Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1860-02-18
POL IT 0OAl.
From the South Carolinian.
Mr. McClernnnd, of Illinois


Mr McClernand, of Illinois
The Charleston Hcrc"ry having singled
out Col. Ashmorc as an object of attack, for
voting for Mr. McClornand, of Illinois, in
justice to him we publish the following cx
tracts from the remarks made by MIR. McCler.
nand, when he cast his vote for Mr.. Smith
The grand flourish which the .Nercury makes
about this being a committal to Judge Douglas
and squatter sovereignty, is as absurd and il
logical as though it were to hold all the Dem
ocrats committed to the principles of the old
Whig party because they voted for Mr.. Smith.
The one Is about as reasonable as the other
The other members of the delegation, and the
five members from Alabama had the right to
do as they pleased. SO had Col Ashmore,
and the remainder of the Southern delegation.
The entire conduct of Mcssrs McClcrnand,
Larrabee, Nallandigham, and other North
western Democrats, has been such that no
Southern man can be blamed for VOTING for
either of them. In vindication of this posi
ton we submit the following romarks, made
by Mr.. McClornand when he cast his vote for
Mr.. Smith
Mr.. McCLERNAND-Mr. Clerk, differ
from my honorable friend from New York,
[Mr. John Cochrane. / think it is the duty
this House to vote for Mr.. Smith for Speaker.
How stands the case? For some eight weeks
we have been trying to elect a Speaker
Throughout the whole of that period | have
uniformly voted for a Democrat-somctimcs
for one Democrat, sometimes for another, but
always for Democrat standing inside of the
Democratic organization, except when 7 voted
for my anti-lIccompton friend from Indiana.
Mr.. Davis In short we have tried the
availability of almost every Democrat in the
House, yet have failed to elect any one. Not
only have we failed to elect Democrat but
no one has been elected, and the House is
still unorganizcd and must continue so until
we come to the determination to sacrifice some
thing ofsnersonal and party feeling for com
mon 1DJea$. l, for one, am prepared to do
sSe; and since we have been informed that it
49,. 49, tG.powcr to elect Mr.. Smith over Mr..
2SaAls6 hasten to say so. | say this as a
cnlocrat-as n Democrat from the North
SgESt~ Am mistaken in what the gentleman
treW entucky Mr. Mallory had said Did
~ 9say That it was now in the power of the
the SsssssS.s.ss:sJ 8 q .as.sA.sss ssS,sSslcct ct
Mr. Smith, by joining their votes with the
votes already cast for him?
MIR. MALLoRY.-In response to the gen
tlcmans inquiry, will say that the vote now
cast for Mr.. Smith, with the votes of the
Democratic party proper, will elect him.
MIR. MCCLERNAND.-I am glad to be reas-
surcd or this point. | shall vote for Mr..
Smith, not only to avoid further delay, but
because the country has become tired ay,
nauscatcd, with our continued wrangles and
squabbles; because both the character and
national interests of the country are suffering,
seriously suffering, for the want of necessary
legislation; and because my own constituents
are directly concerned that the wheels of GOV
ernment should be no longer stayed in their
regular, onward course. Our spectacle now
is that of Government paralyzcd and power
less. How humiliating to the country! How
discouraging to the frends of freedom every
where! For these reasons, among others [
will not pause now to assign, L will vote for
Mr.. Smith; not because he is Democrat
but because he is not a Republican, and be-
cause he IS not Know Northing, or Ameri-
can, 50 called / vote for him because, all
though not n Democrat, lie is the next thing
to tan old line Wing, national Whig, a
Clay and Webster Wing, free from all modern
,Sn's. would have pr 'ferrcd that he should
have been Democrat but as he is not, /
''No hi'h do iS iS---dS w nlS--dnu uOuDJ
not my constituents will approve the act.
Many of them are old line Wings, who have
united with the Democracy in common effort
to rescue the Constitution and the Union from
the party which now bclcaguer it. Forget
ting past differences, they are united in their
present endeavors to roll back the turbi ! wave
of Black Republcanism which is threatening
to deuge our fair land of promise. The
ephemeral questions of policy which formerly
divided Wings and Democrats have ceased to
exist Bank" tariff" and "distribu-
tion," are no longer practical measures, but
have either fulfilled their purposes, or other
wise have become obsolete by lapse of time
and change of circumstances.
"The all-absorbing issue now before the
country is the slavery question and in re-
gard to that question the Wing and Demo
cratic parties affirmed the same doctrine in