Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1862-09-20

it has applied the public money to the
purchase oil negroes against the will of the
nation, and proposes to extend such sys-
tenn of purchase hereafter--it has wasted
the public treasure upon corrupt jobbers
and agents-it has sought to degrade our
cause by arming savages for war-and, to
conclude, it has struck at the Constitution
repeatedly and scoffed at those who
would maintain and defend it. Having
thus shown itself grossly unfit for the pos
session of power, its defeat at the earliest
possible moment is the duty and intere st
Of the people. Doubtless these are
conservative men in the Republi-
can party, who have been less active
and guilty than others in the business of
misgovernmcnt; but they are in the minor.
ity and comparatively powerless. Their
recent State Convention at Harrisburg en-.
dorsed the radical Wilmot and passed by
the name of his conservative colleague
with significant silence. In this Con.
gre ssional district their nomination OF
Landon proves that moderate men among
them are quite incapable of controlling
their party action.
That no confidence can be placed in
the Republican party for sale, lawful, con.
servatve, constitutional rule, particularly
appears from its measures against north.
ern citizens and newspapers for alledged
disloyalty. No provisions of the Con.
stitution are more distinct and emphatic
than those which guarantee the freedom OF
the press and the exemption of the citizen
from arbtary arrest and imprisonment.
and no previous attempt has been made to
violate them since the election Of Jefferson
That great Statesman and Patriot in
his first Inaugural Address, declared, that
the "arraignment of all abuses at the bar
of public reason; freedom of religion,
freedom of the press, and freedom OF
person under the protection OF the habeas
corpus, and trial by juries impartially Sc
lected )" were among ''the essential
principles of our government and conse
quently" among "those which ought to
shape its administration"
And speaking further of the true princi.
pies of the Government (including those
just rccited) he said :-"These prn ciples
form the bright constellation which has gone
before as and guided our steps through an
age of revolution and reformation -
The wisdom Of our sages and the
blood of our heroes, have been devoted
to their attainment They should be the
creed of OR political faith, the text of civic
instruction, The tOuchSone by wh,ch TO try
the se,0lceS Of those we trust, aud should
we wander from them in moments of error
or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps,
and to regain the road which alone leads
to peace, liberty and safety"
These words of wisdom are recalled at
this time because they are as appropriate
now as they were at the time when utter
ed. Then, the previous administration of
MIR. Adams had been troubled by the spec
tire of sedtion and had had.a law enacted, g.
set the courts in action, against it. The
Democrat. had been denounced as ''dis-
loyal, "and as "sympathizers" with France,
and had been prosecuted, fined and impris-
oned for ''pretcnded Offences in speech
and writing, against the Administration.
Unquestionably they had been prosecuted
in violation of the Institution, bM sill.
uaaaer Tie Io'ms of luO and with some
pretence of regularity. 1t was reserved
for the present time to discover that BATH
the form and substance of legality NAV
be dispensed with by party in the perse-
cution of its opponents.
1t would be we'll for our Administration
10 recur to The advice of Mr.. Jefferson (lit.
tie as they may be disposed, ordinarily, to
regard it, aud if they have wandered sin
moments of error or alarm" from true
principles, "to retrace their steps and to
regain the road which alone leads to peace, ,
liberty and safety
But perhaps, instead of appealing to the
administration, we had best adopt the
course pursued by our ancestors, and by ell.
Getting true Institutional party into pow.
er,secure ourselves and our system of gov
ernment against abuse and error in future
We are told that necessity may Justify
departures from the Constitution-the as.
sumption of powers unwarrautcd or for
hidden by it. Listen to tue answer Of
John Nicholas of Virginia, in 1899, to
this, the standing plea tyrants in all ages !:
"1Vo eOvefnment can assume a polOer mol
Delegated on preten;e Of ais being uecessa-
~, Ior none haze q right 10 Judge of
DAat as necessary but the makers Of the
Constitution :" and he might have added,
that this plea is usually as false in fact as
it Is unauthorized in principle
1t may be said, that times of war are
not subject to ordinary rules, or, to use
current phraseology, that the "life of the
nation is of superior importance to its
fundamental law, But was the Constitu-
tion made for times of peace ouly Is
not state of war contemplated by it, and
full provision therefor madel The war
power, whether agains external or inter-
nal foes, is vested in government, and also
all subsidiary powers necessary to its ex-
0rclse. No one can point out specific
and proper power for time of war, which
has been withheld from Government.
Wretched indeed would be our condi.
ton, if American liberty had guarantees
for times of peace only. Like other nations