Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1859-09-17
The President and the Politicians.

Thur h.vt h"cn many bitter charges brought
against Mr.. Bur!lanan'S Administration, and
il is remarkable that the most bitter, as the
most unjust and unreasonable OF these char
g. hAv" come from THOSE who supported his
c,,ct, n in lSJG. There must DC some Spccia
c,sl>c n this seeming anomaly, i"r 1t II not
- a-ainr u Isllli and iuIerd unprecedented. but
il i, cnn incl altogether To tac northern States
When e. n Jack sun was i.:>t elected AMI the
ro,ic; "f his administration was sralu Y
~. lived and ia irr>tuod, there Was a great
falnh- oil It his supporters. th"I!h, rs it Was
, S''n seen, sill greater mu.titndvS who lad
/ opp sd his election took their places, and
more t'an cou,tcr.ba!lanc.d the 4 fiction -
Bat there WAS great qu >tion at issue which,
though II la hten concealed fru;L the I1pu.
. ar .i>nu in tn" cnr fusion If the canvass, the
t,iII Ic.jcy av"wc1 by the cd hero rn lis
t..in, his scat ut Washington like the trump
ii the ArrEIaGc', Scpvrattd til" just truin the
u'jH>;- the tue, earnest, honest dcmrcrNy
( fota he Federal host who in the then gene &.
i brink NJ at parties, had supported b.
| e,c:'iN:. j t;hr men who have broken Il
''"nt,e surpo't &c Mr. Buchanan have not
, d." - ~ basis If principle, for their can g.
~ about Ii, ELECTION to the great p'iucip,
/ of = 'pu'ar sovereignty il all nnnSvh>c; he
! n.ve: c"Ior>rl that principle lie declared
in lis letter Of acceptance that he perfectly
agreed with the resolutions Of tho Cincinnati
! Cnnvc' :;na. that the people Of Territory,
VIE they came tn form State government.
| hal ta' right to determine for themselves
whether or no they would have slavery"
an now it j. inferred from this, bv those who
I',i "a pretrNt fnr their oprc >itino, that he
WAS committed 10 the great principle" If
md ,Iag ~ th,.Y n1
{ Of a Territory hal tn, right to vntr in or
vote "ut slavery" aS they pleased. What hog.
! j.. far>nuth. Tie truth is, u large portion II
the northern politicians, who supported Mr.,
/ Buthanpn'> election in 1856 did Su for the
hope "t the spoii>, AM utterly reckless Of
principle Of any kind or Of tho great interest
Of tae country, would have supported Ere
mont or Fillmore with equal ar,irr had there
been equal chances of success. Their pop.
ullr SMcrciSntv" Crf was as hCnrtlcSS rs il
was dcmlgnSical, and no more believed in by
themselves than by any one else, hut they
knew that the masses were inStinctivrlv ut.
tract2d 10y the great truth that unurr,itS all
our institutions. and therefore they sought To
escape the great issue before the country by
pretended application of popular sovereign.
u II the TrritnrirS. Instead of helping to
| elect Mr.. Buchanan these people did him an
injury, for ninety nine out Of every hundred
voters know that there is not and cannot be
such thing ~ popular sovereignty in the
Territories, and therefore the insult to the
) popular intelligence lost Mr. Buchanan most
Of the northern States. The truth is, he was
elected despite politicians and despite the cry
Of popular sovereignty. Ills long services,
his ability, experience and faithful devotion to
the country, in contrast with the untricl all
vcnturcr opposed to him, secured his election
To the Presidency, and no man, not even Gen.
Jackson himself, was ever before 50 little dc.
pendent ON the politicians rs Mr.. Buchanan.
" J. Day Book.