Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1866-08-02
VOLUME XVII.

Sduoi JuStlCe meeLeQ to all.
b. You were elected to the very high al
responsible position of Senator of the Ur
n ted States, as an opponent of the democra
4 lc party, and you could not have been $
. elected, had you not been recognised {
- such. Now, however, nineteen out of @,
or cry twenty of the opponents of the dem
- crats OF the state, who acquiesced in yor
- election, object to your public action, Will
tne democrats as generally approve it. S
there Is radical change somewhere. Eitl
er your former political friends have chana
ed, or you have, and which is it Probs
bllltles favor the latter alternative For i
Is not likely that so large number of me-
as constitutes the republican party of thi
State-nay, of the United States-woul,
y simultaneously desert political faith, We
individual changes are common occurrences
Besides, the fact that the democrats anC
the republicans as partizan organizations
occupy relatively, the same position now
as when you were elected, goes far towards
showing that you are in different attitude
For, II you have not changed, both these
whole organizations have and who does
not know better?
In this position of antagonism to the re-
publican party, you contend that you are
right, and the party is wrong | propose
to examine this question. But first, YOU
seem to forget to practice, in your party
Obligations, on the lesson of submission TO
the Will OF the majority, you have lately
given. The chief reason why submission
10 the Will OF the majority is inculcated, is
because: as rule, the majority is right ::
and II this holds good in one case, it does
IN another So that in the outset, the in
| ferential deduction 10, thot you a,u wrong,
and that the party is hight.
| But, the great difficulty with you seems
| to be the abolitionism of the republican
| party, or, the abolitionism of its recognized
| leaders. 1t does seem a little singular that
an old whig, one who, with his party, re-
sisted the Texas Annexation outrage, the
annulment of the Missouri Compromise,
the brutal assault upon Sumner, and other
| aggressive measures of slavery propagan-
dsts, should leave his party on questions
growing out of the abolition of slavery,
| forced, as it was, upon the country. AS
party, the wings objected to slavery be-
cause it was wrong in itself. believing that
it had pernicious influence on the whites
among whom it existed, and that it begat
! class distinctions and sectional animOslties.
| True, they did believe also that neither the
! General Government or the people Of the
| free states, had any right to interfere with
slavery where it was established but they
| believed further still, and that was, that
| the Government had right to prevent Its
extension and this as we'll by the inculca-
tions of the Missouri compromise of the early
days of the republic, as by the general du-
ty to oppose all deleteriOus influences In
| society, and Government and that one
thus educated, should object to abolition
ism in any form it can now present itself
| to an American citizen, when In self-de-
fense, and.to save it's own existence, the
Government was compelled to abrogate
slavery, is great marvel to your former
political associates.
l am led to infer from your action in the
premises, that you think, since the slave
holders have rebelled, and butchered our
people by the hundred thousands, there is
not so much evil in slavery as when wings
opposed it for the reason that it was wrong.
Or is an evil in society, and in Govern
ment, of less moment to you now
| hold, in common with ninetenths of the
old whig party, that as slavery in itself
was wrong, and had pernicious influence,
it was the duty of that party to uphold a
measure abrogating it, preceded, this action
did not interfere lUlth the rights Of any class
in community. If, under such circum-
stances, the wings did not approve of the
abolition of slavery they would most gross
ly belle their former professions. Then |
hold, too, as do nearly all the other old
wings, that by waring against the Gov
ernment, and the majority Of the states,
and the people, as they did, the slave-hold-
ers lost their right to hold slaCes and every
other right they held under the Constitu,
ton, even to that Of their lives. Nor does
your version of the cause of the rebellion,
, viz that the abolitionists provoked the
t south to rebel (having in this adopted the
d democratic theory change the fact If A
, spits in BIS face, and B thereupon murders
: A, B loses his means of redress, his per,
} sonal liberty, and may be his life. So thai
: wings must now be abolitionists from the
: very necessities which surround them
n We must not forget that President Lin
t coin abolished slavery as war, and not al
|, a party measure that he was willing t.
? save the country, with, or without slavery
0 and that the latter at last, seemed to him
f the only alternative. To this, almost al
e the wings said amen. | fear you did no
It say amen You loved slavery better thai
r the country The great wrong of attempt
n ing, through rivers of the best blood of TIN
= nation, its division, and thereby its des
t, truction, was not so serious i'll your eyes
d as the supposed violation Of the Consttu
E. ton in aboishing slavery. Oh no, it woul'
e not be a great wrong to steal aud to bur
T. a mans property, and do whatever else hr
n man ingenuity and wickedness could COL
triye, to ruin and kill him but it woul
l. be grave wrong, an unenduring wrong, i
l. the poor man to defend himself Let m
e tell you, that the masses Of the old viii
If party consider this monstrous doctrine
x and that they have but little regard for tn
lie misguided mortal who regulates himself b
n it, They can not understand how it
u that the Constitution can hinder the Coy
1t ernment from saving its own existence
IL The Bible is our guide to Eternal Life 4; u
If skeptics fly to it to prove that there is
ne such thing and the Constitution is the lii
y; of our Government, yet when men have
p folly, or an absurdity to prove in our sy
is TEN of civil polity, they fly to the Const
of tuition The former, however, are about &
tn successful in misleading the christian wor
,O as the latter are in making the libarty-lo