Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1859-01-22
Presidential Speculations.

atmosphere sets their little legs hopping, and they
jump from greatness to greatness. seeming all alike
true N all, to none true. 1t is study for the poll
teal economist to keep pace with them.
We profcss TO be truthful journalists of passing
events: But if all our might and main were conccn-
tratcd on this subject Of President making alone,
VIC confcts re have not the ability to arrive at cor
rect conclusions much less keep pace with the tor.
tuous, unsteady winAngs Of the aspirGnis. In fact,
Readers We afe free to state President making has
become science. II is no longer the reward Of a
life of service to this that party, but the whole
game seems to depend Upon the man from whom
most is to be obtained The best, vsest, most 50.
gacous Of our editorial profession and many learned
in the study of our government, have said that the
time will never be again when the wisest and Ablcst
and most deserving of our statesmen will fill the
chief executive chair Of our nation. While we have
more confidence in pubic virtue than they have,
because, perhaps, we are younger and less expe
ricnccd, we still must say that there is much fun
da,ion for their belief If Henry Clay, Daniel Web
stcr, Lewis Cass or Thomas H. Benton had not been
the men they were, they would have achieved the
uftcst post for American ambition. But being as
they were, great leaders Of the American mind they
stumbled On the Threshold Of political cmincncc
and died with their high aims unattHncd. II we
are to give reason for This, answer your great
man is always in advance Of his age. The man Of
bold genius, powerful grasp Of intellect, sees the
workings Of the human heart and reads the destiny
Of his Country, even us the eagle sees far through
! the blue cm1yrcan power denied to birds OF mean
or feather. 1t is this which puts them in nntaGonism
with their Man, At best, ntaXes Slowly for he
is naturally indolent and sluggish; all progress is
made in trbuaon and travail. and VIC submit to
Innovations only because We compelled tO. 1t is
for present life hard indeed to be in advance Of your
race When crumbling into dust, your great man
receives the tribute Of his worth and life And why
should this be so in country! Why, in America,
where the government rests on the IIerculran shout
dcrs Of thuSe who mould our institutions. should
there be this denial Of that justice in distributing
the honors aud rewards Of position? The answer is
confession Of the weak point in our form Of gov
crnmcnt it is the legitimate result Of our elective
system and the ever changing hue Of party. 1t is
the being driven for party success to the selection
of the draikible instead Of the truly worthy. The
leader nvukcs the hostility and venom Of his am
| bilious contemporaries, which ends in his defeat
and overthrow, while your medium man, who basks
in the sun of anothcr's progress IS promoted, be-
cause Of having fewer points Of assailmcnt, is drda
allie and can be used. Add 90 this the mass, nay
the army Of Office seekers who follow the camp "f a
Presidential battle and whose views have influence
andsyou have laid bare the rotten part Of our Ameri
can elective system.
Take, for example. Mr.. Buchanan, his election
and the history of hrs Presidential career. He is
not nor never was, among what We know as the
| first statesmen Of the country. lie was however,
prominent in its history and was identified with
many Of its leading questions. Too much So to be
President if chance had not favored him, in being
absent at the Court Of ST. James during the exciting
aud bitter controversy On the Kansas Nebraska bill
Returning utter the fierce struggle was over, hav'
ing taken no part in it, be was selected because he
was rot identified with the rancOr and bitterness
connected Herewith, and his conservatism COM
including him to the people, he WAS tr'umPhnnty
elected. Bat no sooner was lie installed than Pan
dora's box was broken open, and the thousand pc.
ltical devils therein Gagged, set TO work 10 de-
stroy and ruin him. Once his patronage was cx'
hausted, the camp followers the disappointed and
the ambitious set to work in earnest to provide for
his succession. At no time in our political history
have the political ingredients Of the caudrcn been
more numerous, more aspiring or more mixed.
In the North. we have the representative Of the
strength in the west in Mr.. Douglas resting ON his
doctrine Of" popular sovereignty and the intrepid
advocacy of the rights of the people in the DISPOSE
ton of all questions affecting their social and domcs'
tic institutions, whether in State Territorial gov
ernment. But standing in antagonism upon great
questions of party policy with his party, we see tho
Senators of the Democratic faith selecting differ
ent and, according 10 their judgment, more reliu-
bic leader on the Committee on Territories. This is
important, as an index Of the antagonism which
awaits him from Southern Senators, with whom he
has ever been rcputed favoritc. Up to the time
of his nudcious assault upon the Presidents Mes
sage he had warm and devoted friends in the South,
who cherished the hope of one day seeing him plac-
ed in the most exalted position on earth. AS the
nominee of the Democratic party in 1860 we think
his chances Of success are now less than ut aIy for
mer period. His very former prominence has for
| ced him into the background. On the other hand,
the defunct notions Of Know Nottingham, Amcri-
carsm," Whggcry, and "retrenchmcnt and re-
form cry, seeking to breathe new life into the
political skeleton Of that great military cheftain,
but Indifferent statesman, General Winfield Scott
When the skies fall we will all catch larks, and
when the list of political heroes runs out, will Gen
eral Scott succeed in his candidacy for the White
House.
Another gentleman Of the olden time, high up in
the list Of aspirants other than Daniel s. Dick
inson, of New York. His magnanimity at the Bal
tinOre Convention in refusing the nomination in
As, when rendered him, saying that he was COM
mitted to Glass; las endcared him to all who love
disinterestedness and fidelity in great man. His
conservative political career and moderate views on
all questions, commend him to that large number
who believe the government will be more stable and
lasting by preserving the golden medium. Still an
other gay cavalier who has entered the lists. is, the
"moral hero Of this century," as Robert J. Walker
styled him, the brilliant Henry A. Wisc of Virginia
His inaexibe purpose aud the profound genius with
which he has surrounded as q halo all political
questions, has drawn to his support vast amount
of the keen and intelligence Of our country
men. jefferson Davis, Of Mississippi Jesse d.
Bright of Indiana, Jas. s. Green, of Missouri, and
r. NJ. T. Hunter of Virginia, have also been fav"T
ably spoken Of
For our own part, we have choice, except to
see the man selected who will confer the greatest
honor on the country, and adhere faithfully, n0exi
bly, to the tcncts of the Democratic party. We