Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1859-10-01
THE BACK TRACK.

its columns Mr.. Giddings gave numerous why's
and wherefores to show that the Judge occupied q
position opposite to that of Judge Swan on the
Fugitive Slave Law-afirming that his anteced-
ents were SO antl-slavery, and his devotion to Re-
publican principles so entire, that he was entitled
to the earnest support Of the party. Having OF
late received further information, the tone of the
paper is very much more moderate, and Gholson's
support. is now advocated rather as q matter of
necessity than q thing o: choice-a kind Of Webste-
rian performance of disagrceable duty.
tn a recent number of that paper is a statement
Of the manner in which Gholson was nominated,
which conveys to us on altogether different i'm
preston to that which we received from the Sen
tiael soon after the nomination was made. Then
If we read the Sentinel Alright. Gholson's nomin-
alton was presented rs a marked triumph of the
AboFitionists. as an uuquestionaSlo vindication of
their principles noo, it is represented as the tax.
ing Of ''half a loaf" and lei us add, not very
good bread at that.
The Sentine! says,
an the great march of freedom, we must not
discard the conservatives for they look after the
Baggage. AT our State Convention, these con
servatiyes were impressed with the belief that
Judge Swans d ecisiOn ought 10 be endorsed, to
show that we respected Government authority. the
res adjudicdta and all that. We, of the progress
sive school, were determined to set a seal of con.
demnation upon that decision; andtthero was earn
est strife on both sides. We preferred of course,
a man, known to hold with Judge Sutlitf but il
being apparent that te could mol nominate such a
man, on account of the fear Of discord, as the
~readiest expeCient we concluded to lake up with a
man whose opinions were understood to be unex-
pressed, and who was not khopn to DO against us.
Thus we were com PEELED to adopt an alternative (;
and in stpal pf untinn N candidate knorp 70 ha-
lieve the Fugitive Act unconstitutional, we had
taken one with whom it was supposed to be an
open que ~JtiOn-making our victory over the con-
servatives TO consist in the setting aside Of Swan,
and by that act denouncing his decision. We
achieved "halfa a loaf" which was deemed "better
than no bread"
SIN his ray Judge Gholson uaS nominated and
by all the rules Of parties and conventional action,
the Republican party,is bound TO support him. 1t
unfortunately happened that some over Jealous
friends got hold Of q story which was applicable to
his father. that he had emancipated his slaves, and
by mistake gave him the credit of it. Upon that
the Ultra anti-slavery men built grea. hopes, and
we confess to having been carried away with it.
U pom closer inquiry, it turns out not to have Been
so and one argument in favor of his pr obably
deciding with us, vas taken away. We wish it
had been true, as we once believed but since it
arose from a mistake, and was outside of the con-
v%entiopal action, it is certainly proper that we
should take him as he was presented to the Con-
vention, and not reject him because we were de-
ceived in a matter where he had no agency. We
speak thus frankly, because we feel that we are
addressing a thinking people, who will make up
their minds nationally, upon the facts before them,
and then decide independently as to their course
of action. We would not cajale or deceive any
I one nor ask any one to vote against his convic-
ton of right. But this should not be forgotten
Judge Gholson stands before the Republicans OF
Ohio, to-day, just as Me Contention presented
him."
We have SO good an opinion of the editor of the
Sentinel as to believe that his conscience was not
entirely at rest after he had penned the above.
The ignoring of moral obligations, and the sub
stitution thereof Of political ~claptrap is too appar.
ent for the approval Of any but those who have
sunk their manhood in the slough Of party politics.
1t is admitted tina, Gholson was nominated under
a mistaken view OF his position, and although the
Sentinel says the mistake was outside of the con-
ventional action, it is morally certain that that
mistake Influenced the action of a portion of the
Convention when voting upon his nomination. But
being nominated, the Sentinel intimates that the
party is bound to support him, and especially as
he had no agency liz the deception practised, his
friends only being responsible for it. BY a parity
of reasoning, if Old Cloots had received a Repub-
lican nomination, not By any deception in which
he had agency, but only through the deception Of
his friends, hlUing received the nomination the par
ty would be bound to sustain him. although they
afterward felt his hot and horny hands, and wilted
beneath his s~corching breath.
The following extract from q letter from q lead
ing Republican in Hamilton Co., whose name the
Sentinel does not give, probably places the Judge
in quite as favorable a light as truth will permit.
We give it for what it is worth:
But whatever misstatements may have been
made in Convention, by over JEALOUS friends of
Judge GhOlson, he is in no wise responsible for
them. lie never deceived any man as to his prin-
ciples, and never sought the nomination. 1t was
only his great desire to see the Republican party
successful In this cam paign and the Democratic
party beaten, that induced him to, allow the use
of his name. Having accepted the nomination,
he has refused to yield to the cianiors of the Dem
%ocratio Press and others who have appealed to
him to refuse a nomination which involved the de
feat of Judge Swan. No one is authorised to say
how he would decide any question arising under
the Fugitive Slave Act. | will however cite a case
which occurred in the Supreme Court of this city.
Jesse Becky, a partly col0red man, brought suit
for damages against the trustees of the 18th ward
for refusing his vote. Judge GbOlsOn charged the
jury that the plaintiff was entitled to his vote, be-
ing over half white, and should be allowed DANA
ges. AS to his connexion with slavery. it con-
sisted in his temporary ownership of three slaves,
during his residence in Mississippi. What prop
erty he has acquired. has been from his profess
sional labors, and not the toll or blood of slaves.
AS a question of capital and labor, he regards
slavery as antagonistic to the interests of free la
Dor. and is as firmly opposed to the extension of
slavery into our new territories or the further in-
crease Of the slave power as the warmest Repub-
lican on the Western Reserve, and adopts fully
the neutrality-suspicious. platform on that subject"
What possible reason there is 10 infer that be-
cause GhOlson gave a decision in reference to a
question of a m ans right to vote in Ohio who was
more than half white, and which has been decid-
ed IN the same way whenever tested, therefore he
would decide as did Brinkerhoff aad Sutliff on the
Constitutionality of the Fugitive Slave Law, is
more than we are able to see. 1t is not even so
PLAUSIBLE a supposition as vas the story Of the