The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1861-01-24

protect or respect. or who will even
know by name our petty confederacies.
The American inan-ofwar is a noble
spectacle. / have seen it enter an an.
cient port in the Mediterranean. All
the world wondered at it, and talked
OF it. Salutes of artillery from forts
and shipping in the harbor saluted its
flag. Princes and Princesses, and mer-
chants paid it homage, and all the
people blessed it as harbinger of hope
for their own ultimate freedom.
imagine now the same noble vessel
again entering the same haven. The
flag Of thirty-three stars and thirteen
stripes has been hauled down, and in
its place signal il run up. which
fiaunts the device of a lone star or a
palmetto tree. Men ask who is the
stranger that thus steals into our
waters? The answer contemptuously
given is, she comes from the obscure
republics of North America let her
pass on.
Lastly, public liberty; our own pecu-
liar liberty, must languish for time;
and then cease to live. And such q
liberty! Free movement everywhere
through our. own land and
throughout the world-free speech,
free press, free suffrage, the freedom
of every subject to vote on every law,
and for or against every agent who ex.
pounds, administers or executes. Un;
stable confederacies, constantly appre-
hending assaults without and treason
within, formidable only to each other
contemplate to all besides, how long
will it be before, on the plea of public
safety, they will surrender all this ines.
Unable and unequalled liberty, and &C.
eept the hateful and intolerable espion-
age of military despotism
And now, Mr.. President, what is the
cause for this sudden and eternal sacri.
flee of so much safety, greatness, hap
piness and freedom? Have foreign ma.
tions combined, and are they coming
in rage upon us No. So far from be.
ing enemies, there is not nation on
earth that is not an interested, admir-
ing friend. Even the London Times;
by no means partial to US, says it is
quite possible that the problem of a
Democratic Republic may be solved
by its overthrow in a few days in
spirit of folly, selfshness and short
sightedness.
Has the Federal Government become
tyrannical and oppressive, or even rig-
orous or unsound? Has the Constitu-
ton lost its spirit, and all at once col
lapsed into a lifeless letter? No; the
Federal Government smiles more be-
nignantly, and works to-day more benz
efficiently than ever. The Constitution
is even the chosen model of the organ-
ization of the newly rising confedera-
cies.
The occasion is the election of
President of the United States who is
unacceptable to portion of the peo-
| pie. l state the case accurately.
There was no movements of disunion
before the ballots which expressed that
choice were cast. Disunion began as
soon as the result was announced.
The justification, as assigned, was that
Abraham Lincoln had been elected,
while the success of either one of the
three other candidates would have
been acquiesced in. Was the election
illegal? No; it is unimpeachable. Is
the candidate personally offensive?
No; he is a man of unblemished virtue
and amiable manner. Is an election of
President an unfrequent or extraordi-
nary transaction No; We never had
Chief Magistrate otherwise designa-
ted than by such an election, and that
form of choice is renewed every four
years.
Does any one even propose to change
the mode of appointing the Chief
Magistrate !? No; election by uuiver-
sal suffrage, as modified by the Consti-
tuition, is the own growing franchise of
the American people. To save it, they
would defy the world.
Is it apprehended the new President
will usurp despotic power; No; while
he IS of all men the most unambitious,
he is by the partial sucaess of those
who opposed his election, subjected to
such restraints that he cannot, without
their consent, appoint a minister, or
even a police agent, negotiate treaty,
or procure the passagk of law, and
can hardly draw musket from the
public arsenals to protect his own per-
son.
What, then, is the ground of discon-
tent? 1t is, that the dispnionists did
not accept as conclusive the arguments
which were urged in behalf of Tire sue
cessful candidate in the canvass. This
is all. Were their own arguments
against him more satisfactory to his
supporters? Of course they were not.
They could not be. Does the Consti-
tuition, in letter or spirit, require or i'm
ply that the arguments of one party
shall be satisfactoryto another? No;
that is impossible.
Whatsis the constitutional remedy
for this inevitable dissatisfaction
Renewed debate and ultimate rehear-
ing in a subsequent election. Have
the now successful majority perverted
power to purposes Of opposition? No,
they have never before held power.
Alas, how prone we are to underval-
ue privileges and blessings. How
gladly, how proudly, would the people
of any nation in Europe accept, on
such terms as we enjoy it, the boon of