Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1856-08-07
From the New York Daily Times.
Old Line Wings.


spirit of Whiggery, is now before us, each
differing materially from the other, and yet
claiming esch to be the only apostolic sue
cession to Clay, Webster, and the other
primitive confessors OF the creed. AS ma
tional movement it has no existence at all;
/ for in answer TO the call for National Con-
vention at Louisville, a call abundantly re-
iterated by buchanan and Fillmore presses
amiably desirOus TO encourage the thing,
not cne individual, whether delegate or con-
sttuent, made his appearance The Ken
tucky State Convention OF that "iIk' was
| held, however, the day before, resulting in
a resnnunciation OF obsolete Wing doctrine,
and refusal to take any action at the time
in regard to Presidential candidates. But
we have it on the authority of the Louisville
Journal, that Mr.. Fillmore was the prefer
ence OF the majority. Others lusted for
/ Buchanan. Massachusetts,, on the other
hand, has had its Old Line pow-wow, and
seems, so far as that minute element OF its
| politics is concerned, strongly indsposed to
Mr.. Fillmore, and willing to give each indi-
yidual voter, what he is likely 10 use without
the form of elaborate presentation. the priv
| ilege of voting as he may choose. This is
equivalent, of course, to disbanding the Old
Line in New England. Maryland has lastly
had its Convention, and there fusion with
the Know Nothing forces of Fillmore is the
order Of the day.
Here is consistency and conference with
vengeance. In view Of such three-fold di-
vergence, the hearty and earnest Clay Whig
of the Old school may fairly hesitate before
deciding which of the three to FOLLOW.
Any charitable person in an indicative
mood, cannot find work Of more meritorious
pety. than to assist these walters upon Prov
idence with the best of his counsel and di-
rection. a patent revelation from above is
not to be hoped for. Inward light they have
none. They lack knowledge, object, op-
portu"ity, direction; those OF Democratic
proclivi:ies lack also common sense and
honesty. The Massachusetts men are a fair
illustration. Unable to accept Fillmore,
Donelson and Hiss--with their equipment
Of dark lanterns and slouched hats, and the
rabiI notification of the Albany speech;
equally unable to keep step with Mr.. 8uch
anan in company with Sanders, Sickles,
Soule and Slidell--unwilling to support Col.
Fremont, with his want Of title 10 the tech
Dical name Of Whig, they stand motionless
at the political crossroads, with a resona-
Bile probability of being finally buried there
as so many suicides.
The cardinal difficulty with these straight
Wigs is that they have selected line Of
beauty at variance with ordinary taste
Artists NAV And do differ between the spira,,
the serpeniine, the oval the circular. These
men, however, are the rectilinear party; their
symbol is an air line; and their future course
the mere extension OF that line through all
circumstances and all time. Tested by this
rigid and uncompromising rule, we have no
trouble in ascertsning distinctly the duty of
the Clay Wing. The Massachusetts Clay
and Webster Wing is especially defined in
his action by the rectilinear guage. We
have only to note clearly what were the an
tecedents of the old party upon the only
material issue to be decided in the present
canvass, and carry the line through the
points SO fixed straight out to po inis still un-
determined, to protract an unerring chart of
political duty for any one who requires such
demonstration. And these fixed and given
points we find everywhere. There was no
principle more solsmnly and repeatedly en-
bo1ied IN resolutions and uttered in addresses
By the Wing party in Massachusetts,, than
-.u7-rcrlc,ra..c- u..tuyontss7s TO Slavery ertca-
sion. Fccm the days OF the Missouri Com
promise. down TO the California Compro-
mise, the doctrine was ranked foremost
among the distinctive dogmas of the party.
More emphasis by far was laid upon it than
protection. currency, reform, internal i'm
prcvement, and other of the once vital CUES
tons which party had to decide. One OF the
largest and most enthusiastic gatherings OF
the Whigs ever remembered in Massachu-
setts. was that held at Springfield. in Sep
tember, lS47. Letters sympathizing with
its objects, and speeches indorsing its ac-
! ton, were elected from all those gentlemen
who now counsel adhesion to the Re-
publican movement on accoun. of its oppo-
siton to Slavery propagandism. The reso-
lntions without an exception embody ex-
pressions of ardeLt hostility to the aggres-
sions of the Slave Power. The second res
olution says:
"The acquisition of Mexican Territory,
under the circumstances of the country
unless under adequate securities for the pro-
lection of human liberty-can have no other
probable result than the ultimate advance
ment of the sectional supremacy of the Slave
Power"
Tho sixth and seventh resolutions run
thus:
"The Wings OF Massachusetts now de-
clare. and put thir declaration OF their pur-
nose on record, that Massachusetts will
never consent that Mexican Territory how
ever acquired, shall become part of the
American Union, unless on the unalterable
condition that 'there shall be neither Slavery
nor involuntary servitude therein, otherwise
than in the punishment of crime
..That in making this declaration Of her
purpose. Massachusetts announces no new
principle of action in regard to her sister
States. and makes no new application Of prin-
ciples already acknowledged. She merely
states the great Ameican principle embodied
in our Declaration of dependence-thc
, political equality of persons in the civil
! States: the principle adopted in the legisla-
: ton of the States under the Confederation
and sanctioned by the Cor stitution in
, the admission of all the new States formed
from the only territory belonging to the
: Union short OF the adoption of the Constitu-
, ton; it is, in short, the imperishable princis
! pe set forth in the ever memorable Ordi-
nance of 1887, which has, for more than
. half century, been the fundamental law
= of human liberty in the great valley of the
! Lakes-the Ohio and Missssippi-Sith
what brilliant success, and with what un-
y paralleled results, let the great and growing
:, States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan
and Wisconsin answer and declare"
. And in the same decided and emphatic
language, the .enth: