Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1860-08-17

cation OF That rule, we would have lost few
votes In Maine and in Connecticut; but if there
had been an uniform rule for the several State
delegations according to the old plan, each
man voting as he pleased, or if it had been
laid down as an uniform rule that the delega-
tlons themselves should have the control of
that matter, Mr. Douglas would have had on
no ballot over l26 or l27 votes, and that was
his real strength in the Charleston Conyen-
ton, although under the operation of this rule
his vote finally rose to 1921
Gentlemen, there were two platforms pre-
sented to that Convention. The Committee
on Resolutions, consisting of one delegate
from each State, making committee of thir-
ty-three members, were divided, II to l6.-
Seventeen members presented a majority re-
port-the report which was adopted by your
Convention ut the Maryland Institute in Bal
timore; and the other sixteen were divided,
and presented two reports
Fellow-ciizens, | wish very briefly to call
yonr attention to this majority report. | do
not do it in order to convince you that that
report is right. That is a matter that you
yourselves have examined you have made
up your minds; you know it to be right, and
need no argument from me. But desire to
do it in connection with the public sentiment
at the North. l assure you that there are
large numbers of Democrats at the North who
y
soundness of that majority platform. This
appeared in the deliberations of your COM
mittee; it appeared in the deliberations of
the convention at Charleston. twas shown
in the amendment proposed by the New York
delegation, and in the amendment proposed
by the Pennsylvania delegation, standing es-
sentially upon the platform of the majority (:
but in the discussions in the Committee on
Resolutions, itappeared most signally. Said
one gentleman from the North, " these resolu-
tons meet my hearty concurrence; they stand
on the right; they stand on the Constitution
of the country; you men of the South ask
nothing but what you are entitled to have,
and two-thirds of the Democratic voters OF
my State agree with you and agree with me,
but the other one-third do not; they are ten
der upon this point, and am afraid if we
adopt these resolutions and platform in our
convention, we cannot rely on retaining their
votes, but many'of them will 90 over into the
Black Republican ranks, and we shall therefore
lose the vote of the State.' Another gentle
man said, "you do not go far enough, you
men of the South for many years | have
| thought that the principles contained in these
resolutions were right; you do not go far
enough; but our State is very important
State. Can't on sacrifice principle little for
the sake of expcdiency? Can tyou put off the
dread moment of enunciating your principles
until l5642 What is the harm2 We must
have votes, and we shall lose them If we adopt
this platform. Nearly all our voters are right,
but there are some who are tender-footed
and we must do the best we can in order to
| get the majority in our State" delegate
from another State told me very nearly the
same thing about his State. delegate from
a fourth State, who did not speak, but who
sat by my side, said to me, these resolution
Iors rfsr r.. a.
do you think ~ Said /, ~ am not your con.
science-keeper--vote for yourself. mean t.
vote for them--I have no fears, and CONF
from farther North than you do" He could
not stick his courage up TO this point
though he believing in this platform, and the
great body of the Democratic voters of his
State believed in it, as the 10th Of next No
vember will show. Now all this was said in
committee openly and above board. Wehad
appeals from nearly every one Of the dele
! gates in that committee from the Northwest
ern Statcs-appeals to US in the most bcseech-
ing terms, not that our principles were not
right-not that we did not stand upon the
immutable and invincible truth, but they
opened their bosoms and pointed to their scars
they talked Of the battles they had fought and
the disasters they had incurred they seemed
to be bleeding at every pore, and they appeal
ed to cur humanity 10 let this cup pass from
them-to adopt some soft resolutions, so that
they might rise in the Northwest, stay the
hands Of the of the Black Republicans, and
rear to the skies the flag of the Democratic
faith. Our reply was, 1--WE honor you for
! your wounds and your scars; we want to
bind up your bleeding members, but we say
TO you, we have your own admission that this
platform stands upon the Constitution of the
country, and il you wish to fight, fight on
the rock of TRUTH in that way can you over
throw your enemies; in that way can you
rear the Democratic standard in that way
can you recover the great Northwest and
wrest il from the grasp Of the infidcl and the
| spoiler." You may well imagine that these
appeals from good men, while they excited
our friendly regard, did not shake our deter.
rnination much, to stand upon right plat
form and present right principles Every
word said in that committee by Northern
men, simply strengthened the confidence Of
every gentleman in favor of the majority re
port--in the propricty of that report, and in
the truth Of its principles. All the rub was
fcllow-citizens, the squatter heresy thrust inff
the Democratic creed, or attempted to b
thrust into it many good men having great
confidence in their leader had hastily adopted
| it, and they could not see their way clear to
retreat from it. Even Mr.. Douglas himself
had declared that he would not accept a nom.
nation for the presidency except standing
upon this squatter heresy; and he brought
his friends aud the people who were backing
him up-he brought them all TO his standard
and held them there.
Unfortunately, fellow-citizens, no action Of
definite character was had at Charleston,
and the convention adjourned to Baltimore.
There we metz and II possible, the bitterness
and determination Of the friends Of Mr. Doug
las was greater there than IL was at Charles
ton. The delegates from the Gulf States,
from Delaware, from Arkansas, and from
South Carolina, who for reasons for which
they were accountable 10 their constituents
alone, and not TO the National Convention,
had Withdrawn from the convention, came
back again TO Baltimore, accredited by their
respective States, and demanded rc-admission
into the convention. They asked that read
mission under the very invitation Of the con-
yention at the time Of adjournmentat Charles
ton, when the convention by express resolu-
tion offered an invitation TO all the States
whose delegations in whole or in part had
seeded, TO return to the convention at Bal
timorc with their vacancies filled. That re-
solution was offered by Mr.. Russell, Of Yir-
gina. II was well matured by him. The
construction he put npon it at the time, and
the construction that the convention put upon
IL, was not that the Southern delegates by
leaving the convention had thereby practi-
cally resigned their seats--nothing OF that
kind they were still members Of the con-
yention, although not seeing ct TO exercise
their powers as such; but the construction
put upon 1t was an offer TO the several States
70 supply whatever vacancies might occur
before the reassembling Of the convention, IN
order that each State might be fully repre-
scented there. They came, therefore, to the
convention at Baltimore. and claimed their
seats. Their claim was referred TO the Com
its report, and the convention in general