Preble County Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1857-1859, 1857-10-01
r. ADDRESS
TO the Voters of PrebIe County.

L was nominated as a candidate for the
office of Representative in the Lower
House of the State Legislature. There
fore, L am a candidate for that office,
and you are to decide by your votes at
the ballot box on the End Tuesday of
October, whether you will confde to my
care for a time, the responsibilities of
that office, or whether you have more
confidence in the ability and capacity of
my opponent-be that decision what it
may, l hold it to be the imperative du-
ty of every man who offers himself as a
candidate for any office within the gift
of the people to which he may aspire to
be elected, to give a concise statement of
his opinions of the questions which are
agltatlng the parties whose votes he is
soliciting and the manner in which he
will endeavor to discharge the duties of
the office for which he is a candidate, if
successful. Being a tiller of the soil,
my landlord might find fault if L spent
too much time in stamping it, besides,
L have no inclination to neglect my bust
ness. for that purpose, and I therefore
take this method of making my views
known to such as l may be unable to
see, and who may desire to know them.
With these preliminary remarks, the
first issue L shall mention, and which is
considered by some as paramount to all
others is the Slavery question.
Until recently this question was a
matter of but little Importance, and ex-
cited scarcely no attention from the
mass of intelligent, patriotic, and we'll
disposed citizens. But the insignificant
spark kept alive by a few fanatics in
different sections of the Union, has been
by degrees famed into a fame which
now threatens to destroy the fairest
political structure ever framed by hu-
nan wisdom, and ever consecrated to
human liberty. One would suppose
from the excitement that has recently
taken place, that Slavery was a mcto
thing just discovered. No one would
suppose from the present clamor that
when the Union was formed most of
the original States had the institution of
Domestic Slavery, yet such is the fact,
and We have went on from that day to
this, a period of seventy years, adding
State after State, and making such ac-
cession of Territory that we can dip one
hand in the Atlantic on the one side,
and the other hand in the Pacific on the
other side and say, this great Country
is ours, and yet have had Slavery all
the while existing among US. To the
extension of Slavery | am opposed, and
will use all Constitutional means in my
power to prevent its extension, and at
the same time l am opposed to the wild
disunionizing schemes of Aboiitionists,
and in favor of treating the subject as
a local institution, belonging to the
States in which it exists, over which the
general government has no control, and
with which other States have no right
to interfere. This is in strict accord
ance with Constitutional guarantees and
in adopting this policy l simply adhere
to the provisions of the Constitution.
In addition to this position [ take
the further ground that the people have
u right to govern themselves, and that
the people of a Territory being equally
as Intelligent as those of a State, are
fully capable of discharging all the du-
ties Of freemen. These are the views
held by me, and my actions will be
found to go thus far, and nc farther
Holding to the Union and its continued
existence as a duty which | owe to pa
triotism, l will ever be found ready to
froWn upon any attempt to ALLEVIATE one
portion Of the country from the other.
Hence, | have always opposed, with
equal zeal, the tanaticism of the North:
and the disunionism of the South. As
Il patriot, L know no higher law than
the Constitution; as a citizen [ know
no rights more sacred than those of my
feilow-countrymen; as a voter, exerci-
sing the privileges of Il freeman, l know
mo North, no South, no East nc West
The next subject L shall discuss is,
The right to petition" 1 believe in
this right and shall firmly sustain it,
for without it no Republican form of
government can exist. Man might as
we'll attempt to exist without inhaling
the vital air. No government pesscs-
sing any of the vital elements Of liber-
ty, has ever existed, or can ever exist,
unless its citizens or subjects enjoy this
right. From the very structure of our
govcrnment-from the very establish
sentatives, the right of petition natural
ly and necessarily resulted. A repre-
sentative republic established by the
people, without the people having a
right to make their wants. and wishes
known to their servants would be the
most palpable absurdity. This right,
even if it were not expressly sanction
ed by the Constitution, would result
from its very nature. Iii is a right which
cannot be infringed upon, without ex-
tinguishing the vital spirit of u in
situations.
But while I admit the right of petit
ton [ would reserve the privilege of
passing on the merits of the petition,
and if the answering of the prayer of
the petitioners would result in the gen
eral good of the whole people l would
use all honorable means at my COM
mand to have said prayer granted
Whilst on the other hand if the ten
dency of said petition was calculated to
benefit one class Of citizens to the inju-
ry of others, | should use all the abili-
ty [ possessed to have it rejected, let
the petition emanate from whatever
PURGE it might. AS to the passage of
Resolutions, L would favor the passage
of Resolutions Of approval, or censure,
as the case might merit; but Resolu-
tons having a tendency to ALLEVIATE