Washington telegraph., 1856-05-07
THE FEBRUARY PLATFORM.

In our last issue, we said-"In our next
We will try to adduce some positive testimony
to sustain us in asserting, that for all prac-
teal purposes, the principles embodied in
the February Platform are. if there is any
reason to have faith in the determination Of
Southern men to do their duty. and of
Northern men who come to us with profes-
sions of feality to our reserved rights to
keep their promises, better calculated. if
administered upon by such men as Fillmore
and Donelson to allay sectional disturbances.
restore tranquility, guarantee, preserve and
give the rights Of the whole to all, than any
Platform now before the public or likely
soon to be presented
Whether we shall succeed in impressing
our readers with the belief which is in US,
we do not know We can but ask that
what we shall say shall be received in the
spirit of fairness in which it is written. In
these days of political tergiversations. when
men with the largest seeming devotion to
the interests and welfare of the common
country. come to the people with professions
upon their lips, which promise every thing
which the absolute wants of the country
could demand, it is not less the duty than
the privilege of those whose vital Interests,
social and political, are at stake, to enquire
into the relative merits and qualifications of
the men and IN easures to whom and upon
which they are to rely. This is particularly
the case at the present time. From the al
most universal confidence in the stability
of the republic, and the efficacy of the
measures which were sanctioned by Mr..
Fillmore. and the comparative quiet which
prevailed during his administration and at
the time when he retired to private life.
there has been change revulsion has
taken place. From one end of the land to
the other the voices Of warning factions
the complaints Of those whose rights have
been unhceded and mocked at-the mur-
murings of discontented aspirants for Office
the clashing of contending hosts, are
heard. And these things are consequent
upon what Let the some time friends of
the party in power say and when We say
"some time friends we refer not to those
who have abandoned the organization known
as the Democratic party, but to that wing
of that party. which repudiating the imbecile
and time-serving administration which tdrags
its slow length of days ''along" at Wash
ington. aim at the nomination of a man for
President who can, with some degree OF
consistency. claim the merit of nationality
Let them say-''Because Franklin Pierce
has by his acts, not sentimental messages
made the Constitution, and the true princi-
pies of the Democratic party, which are
constructed upon it, subordinate to-" what
his whilom supporters call ''his insane raw
ings for the succession" And but that ou1i
space will not allow Us to quote at length
we might multiply such extracts. Let this
suffce-whilc we may be allowed to add
in explanation of the remark quoted above
that we presume no individual. ordinarily
conversapt with the current history of the
times. can be at loss to know what "acts'
are referred to by the Sentinel. whose re.
marks we quote above. 1t may. however
be as well to refer to them particularly in
this connection. As a matter of course
''we appeal to history" When, consciou:
that the eyes Of mighty nation and the
hopes of a party. tn the record of whose
past there is much to admire and be CRATE
full for, were turned upon him. Gen. Pierce
: on his accession to the Presidency, ap
pointed Judge Bronson to lucrative anC
influential Office in New York, feeling O
relief pervaded the whole conservative heart
of the nation; a hope that the pure and patri
otic Fillmore had prototype in the persor
of the present chief magistrate Of the Uaior
sprang up in every breast, and-the Free
soiiers and the spOilsmen, and the mer wh,
were determined to be rewarded for tn,
part which they played in elevating Gen
Pierce to the Presidency. said ''this thin:
wont do, Judge Bronson must be remov
ed" And he was removed, and to ap
pease the clamor which was raised, Herman
j. Red6eld was appointed to succeed him
This was one act. As result of certai.
acts of Legislation. it became necessary t,
organize territorial governments for Kansa
and Nebraska The Southern people hav,
never been in the habit of interfering di
rcctly or indirectly with the institutions o
the North. When, by an undisguised ex
preston of contempt for some of the leadins
features of the run-mad organizations of tha
section, they have been able to rebuke thei
silly fanaticisms. they have not failed to d.
so. The people of the South knew yer,
well that the territory of Nebraska was un