Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1861-09-04


manifested as much willingness TO settle our diff
fculties by peaceful compromise as our brave
soldiers have by perilling their lives in its safe
", we should now be saved from the horrors of
civil war; and we hold that il is the duty of the
civil authorities to see that they are battling in
necessary well as a just cause. and as our ia
thers, in selecting the American Eagle as the
emblem of our national power and greatness, by
design and not accident, placed the olive branch in
his right talon, and the of death in his
left, il becomes US, in obedience TO these embems
of our countrys glory to insist that the peace Of
fering should precede the sword.
Z. That reconstruction of the Union, upon
the principles of the present Federal Constitution.
ought to be the controlling object in the further
prosecution of this war, and as that only can be
accomplished by securing the ascendancy Of
Union party in the Southern States. we insist that
those who hold control of our Government shall
tender to the Union men Ct the South some def
mite and equitable plan o. settlement, by which
all sectional strife shall be forever put at rest and
and if the dominant party of the country shall
fail to do so, we will be compelled to the conclu
sion that conquest and not reconstruction c. the
Governments the controlling motive and policy of
that party.
6. That in appealing to the Democratic masses
of the North to come up to the support of the
present Administration, that Administration ought
to have shown itself worthy of that confidence
and support by sacrificing all party organization
and platforms the altar of our country" and
in selecting officers. civil as well as military,
whose past moral and political records furnished
the highest guarantees of fidelity to the Constitu
ton, and honesty and fitness for the discharge of
the high duties which the distracted condition of
the country has imposed upon them.
y. That in failing to come up to this just re-
Quirement, this Administration, and the party by
whom it has been called into power, has demon
strated to again its unhtness to control the
destinies of this nation, and impresses upon us
the absolute necessity of maintaining intact the
organization of the Democratic party; and in the
firm belief that peace can never revisit our un-
happy country until its principles are again IN the
ascendant, call upon all who love their coun-
try to rally under its broad banner, and hur from
power this Republican party.
10 We denounce as destructive of civil liberty
all acts of violence against the citizens of this
country whether perpetrated by lawless mobs or
under the cloak of usUrped authority, aud we call
upon our Democratic friends everywhere to show
their devotion to the Constitution and laws of
their country by faithfully observing them and
discountenancing their violation. That freedom
of speech and of the press are rights guaranteed
to Us BY the Constitution and shall be maintained.
III That the present, more than any other pc
Rod in the history of country, urgently de-
mands that the Democratic party should stand
firm and united true to its principles and mission,
and battle for the Constitution and the Union in
the true spirit of the fathers against sectionalism
and fanaticsm, and never permit hatred OF men,
or of domestic institutions, desire for party
success and absolute rule il to forget the
country, the UhOle country, her best interests, III
innate friendly reunion, and lasting stability and
prosperity.
- That the State Sentinel in its loyal de-
tense of constitutional liberty, the freedom OF
speech and of the press, meets our hearty APP
prevail.
Mr. Jacob Sourwne, of Pike, moved, and his
motion carried, that the resolutions be unani-
mousy adopted and printed in the State Sentinel,
and that all other Democratic papers be requested
to copy them.
SPEECH OF HON. JOSEPH E. MDoyALD.
The President introduced the Hon. Joseph E.
Mcdonald, who proceeded to address the Conven
ton as follows:
FELLOW CITIZENS: In ancient times a time
serving orator, addressing the people, prayed to
the gods that he might utter no sentiment that it
did not please them to hear. In this time of our
country's trial. unlike that man of old. my pray
err is that may say nothing which it does not be-
come me to speak you to hear, as loyal men
and true patriots.
and happiest on the face of the globe Now the
dark cloud of civil is bursting US, and
showers of blood are falling thick and red around
u.s.
Those who but lately were brethren, citizens of
one country, Joint heirs of one glorious heritage,
are now arrayed in battle line, along frontier
of fifteen hundred miles. 1t is at time like this
that we, the Democracy of Marion county, cit-
zens of a State loyal to the Union, are assembled
hon
but let our consultations be characterized by
solemn sense of our duty to our country-our
whole country.
We may well leave to the historian the task of
transmitting to other times by what process the
strong cords which, at the beginning, bound US
together as one people, were one by one broken
asunder-until the vital principle of our Union was
gone, and the arts OF peace were forsaken, and an
appeal made to arms as the last mode OF settling
our political controversies. This much we know
that the present unhappy condition of our country
has resulted from the long continued, unwise
and fanatical agitation of the question of domes-
tic slavery" That by this means our people have
become estranged and dIyided-first in the
Church, then in social intercourse, and, finally,
in our political organizations, until geographical
lines were drawn upon the map of our country,
dividing it into North and South.
This much owe to ourselves, to say that,
as Democrats, We have kept the bond of the
Union faithfully with all sections of the country.
At every stage of the agitation we have raised
our voice in warming as each new wave of section
al strife rose higher than the last. We have in
terposed to check its onward course, VI til the
united force of orthern fanatcism and Southern
dsunion at last overwhelmed us, and with us our
country. For years the Democratic party had
stood like Corinth of old, a Landmark to the
double tide" until the success of Northern eau
ddlte, upon Northern platform. hurled our
country into civil This fell spirit of section
al strife has proved the ''blind Sampson" by
whom the pillars of the Temple of Liberty have
been overthrown, and now threatens to bring
down the whole fabric i'll one common ruin.
After the election OF President Lincoln there
was yet time to save our country from civil war,
by timely adjustment of the questions at issue
between the North and the South. Those ques
tions are summed up by President Lincoln, in his
inaugural message, in that peculiar style OF inter-
rogation that characterizes his addresses
"Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by
National or State authority? The Constitution
does not expressly say. May Congress prohibit
slavery in the Territories? The Constitution
does not expressly say. Must Congress protect
slavery in the Territoriesl The Constitution
does not expressly say. From questions of this
class spring all constitutional controversies,
aud upon them we divide into majorities and mi
norities.''
Thus, then, according to President Lincoln,
the rendition of fugitives from labor, and the
rights of the Shareholder in the Territories, con-
sttute the sum OF our sectional controversies;
and that, too, because the Constitution Ibid not
expressly say" that their rights nre to be settled
one way or an other. This is manifesty true of
the Territorial questions, and for the very good
reason that Notwithstanding the wisdom of the
men who formed our Constitution, they did not
forsee the extent of our Territorial acquisitions.
and did not provide in the Constitution for the set
Element of the questions involved in the govern