The Portland daily press., 1865-08-22
Piseataqai. Comfy.
pEMooRAT4o rAcrroa


VIII the candid reader take a brief retro
s)ectiye view Of the last six years of the his
tory of the Democratic party?
In 1859 and 1889 the entire party South, and
ala.ge proportion Of the same party North,
were planted squarely on the idea that slavery
not only had right to go into every foos OF
free territory belonging to the National do
main, bat that it had a right to do so in opposi-
ton to the united protests of the people Of
such territory, and that it was the duty of the
FEDERAL Government, at the point of the bay
onst if it could do 50 by no other means, to
protect it in this right and to protect it against
Unpopular voice of the section to be affected
by it.
This was the platform on which John G.
Brecklnridge was nominated and supported,
and on which he received y electoral votes
1t was on this very rock that the Charleston
Convention split, portion going for Mr. Doug
las-securing to him only 10 electoral votes,
while the idea of slavery omnipotence proved
dominant, giving to its candidate, since infa-
nous for his treason, the u votes already al
luded to- Such was the Democracy Of the
country-as represented in its organic power
lin 1S59-6o.
During the campaign DISCO, the party, with
aunani nifty seldom witnessed, took the ground
that the South would be justified in refusal to
submit should Lincoln be elected; that they
would have just grounds for revolt, and that.
should they revolt there was no power in the
Government to force them into submission.
Alter the election of 1860, and up to the
time when the first mutterings Of the impend-
ing storm were heard in the South, it was the
one united acclaim Of the Democratic party
that coercion could not be applied to the states
in revolt, that even though secession might be
wrong there was no rightful power under the
constitution to meet it by force and prevent
its consummation. Buchanan took this ground
IN his last annual message, thus confessing
himself powerless against treason, and invit-
ing traitors to do their worst with impunity.
Such was the ground maintained by the
Democratic State Convention which met at
Augusta that year, and put John w. Dana in
nomination. That convention voted down
resolution which affirmed the right of the Cen
eral Government to use so much force as might
be necessary to maintain its own authority
and to suppress armed rebellion.
From 1881 to 1S65-until Lee surrendered
and the rebellion went up--the tactics of the
party have been varied. Acknowledging no
past errors, it did not see fit to assert its old
ones. 1t was of small avail to deny the posver
OF the General Government when that power
was represented by half million armed men.
1t could bring no comfort to southern traitors
by telling them they could not be coerced, SO
long as they were being routed and driven at
all points, and their leaders, as fast as taken
were being incarcerated in military PRISONS
The circumstances Of an iron necessity COM
PEELED the party to change its line of warfare,
and the line it adopted, and on which it fought
till the rebellion caved in, was this: to decry
the public credit, to prognosticate all sorts of
evil, to predict failures, to traduce the charac-
ter and motives of the military and civil lead
ers, to malign cabinet offices, to magnify I'm
ion reverses and underrate Union victories, to
denounce all the means adopted to prosecute
the war, to breed popular discontents, to charge
tyranny and usurpation upon the President.
to cultivate popular prejudices against the ne
gro, and TO employ all the enginery of calum-
ny and falsehood that the devices Of wicked
and reasonable men could conjure up.
Perhaps no more successful warfare was
adopted BY these men, in order to cripple the
energies of the Government than their sys-
tematic attacks upon the credit of the coun-
try. No call for money could be made, no is
sue of bonds be put forth that they did not
raise cry against the worthlessness of the
currency, and all sorts of odium was heaped
upon Messrs. Chase and Fessenden and their
paper-mills for grinding out "greenbacks" by
the cord. We need not repeat the story of the
mischleFous Efforts made by these rebel sym
pathizers, to break down the government by
destroying its public credit at home and
abroad. When gold rose to 2.So holders were
cautioned not to sell because paper would he
Of no value; when widows and orphans nro-
posed to invest their small means in 5-2os or
7-3Os these men advised them not to do so, as
the bonds would soon be of little or no value.
The truth is, the Democrats, as class, refused
to furnish government with money and take
its securities, and thousands of them to-day
men of wealth-can say that they never paid
a dollar TO help the war, never paid dollar to
AID sick or wounded soldier, never touched
dollar ofthe Government bonds till the time
when these bonds gave promise ofbeing worth
more than gold itself
But the war has closed and peace has come
come 70 stay, it is fondly hoped; and now
what attitude do we find these Democrats &c
summgs On what line do thew now tiobt9
Those who attended and heard tho s,oo,,o,s
at the late State Convention of the nart,r 100
those who read the New York Wo~,J 80
Portland argus, know what this line i IT
is THE LINE OF REPUDIATJoNI
matter how much effort was made Inv I'D
Rice to conceal it, and no matter how caroG,I
ly Mr.. bradbury worded his resolution the
general tenor and spirit of the Concentiou
speeches sUere on the side Of bad .faith; of the
Government violating its own promise; or. to
express it all in one word, of Reputation
There is no escape from this. Judge Rice,
with all his adroitness, betrayed the "cloven
loot IN its worst form. He admitted that the
otate might not set aside the law of Congress
anu break faith with the creditors of the Gov
eminent, but insisted that Congress itself