Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1859-07-28
Det,;ocratic Decliyity.
Tro,., The N. Y. Daily Tribune 7,

Those w ho doubt that the success OF the :
democracy in 1860 will be followed by the
sdoption Of Territorial Save Code, and
in due time by the legaliz.tion OF the al /.
ready revived slave trade, have superhciaiiyl
scanned the past history and present posi-
ton Of that party. Those measures may
not be incorporated in express terms into
;,s creed at the Charleston Conventson.-l
Though Rheu. Wise, Brown. Fitzpatrick,
and the men Of that school. backed by infu
ential Journals like tbs Ckarlesien Mercury
Richmond Eneufrer, N Mississipp.an. and Mont
oonery (Als.) Aacsrtiser, demand j; OH pain
Of bolt in the Convention or at the polls,
we question whether these issues VIII be
set forth in the platform in unequivocsi
| words. The South prefers not to disclose
her programme till she is abe 20 oexecute It.
She desires tlat Conventions should oy
their protocols. ratify the yictoriee she has
| already won, while. by their nominations
,hey place at her disposal plant leaders
whom she can use in achieving new irirmphs
She conauers not by fighting in the open
field, but rather by subtle strategy. Though
she makes some use Of all her partizans, yet,
in the exigehcies Of a doubtful campaign
! she relies more upon the coo. Hunter than
the fierv Wise, the willy slidell ,han the
blatant D rown. the practical Breckinfidge
than the metaphysical Rhett.
/ Let US illustrate our views by citing facts
in the history of the democracy-facts SO
4 commonplace that the lesson they teach is
los, upon the public mind. Since the ad-
ven, of Jackson. the Southern wing of the
party, though in numerical minority. has
oiven the law to its Northern allies, dcta-
ting the policy to be pursued, and designa
$ ting the men whom they might exalt and
those whom they must prescribe. Texas
annexation. the Compromise measures OF
1850. the Kansas Nebraska bill, the lie
: COMPTON swindle, the reputation of Van
e Buren, in 1894, the crushing of Wight in
:. 1886. and the election of Pierce and Buch-
anan, may be cited as proofs Of this posi-
ton.
While it is unquesiionable. therefore
e that the entire party aas been ruled BY the
e members dwelling in one section of the
Il Union, and those a minority of the whole.
: il ia equally true ,ha, that minority has OF
late wears been controlled by small moie'y
9 Of ITS members. The radical and revolu-
l., ,ionary portion OF the Southern democracy
a.. have, for twenty years, dictated the meas
ures of ,he party beyond the Potomac
j. Their central idea hiss been the supremacy
8 of Slavery in the Federal Government, and
tel its spread. more or less densely, over al
!. the States and Territories Of the Union
The founder, the apostle, and fiuallv the
- martyr, OF the Negro Propaganda, was Mr.
Il Calhoun. He originated the doctrine of the
's invioIabilty of slave property. and the in
l. competency OF Government to do aught te
, il except protect ii. All the new ideas re-
srecting Slavery. which have startled ever
= the slumbering Conservatism OF our day
- emauated from his fertile brain. All the
re tassauts upon the old fashioned principles o
% Freedom which have marked our time were
planned by the same bold mind. His doc
:. trines and his disciples now control th'
li Southern wing of the democratic party, ant
i that wing gives the law to its Northern
d. a!lies.
II This school OF politicians have set thei
hearts upon catching negroes in Africa ant
~ planting them in the Territories under tn
=. sanction Of Congress. The absence o
d. entire unauimity among Southern Demo
re Gratis, and the seeming general repugnanc
>. of he party in the North to these twin in
iauities, only proves that they are encoun
10 tering precisely the same obstacles in Incl
OF march to success which all the osheI meas
n ures of the Slave Power have met. Fsvore
G. at the outset only by minority of the par
tv at the South, each of these measure
ultimately secured majority there. an
~ :hen its acceptance BY the Northern demo
cracy was made certain. Though Texa
,e annexation was rpening to consummatio
:. es essly as 1910. no Southern membe
dared to propose, and no Northern membe
' would huve dared TO approve n the Nation
hs ,i Democratic Convention of that year
as resolution favoring annexation. Yet. fou
S. wears afterward. the fruit wss garnerec BY
~ democratic Congress. At the Convention
of ls48, the South did not venture to ofel
ne nor would the North have ratified, PROPOSE
ell ton to repudiate the Jeffersonian doc
re tr;ne of the power and duty of Congress
cd prohibit Slavery in the Territories. YET
~ within two years from that day Demo
" cratic Senate and closely balanced House
n disca ded that policy in the organization q
mt New Mexico and Utah. Had the sttemF
h. been made to incorporate into the platforr
~. Of 1852 The doctrine of the unconsfitution
ality of such prohibition it, would hav
" been successfully resisted BY the Conven
Ter tion that nominated Pierce. Yet the firs
Congress Of his Administrator engraf'e
i, upon the Legislation of the country. 81
too, Of the bred Scott pronunciamentc
and its logical corollary, the Lec'mpto
IN English juggle; they could not have bee
,rs sar c,ioned by the Cincinnati Convention
"a or, il they had seen, Its nominee woul
have been secuted from the polls In ever
" Free State.
ne These historic data show that the Slsv
to Power advances toward universal dominic
i, by slow, sure and siea!,by steps; that, whe
hs Il achieves victory, it chooses to forge
the temperate proclamation it issued at tn
W opening OF the campaign, und improves it
triumph by striking some bold blow for tn
Propaganda not dreamed of by the masse
who assured its triumph.
Il. in'the light Of these facts II is plai