The Placer herald., 1863-01-17
NUMBER 20.
[FIom the Sacramento Republican,
"All Abolition or all Traitor

The late motto of the Republican party
cal slave or all free'-has been superseded
by the above. The mask is at length re-
moved, and abolition, in its naked beauty,
stands confessed the genius of the party. All
who do not bow to this divinity and wor.
ship at its shrine, are hereafter to be regardi
ed as intidels and traitors. The same tanaI-
ic zeal, the same bigotry and intolerance,
the same pharisaic exclusveness and sectari.
an hatred which characterized the early
apostles Of this principle. are now the con,
trolling elements Of the Republican party,
governing its members in all their public
and private Relationship their official acts
aud their personal intercourse. They make
no allowance for difference of opinion, tol.
crate no discussion or submit to any uues.
! tionlng' Absolute submission is the only
condition of federation. Every man who
does not endorse the emancipation proclal
mation is traitor" This is the language
of their leaders and organs. For the first
time in the history of free government q
matter of opinion is held criminal and party
tenet made test of loyalty. When in the
history of the world did party claiming
exclusive patriotism, virtue and honesty
turn out to have any just claim to eitherl
"Men may change, principles never" is
universal maxim. How long is it s,nce
many OF these men who now make belief
In abolition test of honesty and patriot
Ism, Indignantly resented the imputaton
OF holding any such views9 Who could
have believed twenty years ago that the
crazy fanatics of that time were the saints
and martyrs of new political dispensation
| that #
lots whoud become the ruling principle
of our government? If the aboitionists
are right now they were right them If all
who oppose them now are traitors, all who
opposed their principles then were traitors
This presented the strange anomaly of a
government of the people in which all but
a small faction were traitors-the onl; loyal
men being those who notoriousy opposed
the Government! 1t presents, also, the sim
gular fact that so long as the traitors ruled
the public peace was preserved, the rights of
all were respected and maintained, the ma,
ton was prosperous and happy; that so
soon as the loyal party obtained control of
the government, civil war was naugurated,
personal rights were violated, and consti-
tutional guarantees set at naught!
Wha: has procuced this singular state of
things? In despite the laws of ethics, have
principles changed, or is it only a change Of
opinons9 If the latter, then virtue and vice,
patriotism and treason, according to repub
Ican ethics, are simply matters of opinion
what is loyalty to-day may be treason to.
morrow, and use versa. One thing is cer
tain, that Democrats have not changed their
principles or professions-they conducted
the government successfully for more than
half century of its existence, and no rea.
sonable man believes that it would have
been stroyed under Democratic rule; they
never claimed for themselves exclusive 10y
atty, denounced all who opposed them as
traitors, nor sought to restrain the freedom
of discussion. With such record, they
can afford to submit to the candid judgment
of an intelligent people the question of their
loyalty, without feeling constrained to en-.
dorse abolilionism to save themselves from
impuations upon their patro tsm