Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1859-06-24
WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP


MY DEAR SIR: have received your lssfer IN
curing whether my friends are % liberty 70 pre-
sent nv name to the Charleston Convention Tor
the Presidential nomination. - - r.
Before this question can he fully determined, u
will be necessary to understand distinctly upon
what issues the canvass Is to be conducted
IT, as have full faith they will, the Democratic |
party shall determine in the Presidential election
Of 1sGO to adhere to the principles embodied in the
Compromise measures Of 1850, and ratified by the |
people In the Presidential election of 1852 and re-
affirmed i'm the Kansas ebraska act of 1854, and
incorporated into the Cincinnati platform in 1856
as expounded by Mr.. Buchanan in his letter &C. |
ceptng the nomination, and approved by the
people In his election-in that event my friends |
will be at liberty 10 present my name to the con-
vention, IL they see proper to do so.
IT, on the contrary, il shall become the policy OF
the Democratic party, which cannot anticipate,
TO repudate these their time-honorcd principles,
on which we have achieved 30 many potriotic tri-
umphs; and, in lieu Of them, the Convention shall
interloPe into the creed Of the party such new
issues the revival Of the African slave trade or
Congressional slave code for the Territories, or
the doctrine that the Constitution of the United
states either establishes prohibits slavery In the
Territories beyond the power OF the people legally
to control 1t as other propertyit is due to cander
to say that, in such an event. could not accept
the nomination if rendered to me
aciently explicit, am, very respectfully, your
friend, ~ s. A. DoUGLAs.
J. B. Dorr, Esq, Dubuque, Iowa. -.
This letter is of particular interest just now,
on account of the position in which it places
quite a number of personal admirers of Mr.
Douglas, who have been giving everybody with
whom they have cOnversed on the subject,
assurances repeated as being directly from his
own lips, that he, come what would, designed
supporting the nominees of the Charleston
Convention, and could not be driven from his
utilization and Identification with the Demo-
cratic party" &C., DC. ...-.. ..a...
The reader will perceive that the tenor of
this letter could not have surprised US; inso-
much as from the moment the fancied necessi-
ties of his position at home compelled Mr..
Douglas to commence pandcring to the spirit
of abolitionism, under the pretence of defend
ing popular (squatter) sovereignty, we have
proclaimed that bis destiny in 1860 was, neces-
sarily, in the ranks Of some one of the divisions
| of the opposition to the Democratic party. We
DIR ew that conclusion from the fact that no
public man previously identified with the
Democratic party has changed his position
into that of quasi hostility to its views ON great
public questions-and more especially no nomi-
nally Democratic aSpirant for the Presidency
| without being found ere the next succeeding
Presidential election, in the position of an
avowed and intensely bitter co0perator with
| the Opposition.
In this letter, Mr.. Douglas in effect an
nounces that, if the Charleston Convention
| fails to eccept bis Interpretation Of all the
| the Slavery questions in issue-of the Com
promise measures of 1850, the Kansas Nebras-
ba act of 1854, of President Buchanau's letter
Of acceptance of the Cincinnati Conventions
nomination, &C., &c.-then, and in that case,
he corld not accept the nomination if ten
| dered to him. That means, of course, that
| then, and in that case, he will be found in the
the ranks of the Opposition.
Now, throughout the lifetime of the last Con-
gress, Mr.. Douglas proclaimed his readings
upon all these points ss Democratic party doc
trines; and the Democratic party in Congress
fully fairly and unnistakedly repudiated them
by an overwhelming msjority-of from five to
ten to one-whenever questions involving them
came to be voted upon. Signally defeated on
those occasions in his efforts to compel the Dem
ocratic party to adopt semi abolition platform
to meet his personal necessities at home, he now
announces that the Charleston Convention must
do that thing as the pIce of his continued pre-
tence of Identification with the Democratic
party; for it would be but a preteRce at best
and pretence, too, costing the Democracy far
more than it could possibly come to; insomuch
as the political history Of the country proves
that the Democracy have never yet Temporal
rily yielded the matter of principles
the behests of aspiring gentlemen in awkward
(ticklish) positions, without losing far more in
the end than was momentarily made by such
displays of weakness.
Want OF space prevents US from commenting
more at length to- day on this formal announce
ment from Mr.. Douglas that his identification
with the Democratic party is dissolved We
must, however, call attention to the fact that
| his surmiSe that the Charleston Convention
may possibly incorporate in the Democratic
platform an article adopting the policy of re-
opening the African slave trade as Democratic
measure, and tho other surmse ayowing its
purpose to be to make, by Congressional action,
slave code for the Territories, as the merest
CANNON, simply designed to afford some shadow
Of excuse for his own regeneration.
His slave code pretence is but sort of ind
rect effort to hoodwink the public with refer
ence to the rank abolitionism Of his current
position on the bred Scott decision. That, IA
accepted by the Democracy of Congress, af
fords ample protection to the rights of the
South in u s. Territories. Until squatters in
them, under the lead of such public men as
Mr. Douglas, shall proceed to nullify the law
as laid down in that decision, there can exist
no necessity whatever for Congressional action
to conserve the law there so far as it bears on
slavery. Even then, there can exist no neccs-
sity for such action for any other purpose than
simply to uphold the majesty of the laws of the
United States bearing on slavery, as it is their
duty to uphold in the Territories the supremacy
of all other laws of the United States.
GENERAL ORDERS FOR EcoxoMY.-The War
Department, with a view of enforcing the
greatest possible economy in the military SER
vice, has issued list of general orders, in
which after urging the great importance of
every officer making economy of the public
means an object of study and zeal, says that in
the remote departments, such as Texas, New
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