M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1860-01-19
slr. .Dennison1s sia,esmanship.

vi OulO
is presumed to have been called to his
high position on account of his supe-
riOf talents, his wisdom and his patri.
otism; and in his'high station it is
naturally expected'that he will not on.
ilyhhave the qualifications but main.
tain the character and dignity of
statesman. "A careful examination Of
,the lengthy Inaugural Address Of our
present executive will convince any
intelligent man. not blinded by his
preiudices or rendered incapable Of an
impartial judgment by his party feel.
iings, that craftsmanship is a quali-
cation that Mr.. Dennison has not got;
and it is not likely that he ever will
acquire any prominence therein
THE capacity to see things in thoir
true character, and the determination
20 state them as they arc, and lot as
he would have them, 'isndt among the
gifts Of our Executive, and all the ey-
,pcrience of lis lie will not be likely
: to correct this defect in his character.
His inaugural proves that he is sadly
deficient, that he is unequal to the po.
sitien he fills, and that he has an in
ward consciousness Of the fact and
Nwould fain conceal his lack of states.
manship by a CANDY display 6fwords
and rhetorical HouTishes, signifying
nothing. AS a school boys compost
ton, Mr.. Dennison's Inaugural Ad-
dress would hardly be regarded as a
merito-rious effort; as State paper
emenating from the Governor of a
great commonwealth, itpessesses nei.
,her the logic, the dignity or the power,
that is expected in document from
an Incoming executi We. AS college
composition or a lyceum lecture, it
would be admired for its emptiness
and laughed at for its ridiculous as
sumption of stateliness; as an express
sion of the sentiments ofnearly half a
million Of voters, it necessarily as.
sumes an Importance far beyond its
merits, makingits absurditie3far more
Objectionable, as they are thps made
the moro notable. We Lave already
exposed some of the inconsistent ,ab-
surdities of the document, and will
now briefly allude to others.
The Governor attributes most Of
the prosperity and happiness of. the
people OF Ohio to the absence of Afri-
can slavery within the limits of the
State; and the want of progress in the
slave States he attributes to the pres
,ence. OF the same institution. Now if
this view'b correct, slavery is a mis-
fortune ofthe Southern States, and if
it be misfortune, it is unbecoming
lin the Governor of Ohio to berate and
abuse our sister States about it as Mr..
Dennison has done. The mstortunes
of an individual or a community
should be respected. They are not
the proper subjects of ridicule and
abuse, and one guilty Of insulting
those who have misfortune entailed
'on than, commits an objectionable
violation of decency.
In his long indictment against the
South, Mr.. Dennison dwells upon
what he is pleased to term "the viola
tion ofthe Missouri Compact of1S2O."
This inflated nonsense constantly
used BY Republican speakers has so
oftenibeen exploded that itisunneces,
sary to refute it again. Mr.. Denni-
son has time and again refuted it by
his own words. The Missouri Com
promise virtually established slavery
ssouth oflthirty.six degrees thirty min.
,1tes, and Mr.. Dennison holds that
Congress has no constitutional au-
rthority to establish slavery anywhere,
hence, according to his own logic, that
Compromise was unconstitutional,
and should have been repealed. How
absurd, then, it is for Mr.. Dennison
to denounce one section of the country
for merely aiding in the repeal Of an
unconstitutional enactment. His for
lmal accusation against the South that
sshe is in favor of the re.opening of the
African slave trade is ridiculous and
absurd. This accusation is notorious
,ly false. 1T has oeen denied by the
Southern people through their repre-.
sentatives in Congress, and through
their public meetings and presses, in
the most solemn manner, and the facts
of the case attest the sincerity of the
derial. Any ono could tell Mr.. Den
nison that the re.opening of the Afri-
can slave trade and the free mporta,
ton of negroes would reduce the value
of Southern slaves immensely, and
thus ruin many of the shareholders
of the South. In view of this state Of
the case, how could be arraign the
Southern people upon a charge SC
grave, and yet so utterly groundless.
He insults the people who have eie.
waited him when he places so low an
estimate on their intelligence, and at
'tempts to palm off upon their creduli-
ty the remnants Of an exploded hum
hpo, Flo tbio 'ITa aan,oc to ha unoon. .