St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1860-05-17

creed" Not to rest for proof Of this
fact upon the language of Mr. Dong
las alone, let me, by way of ilustra
tIoh, refer to some circumstances that
occurred in this Hall before we elect,
cd Speaker, and when the House
was dlSOrgIniZrd. hclicvcthc larw.
est vote which any gentleman ON the
oppoSlt" >i.c Of the Chlmucr received
was given to Il member not of the
l'cmocratic party, but t. a gentleman
who had never been member Of tha:
party and who did not affiliate with it
further than to sympathizc upon this
doctrine OF nOn-lntcrvcntIUn. He was
the candidate Of the American mem
bcrs on this floor. Gentlemen of the
other sidc--DCmocrats-in a BODY, al
most without exception, deliberately
cast their votes for such candidate
Mr.. Smith, of North CarUina,) for
Speaker of this House, expressly de-
claring 1T the time that they did not
vote for him as a Democrat, but as an
old line Wing
Then, what do we have here? This
significant fact that the party which
to-day claims TO be the Democratic
party par erceiicnce, Of the Government,
has Ignored all of its old issues in
reference to the living and vital in
tcrests of the country, and has plant
ed itself upon ono solitary plank has
become single idea party; has now
but one plank in its platform. If the
old Wing party has become obsolete,
then certainly the Democratic party,
ms it once existed, is no less obsolete,
except in name.
The convention now assembled in
Charleston is about to perform the
duty of nominating another Demo-
cratic candidate for the Presidency.
and to lay down another platform. !
ask if any gentleman in this House
supposcs that, in framing a new plat
form for the party, that convention
will do anything essential" to impair
the significance and import of the one
adopted four years ago! So far from
rcccding from the position they have
already taken, the only question in
that convention now seems to be,
whether the party shall not 30 one
step further than non.htcr"cntion
with slavery extension, and demand
of Congress Legislation for its prOtcc-
tion. 1t matters but little whether
the battle is fought this year on the
rcsolutiOuSnf of 1856, or upon something
in advance of what has heretofore
been claimed. There is but one ob.
jcct, but one issue, and this is the cs
tablishmcnt and pcrpctuation Of slave
ry in all the Territories of the Union.
The non-iHtcrvention of 1886 amounts
to thlS nothing more, nor nothing
less. 1t is the single idea of the Dem
ocratic party leaders.
The distinguished Senator from Hi.
nois, { Mr.. Douglass in remarks which
he submitted in the other end of the
Capitol since the commencement of
this session, avowcd himself as the
responsible author of the Kansas Ne
/ hraska act-known as the Legislation
Of lsji the policy of which is incor-
poratcd into the platform of the Dem
ocratic party as the fundamental arti-
Gle oi lis creed. He is the man whom
that parity or portion OF it, now pro-
pose to nominate and elect to the
Presidency. He, above all others,
seems to be deserving Of such an
honor. He is the protcsscd author
aud defender Of the only essential ele
ment Of their political creed. He is
the architect of their platform. He is
the individual who furnished the lad
der by which the party has assembled
to that position--that elevation or de-
preston, whichever you choose to call
it-from which a man may, without
impairing his standing as Democrat,
proclaim that he regards the involun.
tary servitude of the South as prefer
able to the free Institutions of the
North may characterize northern
States as scrvilc States may defend
the institution Of slavery as tending
to develop the highest type Of civil
zation--an institution sanctioned by
God, a missionary institution, which
is calculated to rescuc from barharsin
E the millions of Africa, and to bring
them under the chrstianizing inilucm.
ces of the peculiarly disintcrcstcd
, philanthropy Of onr sou:hcrn brethren
lIo all yc nations, bring on youg
heather. In this utilitarian age and
country, cotton planting and the mil
lennium go hand in hand.
A man may also stand upon this
, platform of the Democratic party, and
rcpudiate every sentiment of the ia
Tiers denunciatory of slavery may
deride their warnings as false IN
theory and unsound in fact :" may
! even limit the significance of the Dec
| laration OF Independence to but Oh,
t portion of the human family may
, dcnounce the laws for the supprcssio,
; of the African slave trade as fou
t blot upon our statutc-book' They
: may even say that the election of ;
! man to the Presidency by the suffra
!, gcs of the people of this country, il
{ a constitutional manner, who enter
S tains opinions different from those en-
a tertaincd by gentlemen from anothe
portion of the country, will afford sui
n ticicnt cause for the dissolution of thi!
% Union.
The man who has performed all THU
service for his party certainly ouGh
to have a presidential nomination "a
: the hands of the Democracy. | know
Il it is objected to him by some of hi.
5 party friends that he has not always
J. stood true TO their measures that h,
y falterc1 upon enforcing the Lecomptol
n constitution upon the people of Kan
: sas and that he cntcrtains some pc
/ culiar views upon the subject Of popu
; lar sovereignty.
The alleged fault is that at the crit
Cal moment he turned upon his politi
e cal friends, andvot with the enemy
J. His constituency, however, had riser
> in indignant rebuke Of Lecomptou