Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1856-09-05
Letter from VIM. T. Johnson,
Late Publisher Of The Age"

pen Of wv. L JOHNSON, tsl., ot this city,
Cor nOcir, years preceding the past, the pub.
fisher of the Age, and long known as one Of
the most a,rl,Hy members OF the Democracy
Of Maine. Mr.. JonNsoN is now warm and
rcalous supporter Of IIAMIIN and RRE.
MONT. IKcnncbcc Journal.
ArGrsTA, August lG, 1856.
The annual election in this State occur.
on tho Sth of September, when besides Gov
ernor, fall Legislature ami local officers,
six members Of Congress are To bc chosen,
You may scc by your flc' that on the
morning Of the last State election dcspatsh.
ci YOU a letter, predicting with precision
the result. aud yet that result surprised every
member ofthc icC,atclparty, as we'll, doubt
less as the larger portion Of the successful
parties. Ialludc to this. in order that YOU
NAV have a li,tlc couGicnnc ia my present.
statement. when | assure you that Hannibal
lIamlin will h. elected Governor hy large
majority over the combined vote oi Wells,
the candidate nrthc buchanan interest; and
Pattsn. the candidate Of the whig', which
ragged rcmnanto of a once considerable party,
arc now maintained in organization, with
the hopc Of dcrriyine the Republicans Of a
few voter, who would prefer Fremont to
buchanan.
Moreover. the 'cat in Congress now occu-
pied by Mr.. Fuller, and to which many "
us wen glad 10 sc him returned after hi'
vote usain,, the rrrll Of the Missouri r.
s,riction in 1854. will now bc filled by Re-
publican, a. 1t would ,hen have teen fai
hi, subsequent op.aious bcrn lorcknown.
That the State vll 90 for Fremont in No.
,cmhar, no rational man in Maine doubts
Thi. opinion, YOU know, is Of one who
never hcrg,olrr, hilcl to work aul vote On
the Democratic ,ilc. II iuuni-l on what
ar believed to BE- ampl, sources Of in(orma.
ton
Last year the issue, in this State were
mainly local. r., democratic papers care
fully anl rcr'i.tcnlly prc,syltho local Issues
Tho matter. which ary now or most concern
arrthns' whichiut.r thcs,a,rs IN common.
AMI We shall attend to them with an energy
AMI sr,ri, no, then c1cNvlsi. our voters
fJcl TIA; they havr a grave public duty 10
rgTlom-illt the outrasrT nov being Per.
p,,rl'cl ia Kansas must be- .,oppol-that
toe prostitution OF iho power, Of the general
government q :he u.cs or slavery mast h.
ended With this,ew, an organization has
hcsn constituted, eDmpo,,d ct large ma
joriiy Of the old whis party, and the better
portion OF the in,insib.c democratic party Of
Maine, and ,hi, orsauia,iou has adopted
the name under which Jefferson led bis dis.
ciplys 10 victory, leaving 20 the support of
Mr.. Buchanan ID, organization which It'll
bars thS name Of Democrat, but which is
no moro like the oli democracy than Sol,-
mon " in al his glory" Ike solomon after
certain Of his wiyc., in HI, old asr, " turned
away his heart after other gods"
The nomination 0r Mr. Ilamln for Cover.
nor, by tho Republicans, would a, any time
have the cG,ct Of bringing out very large
vote on both sides Mr. IIamlin j. the OBJ
Jet Of a slccplcss AMI very malignant ami
mostly ON the part oi the leaders or the llu-
clanan forces in Maine. Throughout his
Ion. c5ncr,-,iouallir. hclas beynper,istcntly
hatcl and pursued By ,hcm. 70 crafty tins
passion against him aul thoso who cooper.
atcl with him, even the democratic orsani.
ration itsclr has often bad linri against It
the rarricilal hand. In 1910 The marifrst
desire ofthc people 90 place him in tie United
Stats Senate was frustrated hy intrigue, in
the legislature IN 1850 thc rules Of party
li,cipIin, were ulely broken hy r.spon'ihlc
leaders ia ,hc Legislature, with a view 10 de-
feat hi. election O. the senate, after he bad
ly,n fairly, anl ly great maioriti.', nomi-
natcl by convention of ,hr members Of each
House. This outrage Of the rules ol party
fellowship was sustained BY prop,rtionate
number of faetious politicians outside OF the
legislature.
The Congressional district in which Mr..
llamlin resides has afforded repeated in.
stances Of il, border ruiIiap tactics in It's
nominating conventions. the object being,
~ in Kansas now, to defeat the people in
the exercise VI their rights. Tho election Of
democratic Governor by the people was
d,fcatcd in 1851, by the Vaccinations and
boiling Of this interest. Mr. llamlln was
not personally involved in the contest, but
the scdition was started in revenge OF an eH-
ecutiyc appointment, by which Mr. iIamI'n
was supposed to be gratifci. This defeat
of the democracy, partial at the polls, was
made complete in the legislature OF 1858,
one branch Of which vas trcasonably given
to the wings, thereby securing the election
Of the whiS candidate for Governor.
The animosiiy which has thus all along
pursucd Mr.. lIamlin, and which sometimes
assumed the form Of treason to the demo-
cratic party, has alatcd not j,t by time.
On the contrary, it has become more intense.
Thos, who hArborcd it and Gctel iiom It's
impulse. feel that verdict is now to be ta-
ken on their conduct. Accordingly, MS
nomination stimulates the opposition to its
most desperate efforts. Every man OF theirs
who is pLlo to 60, or to be carried to the
polls, will vote in September On the other
hand. like all inst mon thus assailcd. Mr