The mountain Democrat., 1865-06-10
Uselaaa 20 FhRAt.

and State Governments is use against us;
and power and patronage are almost re.
sistlcSS in the present unsettled state Of
the country" So some Of our friends say,
and VIC arc not surprised that they feel
discouraged. Nevertheless there is use
for Democratic party, and the time must
come when it will be called upon to cx-
tricate the States and the Nation from
their mbarrassmeNts, Some Of the old
issues that divided parties s,V 6IS6. HyE
others survive the war, Of vital impor.
tance to the American people. The su.
prcmacy OF civil over military authority,
the rights OF States, the liberties Of citi
zens, how the Government shall be ad-
ministcred, whether for the benefit Of the
white or the black race, and many other
questions, are still undecided and upon
these issues the Democratic party has
taken a stand which will receive the in
dorsement OF a vast majority of the pco.
pie at-no distant day.
1t is true VIC may be defeated; but it
makes a great deal of difference with US
and with the State whcther the majority
against US shall he one or ten thousand
whether VIC shall send to the Legislature
n sufficient number Of members to keep
the majority in check or none at all. In
the first place, we shall be in a condition
to command respect; in the last, We
shall not be; and we shall neither get
nor deserve it, either as party or indi-
viduals. We do not claim that success
is probable this year; nor do we admit
that it is not so. We only say that the
nearer we come TO it,the better it will be,
for US; and if We succeed so much the
better still. We know that the time
must come, and that soon, when the peo.
pie will seek relief somewhere from the
intolcrablc burdens now imposed upon
them We know that the dominant party
is kept together solely by the prospect of
spoilS; VIC know that diSnffection has
crept into its ranks and that split ID in.
evitable; We know that it is not fighting
for principle but for men; We know that
Shoddy contractors, whose occupation is
gone by the ending Of the war, own and
control its organs; Sfknow that its cf
forts to place the negro upon an Quality
with the white man is obnoxious to many
Of its own members; and we know, from
the past history Of parties, that PARTY
without principle cannot long exist. We
want to keep the Democratic party com.
pact and rs strong as may be, that it may
be ready to assume the responsibilities of
government, whenever the people shall
,. satisfied with the experiment they IRE
now prosecuting, at such tremendous
cost. We want to restore the Govern.
ment to its old simplicity and purity
We want those who administer the Gov
crnmcnt to understand that they are the
servants and not the masters Of the pco.
pie, and that the masses will hold them
to a strict accountability for every infrac
tion Of the laws We cannot do this bv
our organization and giving
up the contest. 1t would be neither pru
dent nor patriotic.
What can We save? The Struggle now
going on is between something reSem.
bling a ce0tval dcSpoiis,n on the one hand,
and State Rights on the other. The
leaders Of the party in power pay no more
regard to the local sovereignty of the
States, than as though no States existed
In our own State, far removed from the
seat Of war, military commander usurps
the functions of our loyal Governor, and
the Governor tamely submits to the nsur.
patton! The rights Of the State are to.
tally di$regarded. Her citizens are &c.
pnvel Of their liberties solely by military
authority. Her laws are suspended or
treated as n nulliiy, and she seems to be
powcrless TO protect the rights OF her cit
zens. Is it not time to arrest such aEbi.
trary proceedings? Is it creditable to
the Governor or the State not TO protest
against them? Let Governor Low cXer.
else the authority placed in his hands by
the sovereign people Of q sovereign
State" and he will redeem the character
Of the State and place his own above the
reach Of detraction.
The Democracy hold that the highest
type Of civil liberty is that which exists
under the government Of State. The
people OF California, before the breaking
out Of the war. hardly realized that they
were governed at ALSO light were the
burdens, and so dim was even the pres
ence Of government. Everything then
went on smoothly, because the General
Government did not interfere with the
State Government. The Democracy de-
sire to restore the excellent old condition,
and to do so it is necessary to keep up
their organization and make fight.
IGNORANCE. The San Francisco Call, a
pensioned Shoddy organ, says:
'What constitutes Democracy nowadays?-