Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1867-08-02

for this vacant seat upon the Supreme bencni
What are their past records, and where do
they stand, in these eventfnl times, ana on
these momentous issues2 The veal or woe
of the Commonwealth, and perhaps oil inc
nation, Is involved in these questiQnsl aiiu
it behooves every patriotic voter ~ the 0'a'o
to examine them with care , ,r
OfJudge Williams, the Union kepubilcau
candidate. we here propose to give no eXten-
ded biography. lie = high toned SilIls .s
tian gentleman, about forty six years OF age,
a ripe scholar. learned and eminent lawyer,
with fifteen years, judicial experience, on
the bench of fhe District Court Of Allegheny
county. He was first elected judge in 1851,
when he ran over one thousand votes ahead
of his ticket, and was reelected ih 1861, BY
the unanimous vote of all parties. The fol
lowing extract from an editorial in the Pitts
burg Post (the principal Democratic paper
Of the West), shows the estimation in which
he is held by political adyersaries
''The nomination of the Hon. Henry w.
Williams as candidate for Judge of tho
Supreme Court is a good one. lie tcaS The
best man named before the Republican Cou-
Ue,ptioa, and possesses legal and mo- al quail
tications for the responsible position to which
he has been nominated. -
He is of the Webster and Clay school Of
politics, and during the recent civil war,
from the beginning to the end, did every
thing in his power, through his means, his
voice, and his votes, to strengthen the hands
and encourage the hearts of the loyal people
in the struggle to maintain the Union.
Who, and what Judge Sharswood is, as a
public man, viii appear from what follows:
Early IN the history of this nation politi-
cal sentiment became divided on the powers
Of the National and State governments, and
their true relations to each other. On these
divisions two great parties were subsequently
founded. The one, known as the State
Rights party, had John &. Calhoun for its
champion; and the other, for its recognized
leader, had the great expounder of the Con.
stitution, Daniel Webster. The former
held free trade, and the right of notification
and secession, as cardinal doctrines, denying
the constitutional power of Congress to i'm
pose duties for protection, and claiming nul-
LITIGATION and secession as inherent rights of
State. The latter denied these aSsump-
tions, and between these conflicting princi
pies and parties there has been perpetual
warfare. In the main, the old Wing party
ranged itself under the banner Of Webster,
and the Democratic party under that of Cal
houn. One of the legitimate fruits OF the
States rights doctrine was the rebellion Of
1888, in South Carolina; the ayowed object
of which was to nulify the protective tariff
law Of Congress, enacted in 1898. The
country at that time was saved from dis
astrous civil war by the frmness of Prcsi-
dent Jackson, the wisdom of Congress, and
the patriotism Of General Scott That ef.
fort at rebellion and civil war failed; and the
principle on which it was based was repudi
! -
and other rebel States again endeavored to
put IN force their States rights doctrine OF
secession. The sympathy, imbecility, and
connivance of President Buchanan, and his
advisers, so contributed to the success Of the
effort, that its eonsummation could only be
prevented by a long, desperate, and bloody
civil war. In the end, and after fearful sac
rltlces of life and treasure, the rights and
power Of the National Government we're
again indicated and the Calhoun doctrine
OF secession was again overhrOwn. Such
at least has been the popular conviction, and
cause for rejoicing: and even the worst OF
Southern rebels have been compelled 10 con
A~""@ r.. as-A sssr tore A-r~-- 4--,7:, 1 A-
weeping over their lost cause Strange,
sad and incredible as it may seem, we are
already called upon to fight these great Is
sues over againl The Democratic party, with
Judge Sharswood for its leader, and with
Free Trade, State Rights and Secession
upon its banner, is again marShallng It's hosts
and now summOnIng US TO the field of polItl-
cal combat, on these same issuesl That
party at their National Conventions in $50
and 1860, readopted what are known as the
Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1898
and 1899, as partof their platforms. These
resolutions are known aS the embodiment of
ha S,ld irhk nd % doc
They do not regard the relations of the
States or people thereof to the United
States as constituting g0UeyRBtcat, In the
ordinary and proper sense of the term, but
declare them 10 b. merely a compact, and
that "aS n all Other cases ofcOmpdct among
parties hdrtag no common Judge, e0cb party
has dg equal right 10 .Judge t0J itScj, As
WELL OF INFBACTIoNS, AS OF THE MODE AND
MEASURE OF REDRESS.
Under this free Democratic charter for
rebellion, the lawful election of Abraham
Lincoln as President Of the United States
was claimed by the people of the rebel States
as an 'infraction OF the compact; and
they chose secession and civil war as the
mode, and the destruction Of the Union
and State independence as 'the measures al
redress The Democratic party at its last
National Convention proclaimed the war
failure; and it has now put in the field a life
long Free Trade and State Rights candidate
whom Judge Black endorses as one who
will stand by the Constitution and give
pure law viz; who viii stand by the Con
stitution as the State Rights party consrrue
it, and give as such ''pure law as Judge
Black has given President BUCHANAN aud
ANDREW JOHNSON.
Judge SHABswooD and his PARTY friends
have not only denied the lawful power Of
the National Government to coerce a rebel
lious State, to make and enforce draft to
make paper money a legal tender, TO enamel
pate and arm negroes, to punish rebels and
traitors by disfranchisement to suspend the
writ of hdboaS Corpus in time Of rebellion,
or to arrest and try offenders in time of war
by court martial; but they hold that all these
things, though actually done, we're illegally
and wrongfully done, aud therefore settled
RothiRgi Or as the Democratic organ the
PhilddeLphia Agel, in recent elaborate cdi-
torial on the Republican State platform,
thus expresses the same idea: I'VE pur.i5
to the sober thoughts Of the peopl,' Of Penn
sylvania, whether they would not have all
these grave pending questions decided accor-
ding 10 law, and not according to war, JUST,
IN FACT, as THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN DECI-
DED HAD THEY ARISEN EIGHT YEARS AGO,
OR HAD NO WAR TAKEN PLACE.
Is, then, the lost cause" not lost? Has
the late dreadful war decided nothing? Is
the right of secession an open question?
Has slavery not been ab0lisheR Are not
the four millions OF bondsmen free? Has
our national debt no legal.existence? Have
tho victors M pnwpr over tho vnuauishpd2