Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1860-08-25
MUTATION. OR DOUGLAS ON THE
STUMP,


STUMP.
The time was when stump speaking was
not looked upon with favor in New England.
lacucal men are not given to much talking
and the New Englanders have been, il they are
not now, eminendy practical men. 1t may be
stated as general rule, that the practical abili-
ty of any people is less in proportion as their
political cunning and acumen are greater.
The real, sterling sentiments, however, of a
practical people will never fail in utterance for
want of speaker No speeches have ever
been more eloquent or effective than that Of
Mr.. Webster which opened the issue on slave
ry and that of Mr.. Sumner last winter which
may be said to have closed it. Mr.. Webster
amidst the mary sophistries of southern stump
speech making clearly pointed out in his speech
against Mr.. Hayne the track which our nation
al progress should pursue, and Mr.. Sumner,
some thirty years afterwards, brought forward
as an evidence of the business of Mr.. Webster's
views the barbarsm which has come upon us
by negecting to pursue that course which he
pointed out. All the other speeches made in
the interval, history will count as nothing.
But of late years stump-speaking is becom-
ing more common in New England and we
must say not much to our credit. Nothing that
has come down to us from either the bema of
Greece or the rostrum of Rome ever equaled
in froth, and galvanic straining and vulgar an
ccdote, the illusions that generally come from
our stumps of the United States; and stump
speaking may be called the bad habit which
New England is catching frou, the rest of the
country; it is not native here.
And least of all has it been customary in
New England to see candidate for the Pres
idency stumping the country. The dignity of
the presidential office has been every where
considered as something too exalted to be as
ISOLATED with so low an exhibition of political
qualifications. To see man upon the stump
camoring for the presidency is Notifying
sn9etRReehf RRAfe Nd: Douglas, IN his elecuoneernp
tour of New England, had arrived at White
River Junction in his native state, some three
hundred persons, drawn together chiefly from
curiosity had assembled to see him and hear
him speak. For stump he decided TO make
having lost the use for which it was originally
designed, was set up along side of the road to
answer, we believe, as kind of store house
Its top, some seven or eight feet high was
pretty high aim for the Little Giant" but his
ambition, aided by ready offer # Irish assis-
tence, determined him to surmourt it. Four
sturdy lrishman, standing on its lofty top, ex-
tended to him their willing hands, and thus,
after some undignified sprawling, he was drawn
up into the full view of the expectant throng
He then proceeded to address what he termed
'he VAST multHude' before him. He spoke
for fifteen minutes, while the Loco (motive)
was kissing its impotence at the delay The
four sturdy Irishmen, his stalwart supporters
stood at his back in grave determination, ready
to sustain him, not only against his native state,
but against the world. Spectacle sublime
What group for an artist, How Illustrative
of the political sublinity to which Mr.. Douglas
aspires!!!
Let us pause for moment and contemplate
that view of the democratic factions which this
exhibition gives US. We see two wings of the
young man of nothing but sophisticated abili-
ties, Mr.. breckenridge, who represents the in
fiuences of the African race on this continent.
while the other is headed by this Mr. Douglas,
whom we see so stouty sustained by the Irish.
Such are the leaders, and such are the influences
which they are marshaling against the republ-
can party. Whilst representing slaves and
lrishmen, they call themselves national and
seek tn rule the das,inios of tho 1Ar.erioar. poo
pie Whilst representing slave labor which
drives all other labor out, and Irish labor along
side of which American labor will not work,
they are asking free and American laborers for
their votes. They ask our intelligent artisans
who invent machines and read the newspapers,
TO submit to be ruled by African slaves and re-
cent importations of ignorant Irish. With in
telligence, skill and the majority all on the side
OF freemen, they ask that these freemen shall
yield political supremacy to the slave
MIR. Douglas, in one of his New England
speeches. says that Vermont is a good place to
be born; in which is as much as to imply that
smart young men like himself will leave it to
go to the West. Such in fact is the case
Our young men take their muscles, their sinews
their intelligence, which are our capital, with
them to the West And besides this they take
much OF our money to buy FARMS and our old
men lend much money there which is never re-
turned. Thus our labor and capital go to build
up the West; and what do we receive in return P
DO they buy our agricultural produce. No we
buy from them. DO they stimulate our manu.
facturese No; led on by Mr.. Douglas they
join in with the African labor to implore low
tariff upon us and give their manufacturing 10
Old England rather than to Ne,o England.
And thus, after impoverishing us in a variety
of ways, and diminishing our political rep
resentation in favo; of African labor, Mr..
Douglas now comes to us and asks US for our