Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1860-02-03

pie for mastery political inactivity.
The immediate result of this ~, ineness
among those whose voices were valuable
in coupcil, has been seen and felt in the
selection. nomination, aud election of per.
sons for town, county, State, and national
offices, who have been untitled for TIE sta
] tions in which circumstances have placed
them. Owing to general apathy and a
wait of union of feeling and of action
among the conservative portion OF the peo-
pie, the business OF making and unmaking
our rulers has been left entirely in the
hands of bulies, rowdes, and that class of
people who fill our unlicensed grog shops
and gaming houses,-persons who have
been only anxious TO select men from their
own crowd. who were supposed able to in
wife them TO take something at the ex-
pense Of the candidates, and who, when
nominated, were willing TO keep up the
steam of excitement until after election,
with constant succession of treats, sup
pers, abusive speeches, parades, trumpet
ing, tromhoning, cannonading, fire crackers,
rockets, bad whi,key, gun powder and rose
gin! II is a matter of public regret, as
well as as,onishment; this taking from the
cradle, as it were,
The oping and the Ounce.
And making statesmen OF them all At once.
We 20 for measures more than men, as
we should do aud still, when we select
candidates for important offices, it would
be wise for us to remember that some little
may depend upon the men, especially in
times like these, when sensible and reflect
ing people are continually annoyed by the
nonsensical cry of dissolution, coming as it
does from northern fanatics as well as from
southern fire-eaters with equal JUNCTION
"sonething in fires depends upon the CRATE"
and grateful should we be to the people, if
they would contrive to keep great fools and
fanatics great distance from great offices.
Public men might prove more efficient if
toey could borrow brains, like money, and
thus appear with as heavy burden of
knowledge in their heads as they have bur-
dens of greatness strapped upon their backs.
When Isaiah Thomas, one of our old
revolutionary patriots, disciple of DR..
Faust, and an apostle of liberty, began 10
publish the : Worcester. Mass, Spy" which
by the way was one of the oldest and most
useful republican papers in our country, he
adopted as his motto " The Liberty Of the
Press IS essential TO the security Of Free
dom!" And it was written on the head of
his paper, (if the allusion may de allowed,)
like the inscription on the cross of Christ,
in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, besides
French and English. Now we have such
a veneration for the good old republican
principles of the revolution, that we still
hold to the same dsctrine. This liberty,
however, does not consist in abusing gov
eminent, nor in applauding it, in all cases
but it does consist in speaking, with decent
boldness, the TRUTH; in speaking, writing
and publishing our honest and sober senii-
ments, whaterer they may be, relative to
public measures and the official conduct of
public men; and this liberty is guaranteed
to us, here in the North, IN about as many
words by our State constitution. Notwilh-
standing all this, there are persons and
presses in this, our own free State of Yer
mont, who profess to believe, and would, if
possible make the people believe that all
liberty is to be exercised for the benefit of
the democratic party, and for that portion
of the country achich raises cotton
The democratic party, 10 be sure, sag they
are in favor of the largest kind of liberty,
and they so in strong for extending the area
| of freedom; they exercise liberty Tor the
benefit of the Admnistration-an for their
oscn benefit. They hold that the people,
for whom they profess SO much esteem, have
no right TO find fault with public men or
public measures, provided these be only
democratic-th it is the duty of all to be
satisfied with, and to support "the powers
that be"--if the power is IN their own
hands! 1t is political axiom with the
democratic party TO follow blindly in the
footsteps Of the leaders to do otherwise i:
TO take sides with the enemy, and those who
doubt the authority of the leaders are pc.
litieally damned. There is an old maxim
in the laws of England which intimate:
pretty clearly that 'the King can do nc
wrongI So in the democratic party, The
President can do nothing that is not right.
We have been bred in a different school
and we have ever believed that willie Free
men know how 10 appreciate the blessing,
of liberty, and will be always ready, with q
reasonable confidence, to support their rulers
yet that they have the right to watch the
conduct of men in high places. and to be
reasonably jealous of the abuse of power
We believe this is the way to preserve ou
freedom, and TO hand down its blessings I'm
impaired to posterity. We Ielicve it to b,
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