New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-04-16
FROM FROM WASHINGTON.
DEMOCRACY ssy.ss ARIsrocRAcY.

peTVere1ODe stated Sbat pas t0pg Oeen apparent
70 ewry ,hipkiue man, that in the matstOns of our
whites we were at last coming to a natural division
III parties, in whch the arstoera6c elements of
society were being ranged on one side, aud che
dsmec attic or tue other IL has always been evil
dent to every rejecting mind, thai the allowance
between the Democratic masses Of the Free States
and the Shareholders of the South was an unnat9'
gal union that must sooner later come 10 al end;
Their sentiments and interests oelBg dNcrse anu
antsgOBistic, they could not always DC SePt III an
enforced union The wonder Is thas tnat aui'n haIs
existed 80 long. With this separation OF Nortnern
Damocrscv tTom the Southern aristOcracy there
naturally comes the afiliatOn of the arlstocracy oil
ghe No,fb with that of the South. This Northern
Sr;stocracy Is one based on wealth, commerce, and
trade. Itis money aristocracy merely.
This general declaration is perverted ey Inc
Iye,.H ito an admission that RepubicsRism is
as,nrav opposed to all the Industrial interests Of
fhe eourgry. And thereupOn discourse of char
,eteristc exapQeratOn and paTtzaDshp Is preached.
Twill make this misrepresentation the occasion Of
few observations, calculating little further the /
the idea / expressed.
There exists in every country the aristOcratc and
democratic element of society. Ours is no eKcep-
ton. We have the slavehediDg and planting aris- |
fOcracy of the South aud the money aristOcracy of
the North. Che democratic element of the country
resides almost wholly in the Free States. They
have the making of a democratic element in the
Slave States and one day it may assume its func-
tons ss such; but at present the nOnslaveholders
Of the SOulh, have no voice except In unison with
the slave burners. They are degraded aud re-
pressed people unlike any ether on the face of
The earth. They are neither laborers like the
slaves ner idlers like the masters. They held an
anomalies position pominally higher than the slave,
but as a class, in physical comforts below them.
Ignorant and indOlent, ground between the upper
and lower stones of society, they have standing,
10 reputation, no character. We regard them as
the most unhappy class of mortas in the world,
with the ewes chances for any future of hope, any
good time coming.
The real democracy of the country is thus wholly
in the Free States Here we have them fresh,
pure, strong, bTistlng with activity, energy, and
power and still militant 0ter every achievement.
This democracy has made the country what it is.
All that we have DONE all that we are, all of ma
tiOnal reputation that the country possesses, comes
Of the Free State democracy. In trade, IN me-
rbapic INDUSTRY in the higher grades OF manufac-
lures, in maritime Development IN arts and IN
arms, we are ODly what we are through the growth
Of that democracy which has sprung from the I'M
fTammeled expansion Of the democratic idea in the
Free States Our Northern arstoc acy is an after
growth, and is the weight democracy is compelled
to carry in ITS race. ..
Heretofore large part of this great Democratic
element has been in Pohtcal utilization VITA the
slaye owners This has been the case particularly
with the rural portions The reason being that the
y Southern slavehOlding aristOcracy originally had
Al the advantage of Democratic leaders at the time
" the elements of political society, In It's early
stages first began TO chrstOlize. That very
citation, accidental in its creation, drove the budding
arst0cIatic developments of trade, commerce,
wealth, conservatism in the North into political
OppOsitiOn and this bastard condition of things has
continued for half century, until the fierce of ideas
is at length, aided By favOrng circumstances, rap-
turing the connection.
But the slsyehOldiDg aristOcracy having at length
broke ground, and biazOned forth their natural aud
inherent Ant-DemOcratc sentiments, the two
forces are now dividing on fundamental principles.
As this work progresses, the arstOcratie element of
the North naturally shifts its position, and MAIN
tanning the attitude towards its natural antag
onist in the North it swings into line alongside of
IFS natural ally in the South. And this is what |
meant speaking Of the reformation Of parties on
natural divisions.
The Southern STAKEHOLDER having dropped the
mask of Democracy, and now fully asserting the
sristOcratic sentiment, we are entering upon to-
tally new cycle of our political history in which |
new combinations are inevitibe, and which assume |
radical character. 1t would be an interesting In
quiTy 10 try to ascertain Just where we to land
in this transition, if we had time and room for |
such political speculations. Those who entertain |
steady faith in the Democratic idea can have DO
doubt, however, about the general result. In Re-
public we cannot allow it to admit of question:
whether 10 the contest of public opinion the aristO
cratic the democratic sentiment shall 60 to the
wall. We, to be sure, labor under the prOdgiOus
disadvantage of having to contend against the dead
weight of large number OF slaYehOding cOnmun'
ties where the free expression Of thought lnexOr-
ably kept down, and where brute force and violence
is substituted for the ordinary restraints of modern
civilization But, even with this disadvantage, our |
democracy must triumph. The money of the North |
can maj shall the brutalties of the North in aid of
the narrowing ana wrong doing aristOcrat OF the |
Slave States.
The mercenary trading spirit so far as it has In
innate connections with the South, can also be |
relied on to sustain that arstOcracy, however |
offensive its acts however outrageous its preten'
siOps. We have not come to the millennium yet, |
and vast masses Of mankind will show themselves |
earthly sensual and devilish, if they approached
on the side of the pocket nerve even in the great
Republic. But the great body of the democratic
masses of the North do not hold these relations to
the aristocratic elements of our society They are
quite removed from and independent of them
And it is their independent action that Is the stay
and hope of Repubicanism. They, at least, will
resist the reaction first set on foot by Mr. Calhoun
and now being urged and driven by HeTatds that
blow discOrdant trumDets by perverts trained TO
the sophisticatOD of their understandings, like
Charles O'COnOr, by political bruisers, energetic
through corruptons, like Mayor Wood, BY selfish
and degraded Influences Of all SORTS drunk with the
spirit Of Gain, with leaden eyes and the brains of
brutes, staggering in a moral midnight to the as
sault upon the most precious interests OF humanity,
regardless OF consequences In the immediate con-
test before us these are backed by the broken and
blended members Of the old Democratic host, al
ways hitherto used te success, but now bewlldered
by defeat and the loss of old leaders, who, for want
of Intelligence still cling 10 the EMMY name OF O