Weekly Calaveras chronicle., 1866-12-01
Party Loyalty

ufar party or clique of men. he feels himself
under obligations to his benefactors. and
times his course to suit their wishes, and it
makes little difference in the case what has
been his public professions of opinion, his
actions are governed by the dictates of the
particular influence to which he feels that he
owes his immediate elevation. This was exem-
plified in our elecrion of 1865, when, in sew
eral parts of the State, independent Union
candidates ran and defeated the regular Un-
ion nominations. every mothers son of whom
are today as good working Copperheads as the
most bitter disunionist could ask for. The Of
flee seeker who works in his party, relies for
success in it. either on the general good !;iIl of
his party toward him. or upon the scheming
of some clique within the party who will
help him in consideration of the solid SER
vices which he can return to them. Should
his success result from the confidence repos-
ed in him by the body of his party, and not
be in the right road to make an useful and
faithful officer, and one who will endeavor
to reflect, honestly, the opinions of his party,
and strive not to do it discredit by any per-
sonal direliction of duty. If, however, he
should find his success through clique infu-
ence, his course viii be troubled and uncer-
tain; he will not be faithful exponent of
his party's opinions, but will be the tool of
the designing men who intrigued him into
power, and he Will fiLd himself bound to
them by ties of corrupt interest which he will
be unable 10 shake off This was strikingly
demonstrated in the Union Democratic party
OF 1861. The great body of that party was
beyond doubt loyal; but its conventions
were manipulated by the old party hacks
of the Democracy, who had wrung themselves
in for that purpose, and the result was the
election of candidates, by the Union Democ-
racy. who felt all their obligations due to the
secession managers who nominated them,
and we find the most bitter Secessionists of
to-day among the officers who were elected
on the Union Democratic ticket of 1861. We
know that it is popularly believed that pub
lie officers sometimes. if not frequently, throw
off their patty after election, and it may in
rare cases. be true; but the general rule holds
good. that the throw antedates the cleo
ton, and takes place in convention when a
corrupt candidate is tricked into nomna-
ton; and we venture the assertion, that tin
nine cases out Of ten where public officer
proves faithless to the principles of his party.
his detection may be directly traced to the
influence which secured his nomination, and
his party treason is a natural consequence of
such nomination.
Such We believe to be the general rule in
politics. and a man must have greater or less
virtue than the average of politicians who
violates it. The rule is, in Short to help the
immediate party who helps you; and SO
generally has the force of this rule been tac-
lily acknowledged by all parties. that no
scruple is felt IN Furnishing any public Off
Ger who violates it, by removal from office
when such removal is possible. In an elect
i've office, renegade is generally secure of his
position for his full term, and bids defiance,
for briefperiod. to his outraged constituents;
but where an incumbent holds his position
and is subject to removal at
the will of political superior, strict subserv-
iency is demanded and enforced. The peo-
pie may not always be able to compel the
officer of their choice to a strict observance
of their behests; but those who hold the
power of appointment and dismissal at pleas
ure, in their hands, will not put up with any
foolish independence in their subordinates,
but hold them to literal observance of what
is required of them. The people cannot pun
ish delinquent until the next election-he
who holds the power of removal, Furnishes
instanter. The rule of punishment then is,
to indict it as soon as you can, whenever you
have the lawful power to reach the culprit.
Men do not complain when an unfaithful
officer is removed by the party he betrays, it
beng expected in all cases where removal is
possible. And it should make no difference
if that unfaithful one holds very high office,
even the highest in the land-t the higher the
trust betrayed, the greater the crime, and the
more signal should be the punishment! No
political treason of modern times equals that
of our present Chief Magistrate. They Who
deny his apostacy and treason to the Union
party can only base their defence of him on
one of two grounds, either of which should
suffice to damn him forever. They may say
johnson owes nothing to the Union party,
because it was Booth aud not that party who
made him President; or they may take the
other ground that he never was an Unionist
in the sense understood in the Union party,
and that the instigators of Booth knew it,
and hence Lincolns death. johnson cannot
justly complain if he is deposed by the Union
majority in Congress, in punishment for his
treachery to freedom. for 'kicking out of
office" all who could not subscribe to his
policy has been his favorite amusement of
late, which he has carried to and beyond the
verge of Constitutional limits The opposi-
ton cannot complain if the President is re-
moved or impeached by Congress, for their
rule has always been to remove a political
opponent whenever they had the power. The
Union major ty in Congress should not vio-
late the party usages of the country. and
permit johnson to plot treason in the White
House when they have the Constitutional
power to remove him. Should they be so
reereant to their duty, they would prove
themselves incapable guardians of our liberty
and would deserve to be driven from tho Na-