The Nevada Democrat. [volume] (Nevada, Calif.) 1854-1863, 1860-08-08

follows that twothirds Of thatmajoEty are sufficient
| 10 make nominations
uractice Of the party. In l848, General Cass was
Nominated by vote Of less than two-thirds Of tne
electoral college. On that a. on the present Qcca
1 sion, certain delegates withdrew from the eonss:
ton and made nominations Of their own. But mel.
| ther Mr. Van Buren,, the nominee of the boilers q
that time nor his friends pretended 70 excuse tneu
itreachery on the ground that the NOMINEE s..o =
Gen. Cas- was informal or ilreggaF-!ne olscoss,
nv of this notable apology FOR bOting being
for the present time and for some OF the miscaied
leaders Of the democratic party. H.
we have thus in q brief and cursory mannei ois,
posed of the most tangible o. the oo1ecaons sb;cS
Nominated Douglas and Johnson. But IN oroef
fully to appreciate the sophstTy Of the Doi.eis We
must take into consideration their agency in pro-
ducinQ the very state Of things upon which they
base all their arguments.
Their position is, that having seeded, they leit
the convention in dsorganized and incapable con-
dition SO that its subsequent action apoun.eu "
nothing OF course this ayowal carries with IL tne
admission. that they alone responsible for the
disruption of the Convention. Having Withdrawn
and nominated candidates, thereby, as they con-
tend destroying the organization-they now say 70
the regular party: 1t is true we broke uPyour CON
yention by our withdrawal from il; it is true, we
have by the same means, destroyed your organizsa-
tion and disrupted your party, and out OF gratitude
for all this, you must support the candidates we
| have placed before you.
tive law that no man shall stake advantage OF his
own wrong" and certainly stronger case Tor tne
application of the rule than that made out oy the
Seceders can scarcely be conceived.
| Fellow Democrats of Nevada County-the asser-
t;on that Senator Douglas is not the nominee IT our
party, is wretched, frivolous pretext, invented oy
malignant foes, who either have not the manlness
to oppose him boldly the Democratic candidate,
or desire TO furnish palliative to such weak demo-
| Gratis as may be won over by their Establishments.
| The same scenes are now being enacted on the
broader stage Of the Union, which were witnessed
| two years since in Illinois. We all know that IN
1885, Judge Douglas at the head Of the regular de-
mocraey OF that State, maintained long and ardu-
Gus contest with the republicans, under the leader
ship Of Mr.. Lincoln. At that time, when one would
suppose him to have been entitled to the hearty
| sympathy of every democrat in the nation, he was
| pursued by body Of men calling themselves demo-
Gratis and pretending to be the peculiar friends OF
the Administration, with relentless and yindctiVe
hostility unparalleled in American political history
| But the attacks then made upon so eminent DEM
ocrat and statesman, failed in their object and re-
coiled upon their authors, as we trust and believe
will be the result of the present crusade against
him.
Second--We support Douglas and johnson be-
cause they stand upon a sound, national and demo-
| cratic platform.
In time Of danger to the country it is the duty Of
every good citizen, il it becomes necessary, to sacr
fee his party predictions upon the altar of nation
| al safety; but no such sacrifice can ever become
necessary to the true democracy, for their cause Is
the Of the Union, and the existence Of the lat
ter is inseparably interviewer with that Of the form
err With what zeal and earnestness then, should
we labor in the ensuing campaign, when We know
that this Union with all its blessings and all the
bright and glorious memories that cluster around it,
may depend upon our efforts Nor are our fears
for the safety Of the federal Union vain chimeri
cal-when we declare the Union to be in danger,
we speak but the words Of truth and soberness.
We know how very difficult it is for men to real
ize the actual danger which surroundr them; they
/ ho III hv he
sons OF hope instead Of foreseeing the peril and pre-
vding against it; they cannot or will not conceive
the idea that any American citizen exists. who
would either from motives of ambition, or from
sectional prejudice and passion, jeopardize the
priceless heritage which our fathers have transmit
ted to u.s. and which has been the chief agent in the
production of the most magnificent scheme of So
cial happiness and progress the world has ever wit
messed. But those who thus take counsel from
their hopes rather than from their fears think and
reason falsely. Every rejecting man knows how
little the restraints of reason or patriotism influence
the minds of men, when their passions are excited,
and unfortunately the questions which now divide
the country, are ofa character to produce the
strongest and most ungovernable excitement.
The attempted disruption of the democratic party
is Of itself most significant indication Of danger to
our country. Ten years ago, the illustrious John
C. Calhoun, in the last speech he delivered in
the Senate, pointed out the various ties which held
these States together-the destruction Of which
must result in the breaking up of the Union.
ligious--and the political. The social and religious
ties had already been severed and, as the South
Carolina statesman predicted, the political must
soon follow. Already has part of this prediction
been verified by the progress Of events.
The wing party yielding to the pressure Of see
tionalism, has long since passed from the stage OF
action and now strong effort is being made to
place the democracy in similar position. The
nominations Of Breckenridge and Lane by the sece-
ders are the result of that effort. II they should
fully succeed in their plans and reduce the great de-
mocracy to mere sectional faction, then will have
arrived the occasion SO much dreaded by the phios-
opher and patriot, Thomas Jefferson. That great
man, towards the close of his life, with prophetic
vision sharpened by his patriotic fears foresaw the
time when party organizations and party principles
should coincide with geographical lines, and his
soul was filed with dismay at the prospect. Like
the sire bell at night" the consciousness of this
danger came to disturb the serenity Of the evening
of his days, and he went down to his grave with a
mind full Of gloomy anticipatons for the future of
the country he had loved so we'll and served SO no
bly,, $780,, ~, ,.,,... ~. d.,ro,..;,. /. ,.ro -
itself and to the nation in this emergency the
sion so much feared by Mr.. Jefferson, has arrived
Two factions and two sets Of opinions each confined
within certain geographical limits now exist in the
Union. The republicans are chiefly confined to the
North-the seceders from the democracy, to the
South-the one demands Intervention by Congress
to prohibit slavery in the Territoriesthe other de-
msnds it, for the purpose Of maintaining it there.
We know that the supporters of the boilers can
ddates repudiate the idea that their organization ID
sectional in its character They point to their can
didates and ask, wherein have they shown sectional
: proclvitiesi We have nothing 20 say against Maj
Breckenridge or Gen. Lane, and had they been ths
! nominees Of the democratic party, we should hay'
yielded them our cheerful support. Nor do we pre-
tend that majority Of their supporters at heart
favor disunion; that some of them do, we know full
well, both from their own admissions and from
their political record.
But it is not the character nor opinions Of the
J candidates, nor those of individual members of
party which impress upon it the stamp Of national
" ity or sectionalism. @
The general scope, aim and principles of the par
- y possessed Of principles adapted to section o
the Union instead Of the whole country must in IN,
4 very nature Of things, be deemed sectional party
. SO aparty looking to but section for support