Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1859-11-10
The Next President.

A correspondent Of the Cleveland Herald
gets off the following rather sensible re-
marks:
If the Opposition to the presen; Admins
tra,ion and to the Fire. Eaters and Radicals
North and South would unite on Mr.. Bell, or
any conspicuous man like him they could ex-
hibit second Harrison hurricane like that
Of 1910. If instead of uniting the various
elements of Opposition they quarrel with
each other, because they cannot agree upon
every detail, then their slrength will be was
led upon each other; and the Ch arleston
candidate, if the Democracy unite upon him,
as they undoubtedly will, however hard
they may scold each other before the Con-
veution, will probably, almost certainly win
the race.
Nine-tenths ofthe OPPOSITION in fact favor
tariff of duties that shall discriminate in
favor of American labor without high duties
either, and that is al that is necessary. So
as to the non onacquisition ofCuba, further an
nexation of Mexico, or land stealing, or land
buying anywhere; so as to river and harbor
improvments-an upright, honorable policy
toward all nations, and SO on through the
list OF measures that honest and intelligent
men would most approve.
These are all practical questions and must
be speedy acted upon for the veal or woe Of
the country, and if rightly solved, will be Of
a 6enefet, not in a degree to be ensly cal
culated. If attained, some if not all the
good extreme men may desire will be ac-
compllshed and for which they should be
duly thankful, hut, perhaps would not be.
though moderate men might think progress
had been made.
One thing is certain, that no man who
has been prominently obnoxious to any con-
siderable section of the Opposition. can in
the present aspect of affairs be elected-for
Independent of the particular section there
is, and it is to be hoped always will be, a
very. powerful reserved force that will array
itself when occasion requires against any
extremist or any man that they may deem
such.
To illustrate the idea, let US take the
case of Mr.. Bell, who, in addition to very
long experience in public matters-to natu-
raj talent good education, unquestioned and
unquestionable integrity and honor, fasors
all the measures to which we have referred
as worthy, is himself largely engaged in
mining coal and making iron, has fought
more battles for harbor appropriations than
any man in Congress, has opposed every
proposition leading to wars or annexation
and 6llibusterfng for ways, who denounced
in the Senate the repel of the Missouri Com.
promise and the action of the Executive in
the Kansas controversy, is like most other
S Southerrl men as hostile to the re-opening
OF the slave trade as Gov. Seward, and in
brief is as sound on most questions deemed
important by Northern men as any one
But Mr. Bell as do most men of fortune in
tile South, owns slaves, and his interests are
all in slave-holding region and while this
would give his Southern friends full conf
dence that as President he would neither
do nor permit wrongs to be done to them
that he could prevent, the TACT itself that he
owns slaves would deprive him of very many
votes. This is supposed to be free coun.
~ and every man has r ight to run his
head against stone. wall if he likes and
ergo if we prefer to Mr.. Bell some man who
his,,antipode on''all marterswe deem vital, we
can either support him directly or adopt.
some line Of action that shall IS assurdly re-
suit in his success.
A man of common sense might think the
one who run his head against the wall had
no brains TO be injured and that combina-
tions ofmen who would reject three out Of.
four desirable objects because they could
rot get all the four showed no: particular
wisdom, and he would be apt moi to take
one OF. the other as councillors in mat
ters of weighty import.
What is said of Mr.. Bell might also be
we'll said of other Southern men, though no
one of them has had the experience that he
has or the opportunity to make such rec
ord as his.
1x~nrr<yCr,