Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1864-09-10
AGENTS for the Standard.
SATURDAY MORNING, SEPT. 10. 1861
The Chicago Convention.

Inc CulCdSO OOuVc0tAVu'
Well, the great agony is over. The Dem
~ocrats'' nave held a Convention at last, and
after adopting a secession, peace PLATFORM
they nominated the "Grave-Diggcr of Chick
ahominy'' as their candidate for President.
We can hardly believe Mcclellan will accept
the nomination, for it will involve an utter
disregard of all sincerity and honesty. Be-
sides if he is not blinded by pride and ambi-
rion, he must see that there is not the slight
est probability of his carrying a single North.
ern State, and not much chance Of carrying
one of the border slave States. He has cvi-
IDENTIFY been made the scape'goat of the "Den-
ocra,ic" party. Ifthere had been a reasona-
bic prospect of electing their nominee, it is
very certain he would not have been nomi-
mated. 1t is a very significant fact that no
effort was made in the convention to secure
the nomination Of any one of the many dis
tinguished democrats" of the nation whose
sympathies and sentiments were known to be
in harmony with their platform Of principles.
The resolutions denouncc the President for
arresting individuals here and there who were
using their influence against the Government,
and in favor of the rebellion. forgetting that
their candidate had not only arrested and pun
ished individuals by the thousand, but had,
on his own %volition arrested Legislative bodies.
We by no means condemn the act, but refer to
it to show the inconsistency Of the convention
in nominating him.
The platform is strongly pro-slavery and
secession. No one who reads it will doubt
its being acceptable to the most ultra peace
men of the North and the majority Of the
shareholders of the Sonth. 1t demands an
immediate cessation Of hostilities, and pledges
to the South the restoration and perpetuation
of slavery as it was I" under the Constitution"
before the rebellion was inaugurated. The
language of the resolutions is plain and ex.
plicit, aud cannot well be misunderstood by
any one desiring to arrive at their true mean
ing. There is nothing in them, or connected
with the political antecedents Of those via
controlled the convention to justify a doubt
of their true intent and meaning, and yet
strange as it may appear, they Set up as their
leader, to carry into practical operation their
principles, a man who has by word and act
repudiated the leading principles enunciated
in their platform. 1t is not surprising that
conscientious peace and States rights Dem
ocrats" left the convention in disgust, declar-
ing that they would not support its nominee.
The latter clause Of the second resolution. in
demanding a cessation Of hostilitics, declares
that it is /" with a view to an ultimate conven.
ton of States, that at the earliest practical mo-
ment peace may be restored on the basis Of
the Federal Union of the States" and in this
connection it must be remembered that the
convention. on motion of Long Of Ohio. with
great unanimity. affirmed the resolutions Of
1898, and that those resolutions assert the
Constitutional night9fMe States to secede.f from
the Union, rhenerer in their judgment their
i~ssryests reqxire IL.
If the South had u constitutional right tn
secede from the Cnion, as was asserted by the
Democratic Convention which nominated Bu-
chanan, ut Cincinnati. in 1854. and e-assest-
ed at Charleston and Baltimore. in 1860, and
now strongly affirmed a, Chicago, iifo1o~s As
q matter Of eours-. that President Lincoln has
been guilty Of = v~iolssion OF the Cons'i'uiicn
in Undertaking to eo-rc the seeding States
iaso subrissior 20 this authority # the Gov
ernEeui- Ii in1a~s jus: as logically. that
Goa Geo. b Mcclellan or any other Dem
scrsf- Who rndsrs<< the doctrine q the r1<&s
Of the Sos:h to s-c~de. are deserving Of ever
lasting sxeera,isnso or having voluntarily aided
in presenting the war Mr. Lincoln and his
adA~rrn,s ksrr si-sys r~ePsdis.-d ,nc d~or,riae
Is . wicked h-sy. dss.ruetive Of III govern
nat vh~a earned iE,o practice lie vss
ELECTED On tins distinctive platform. A great
n.jority Of the American people vos~d against
the candidate standing uPon the secession
platform Thos- vha voted for Doueias and
Bel vess as decidedly opposed to the doc