Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1856-03-26
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The Coptest of 1855 A Contest for Principle

The contest OF 1898 q Conces5 LOT frlnclpie
From the Washington Union.
Since the days of John Adams, when the
opponents Of the Democratic party boldly
avowed their principles, and boldly set forth
their aristocratic doctrines in favor of clo-
thing the Senate and the President with al
most unlimited power, and OF declaring the
alien and scdition laws necessary to maintain
that power unimpaired in the hands of those
who should be the servants of the people,
there has not been one instance In which the
adversaries of the Democratic party have
been as frank and as courageous in setting
forth their principles as during the memorable
era to which we have referred. At last, how
ever, we are promised an exception to the
general rule. The sectional party, the rep
resentatiyes and successors of those who in
augurated their policy IN the midst Of the
ear liest days of the Republic, have, through
their immediate organs, Messrs. Seward and
others, formally proclaimed their principles
for the public eye; and this fact will add un-
usual interest TO the contest TO be d dcided In
November next.
The doctrine prominently brought forward
by Mr.. Seward, and by his adherents, is this;
that the people of the territories of the United
States shall not be permitted to manage their
own affairs in their own way, and that this
power belongs to, and shall be exercised fy,
the members of Congress representing other
communities, and having no direct interest
whatever in the concerns of the Territories.
Proceeding from this theory, in natural order,
is the assumption, that inasmuch as the peo-
pie of the Territories shall not control their
own affairs In their own way, when they
demand admission into the Union State,
the Congress of the United States may and
must refuse to admit them unless their State
constitution conform to the abolition ideas of
Mr.. Seward and his coadjutors. We thank
our opponents for the boldness with which
they set forward these doctrines, and We are
glad to know that tho Democratic party
throughout the country is as ready to accept
the issue thus rendered as Mr.. Seward and his
friends seem to be sincere in presenting it.
The Democracy take the broad ground that to
the people of the Territories should be conf
ded the regulation OF their municipal concerns,
are they the proper authority by which
these concerns shall be managed and decided !;
and, on the other hand, the Democrats as
sumo the equally distinct position that the
people of the Territories, when they have
formed State Constitution in accordance
with the provisions of the federal compact,
and in like manner as has been done by those
who have preceded them, they shall then be
admitted into the confederacy of American
States. These are the principles at issue In
in the campaign of 1856. There is no eva
ding them-there is no concealing them.
The opposition cannot retreat from the attitude
they have boldly taken. They have already
abandoned their ground in favor of the resto-
ration of the Missouri line, and IN 50 doing
have been utterly demeralized. But in taking
the step 70 which we alude, in declaring for
the Intervention of Congress in the rerrito-
ries, in setting up as judges upon those Ter
ritories asking admission into the Union as
States, the abolition majority in the House
have clearly made up their mind to pursue
these theories TO their alarming conclusions.
On the other side, the Democracy, having be-
forehand announced principles precisely antag
onistic to those proclaimed by the Abolitionists
or Black Republicans of the day, the issue is
fairly made up between the parties
We SHALL therefore, not have u conflict as
we had in 1870 when there were no prinei-
pies proclaimed for the public eye, or as we
had in 1913, when the Presidential candi-
date of our adYersaries cenfded his case to
a committee The rival doctrines are in the
field, each surrounded by It's own deyotees,
and each advocated by the ablest men in the
respective organizations. We repeat, that We
greet the occasion when these two doctrines
shall meet in opposition with great satisfaction,
no matter who may be the candidate of the
Democratic party in the Presidential canvass
1t is the principles here asserted by one party
and denied by the other that will constitute,
during the canvass soon to open, the great
attraction to the American masses.