The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1865-09-30
From the New York Day Book
The Future Course of the DeamOe.
rNeg.

ence to the opinions of others, that the
path which the Democracy should walk
IN Is 80 plain, that a way-faring man,
though q fool. need not err. Four years
ago. a war was inaugurated ostensibly for
the purpose of saving !" the best govern
ment on earth" That government, found
ed by Washington and his co-patriots, had
given 10 the American people an untram-
eled development. 1t had not conferred
blessings, for government is, at best. IA
necessary evil. 1t, however. performed
the true functions of government. 1t
had restrained aud tieftatc,i the efforts Of
those who would use it as an instrument
OF T. nression, or selfish ambition. To the
unthinkin.. it seemed as if the govern
ment had conferred npon the people the
amazing prosperity with which they were
blessed. Especially did this seem to be
the case, when our condition was conn
pared to that of people under other gov
ernments. But after all, the real cause
lpf the difference between our own u
Try and others, was that government here
had been confined To its legitimate pur-
poses, aud our prosperity and happiness
were simply the result Of the natural free
dom, and the impulsive energies of Il peo-
pie. when the true order of society is not
interfere. with.
All tn, IS now changed. The rey0lu-
tion in the administration Of our system
is complete. and we seem to be rapidly
marching on TO an utter overthrow even
of the system itself. The cheeks and
balances of State and Federal authority
arc totally ~disregaryied. The States are
becoming mere dependencies of the cen
trial power, Elections are set aside, as
in Virginia, or maiSpged, even in times of
peace, by mihtarY orders. (sec Gen. Pal
liners ukase in Kentucky. and that. too.
in States never claimed to have been in
/" rebellion" An official of the Treasury
Department writes n threatening letter
against States which have presumed to
lexercise their constitutional prerogatiye
of taxing the property within their limits.
Martial law still sets enthroned to do the
biddiag of a Brownlow in Tennessee or a
Turner in Virginia. When the rebel
lion was suppressed, we were told that
all those usurpations we're to cease: but
power is too sweet to be quietly yielded
up. and if these experiments upon the
temper Of the people 20 on. there will
soon be no law left for the protection of
the citizen anywhere. Our government
in fact. as well as in name, viii be set
aside, aud a military despotism locate it.
self ut Washington. crushing the liberties
of the people aud cursing them with debt,
taxation and poverty, as the Legitimate
results of a government hat is not re-
strained in it's proper sphere.
Now. it is the business Of the Democ-
racy. as friends Of a true republican gov
ernmcnt. 10 restore the reign Of the old
system. We should plant upon our ban
ners the Constitution of 1887; the Fed
eral Unien; the Rights of the States
White Citizenship; Free Speech Free
Press; Habeas Corpus; Equal Taxation
Specie Currency. and the restraining Of
the Federal Government to the few and
simple purposes for which it was intended
We must get rid of this bloated monster
which now gulphs down the liberties of
millions of people at a single swallow. 1t
sits now like a great demon, grinning
CHASTITY smiles over a land once as fair as
the Garden OF Eden, now. alas a vale OF
woe aud misery, where the lamentations
of widows and orphans and the groans of
eaptiyes are the only sounds that fill the
air. Like Saturn, he has turned TO the
unnatural business of devouring his own
children. Better. a thousand times. that
We had 40 government, or that the Fede-
raj power was reduced to a few clerks and
Iagents, rather than have Washington the
seat of secret inquisitions and military
/, commissions, with their inevitable train
11of pimps, spies, and informers, and the
whole ~noxions brood of vermin which in
fest the p%urlieus of such tribunals. If
we permit this feature to become a fix
ture, and, in a sparsely settled country
such as ours, the monster despot. with
his thousand legs and arms reaching in
every direction. can make himself safe
! from any uprising of the friends of lib
Eerty. Were the people concentrated al
or Near the centre of despotisnl, they
might, with one passionate burst of pa
triotism. free their country from the do.
mlinion of tyranny, and restore the sway Of
law and order. But such is not the case
: Americans have to work out their deliv-
%erance, not by fury and passion, but by
), the slow process ofeducating public opin.
: ion. Through the ordinary forms oi
> lpeitieal action we are destined to restore
3 the way of the Constitution and the Laws
] or else this generation will never sec
them. It can be done with all ease, il
we but VIII it. viii it, and she en- be
: free" was the rallying cry of France wher
:, she overthrow the Bourbons. The De
; , mocracy have but to viii it, and they car
. be successful. Every impulse of the PEG
! pie, every cherished memory, every aspi
: ration of patriotism anhhates the heart
,a,tof the masses for the old government
The Democracy have but to. lay hold O
this issue, bear it aloft, and victory vii
perch upon their banners. But if they
win not do this, if they ~acquiesce, ever
in the slightest degrre, in the Abolition
revolution, they will be shorn of popular
favor, and deserve an ignominious anc
disgraceful defeat.
ANNEXATION IN CANADA.-A late New
York letter to the San Francisco Bulletin
says:
e Tie PROVINCIAL Parliament is now in ses
n sion at Quebec, and letters from that plac
q indicate a growing feeling among the Cana