The Democratic press. (Eaton, Preble County, Ohio) 1860-1865, 1860-10-25
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vince our fathers, that they ought,
in view of the inherent inability of
man to govern himself, to abandon
the liberty they had purchased at a
fearful price, and form our govern
ment upon the basis of q limited
monarchy. Democrats of to day
need not search far to find men of
the opposition who will fully admit
they arc not yet convinced that
Hamilton was in error. The doc
trines they propose applying to the
regulation of our Territories shows
conclusivcly, that although the
name of the opposition has several
times changed since then, the faith
and spirit is the same. 1t is the
denial of the right of our people to
local self-government, to which
Douglas and his followers are fight
ing at this hour. We are engaged
in no new fight, for
Freedoms battle once begun,
Bcqueathed from bleeding sire to son,
Is always fought and never won"
And from 1776 until to day, dem
ocrats have fought and conquered
over and over again, upon the same
old issue, and yet planted upon the
doctrine that the people are capable
of sclf-government, are battling
against the opposition, who denyit
With a contest based upon such
an issue there can be no truce, no
cessation in the warfare, until the
great doctrine Of our party, the ca
pability of citizens and brothers to
carry on a local self government is
established so firmly as to be safe
from the assaults of foes both from
without and within. Our gallant
leader has not enlisted for q brief
campaign. The miserable theory
that it is needful for government
to interfere and make local laws, a
necessity which can only arise
when the capacity of the people
fails, and must be based if at all up
on the presumption of their inca
pacity, should and will yet as in
olden time rouse the just pride and
resentment of our free born citi-
zens. Look at the results, the doc
trine must work. For the sake of
saying that our territories shall
contain no African slave, they arc
willing to say that the descendants
of revolutionary sires, shall be
branded as incompetent to make
the "needful rules and regulations
of the the internal policy of the in
situations of which they are the
founders and the life. Their rep
resentatives cannot vote in Con-
gress, they become the vassals of a
ruling power which would not al
low them to help mouldit its policies.
This doctrine which thus strikes at
our race and kindred, which assails
the spirit of our institutions and is
; calculated to reduce our territories
to condition of the old Roman
provinces, in which the status and
privileges, the rights and immuni-
ties of the dweller were without
his consent to be fixed by q great
central power, can never become
the doctrine here until the teach.
ings and tcnets of the opposition
+ shall have SO corrupted the spirit
and degraded the faith of the ma.
jority Of the American people, that
they forsake that glorious theory O.
self government, which sprane
from the deep thought and fierce
conflicts of the middle ages, ant
illumed this Western world with
its new born light. Believe not ii
that false cry of freedom for tn,
territories" which begins and ends
with the declaration hat the PEG,
pie cannot govern themselves
Renew yolr courage fellow Demo
Gratis by the thrilling memories o.
the past, inspire your hopes with
bright anticipations of the future
Borne down by tho combined
wright of a false and corrupt Ad
m%inistration, and the old unchang
ed opposition in three great States
which rightfully belong to us, anc
which will after a time return i
we are true to our great doctrine
which has often triumphed in dark
er hours, shout along the line, "b'