Daily national Democrat., 1861-09-08
The Democratic Party.


lt!e ~ho approprintes the nulne under which
all the crimes of James Buehanan's Infamous.
aud treasuuahle Administration were per-
petrated. No patriot can have any fellow
ship with u traitor, 50 far as political action
is concerned although the latter conld prove
that every old line Democrat in the country
was traitor with him. But let us see about
this insolent claim of the Secessonsts Q to the
n 'me of Democracy. Up to last year the
great National Democracy settled all conflicts
Of opinion ns TO National policy. in Conven-
tion IN 1882, hen the first National Con-
venton of the party was held. Jackson was
The candidate and was elected In ls96 Van
Buren, was nominated ard elected. In 1870
Van Buren, was nominated and defeated. In
1874 Polk was nominated aud elected. In
ls4S Cass was nominated and defeated. On
that occasion a small portion of the party
bnlfed the nominee After the election their
organization was never heard Of They did
not subject themselves TO the ridicule of the
Nation by claiming thereafter to be the Ma
tional Democracy In 1852 Pierce was nomi
mated and elected In 1855 Buchanan was
minated and elected The united Democ-
racy supported all the nominees named, ex
cepting only on the occasion of the small de-
fecton of lS4s. The party was composed Of
Northern and Southern men, the North as
the record shows, furnishing two-thrds of
the votes. We have spoken of seven Nation
al Democratic Conventions. The history of
the eighth and last which cow encd at
Charleston in May 1860. and finished its la
bore at Baltimore i'll June, is fresh in the
minds of all. While all the States were rep
resented. and before any division occurred, "a
platform of principles was adopted, according
to the usage Of the party That platform re-
ceived n majority Of the entire vote Of the
Convention 1t was then the party creed
Although two thirds of all the votes given in
Convention were necessary To make nomi-
nation, no man in America has ever pretend
ed that more than majority was required
by party usage for the ado opton of plat
form. small minority of the deleGa ates then
withdrew because the majority would not
obey their commands aud adopt the Calhoun
creed. Others bolted at Baltimore because
the Convention refused to rule out newly
elected delegates and admit the boilers again
The Convention then nominated Douglas by
more than a two-thirds vetc. ard the Sc
ceders met elsewhere and prescnted the name
of Brecbinridge, upon Il platform in direct
| opposition to the platform admitted to have
been adopted 10y clear majority of he origi
| nal full Convention. But Notwithstanding
all these facts, the Democratic masses at the
polls could have declared the Breckiurdgers
to he the true Democracy. They could have
repudia'ed the majority platform and cand-
date and have made Calhounism the test of
Democracy. Did they do SO? Let us look
at the figures. A table in which the vote of
Pennsylvania is unfairly stated, (because it
gives Breckinridge 178. .s7l votes, when those
| votes were east for electors claimed 10y both
Douglas and Breckinyidge) makes the vote of
Breckinridge in the whole Union only S47,-
953, while that of Douglasi is stated at $685.
976. The Pennsylvania vote should have
been estimated as half for one and half for
the other. That would make the total vote
of the Union stand thus: For Douglas, ! ,455,
4l2; for Breckenridge. l5S SIT. SO he great
National Democracy, which sent delegates to
Charleston from every State in the Union, did
repudate the boilers by a vote of nearly t,go
TO omei Could the disorgapizers decenlly
claim to be Democrats after that? But let
us see what they did Afterwards TO regain
their right to be called at least wing Of the
Democracy OF the 1853 5l7 votes cast for
John c. Brecknr dye $40 SCI were cast in
slaveholdng states. and 1877 646 in the free
States. The 397 ,3i4 Breckinridge men liy-
ing in the eleven rebt llioHs States OF Vir-
ginia, Tennessee North Carolipa, South Caro-
lima Georgia, Floridn, Alabams, Mississippi
Louisiana, Texaa and Arkansas, have de
cared war against the Nation, and are now
heseiging the Federal Capital. Are they
National Democrats The ia, ,527 Breckin-,
ridge men living in the border slave States Of
Delaware, Maryland. Kentucky and Missouri,
are stirring up civil war in their own States,
and straining every energy they possess to
drag those States away from the Nation. Are
they National Democrats? So $40, 81 of Mr..
5reckinrdges supporters deny that they are
National DemocI ats" or National anything
else. They swear with uplfed hand that
this Nation shall no longer exist They seek
to establish Southern Confederacy. Well,
of all those who voted for Breckinridge we
have shown that all but 1877 646 say they
will sooner die upon the battle field than
longer be called citizens of this Nation The
| 1877, ,646 remaining unaccoWute& for, reside in
the free States Their prominent leaders
Dickinson, Cass, Dix, Butler, Rice, Latham,
| Buchanan. Stevens, and others-are in favor
of extermnating treason with sword and
cannon, and of cutting down every material
interest that dares ally itself to the wicked
and unjustifable rebellion. There is no way
of ascertaining exactly how many Northern
| Breckenridge men (outside of California; are
dsloyal but the number is insigni tieant-
This is plainly shown by the fact that almost
all the respectable Northern papers which
supported Brecknrdge are now supporting
the war against rebellion. We suppose we
may safely say that 100000 Northern Breck-
lnrdge men are to day in favor of prose-
la, Z, I