Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1860-07-12

@N ~'"'ob otuco tEo OuhIteStou
Convention, in which both parties
were represented, the vote on the
choice Of delegates 200 in favor of
the seeding delegates and Al in
favor oil the friends Of Mr.. Douglas.
Because the Al delegates seeded
and chose men favorable to Mr..
Douglas, half of the regular delegates
were to be thrown out 10 order to
make room for parlisans of Mr..
Douglas No reason Of any weight
was given or could be offered for
such obliquity Of condret and it was
so unjust that even the New York
Delegation, friendly as they we're
to Mr.. Douglas, could not sbide this
decision, end il was reversed. Yet
the great mass Of the friends Of Mr..
Douglas poted for its adoption with.
out hesitation. There we've two del
egates, one from Massachusetts and
one from Missouri, who, owing to
sickness in their families did not 60
to Charleston but sent substitutes
who we're received and acted at
Charleston. When the convention
re.assembled at Baltimore thess orig.
inal delegates came and quietly re-
sumed their seats. The committee,
TO our utter astonishment, permitted
the substitutes to contest the seats
Of their principals, reported in favor
of the substitutes, and this part Of
the report was affirmed by the con.
venti0p! Now in Tennessee we
should regard substitute who, would
claim The seat Of q delegate under
such circumstances ss wholly dis
honest; yet upon such case one Of
The Oldest and ablest Members of our
party 10 Massachusetts WAS ignobiy
driven from the Convention. 10 The
case of Alabama there haa been TIVE
State Conventions, ono regularly
called, rs We ireist, according TO the
rules Of she party, and in, which most
if not all, Of the counties we're repre-
sented-t the other called together ir-
regularly and in which only % or SO
couniirs we're represented. Yet the
committee decided and the oenven.
ton affirmed their decision that the
representatives from the latter cor.
vention were the only persons repre-.
senting Alabama. ln Louisiana the
old Convention had been called to.
getber and the seeding delegates re-
appointed, whilst the party in faver
of Mr.. Douglas procured a Conven.
ton 10 whieh.s,2l out Of 80 parishes
we're represented, who appointed
a new sci Of representatives. The
friends Of MIR. Douglas were admitted
and his opponents rejected. A sim.
liar injustice was perpetrated as~ to
one district in Arkansas, and thus by
strategic skill and the votes Of COM
pliant majority change was eff
fected of nearly 40 votes from the
count at Charleston; tia. is semo IL
or il yotes were thrown from one
side Of the balance to the other. -
This unjust and unfortunate resuls
was produced by the error Of Mr..
Douglas 10 not Withdrawing at
Charleston; he made his friends fight
for seats 10 Alabama, Georgia, Louis
lana, and Arkansas and, although de-
feated, yet as they came up and pre-
seated their credentials at Baltimore,
his friends we're fatally committed to
their support, right or wrong.
II has been urged that avery con-
vention is The Judge Of its own Gre
dentials, and as such,an erroneous or
corrupt decision is not ground for
secession any more than it weuld DO
in the case Of Congress or a State
Legislature. This reasoning is un-
sound, because there is no similarity
between the bodies compared. A
party convention is an assembhge
unknown 10 our laws, with no au-
thority to enforce its DEGREES and
purely dependant for It's existence
and power on the fairness Of its con-
stitution and the business Of its res
olutions. II legal assembly makes
wrong decision, it may possibly be
corrected, sometimes by appeal to an
other tribunal, and if there is no ap.
peal still the law must be enforced
to avoid IN overthrow Of the Gov
eminent. fla convention is packed
by unjust decisions, there is no rem
edy except withdrawal the very con.
dition on whichitcxisted is overthrow
and an appeal to the people alone
remains. Tho Tennessee delegation
did not, however, decide absolutely
10 retire from the convention when