The Placer herald., 1858-04-03
Where the Democratic Party Stands.

Where the Democratic Party Stands.
"We who are not for having this Lecompton in
strument create State under the sanction OF Con-
gress, are accused Of departure from the Demo-
cratic doctrine of non-intervention. This charge
is untrue and unjust"
Hon. 1Hos. L. Harris Letter to the .Ne,c York
anti-Lecompton Meeting.
There are in the Senate and House of Rep
resentatives one hundred and sxty-fve men
who were elected as Democrats. Of theses
one hundred and forty have pronounced in
favor of the Lecompton constitution, and in
sst that refusal to admit Kansas as State
under that instrument would be "a departure
from the Democratic doctrine of "non-inter-
vention;" whilst the remainder, twenty five
in number, insist, if their votos upon the ques-
ton Of reference be considered test, that to
so admit her would be equally departure
from that doctrine. Here, then, is a wide
difference of opinion between members Of
the same party upon a question of vital i'm
portance in the policy of that party. One or
the other of these positions must be wrong
If the first is Democratic the last must be
anti-Democratic; and vice versa; and this
being so one class or the other of the disput-
ants is necessarily acting in opposition to
the Democratic party and outside Of the
Democratic organization. 1t is unnecessary
for us to repeat here our reasons for believ-
ing that those who advocate the immediate
admission of Kansas under the Lecompton
constitution are carrying out the doctrine Of
non-intervention, and acting in strict accord
ance with the true policy Of the Democratic
party.
If we had not other good and sufficient
reasons for this belief, the fact that MAORI.
ty, both of the Northern and Southern Dem
ocrats in Congress- making together one hun
dred and sixty-fve Democratic members, had
decided in favor OF this policy, would be
primd tocie evidence to our minds that it
was the true Democratic policy; for it GER
tainly appears to US, and we think it will so
strike the country, that the twenty-five Dem
ocrats who it is said, will oppose the admis-
sion of Kansas under the Lecompton con-
stitution are far more likely to be in error
than the one hundred and forty who are
known to favor it; and this view of the 9ues-
ton will he greatly strengthened, we think,
when it is remembered that the latter are
sustained in their position by the President
of the United States, who has devoted near
forty years of his life to the service of the
Democratic party, and long been considered
among the ablest and safest expounders Of
its doctrines and principles; hy the entire
cabinet, each member of which, 10y reason of
his great abilities and long services in the
cause Of Democracy, is well fitted to be an
interpreter of its measures and its policy;
and last, though not least, by a large ma
jority Of the Democratic people, whose clear
heads and honest instincts always teach them
the right, and lead them to p'rsne it.
We do not presume to sit in Judgment
upon the motives of those Democrats who
babe seen proper to oppose Mr. Burhanan's
policy; nor do we arr"gate to ourselves the
right to re#d them out of the party because
of such opposition. We, however do not
sas into the Union under the Lecompton
Constitution is now the recognized and we'll
defined policy Of the Demo- ratc party; that
it is so considered by very large majority
Of that party, both in and out of Congress:
and that, whether it be made IA test of party
fealty or not, those Democrats who oppose
it are warning upon vital measure Of the
party, and to that extent, at least, must and
will be regarded and dealt with as aliens and
enemies. But men cannot long occupy the
double attitude of attachment to party
and Of hostility to any one Of its leading
measures. Having once deliberately refused
to abide the decision of fairly-ascertained
majority upon measure of party policy,
they will sooner or later drift into opposition
upon all of them and almost before they are
aware of it, find themselves clearly without
its organization, battling side BY side with its
bitterest foes to effect its defeat and accom-
plish its destruction. Such we predict. will
be the case with majority of those Demo
Gratis who have taken prominent and per-
manent stand in opposition to the policy of
the Administration and the Democratic par
ty in relation to Kansas, and who are now
acting in concert with Black Republcanism
to defeat that policy.
Washington Union.
News of the State.