Sugar planter. [volume] (West Baton Rouge [i.e. Port Allen, West Baton Rouge Parish, La.]) 1856-1925, 1860-05-19
Uncertainties.

Convention At baltimore has producen
one effect rarely Witnessed in the po'it'-
cal contests Of this country. As u gen.
eraI rule, a studied effort is usually made
by partisans to appreciate aud dispsragge
the choics made by their opponents
the wal Of principle too frequently de-
generst ting into an ign"ble assault on the
private character Of public men. On this
occasion, however, we have been surpri.
sgd and graufed, not merely at the to-
tai absence of all PERSONAL acrimon., bu,
1T the spontaneous, cordial al d almos,
universal com , enda,;on bestowed upon
! the National Union candidates; and
This, too, e%mana,iug ss freely from Dem
ocratic adherents as from the political
supporters Of the nominees.
Doubtless this liberal splrt is due in
some measure to the unbIem;shed repu-
tation Of Messrs. Bell and Everett. Al
though both Of them have been man,
years in political life, they have enjoyed
the rare happiness Of escaping the en-
venomed tooth Of SANDER. No STAN
rests upon their escutcheou. 70 foul
accusation dirns the >potIess brit'iancy Of
their career. Even the censorious and
malignant, If such there be, car find no
charge Of per6dy, no faint Of d'shonor,
to allege sgains them. But there IS an
other reason for the kindly feeling with
which the nominations have been recei-
we'd, aud it consists in the ~looseness and
carelessness with which men Low-a-day,
regard party ties. Politics in the South
is nearlo free from that extreme bitter
ness and uncomprom;sing an.agonism
which marked it in former periods. Par
ties are in = transition state. Principles
are so iII-de6ned ; distinctive liues Of
separation have become 10 nearly obI"-
Grated that men scarcely know how they
stand to-day, or where they vii! 60 to-
morrow. The uncertainty Of their poIi,-
icaI position ; the possibility Of citcum-
stances may require them 10 sustain can.
didates to whose tenets they have bee"
long and arden,ly opposed the presen-
,iment that there IS no positive fxednes>
in their present party associssio"s-alI
combine to admonish the citizens Of the
expediency Of putting aside the old
leaven Of political aversion and distrcs:.
While, however, Bell aud Everett are
greeted with 20 much kindliness, and The
opinion is everywhere expressed that bet
ter men and true patriots could not well
have been selected, it becomes the inn
par,ia! and independent cl'rouicIer Of the
times to guard the reader from the too
rapid inference that the conservative no.
miuees are TO distance al! competitors.
or even to secure as large a p%ropor,io"
OF the popular suffrages. lie would b.
a rash aud thoughtless man who, in the
existing conjecture Of affairs, would u"-
dertake to predict the amount of sup
port these nominations will receive. W.
been frequently 'nterroyated on this
point, aud have uniformly offered the
same reply. 1t is beyond mortal lie"
even to form All approxi"'ative estimate
Of the strength Of the Union candidates
until after the other parties shall have
left lively concluded their action. just
Look at the uncertainty Of the future. In
the first place the great Democratic pa'-
ty is apparently rent asunder-the Ncr'h
and part Of the South forming one wing,
the rest Of the South forming the other.
Two Conventions are to be caIled-one
At Richmond, another at Baltimore. The
split has been made ostensibly on the
question it is confesssdIy doubt
full whether Il compromise can be effected
and harmony restored. l: the two Con-
ventions continue At logerhesds, and NO
innate separate candidates, the cohesive
power Of the Democracy will be utterly
and its influence upon the IL
g'ons who are wont to respond 70 its
call will be anihilated. Under such cir
it would not b. all astonish-