The Portland daily press., 1864-09-01

The following is copied from the Argus o.
Monday morning:
democratic principles proved safe char
for the great ship of State for more than sew
enty years, aud their continued ascendency il,
the councils OF the nalion would have guide'
t uaharm I'd past the terrible ma-lstrom Int
which | is now plunged and which threaten
speedily to swallow it up"
BY Democratic Principles the Argus means
the principles which governed the Democratic
party 10 1856 and 1860, and which control
Chicago at the present time; aud with such
meaning it has the effrontery TO insult it,
readers in the broad daylight of the 10Th cen
fury, by the utterance Of such bombast and
lalsehoods. The spirit and intent of the abov'
extract is. that if its party had remained ia
power the nation would have escaped the ter
rble maelstrom into which it is now plunged.
We shall use the words Democrat and Demo
cratic 10 the same sense that the Argus does.
Does our neighbor suppose the public in
teligence is stultihed? No man knows BET
ter than he that the present war was com
menced by Democrats, and with Democratic
administration in power. He knows that MOI
a single southern rebel voted for Abraham
Lincoln; that the Democrats have the sole
glory of having insuted our common flag, OF
having opened batteries upon the nation's
forts, of having captured the revenue cutters.
stolen army stores and pillaged the U.
Mint. He knows that Democratic General
in Texas surrendered U. S. troops TO Demo
cratic State officials; that by those Democratic
officials the United States soldiers were in
carcerated in tllthy prisons and barbarousl,
treated because they would not prove false TO
their obligations to their Nations flag.
he knows, too, that while all this was going
on Democratic President-James Buchan-
an-surrounded by a Democratic Cabinet,
sat still and saw.the work o. ruin eliminating;
sat, as some one has said. like plaster draw
ing the rebellion TO head He knows al
this. He knows that for every new made
grave, for every manned soldier, for ever,
drop of blood she'd for every dollar expended
| Ia consequence of this war, the treason OF
Democrats is to be held responsible.
He knows full well that every armed rebel,
from JEFF. Davis down TO the lowest private.
/ was the supporter Of the Democratic candl
dates in the last election. He knows tina.
! one who wears the stars OF Major Genera
I In the Rebel service was elected Vice Presi-
! dent by the Democrats 10 1856, aud reeeiv
large Democratic vote for President in 1855 4.
/ He knows that the Democrats of 1850, are 10.
day the men who prosecute the war again
the Government; that they are the pen, c
only men, who have lifted hand against %
Union; that they are the men who are to
day laboriug to embarrass the Government
lbs efforts TO uphold the national unity aTC
the Gag thereof
He knows all this he knows that Demo
crais refused TO submit TO the fairly expressed
will OF the majority that they armed 10 resist
the popular verdict; that they have sworn to
! break up the national bond or 10 perish H.
their tracks.
De further knows that every privateer Is
/ fighting in behalf of the Democrats of 1860;
that for every fisherman destroyed, every ves-
sci boarded by rebel pirates, Democratic trail
tors are responsible. All this he knows ant
much more. The sum of their villauies and
birbarities and crimes battle the power Of
numbers 10 express them, and shows the bar
reuness Of language when description is al
tempted.
And yet, knowing all this, the editor Of the
1 Argus insults the national intelligence by tell
ing of the safety of his boosted Democracy,
and OF how safety TO the nation would have
resulted from its continued sway! Democra-
cy alone, as he calls it, is responsible for all
our troubles, and yet this traitorous party
these men who have laid vandal hands upon
our compact of Union, these men who have
inaugurated civil war and are now prosecut-
/ ing it, these men who have deluged the land
| in blood, with an assurance aud brazen faced
ness that would put aconclave of devils to the
blush, appeals to the American people to re-
establish them in power, claim that they alone
! can restore the peace which they have broken,
and reunite the nation whose peaceful bonds
! they have sundered! Was impudence ever
more unblushing?