The Evansville daily journal., 1860-08-20

:
representatives from every Stats IN the Tn
ion, and was more national than either OF
the other It was the only NGtlotdE Con-
vention. AS to the platforms adopted IN
the respective Conventions, l will simply
say that have contempt for all platforms,
aud believe they are generally written by
politicians, with mere view Of catching
votes, and don't amount to much after this
end is accomplished. A very talented
friend of mine, looking with peculiar face
at Mr.. Seward, when he was making
speech aAknt the different platforms, said
/" when the cars are in motion, passengers
are requested to stand OF the platform. -
ILaughter.1 So it is when the political
machinery gets started, the platforms are not
used at all. They are only steps upon which
politicians mount 10 get into the car of
state. Laughter. They are mere ma
chimes for the purpose of securing the cleo
ton of some particular man. Just here let
me remark, while speaking of the personnel
of these Conventions, that l believe in the
main, that the gentlemen who composed
them all were, for politicians average hon
est, and none of them very bad. Laugh
ter No one Of them that | can recollect
could properly be called corrupt in the
ordinary sense of the term. There may
have been some of them, who would not
stand tied-who would slip the bride, as
was said of Mr.. Van Buren,. Laughter L
Of all the Conventions that met, l have
no idea that there were so many cunning
ones as were the Douglas Democratic gath
ering. They knew how to fling dust in the
popular eyes about as we'll as any set of
men that | ever saw. They were busily
engaged tn fixing up their platforms in such
a manner as to get the disbursement of that
little bill of $50, 100000, which is annually
expended by the Government.
THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION OF
CONSERVATISM.
Those who met at Chicago, think, were
about like the rest of us. They wee COM
posed of two classes. One class consisted
of those who formally organized that party
and laid down the foundation of its policy.
They were ultra in their views on the Sla-
very question. The other class were the
| conservative Republicans. l have often
told you, and l believe it, that there is not a
more conservative State in the whole United
States than the one in which we live.
have told Southern representatives that there
could not be found more conservative peo-
pie in the world than ours, or people more
prepared to recognize the rights of the
North and the South under the Constitu-
ton to every possible extent
The question which arose when that Re-
publican party met, was Which of the
| classes which composed it, should prevail.
| Mr. Seward was understood to be the advO-
cate of the higher law. He had proclaimed
the doctrine that slavery could not exist
anywhere-that it was illegal even in the
States, and could be abolished where it now
| exists, by the recommendation of Spooner's
book, which is far more dangerous than
Helpers, because it denies that there is any
! legal Slavery anywhere in the L Inited
! States This hook insists that Slavery be-
ing against the law of nature, the States
have no right to enslave anybody-that
every negro is by birth and by nature a
! free man. MIR. Seward indorsed that book
it was a dangerous doctrine. He was
strongly pressed in the Convention, but a
majority of those composing it, being con-
servative men, were not willing to nominate
him They took Mr.. Lincoln because he
| did not and never bad subscribed to the doc
trine that all Slavery was illegal. He holds
! that Slavery in the States in which il now
exists is legal, and that the people Of the
! Slave States have the right to the protec-
tion of their Slave property-that the Con-
| gress of the United States has no right to
| abolish Slavery in the District of Columbia
without the consent of the holders of the
Slaves. He holds that although he in
sisted that Congress should pass the
Wilmot Proviso-yet when the peo-
pie came to form their State Constitution. if
they decided TO have slaves, they were le-
ultimately entitled to admission as Slave
States into the Union. Therefore Mfr. Lin
coin, being more conservative than Mr.. Sew
ard, was nominated, and | believe from
what l can learn on the subject, that he is
chiefly indebted for his nomination to the
conservatism of Indiana Republicans-Indi~
ana having always been regarded as one of
the most conservative States in the Union.
Mr.. Lincoln was nominated, rs have before
said, upon the ground of his being more con-
| servative than Mr.. Seward. Hence we may
conclude that the Southern people ought to
| have been gratihed with the success OF con-
servatism thus far frankly concede to y0u
that I 11aS ardtifed, and achether U0te for
Nr. Lincoln or no, has nothing to do Vifh ii.
But conservatism has triumphed thus far
over ultraism, and the party has demonstra-
ted to the country, thatthe great body ofte
Republicans are conservative, ,chen they could
be aroused to thenecessity Of taking the policy
| of the party into their o10H hands. But the
Southern d,suRionists lcere mortified at The
| Hl0n1tnGnon OF 4hF. LthcoEly because thfy utd
not 1Uant to see Northern SsctloadliSm gj0ing
asOay to conservative sentiment. They did
not want to see conservatism in the North.
They wanted to see in the Republican Con-
vention at Chicago the nomination of man
who would refuse to execute the Fugitive
Slave Law, because they desired to say that
what they had been telling the people down
South was all true. This being the case they
were mortified because Mr. Seward was not
nominated.
THE UNION CONVENTION.
Mr. Bell was nominated by convention
composed of delegates from all the States
l claim for the Convention that nominated
him no superiority over the other Conven-
tons but this | will say, that | believe
there never assembled in the United States
body of men who for wisdom, caimness,
disinterestedness and sincerity were their
superors, unless it was some of those early
assemblages of our forefathers, who were
without equals. [Applause.] They met
for tho rurnOsa Of nominating Drocaa1ino