The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1860-08-03
speech of Hon. John Hickman

Mr.. Hickman said:
Mr.. President AND GENTLEMEN the in
telligent voter will so shape his action as
to make it conduce to the success of a prin-
ciple, rather than the elevation of a man.
He will feel this to be the more incumbent
upon him at such time as the present,
when the tendencies of parties are more
distinctly marked than in any previous
campaign. 1t will be my object, this even
ing, to endeavor to exhibit, in distinct
light, the dividing line between the politi-
cal parties Of the day, and to ascertain, if
possible, what, in all probability, would be
the effect, upon the country, of the election
of the respective candidates for the Presi-
dency.
Ii this were a strife merely between iudi-
vidual men, it would possess but trihiug i'm
portance, aud l should not trouble you with
either remark or suggestion. But as ! re-
gard the contest, the determination will
soon be made not alone rs to our value in
the confederacy, but MS to the destiny of the
nation itself
The policy of our government is, in many
respects, underlined. The more serious ques-
rions affecting us have but recently became
topics of careful consideration. Our fathers
were unable to foreSee, during the forma-
ton of the Constitution, the greater en-
barrassments to which the future of the
country was to be subjected, and conse-
quently no provision was made against
them. Subjects which distracted and divid-
ed them, in their deliberations, have lost
much of their former CO nsequence, and we
seem TO be more anxious to ascertain what
they should have said further, than what
they actually did say. Even the contro-
Versies in which we ourselves have been en-
gagged within the last decade have been set
tied or lost sight of, and we are now aboatto
enter into that conflict which is to define
many of the most important powers of the
government and to fix the character OF the
dominent institutions of the country. The
proprety of re-eligibility to Office, the ex-
act relations between federal and local au-
thority, the constitutionality of banks and
internal improvements, the regulation of
the currency, and distribution of the pro-
ceeds of the public lands, are no longer agi-
tated and discussions upon them are only
10 be found in our past history, and in the
fossil remains OF extinct parties. 1t may
in truth be said that old things have passed
away and all things have become new.
There was time, not very far back in
the past, when slavery was universally ad-
mitted to be wrong IA Sc, unwise in prac-
lice, detrimental to both individuals and
communities, and against the spirit and
genius of our free system. Now, however,
it is declared TO be divine it its origin, the
highest type of human civilization, and in
dispensble to the maintenance of a Demo-
cratic republic. Formerly it was regarded
as a condition to be constantly reduced, and
finally to be extinguished. Now, on the
contrary, the demand is urged that it shall
he extended, and made controlling. Here |
find the cause or source of the great politi-
col Of bo hon IL h.
come national institution and a govern
ing power in the country, or shall it re-
main as the Constitution left it? This is
not an inquiry propounded- by us, of the
North, but forced upon us by our brethren
OF the South. They require an answer at
our hands, and " cannot avoid response II
we would. Silence upon our part, under
the circumstances, could not be construed
otherwise than asafirmative other claims
make the distinct avowal that slavery
seeks the acquisition of all our new States
for two objects; first, to secure the value OF
slaves; ard. second, to direct the powers a
the Federal Government.
"The irrepressible conflict" so frequent.
ly commented on and denounced by the
South, is constantly admitted and acted OF
by them. They are too astute as observers
and sagacious as politicians not TO know
there is a necessary and unending autago
nism between liberty and slavery. If they
thought differently, there would be far more
peace and harmony between the sections
II is their full appreciation of the struggle
for the mastery which arms them for the
conflict, and induces them to wrestle fD,
the victory. There is no more evident fac
than this, that the advocates of slavery seeh
its extension so as to limit the influence O
the sentiment of freedom We hate tyrau
ny, and would prevent such a consumma