New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-03-23

To return tn Douglas. He il releutlessly pur-
SEED by the Administration. Though 81. b., "
and seine of his official advisers. and hordes Of un-
behring's here at the Capital and all over the coun-
| try, are doubtless among the most corrupt caihs,
the rottenest rogues that ever laid in wait to pick
pockets or plGnder the public still, being yet out
side of the Pententiary, they not destitute OF
| influence. And every one of them, from the Pres
ident down to the smallest Postmaster, makes ii his
business to abuse Dou las and plot against his nom
inatOn. And the inccssant barking and swapping
u these official ours has some effect.
| Since the South recovered from the panic, in
spired by the sudden raid of that extraordinary and
inscrutable man, John Brown; and since 1T became
evident that the number of persons cognlzant OF his
scheme was exceedingly small and that the Repub-
| lican leaders dsayOwcd all sympathy with his pro-
| iect the Shareholders have not deemed it 80 haz-
| ardous to put one Of their own number in nomina-
| tion nor so vital to success at all events IN
| the coming contest. They are not so much alarmed
| as they were four sr FIVE months, or even three
months, ago about falling into the hands of tho
Opposition This DETECTION in the current of thought
| and feeling at the South. has rather blunted the
| edge OF the argument pressed with so much vlgor,
that Unless you take DOIglas, the Republicans
| will surely triumph"
But the chief obstacle to Douglass nomination is,
tbat the leaders of the dominant facoo Of the party,
j. e. the ultra Shareholders, are hostile to him. If
he is nominated in the teeth of this hostility, new
era has dawned upon the Democratic party. Since
the advent of Jackson, thirty years ago, no candid
ate for the Presidency has been named by that
party who was not acceptable to, yea, was not
designated by the Slaveholdng faction. If Mr..
Douglas can extOrt his candidacy from them, then
new leaf in the annals of the party will be turned
over, aud most important chapter in its history
will begin to be written. Northern and Western
friends of Douglas upon their arrival in this city,
have lodged even at the flash of the distant guns.
If they march up to the very threats OF the bat
teres at Charleston, and storm and capture them,
THEY'VE shall see them do 1t So much for the
Northern aspirants.
Various Southern candidates are proposed. We
have already spoken of Davis. But he does not
occupy, in the general estimation here, that pr0mi
nent place in the Presidential programme which is
assigned to Messrs. Hunter, Breckenridge, and
Guthrie.
Hunter has a great-deal Of latent strength. His
friends and beckers are not noisy, nor indeed are
they very numerous He is generally deemed a
safe man, with no crotchets, no chmeras, reliable
upon all Southern questions, but not obnoxious to
Northern preudices; and hence, neither section
would seem TO be making undue concessions, or
putting anything to hazard, in giving him its sup
port. None of the candidates except Wise ap-
pears TO be specially hostile 10 him; and all might
prefer to be beaten by him rather than by any other
prominent man in the field As to Wise, he stands
Just as good chance of being named at Mecca as
the successor of Mohammed, as of being nominated
for the Presidency at Charleston. But, like all
other possible and probable candidates, be deems
his chances most excellent, and Hunter, his chief
obstacle, who once out of the way, he has but to
90 forward and clutch the prize. Probably the
wide earth, and all history, do not afford more
credulOus set of people than candidates for the
Presidency. And Wise inherits the common mfr
nifty of the species. This makes him Hunters
deadly foe; and though he cannot win the gaol him.
self, he may hang q dead weight upon Hunters
skirts, and prevent him reachngit also. However,
many shrewd politicians in Washington think Hum
Ter will be the luchy man.
Guthrie has strong points He possesses clear
head; has never committed any fragrant otienses;
has 10 ugly legislative record to be explained away;
has no repulsive salient features in his political
biography; is rather conservative; takes kindly to
Il moderate tariff; and has a body of hackers who
lack neither tact, resources money, nor unscrupu-
lOusness The New-YOrk SOits are for him at heart;
and though they are not yet inside of the Conyen-
ton, they are u band Of men not easily foiled nor
readily matched whether in or out of that con-
clave. What say you to this cOmbinatton-James
Guthrie for President and Daniel S. Dickinson for
Vice-Presidentl Would il be ticket easily
beaten that we could tn Tow the Chicago nomination
away upon the first name that happened to occur to
us Such combination of SOfts and Hards, of
the South and the North, of the West and the East
would give us quite as much anxiety as that OF
Stephen A. Douglas and Alexander III. Stephens.
breckenridge, who Just now is winning golden
opinions from all sorts Of people, is regarded as the
man most acceptable to Douglas of all his rivals.
His letter to Illinois in the hight of the Senatorial
contest is alleged to have turned the tide of battle
in favor of the hard-presscd "giant." Such a
favor in such a crisis is not likely to be forgotten
by an aspiring man like Douglas. The smooth,
gentlemanly, lucky Breckinridge, placed upon the
unchanged Cincinnati platform, in company with
Dickinson or HOratiO Seymour, would be ticket
uniting rare elements Of strength, and one which 1t
would require all our wisdom and resources to beat.
Such combination has been under consideration
among leading Democrats for several weeks. 1t is
asserted that il would have the cordial support OF
Douglas himself, and consolidate in one phaanx oil
the now seemingly dscOrdant elements of the party.
Occasionally we hear the names OF Cobb, Steph-
ems, Sdell, Hammond. Houston, and Andrew
johnson suggested as possible Southern candidates.
hut they excite little or no attention. The death OF
Rusk removed ouf of the way the chieiest obstacle
that prominent Democratic asplrants, South and
North, would have encountered IN their struggle
for supremacy at Charleston.
Such seem to be the speculatOns of the DeInOc-
racy at Washington at this present writing.
But one consideration remains TO be suggested
There is slight prospect of any such serious division
in the councils of the Democracy at Charleston, or
in the great contest which is TO follow, as will for
one instant encourage the delusve idea that the
overthrow Of the enemy will not require that the
Republicans place in the field a candidate who can
rally TO his support all the energies of all the ele-
mens of intelligent and hearty opposition to the so
called National Democracy" better known IA
the NEGRO PROPAGANDA.
SLAVE-SPREADING BY STEALTH.
Correspondence of The N. Y Tribune
81