The Washington union., 1858-03-24
JUDGE DOUGLAS AND THE UNION.

1t was painful to the old friends of Judge Douglas
to see and hear him on Monday evening in the Senate
Chamber. He was not only controverting the great
claimed so much credit heretofore for having aided
to establish, but he doing SO against the known
policy of the party under whose flag he has won all
the position and fame which he has ever enjoyed in
public life lie had the sympathy, as he spoke, not
of such senators as Hunter and Toombs, and Mason
and Fitzpatrick, and Brown and Slidel and Clay and
Benjamin. and Bright and Jones, and Gwin, but Of
Seward and Hale, and Preston King and Trumbull
and Fcssenden and Wade, and Doolitte and Sumner,
and those with whom these latter senators are accus
toned to act. How changed from that Douglas
who led the fight on the Nebraska bill and claimed
less than presidential honors for having done so ,
No wonder that he labored heavily in his argument
and that his speech fell far short of his reputation
and of what was expected of him by the public .
This ia the general opinion given of il by those who
heard him but should not now aude to the
speech at all had he not gone out Of his way to at
tack article which appeared in this Journal some
four or FIVE months ago. OF course the article had
nothing to do with the Kansas BILL and furnished no
justification for his upon it; and his parade
Of it shows how drcarily destitute Of appropriate
material he must have been for his speech, and how
eagerly he was cropping about to find something
which he could torture into an excuse for his con-
duct. What viii be said, however, of his honesty
and fair dealing, when it is understood that he could
only make the Un,oas article f for his purpose by
placing on it construction and giving it meaning
which the Union itself had fully and plainly disavow
ed 1t absurd, Mr.. Toombs well said TO
charge upon the democratic party sentiment which
had only been avowed in single article Of news
paper, and never defended anywhere else but IL
was worse than absurd when this sentiment had
been disclaimed by that very newspaper and the
article which had been thought to mbody it had
been explained intended to conveya different
meaning. 8s
We leave this effort of Mr.. Douglas more in sor
row than in anger. We had forgotten whether he
voted for Mr.. Harris printer to the Senate or not
If he did not, we are sorry for it but his oppos
ton to that nomination only tends to prove that
he has been consistent in his upon the party
organization from the very beginning of the session
His vote printer however, we assure him, would
not in our belief, have prevented the late editor
of the Union from doing him full Justice had he
been found faithful upon more important questions
and we can hardly imagine that he should seriously
allege the Unions supposed discomfort with that
vote as a reason, in any whatever for his own
unhappy alienation from his party In point of
fact the first article against Judge Douglas Kan
sas position which appeared in the Union was writ
ten and published before the printer TO the Senate
had either been elected or nominated TWAS a re-
view of Judge Douglass speech on The Presidents
message, when on the third day of the session he
threw his first 6rebrand of discord into the demo
cratic ranks If that 6rebrand has worked less mis-
chief to the party and TO himself than he then
expected he has right now to complain, but must
take the consequences of his own work