The true Democrat., 1856-02-26
A D D R F S s
Of the Democratic State Convention-HeId
 at Syracuse, Jan. 10. 1856,


 at Syracuse, Jan. 10. 1856.
 NICHOLAS HILL, jr of Albany, chairman O
 the committee appointed for that purpose, re
 ported an address which was adopted by th
 convention, with only one dissenting voice.
 We make the following extracts
 More than once during the period of our na tional existence, the efforts of men professin, unbounded sympathy for the slave, to induc . government to act in furtherance of their theo res, forgetful of every other object of politca association, have given just cause for serious alarm. And recently, nay within the last few months, other men, with loud professions 0 democracy on their lips, while their hearts art far from it have banded themselves for renew ed and more formidable efforts to evoke thu spirit of aboltionism, with all the gloomy pas sions which wait on it. This last organization was deemed so important by its authors anc abettors, as to call for the instant abandonment of every other political creed, and its adven was accordingly ushered in by formal resolu ton, announcing that the whig and democratic parties were to exist no longer; that hcncefor ward there were to be no more whigs nor de- mocrats. but that all were to be ANTI-sLAvERI
 
 by this announcement at all diminished when we were told in effect afterwards, by the chic captain of the new forces thus mustered against the peace of the Union, that the owners of slave. were to be treated as an odious aristocracy, , which, lin every case and throughout all haz yards, should be abhored and avoded;" that the interests of the north and south, were there fore directly and irreconcilably antagonistic that the citizens of these different sections of our common country could no longer dwel together in unity; that the comprises of the constitution were a hollow truce which had been kept too long: that Congress must be urg- ed to set them at defiance, and assume uncom- promising, aggressive, anti-slavery ground; and that every other effort of government must be subordinated to this, and every other test of po- litical faith at once abandoned! And to remove all doubt from OUT mnds as to the temper and resolution with which the warfare was to be waged we were told little later, through the columns of a leading paper devoted to their cause, that the south was about to be called to fearful account; not for commerce, but for vengeance"
 When we consider these avowals were made in the name of what now claims to be great heat party, and that they were not uttered in the of blood but prepared for the public eye after consultation and deliberation, they invest the subject with solemn and startling interest, and may well excite gloomy forebodings as to the future. The time is come, fellow citizens, when the ground on which we stand should be carefully examined, and the course we are to take in the coming struggle delineated and un- derstood
 Without pausing to inquire here whether Congress has power to act in accordance with the views of this new sect-a question which admits of no answer but an uuhesitating mega tive, if we rightly appreciate the tendency of their doctrines-we pass to the more practical and broader inquiry whether it ought to adopt them? Let Us give these men the benefit of their disclaimers. Let us admit that they do not propose to interfere with slavery now ln either of the old thirteen States; that they in- tend no insult to their brethren of those States, while branding them as objects of governmental distrust and abhorence; that they are athrst for peace and tranquility, while invoking the de- mons of diScord and strife; that they venerate the Union while denouncing the wisdom which framed 1t, as trason against human rights; and tha. they hope to perpetuate its blessings by joining hands with those who hate and curse 1t and pray for its overthrow. Grant that all ol them do not see the tendency of their actions or the inevitable end of their career, and that they are doing this evil with vague expecta- tion that some possible good may come at last Still the question is not what they intend or expect, but what course should others take whose sense of duty is yet unSub bdued by the frenzy of fanaticism or the lust of pow CT? Is it wise is 1t just, is it right i'll any con- celvable view-nay, Is 1t not both absurd and criminal to countenance the theories which now, for the first time in our national history, this motley throng of politicians claim shall be en- forced, " in every case and throughout all haz- ards" by direct governmental action.
 We have assumed that they are not yet so far gone in delusion as to mediate any present assault upon slavery in the old thirteen States; though even this is but an inference, perhaps an unwarranted one, from their silence. In the strange document called their platform of drawn up by professed abolitionist, and unanimously adopted as the permanent ba- SIS of their organization, we find the following distinct avowals, which show how wide field of agitation they mean ultimately to occupy, and how little they are disposed to restrict 1t out of difference to the conStitution:-
 Resolved, That the federal government, be- ing one of defined and limited powers, etc., we most earnestly deny its right to establish, up- hold or tolerate slavery in any portion of the public domain, or to oonriUc at its existence in the federal territory by any means whatever.
 " "ResolUed, That since there can be no legal slavery in the territories of our Union. there can De no slaUe States legally formed out of such territories" etc.
 The powers of the general government in respect to slavery are the same to-day that they were when the Union was formed, and if they have not been exceeded heretofore by the ad- mission of slave States, they cannot be hereaf- ter. In other words, if Congress has no power to admit new slave States now, as these theorists broadly affirm, it has had none at any time, and every act of that nature, whether past ol future. may be treated as a mere usurpaton not obligatory upon any one. Suppose the car dinal doctrines inculcated by the resolutions we have quoted, to be adopted as an elemen' tai portion of our national policy, and to have become what their authors mean they shall be- '" the creed of political faith, the text of civic instruction. the touchstope by which to try the services of those we trust" at once the promp- ter and the guide of individual duty and pub lie action. Every thing hitherto done under which new slave States have been formed out of territory once constituting part of the pub lie domain, must be then deemed unconsttu- tional, and therefore absolutely invalid for any practical end Lousisiana, Missouri, and all other States received into the Union Tn viola ton of the dogma on which alone resistance for the future is to be based, have none of the rights of States under the confederacy! If they are considered members of it for any purpose, they hold their position by sufferance only; not in virtue of the constitution They are not entitled to be represented in the coun- cils of the nation, nor to have its aid in sup pressing domestic instruction, or in repelling foreign invasion; and every faithful believer in this new creed is bound to say so by his votes, in Congress and out of it! Indeed, we are told that they have not a republican form of go- vernment;" that they are uncongenial, and therefore unfit associates for the free States; that they are mere aristoeraocs," which Gin