Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1856-02-08
From the Daily Journal, 4th inst
rba ORGANIZATION of Congress.

Fvsrvhnfv knows that the House OF Representa-
t,5os is disorganized, and, we presume, everybody
;bes that the case were different There are three
candidates, and three sorts of persons voting for
these candidates for the very few classed as lnl-
nrac,icabIes' - who vote for Mr.. Pennington of New
Jersey, can hardly be regarded as party nor Penn
ington as regular candidate. All outside OF the
Democratic ranks may be regarded as anti Admins
fration or as opposed to the Democratic party, which
NAV thus be placed the minority but there IS
another classification 10 which it is important that
reference should be made-thc " National men " and
the Free Sellers" Among the Free Sellers are
found the supporters of Banks Of Massachusetts, and
most OF the {" impractcabes," who 60 for Pcnning-
ton of New Jersey The " National men are COM
posed of the Democrats who originally nominated
and supported Mr. Richardson of Illinois, and who
now, since the withdrawal of that gentleman, sup
mort Mr. Orr Of South Carolina, and the Southern
Know -Nothngs or " Americana" with some five
from the North who support Mr.. Fuller of Pennsyl-
vania. OF these National men," fully two-thirds
belong to the Democratic party and onethrd 70 the
Know.Nothing or " American party. Should or
should not these elements of nationality combine
We think that they should, for an object which they
believe to be desirable their combination beng SIM
ply for the attainment OF that object and lnVolVIng
no compromise Of opinion upon other points. Should
the two.hirds yield to the one-thlrd, or should me
one.third Weld to the two-thrds Common sense
would say that if the charge of faction IS to be
brought against any portion it properly attaches to
the comparatively unimportant body who support
Mr. Fuller, and not to the doubly larger body who
support Mr. Orr Remember it is not asked of the
smaller body that in supporting the candidate OF the
larger they should abandon or appear to abandon
any of their differences of opinion or distinctive pc
ilical views. These they proclaim TO the world
as broadly and Enthusiastically as they please. They
simply say that retaining all their devotion to the
distinctive features of their own political creed they
prefer to vote for national man rather than for
Banks. Is it right, reasonable, or modest, Tor the
handful of Fuller men to accuse double their number
of Democrats of factiousness, because they will not
yield to them Suppose the Democrats numbered
some thirty odd, and the Know-Nothngs or Amer
cans" twice that number, how would the case stand
Would not the anti Democratic press pour out lis
walls of wralh-s hunders of Indignation and IN
yective against the little band Of faCtionIsts Was
ever the like heard that men should be denounced as
actonists for refusing to yield their organization at
the demand of one-haf their number The very
notion is mon8rous, and to show that it is so, re-
quires only for the thing TO be viewed i'll the plain
common-senso light in which people would view the
commonest things around them. 1t is plain 10 the
planest conception.
Say now that " national man " is to be chosen
by the votes Of " national men, the question is
whether that man elected is TO represent the opin-
ions of two thirds Of those by whose votes he is to be
elected or the opinions Of one-third, upon matters
outside of the bond bringing these voters together
If national Democrat be chosen, he will agree on
all points with full twothrds Of those voting Tor
him If a national Know Nothing or "Amerlcan,' he
will agree with but one-third. Which would be
right? That he should represent the majority Oh
the minority-that the majority should yield to the
minority or the minority 10 the majority. This, strip
ped of all exctemen; and defamation, is the issue
because there is no national man to rally upon who
does not either belong or agree in sentiment will
one or the other of tie parties There is no neura
man Ex.Gov. Smith, Of Virginia. is hardly the man
1t is true that he denies belonging to the order,
but he goes with it mainly Of the issue between
and the Democrats Shall then the majority of thu
national men supply the candidates, or shall
small and factious minority dictate who he shall be
There has been great deal said and written abou
this affair, but it down after all, to a very
simple matter
But really we question if even this union of " ma
tional men, could ii be effected would elect
Speaker. The impracticables" hold the balance 0
power. We don't think that Fuller and Orr ogethe
could muster votes enough to put either of then
through-hardly more than Banks got repeatedly
and without success. We feel certain that the Anti
Nebraska men have majority of the House. Still
we should like to the experiment tred-to see tn
60 national men unite fairly upon some exponent Q
their common element, so that, if they even shoul
fail in the accomplishment of their immediate objec
they might yet know the forces they could muster.