Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-04-04
Candidates and Platforms.

American, abiding to the election OF Mr. Ten
EYcK-an old Henry Clay Whig-to the Senate
of the United States from the State of New jersey
saws that it augurs well for union Of the c"nser
va,ve men of all sections upon Presidential
candidate in 1862 and then goes on t. express
the following sentiments:
Whoever the candidate may be hr mu give
assurance in his own high and unique ianea char
acter, that the ronflrnc Of the 'auntry is de-
served and if elevated to The Chief Magl~iracy,
that every trust will be fulfilled, irrespective If
the electioneerug mumnerics "i any Convention
In a word, the candidate himself Should be his
own platform His life his services. hls integrity,
his abilities. ought to appeal stronger to the pop
ular heart than any political chart or sounding
resolutions Who cares fg for either, If the
man himself be what he should be When Cen
eral TAYLOR was elected, he did not get a vote bv
the platform nor did General Harrison: and II
Mr. CLAY Ind kept clear of this miserable sham
his honorable ambition would have been grathed.
and the hopes Of his friends contaminated
Now, the leading sentiment Of the above extract
is precisely what expressed in these columns
several months ago--and which was so much a
departure from public opinion generally, that tho
National Intelligencer nj Washington copied our
article, and expressed some surprise ut our bold
ness in giving it publicity, in the face of popular
prejudice to the contrary II was easy to sec.
however from the tenor of the In.clligenccr's
comments, that that conservative and able Journal
conceded with the general view that we took of
the subject though expressing its own opinions
with characteristic prudence aud moderation.
In that article we said that the Platforms of
modern National Conventions aud particularly
of Democratic Convcutions-werc not worth tho
paper they were written And We not
only said it, but proved it. Everybody knows
TINT the Democratic National Convention of 80
pledged the party in tho Platform To an entire alb
stnence from all agitation Of the slavery question
''in Congress and ont of it''--an1 yet e,crybody
knows tina, in 1854 Mr., Douglas re-opcned tho
whole question nfrcsh by his Kansas Bill, which
convulsed the country To its centre, and which has
been productive of nothing but mischief and dis
aster. So, also, everybody knows TINT all Demo
crotc Platforms declare against Protective TARIFF
and Internal Improvements and other Wing her
eses"-and vet we find the selected chief Of this
party now recommending to Congress II Wing
Tariff and advising the most gigantic scheme Of
Internal Improvement ever yet presented TO Con-
gress-namely, Railway to the Pacific. With
out descending to particulars, i: is sufficient to shy
that no more attention is paid by the party to
Platform after it is constructed, than notorious
bankrupt does to the rectangular pieces OF paper
wherein Bank Officers are accustomed t. notify
people OF the maturity Of nes,'iable n"c,
Platforms, as n general thing, are nothing hut
shams and humbugs gotten up by parties for tho
temporary occasion of nm elect n. and discarded,
thrown aside, and repudatcd the moment the cleo
ton is over
Gen. Washington was not elected upon Plat
form, nor were any Of the earlier Presidents--hut
yet, we believe they made just as good Presidents
as those of modern manufacture. The people
who elected the earlier Presidents elected the men
mot an immaterial set of principles In the
character and ability, and wel-known patriotism
Of the men, the people had the amplc>i gnaran'v
that their liberties would be piesey,e /, and Their
rights protected. Who Gun think w,'Gou, n SEN
sation Of shame, Of putting such man rs George
Washington upon the narrow ami miserable
platforms" Of the present day
One of the most discreditable things in Mr.. Blu
chanan's whole career, in our opinion was the
remark he made, soon after he was nominated,
that he was 'no longer James Buchanan, but the
Cincinnati platform" To think of a man who
had served with distinction in the Senate, the Cab.
met, and the Halls of Diplomacy so far abusing
his manhood as to deny his identity. and merge
his individuality into the miserable cup-trnp Plat
form Of Convention Of plumber seeking spoils-
men, ought to cause the blush of shame to rise to
the face of every free-born and independent Amer.
lean citizen.
The dogma Of principles, not men," did very
well. in olden times. when politicians and legisla-
tors were honest and consulted the welfare of the
country instead Of pursuing their petty
schemes n personal ambition and ACCOMPLISHMENT
1t would do very well now, if conscientiously net
cd upon and carried out. But the true motto it,
principles and men"-for unless we have the
right sort Of men to whom to entrust principle
principles 20 for nothing We had much rather
take our chance with an honest. pure hearted pat
riotic man. without any political principles what.
ever, then to run the risk OF most Of the profess
sional politicians Of the present day with all the
'.principles that could I've extracted from oil the
PiatfUrms that were ever constructed.
Ietse then. have no more "Platfrms"-no
moro PI4tlosn Candidates. Let us have. as the
writsr in the North American savs, no mure OF the
''the elsctioneering mummeries Of Convention'
We yant nan whose character and services Ak
ab;fi1Ss VII spnneod him to our favor with"u
thssa ~ adjunct of Platform erected fo
he o. ~ ! u eiections that are not political
~ people are accustomed to vote for men. upol