American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1867-06-19
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vre DeEn6 crssIie'Party--EtsIscs
sDonsibilify for Two Bloody

"
sDonsibility for Two Bloody
Wars.
The student ofllistory be filed with
wonder and amazement when ne reads
with care the history .of. fhe Democratic
party and reflects that such corrupt or
ganization was SO long tolerated and
maintainea under government which
had been. as,solsmnly dedicated to repub-
lican liberty es'eprs. Historians speea-
late and theoriize upon theadifcrent ex-
Incidents which have been resorted to for
the purpose of Sustaining empires and
Kingdoms that have grown corrupt thre'
the RIGHTEOUSNESS of corrupt monarchs,
and while unfolding to the world the Sc :
cret,intrieHes which have been the maia-'
sprinh of governments which were not
founded upon the virtue aud intelligence
of the people, have failed that singular
phenomenon in ours, whiEh records the
administration and control of our goye
ernment by political party which pro :
claimed its avowed hostility to. all meas
ures which were calculated to
strengthen and preserve the Federal
Union. The great aim Of the Democratic
party was political power and personal ag
erardizement, and not the increased de-
yelopenient of the national resources, and
the permanent glory of the Republic. To
accomplish IFS object and secure political
permanence, it never hesitated to-, pros
trate the business of the country, Or to
plunge it into useless war, The growth
of Republican sentiment and the spirit Of
opposition to slavery during the few years
preceding the Mexican war, resulted IN
the leaders of that party, then in control
of the government, sending sam ldous>
ton into the regions bordefing on the kto
Grande for the sole purpose OF hlibuSter-
ing the country into a war with Mexico,
This was not done because the descend
ants of the Montezumas had been guilty
of anv breeeh of the law of nations, or
that we hnd any wrongs to redress, but
in order that some pretext might be aa-
yapced under which we could claim and
secure the Territory Of Texas, which fell
t616ur lot as the legitimate consequence
of.the treaty of Gaudaloupe Hldalgo
The ACQUISITION Of this large tract OF rich
and sparsely settled country, accomplish
ed thepurpose for which it was Intended;
the speedy Incorporation Of Texas into
the Union as a powertulally OF the Dem
ocratic party. Itwas dedicated to slavery
and consequently TO the Democratic par
ty. not because slavery was profitable
there. but because something was needed
to eounter>balance the rapidly increasing
wealth and population Of the Free Soil
party of the Northwest The price paid
for this band of recruits to the Demo
cratic party is well known to the coua>
try. The war was preeipltated upon the
country. and national honor and national
peace required that it should be prose
cuted with vigor and success. This tact
compeled many eminent statesmen to
support war which in their hearts they
could not but condemn.
The success in thus extending the do
minions of the Democratic party, by tore
ing the country INTO war in which the
national honor was involved, emboldened
the leaders and induced them to repeat
the thing, when power passed from their
hands by the election Of Abraham Lin
coin in the memorable election Of 1860.
They had lattened from the drippings OF
the public Treasury and they imagined
that snch an innovation upon their inhc-
rent rights as the election of a Republl>
can President, was sufficient grounds on
which to involve the country IN another
war. How far they were successful the
history Of the past five years bears ample
testimony. Their history during the past
fifty yeais is written in letters Of blood,
marked not alone by the bloodhound 5
track amid the bayous and swamps OF the
cotton and rice fields of the far off South,
but among the rolling hills of wild and
rugged New England, upon the broad and
unbroken praires that sweep Westward
from the Aleghenies toward the Golden
States of the Pacific, and in a thousand
beautifully decorated cemeteries, where
sleep in one calm and unbroken sleep our
army of patriot dead Will the Ameri.
can people ever again commit the desti,
nies of the country to the keeping OF
such a political party?--Froa. Rep.