Mountain Democrat., 1857-08-08
Par the DelIa.

meDC OF the CLaLe oeDI-lS excIuueu ITOuh
the platform Of the Black Republicans,
and studiously avoided by the man Of
"pious meditation and study" who, 1--WE
use his own languagc) "bOrn in slave
holding country, raised amongst slave.
holders, where his revolutionary fore
fathers lived and died." with rare consis-
tency and singular disintercStcdness now
attempts to promote the objects Of q mis-
cradle faction seeking to destroy the very
COnstitutiOn which, let US hope, his ''rOv.
olutionary forefathers" lived and died to
establish and support!
Certainly, the moral character Of the
State, as well as her financial integrity,
deserves some consideration ut the hands
Of those who aspire TO the control of her
local affairs and the management of her
peculiar interests. Her honor is as deli
cate and dear as that Of an individual, and
should be preserved with the sumc sensi'
tive care and unslecping vigilance. She
has yet, being young, high character
for political integrity and answering fl
deity to her obligations to establish and
maintain, and those, therefore, who pro-
fcss to feel interested in her future well
fare can do no less, II they are honest in
their professions, than to see that no stain
dimS the purity of her escutcheOn.
There is = question, involving both her
financial integrity and moral honesty,
now before US, which must be fearlessly
met and forever settled, or We prove un.
true to the trust confided to our keeping
ind recreant to the principles which gov
ern honorable men and honorable States.
We need attempt neither to evade nor
avoid tie issue. Circumstances have
forced it upon US, and stern duty de-
mands an unshrinking encounter with it.
Shall the debt Of the State be pGid9-
This we almost hesitate to discuss at all.
Notwithstanding the Supreme Court have
sOlemnly decided that the largest portion
of our indebtedness has been unconstitu-
tionally contracted-notwithStanding the
proposition is clear and indisputable that
there is no power, short Of the voluntary
acquiescence Of the people themselves,
capable of enforcing payment,-nOtwith-
standing il may be true that reckless ex-
travigancc and fraudulent prodigality
have greatly ministered to the accumula.
ton of our existing liabilities,-notwith-
standing all this may be so, the question
of moral obligation admits Of little or no
discussion. We have contracted the debt
and wO ought to pay it Our bonds have
gotten into the hands Of innocent holders,
and 1t is our bOunden duty 10 save them
harmless. Again and again we have re-
cognizod the validity Of the claims against
US, and thus end0rsed their circulation
We have returned the very men to the
Legislature who voted these appropria-
tions and contracted this debt-we recog-
nized their taxes, issued bonds and in
othcr respects sanctioned their agency
Without dishonor, therefore, we cannot
repudidte. More than this whether
morally bound or not our interest as
State and'Our prosperity n a people de-
mand that tho debt should be paid. Re-
pudiGte, and our credit abroad is utterly
prostrated there can and will be no fur
ther investment Of foreign capital; busi-
ness men will lose confidence in our in
tegrity and withdraw their influence; we
can engage in no internal improvements
we can construct no railroads, open no
wagon roads, in word, do no public
thing, because confidence is destroyed
and our credit ruined.
The Democratic party in convention
assembled, sensitively alive to the public
welfare, and keenly jealous, individually
and collectively, Of the reputation of the
State, fcarlessly, manfully, unhesitatingly
grasped the issue and
"RSsOiUed, That this Convention ackuowl.
edge moral obligation to liquidate the exist
ing debt Of the State Of California and that its
payment 10 hereby recommended"
They stopped not to consult mere party
expedicncy; they hcsitated not to con-
slider mere party policy; they stickled
not at pettifogging disquisitiOns about To-
gal technicalities, but they determined,
and at once, because it was just right and
proper, that q moral obligation rested
upon the people Of the State to liquidate
its indebtedness, and without the fear of
demagogues, the favor Of policy-hunters
or untoward affection for place and pow
er, nailed tho plank Of incorruptible in
tegrity firm and fast into the platform up
on which the whole Democratic party of
the State now stand proudly erect. How
unlike the course pursued by those pro-
ciOuS phiIGHtsrOpists, the Kansas shrek.
ers, who, also, met in Convention at Sac
rAmentO. Threatened, and imminently,
too, though the moral character of the
State might be, they could only talk of
nig0srs; involved, and deeply, too, tho
the interests Of California, individually
and collectively, were and are, they could
only declaim Dred Scott bawl bleeding
Kansas and plot treason against tho
uAites. They recognized no principle
which xaG not cLnd in anhLe and racorn.