Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1861-1862, 1861-12-14
oNTHEP PREsIDENOY.
BTs. 5 NICHOLAS OF LOUISVILLE.
Firstpubiished in lsio; repubHshsd in 1859.
MINER VI.

our system Of eecting Presidents is It's corrupdng inu
eDce on the whole body Of the people,.
We off ,coyng, oiiice-seskng people. Tht
passion may be peculiar to up il may be common
every other people, bui certainly have in higf
degree. Let attend to the extensive means Of ou
corruption through this passion alone. Look at the
hos ofcices ana public employment properly belonging
70 the Federal Government recoect that each OF them
sufficient to sustain the hop,s aud excite the active
eIertions Of at least fifty men, whilst they equally
to stimulate the exerons Of incumbents with many
of the friends and relatives Of each Of ttem 70
keep the expecants out But this Is not the 1.-THE oil
this means Of corruption Of this sort Of smuant to
patty strife and political cabals. II is law OF such
stres that distinct motives to political excitement
clnnot well operate upon the body OF the people at one
aud the time The greater always swao up and
| hides the less. When the nation is once thoroughly
| reused 10 q Presidential contest, all other ques'
tons fade into comparative nsgndcance. State par.
ties and politics cease TO exist slmost in name. We
had in Kentucky during an interval OF Presiden-
tal contests, as farce party warfare as ever was
waged, between what at first were termed Relief
I'd AutRelief and after wards the 0dCcurt aad New
Court parties Every in the State Of the one
the other of those parties and, after the contest
had been carried long enough TO make them as in
veerat towards each other as two parties could well be,
the final contest between Gen. Jackson aud Mr. Adams
enfued and they were both Immediately absorbed In the
great natons parties that Of that contest and
have since been heard Of. The NewCourt party,
almost to q man. wheeled by its leaders into the
ranks Of Jackson and Of course, with nearly equal
u1animy, the 0dCour party was wheeled by it's lead
ers into the ranks Of Adams; and there the mass Of
both have since remained taking the bias of their
national politics for the last twelve years from the acc
dent Of their being arranged by the personal pred
ectons Of the leaders under whom they had waged the
about state politics With us, everywhere ese
throughout the Union from that time TO this the quail
cations and nes Of applicants for seats in the State
legislature, the two Houses of Congress- the Guberna
toria chairs, seats the Bench and for every other
state Office down TO the lowest has been and is every
where tested BY the one universal standard Of the app
cans predictions for the aspirans the Presidency
City, town, county, and corporation Offices and employ
ments all bestowed in the same way.
This incscuable number of Offices aud employmepts,
with those properly belonging TO the national govern
ment constitute together in mass the estate in posses
sion expectancy Of the other of the great Pres
idental parties sording the eIhausess means aud in
ducement political excitement and corruption. When
properly considered and mnutely looked into, what an
awful, what an appalling mass OF means they are Did
any country ever possess them to the same extent
What people does did possess the virtue with
stand them What was the boasted system OF epiol.
age of Bonaparte what were his million OF armed police
worth for sustaining military despotism, In compari
son to s this wetrained universally disseminated corps
Of efce-hoders for sustaining the desposm Of party
Consider this sir as il deserves, and you need
again feel the wonder expressed in your speech at Rich.
mond that In free and elective republic like il
should cost much excitement such mighty effort on
the part OF the ration TO change It's rulers even Whena
large me ority desires 10 do 80.
With shcrt intervals Of calm, this universal degrading
scramble after office must keep the public mind under per-
p,tua excitement until everything valuable in our inst-
tutons IL 10 sight Of uuly trampled in the dust
We have already passed from the dirty arts OF low eiec
tioneeng TO open bribery the American voter already
shameessly the sale of bis vote and the Ameri
can citizen already shsmelessy avoWs the purchase Of
votes You have recently heard the great oucry at the
detection Of fraudulent prastses upon the elections in
" .l.l.L r. W. IT, ~. Ia.
much at that outcry and ask whether it be seriouI
Whether those who got it up against each other
not all the time laughing in each others faces. We
der whether IL be possible that we have SO far got
the start of our Eastern brethren in corruption. Why
sir those very pracses in notorious babituai
among u.s. and have been 80 for years back, until, at
last in alleged seldefence, of the first standing
among for intelligence probity and character, have
become openly engaged in them. Men, two, who aie
seekers Of office, want no office, are almost above
Office and who thus stimulated to deiling the nsu
tionso their country by other motive than that par
ty spirit. We need not look forward to what may
hereafter. tell you sir the public morals this su ject
already gone utterly gone; and gone without the
hope of redemption or resurrection unless the bGlefJ
spirit paryism be speedily queed among What
you say literally true the received creed Of the day is
that everything is fair In poltcs Witness not only the
open, undisguised buying and selling Of votes the noto
rous coonizpg Of illegal voters by the hundred the sup
preston Of pobooks and returns but even the fabca
/
Much Of the debasement Of public morals, exhibited
In election frauds may be traced to tho action of Con-
gress and other representative bodies The prices paid
to obtain seats In the House Of Representatives have
been at the bottom OF much o Example there has
been the occasion OF much Take the
lection cases before that House from that Of Lstcher and
Moore down the New Jersey Of last winter all die
posed OF incidental questions and oil by arct party vote,
and to the general mind the grosssst fraud and miscon
duct Of election officers upheld by the unanimous vote
nrat of tha and than nf the othar the
there Yet in all such cases. the mb ,rs are presum.
ed in the character and ought to act with the i'm
Partially Of judges.
The mention Of the case OF Lecher and Moore
minds us OF incident which then took place. bly,
related to me- that e1smphhs something of the force
of party drill and discipline member, Of matured
years great personal popularity and high standing aud
influence with bis party, felt much solitude for Letch-
ers success from his conviction Of the superior justice
Of his claim TO the seat that he sa. at the clerks table
anIousy noting the vote as It progressed and ever aud
anon az seemed TO preponderate In Letchers favor,
he audbly exclaimed, "bank God justice viii be done
vet he himself voted sgainst Lstcher Orders had gone
forth to the party that Moore must be sustained, aud
the member dare not disobey, though his con-
science and his personal incinatons prompted him so
strongly to IT, Even though the story be not true yet,
mIug from the It does, it serves to show the
opinions members entertain Of the political integrity Of
/ each ether.
Take the case Of the Mlrsand electors Of the Senate
lions of their Safe for party advantage and censured
or blamed throughout the country just the censor or
approver happened TO be not to be Of the politics OF
those Who committed the treason.
Take the case of the Pennsylvania Legislature 20
far countenSncing Infamous fraud as to warrant
tho suspicion that but for the interference OF swsss
and mob they would have avaied themselves
Of the fraud engross the patronage OF the Legislature
in favor of their party Was not the conduct OF the
two parties that occasion, as il also in the New
Jsrsey case of last session, tantamouut TO saying to
each other, we know you be unprincipled that
cannot trust you temporarily with power because you
will hold il permanently, right wrong, to promote
party advantage II such he their opinion Of each other
what are the people to think With such examples be-
fore the results Of pIry eIcesses among the high
officials of the land there Is need for wonder at the
rapid spread Of election frauds among the people.
You are aware Of the high claims of Mr. Butler, the
late Attorney Gsnera Of the United States TO lntel.
g,nce information and integrity OF character IL has
80 happened that this distinguished gentleman has re-
Gently been placed In situation requiring him, as he
supposed to express bis opinion to the probable result
of these election frauds under all the soemnites and
sanctions of an OATH He thus gives that opinion "lf
-. vhich nj Dme