Pointe Coupee Democrat. [volume] (False River [i.e. New Roads], Parish of Pointe Coupee [La.]) 1858-1862, 1860-03-03
Address by the Hon. T.G. Davidson to His
Constituents.
To the Electors of the Third Congressional Dis
trict of Louisiana.

from the seat of the Federal Govern
ment, the importance Of the present cri-
sis in tue affairs Of our country, and the
peculiar circumstances in which | am
placed as your representative, obi'Se
me to take this method Of addressing
you.
One of my colleagues, the Hon. Miles
Taylor, has written and authorized the
publication of a letter, in which he ex-
presses the opinion that Stephen A.
Douglas, Of Illinois, ought to be the
Democratic nominee for President at the
next election. Without that, Mr.. Tay-
lor "sees no wclIfoundcd hope Of the
preservation Of the existing Union with
honor to ourselves :" and he declares
that "ifhe were in Louisiana he would
do all in his power to secure the election
of DELEGATES to Charleston in favor OF
Douglas" This is frank and fair. Mr..
Taylor has a right to his opinion. 40
not deny his sincerity nor impugn his
motives. But | differ from him so en-
tircly, that l think myself bound to ex-
press my dissent, lest you might regard
me as faithless to your interests and
rights.
The politicians and newspapers in the
interest of Judge Douglas, or some OF
them, have been playing "a bold game OF
brag. In the North they boast of his
strength at the South, and in the South
they seek to make the impression that
he is very powerful with the Democracy
of the North. Neither the one story nor
the other is true. Being here at the po-
litical center of the Union, with as good
opportunity as any other person Of OBJ
serving the signs of public feeling, de-
clare it to be my deliberate conviction,
that Douglas would be the weakest can
didate that could be selected from among
all the men who have yet been promi-
nently spoken of. He is a shrewd polit-
ical manager; he is very industrious in
pushing his claims, and he knows how
to quicken the activity Of his friends
This gives him great advantages in local
conventions and State committees over
those gentlemen who think it their duty
to await quietly the action of the party;
but it does not furnish any reason for
believing that he can carry the electoral
votes even of the States where he seems
to have a majority Of the politicians in
his favor. Most of those States are
Black Republican to the core, and in
those which the Democratic party might
win with a good candidate, Mr.. Douglas
has TO chance whatever at the polls
II 4,,, =, Nov v,.B, Now Torcor
Pennsylvania, and Indiana, the leading
Democrats have committed themselves
so strongly against him, and were com
PEELED to speak so freely of his recent
opinions and conduct, that they cannot
possibly support him with any degree
of efficiency; the utmost he could hope
from them in the canvass would be the
charity Of their silence, and that is all
they could give him consistently with
their own honor.
Can we afford to go into the mighty
J battle of this year with a leader upon
whom it will be impossible to rally our
whole force? Have we any strength to
throw away? 1t may be said that Mr..
Douglass weakness is not his own fault,
but that 0 his enemies. Let this be con.
ceded for the arguments sake; it is then
his misfortune. But still it does not
prove that the Charleston Convention
ought to buckle the burthen of his mis-
fortunes on the back of the party when
it is about to run a race which it can on.
, ~ win by casting aside every super1u.
u Gus weight.
t In addition to these considerations
t there are others equally weighty on the
same side of the scale. Judge Doug
: lass avowed opinions are in direct hos
e tility to the constitutional rights Of thu
S South. He holds that the Territorial
Legislatures established by Congress.
have the power either to prohibit thu
emigration of a STAKEHOLDER into a new
j Territory with his slaves, or take then
S away from him after he goes there. W
), thought we had achieved a great victo
ny when the right to our property in tin
t Territories was declared by Congress
+ and the Supreme Court to be sacred AM
~inyiolable under the Constitution, Blu
Judge Douglas has been doing all h
) tonld, for some time past, to place us il
8 a condition far worse than we were a
the beginning. It is true that, as h
. has changed his opinions several time
: already, he might change them again
but have yet seen no sure sign Of hi
repentance. Within the last year b
= has declared his resolution not to accep
. the Charleston nomination unless hi
u platform on this subject was adopted
ID If, therefore, we take the man, we mus
is not only take him with his principle
unchanged, but we must i%ncorporat
: those principles into our political Greco
a and agree to surrender our constit,
tional rights into the hands of our enc
mics.