The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1858-09-23
9olititaI
FORNEY on BUCHANAN.
A Peep Behind the Scenes.

a Eeep 6ehlnd the scenes.
Ho,g Pennsyl0ania ,oos Carried for Bu.
chanoa-Holo the President vioyated
his Pledges IN regard to KansQs- What
he said to Forney, &C., dec.
Atameeting held lately in Tarrytown,
z N. Y, a speech was made by JOHN w.
FonNEY, Of the Philadelphia Press, who
was the Presidents intimate personal
friend, and his head.managor of the
? Campaign in Pennsylvania in 1866 He
is a witness whose testimony is entitled
to credit, and we invite the attention Of
orr readers to what he disoloses con-
oerning the pledges and promises made
by the President before the election, and
his shameless violation of these pledges
afterwards. Let every Republican read
it, and then hand the paper to some
honest Democratic neighbor
My fellow-citizens, I must be a little
personal, because, appearing before you
Ias I do, I am impelled, if not compelled to
refer to portion of the political history
in which I have borne prominent part.
My relations to the present Executive
of the United States began with early
boyhood, from the time long before /
became a voter, when l was his init
mate confdant and friend From early
youth down to the present hour, or rath-
er to a period one year ago, l sustained
toward Mr.. Buchanan relations not only
of intimacy, but of more than intimacy
Had he been my father, if his blood ran
lin my veins, I could not have been more
dovoutly attached to him. Applause I
II believe that that sentiment and afIeo-
ton was reciprocatod. We had tried
in our good old State of Pennsylvania
for many years, to elect this gentleman
to the Presidency.
1t fell to my lot-born in the county
in which he grew to manhood, in. the
county whore he read law, in the coun-
/ ty where he still has his residence, in
that county where he says he expects
to die-and knowing him thus well, it
fell to my lot to do a good deal Of the
hard work incident to the fulGllment Of
/ the aspirations Of himself and the wishes
of his friends. In 1914 we went to the
City of Baltimore instructed to vote for
distinguished citizen Of your State,
Mr. Van Buren, but owing to the pub
lication Of his celebrated Texas letter.
the delegation from Pennsylvania, as is
well known, concluded that Mr. Van
. Buren had forfeited the confidence of
the Democratic party, and it became us
to present our own favored citizen for
that high place We did so, and we
failed. But still in 1849 we re-appear-
ed upon the scene with our fellow-citi-
Izons, and there the friends Of Mr.. Van
Buren in this State repaid us in kind
for the good turn we bad served them
four years before, [Applauso.] I'm
daunted we continued to organize and
| in 1852 we ro-appeared in the same
scene with our former friend, and we
were again defeated. That seemed to
be the last chance-the last shot in the
lockor--if l may use the expression
But he was appoined by President Pierce
lin 1853 to Gil the high and important
mission of Minister to England While
there he was removed from the scenes
of domestic politics, and quietly and
obseryantly watched the movements at
home pending and succeeding the re-
peal Of the Missouri line. Mr., Bu-
chanan had been known for his attach
ment to that line. Though in 1919,
while a student of law with Mr. Hop
kins, at Lancaster, Pa, he attended a
meeting in which he denounced it; sub
sequently in 1847, he came out in his
celebrated Berks county letter, and stat
ed there that the only way to settle the
Slavery question was to run the line to !
the Pacific so as to secure to the North |
and to the South their respective bene-
! fits on each side Of it as proposed by its |
original friends. Therefore, it was
while at a foreign court absent from his
own country, his name became peculiar
| ly endenred to the American people, |
as the one that would lead the Demo
cratic party to victory again. His old
friends in Pennsylvania moved forward
and again we organized. We saw the
time had come when our champion could |
be presented to the people. We repair
ed to Cincinnau We nominated him |
and returned to Pennsylvania, for the
first time joyous in having achieved our
long cherished wish. And when we re-
turned there, we came with the full and
confident hope that there would be an
end to the difficulty in electing a man
whose nature was believed to be so con-
seryative whose character was believed
TO be so prudent and whose entire rec
ord had been national and constitution
al, At that time L believe the Republi-
cans themselves abandoned the cam
paign They looked upon his nomina-
ton as their death blow. They looked
around in vain for candidate but
events (and there is no necessity for
spinning out this detail to a greater
lengthy brought on a series of excite
meuts such os we have never witnessed
in our country, aud by the middle Of
August, 1856, the campaign was more
than doubtful, n
Why did it become doubtful Be-
cause the public opinion of the North
had been stirred to its deepest depths
by the excuses Of the pro-Savcry mi (
nority, backed by the Federal power in /
the Territory Of Kansas. That was the
only question, 1t was not the Ostend
NJ. r.-....... q moo .,,ok tho u..geo Pail I