus deprived of the
right OF managing their own property
as they think proper, and the fund
which charity has placed in their hands
for the relief Of the widows and orph-
ans Of men who died by the pcstilcncc,
Is made part of the ways and means
OF the vile party leaders for the Prcsi-
dental campaign. That it will be
squandcrcd there cannot be a shadow
OF doubt. The whole history of the
party proves it as incontcstibly as tho
the thing had already been DONE
This is evidently the design. 1t is
meant for party use, and it will be thus
appropriated.
There is something horrible in this
transaction. The idea of great par
ty-wc mean large party-speculat-
ing upon the awful vi9itations of God,
Is so strange, so new, SO impious, that
the blood runs cold as We think of it.
The jackal prcys upon the dead car
cass that has been left in his way by
the lion. The hyena bursts into the
grave and gorges upon the relics of
mortality. 1t is their nature--God
has made them so. Bat there is some.
thing so shocking in the idea of man $
appropriating the very maladics with
which Heaven thinks proper to smite
his fellow man, that we turn from it
with horror. That the design is 3uch
as we ascribc cannot be doubted. fit
is not, why is this fund to be placed in
the hands Of Locofocos, when the poo
pie of Portsmouth do not desire it,
Why was it said, in the debate, that
the policy Of the Democratic party re-
CURED that the administration of char
table funds should not be placed in the
hands Of their adversare8 IF they
do not mean to appropriate them to
their own purposes, why is it essential
that they should be placed in their
hands?
We hope the people Of Portsmouth
will disappoint these Ghouls, WHO are
so anxious to fnttcn on the dead bodies
Of their fcIow-citizcns. We trust they
will refuse to accept any act Of incor-
poration in which any other names than
those they themselves have Indicated
are put. We hope they will send the
vile pack back to whence they came,
bowling and crashing their teeth with
rage and disappointment.
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