The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1860-10-31
BALTIMORE.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 81, 1860

with which they have apparently regarded the
struggle. Upto this time they have felt that by
M action of theirs could Mr.. LINCOLN be defeat
ed for it has been evident for months that upon
tbe vote of the State of New York his triumph or
discontinue would mainly depend. Nor could
they fail to realize also the fact that the issue in
that State was scarcely predetermined, for what
ever may he the nature extent of the change
which public opinion is undergoing and will still
further undergo between now and Tuesday next,
it cannot be doubted that if the election had taken
place at any moment Of the last five months, Mr..
LINCOLN would have carried New York, and in all
likelihood by an immense majority. The people OF
Maryland, therefore, recognizing the helplessnesS
of their position well the almost certain sue
cess of the Republican party, have, for the most
part, abslained from maniesting any excitement
or interest in the canvass. But though they have
not until very recently participated in the noisy
and enthusiastic demonstrations which generally
distinguish every political contest, it by no means
follows that they have not felt the deepest anxiety
about the result. They have on the contrary,
considered very gravey tho questions which, for
the last six months, have agitated the country;
and they have weighed the consequences which
are likely TO follow the election of Mr.. LINCOLN.
But regarding this latter event extremely proba-
BILE they have seemed TO think it mattered very
little whether Maryland cast her vote for Mr..
BRECKENRIDGE or Mr.. BELL. Now, however, a
very different sentiment is beginning to prevail
Mr.. LNCoLNs prospects are it is true, pretty much
the same, and it is still impossible that do
anything here to defeat him, and looking at the
matter solely in this way, there would appear
to be no more necessity for our active particnatio
.i,e contest now than there mas been heretofore.
But when the election is regarded from a
different point of view, it is obvious
that the vote of our State ought to give
us no little concern. AS the opinions of the va
rous parties have, in the progress of the canvass,
been more fully developed, it has become more and
more evident to all to that bitter and irreconca-
bic hostility has arisen between the two great par
ties of the Union, and that it is not, as has been
alleged, confined TO few extreme party leaders on
either side The radical theories and inhamma-
tory appeals of the Republicans upon the slavery
question have alarmed the South, which has re-
piled to them with threats that it is neither wise
nor safe to treat as idle buster. However much
we may deplore the existence of this antagonism
between the North and South, we are nevertheless
compelled TO deal with it as with living, practi-
cal fact, and to assume such q position in regard
to the controversy as will best enable us to con-
troll in some degree, the consequences which NAV
possibly flow from it. 1t is of vast Importance,
therefore, that Maryland should take an active
and decided part in the struggle, and the necessity
of doing so is now admitted on all hands. If Mr.
LINCOLN is elected this State will have no voice in
the councils of his party. The comparatively
trining vote which he will receive here would
cause his adherents TO regard us rs being identified
with the South, even if we were not so in virtue
of our geographical position, our political insttu-
tons, and our congenial sympathies With our
brethren Of the South, then, influence for good
or evil is TO be exerted, and under these circum-
stances it is incumbent upon US to consider seri-
ously how we may most advantageously maintain
and employ it for the welfare of our common coun-
try. Maryland yields TO no other State in devotion
to the Union; and a patriotic determination to up
hold it in any alternative is manifested everywhere
within her borders But while she refuses to coun-
tenance, for an instant, any proposition looking to
the dissolution Of the Union, or the secession of
any State, in the event of Mr. LINCoLN's election,
her people are not blind to the aggressive and dan.
gerous character of the Republican party; and
they share, to some extent, in the uneasiness and
alarm which the whole South feels at the probable
triumph of those who have so vindictivelv, I'M
fairly and persstenty assailed its institutions 1t
is, therefore, not less her duty than her inclination
to assume such an attitude as will tend to quiet
and reaSsure the remoter Southern States. and at
the same time impress upon her Northern neigh.
bors the necessity of falling back upon more mod
crate and conservative position than they have oc-
~rnnd for rnarS mast
1t is a simple question, therefore, whether,
with such objects in view, Maryland ought
to give her electoral vote to Mr.. BELL or
Mr.. BRECKENRIDGE. There is, in our iudg-
ment, little room for hesitation about the answer
that it behooves us to give to this inquiry. The
people of this State, by adhering TO Mr. BELL, must
share the fate of all parties who in a momentous
crisis, from weakness or ndecisiOn, follow mid
die course. They will, by supporting him, merely
segregate themselves from the great mass of the
Southern people, with whom they can never again
hope to exercise the influence that now legiti-
mately belongs to them; they will break the force
of the ant-Republican opposition by thus with
drawing the votes of one State from Mr. BRECKIY.
RIDGE and they will afford direct encouragement
TO the Republicans who already believe that a
large number of Mr. BELLS supporters in the bor-
der States are secretly favorable to Mr. LINCOLN.
Nor will they, in such case, have the satisfaction
of knowing that, though they have arrived at a
proftless result they have wasted their strength
in endeavoring to advance some principle which
they could not conscientiously abandon, for Mr.
BELL at this juncture represents no particular pol
icy or measures.
If however, Maryland will but stand firm
ly by Mr.. BRECKENRIDGE, she will thereby take
ground that is no less polite and consistent
than 1t is dignifed and honest, and her attitude
must, in such case, command the respect of the
North, while it will give her great weight with
the less conservative Southern States. The ruling
OF the Supreme Court having been deliber-
ately repudiated at Chicago, it is due to
ourselves that we should, by sustaining a cam
didate who only stands upon the bred Scott
decision, express our determination to respect
the Interpretation which the highest tribunal
IN the land has given to the Constitution. The
tone and temper of the Republican party on the
slavery issue having been aggressive and violent
and the language of its press and leaders incen-
diary, IL Is our duty, by meeting directly the issue
they have presented to rebuke, and, if we can
to check the fanaticism which has already
brought upon us so much evil. By uniting with
the South we give it the assurance that the border
States are unwilling to suffer agitators and dema
gogues to set at nought the laws by which our in
situations are upheld; and we give warning to the
North that the Slave States will tolerate no law
less encroachments upon their rights, and will not
remain passive if the efforts of abolionism to stir
up instruction in our midst persisted in much
onger. When the South, thus banded together
protests against the continuance of the agitation
hat has been productive of such disastrous results
he North must heed its Inconsistencies And |
when the slave States have, in support of Mr. |
combined against the Republicans, |
hey can afford to act with less precipitation than
ome of them might otherwise be disposed to do.
Conscious of their strength, they would be the
more readily induced TO make still further efforts
o effect some final settlement or compromise of
he questions which have so long divided the
country Maryland could claim to be heard in
he consultations of her sister States and her mod
rate counsels would, in all probability, be lis
ened to and followed Having, in common with