The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1867-08-01
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Battle Cries Of the Past.

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Battle Cries of the Past. I.. n
The Argus and other copperhead journals
may kick and founder and vince as much as
they please; they may blazon on their col
umns the number of Totes they have cast;
they may talk themselves hoarse on taxes
they may count their scars and tell what
deeds they have done; they may paint Gen.
Lee an inch thick, and court the smiles of
JEFF. Davis; they may appeal to the worst
passions of human nature and stir up the
poor against the rich; they may invoke the
invisible spirit that steals away mems brains;
they may appeal to the sympathies of the
people and urge the admission of Southern
rebels into Congress without conditions or
without repentance; and they may even
climb up and attempt to sit on Gen. Grants
broad shoulders and ride thereon into place
and power; but all that will be in vain. The
people have marked the course of that party
for the last six years. Its tracks are still
plain, and they cannot be covered up. uae
The truth is, the leaders of the Demo
cratic party are seeking position and power
under very grave difficulties. They have no
active sympathy with public opinion, and
when politicians lack that powerful agent
and instrumentality, they cannot achieve sue
cess. They do not understan9. nor apprec-
ate the tendency Of public sentiment To
them it has become a foreign element They
cannot adapt themselves to that deep current
of patriotic feeling which now runs through
the public heart with unabated force. Desti-
tute of all such characteristics, how can they
hope to, breathe. The breath of political life
much longeraio Of what use can 1t be to
talk of the victories the party has won in
| days long since gone byq The battle cries of
a past era have lost their charms. The late
war has changed the whole aspect of political
affairs, and the party that Identities itsel
with dead issues has no living principles and
must go down never to rise again. 1t cannot
| live upon such issues. As well might an an
| imal attempt to live and breathe In an ex-
hausted receiver. .szlocgoa
A glance at the platforms adopted at the re-
cent Democratic conventions show plainly
enough that all the party's sympathies, all its
procliyities, all its affiliations are bound up
| and -eouucctet With the dead past. Accord
ing to their own showing, their only hope OF
| success is based upon the wished for oblivion
Of the lessons the warhas taught. But will
our country ever forget, ignore or DISCARD
these lessons? Never! The trials and tri-
umphs of the past six years will never be.for-
gotten. and surely the present generation will
not ignore them. III, n .saeo 10 aaaT
4 This party, which pretends to- champion
the Constitution, would bring back the South
ern States just as they were, with rebels ram
pant and the freedmen at the mercy of a cruel
and ignorant class. Such democracy as that
cannot live in this age. The spell Of that
empty word is broken, and its charm has gone
forever. The Democratic wire-pullers don't
believe the war has settled anything. They
make up their political platforms just as il
there had been no war, and for very good reas-
| ons desire to wink all such matters out of
sight. But their platforms will not hide the
truth from the people. Ila aale2 gaI .tAlq
1t is well Known to all who remember the
history of political parties for thirty year.
past, that Slavery has been the right arm Of
the Democratic partys power. Calhoun,
many years ago solemnly declared that the
Northern Democracy was "the natural ally
of Sldoery," and no man knew better what
he was talking about than John C. Calhoun.
This sharp Southern politician told the truth.
| We all know that every Democratic Presi-
dent, since jackson has been elected by the
united force of the Slave Power, North and
South. Without that combination Of forces
no Democratic candidate could have reached
the White House. Now, having lost the
right arm of its power, the Democratic party
under the lead of Pendleton, Vallandighaln,
Wood and others Of that school, set up the
cry, "the constitution has been trodden upon !;
its sacred provisions have been violated, and
the devil is to pay generally" But If ole
looks carefully atEthe proceedings of their re-
cent conventions and examines the worm
eaten planks oftheir platforms, he cannot fail
to see that the constitution they swear by is
the constitution as interpretated by Taney.
Dred Scott decisions, human bondage, State
rights and other matters as John G. Calhoun
expounded them more than quarter of cen
tury ago constitute the essential features of
Democratic constitutional law. .. d. .,..,....,.
Why, the war which has cost so much blood
and treasure to save the nations life, in the
opinion Of that party, was unconstitutional
from beginning to end. When the war began
and during its progress, every village had its
Copperhead expoanders Of tile constitution,
most learned and potent fellows, whose
mouths were always open against the war be-
cause it was unconstitutional. Such a cry
could be heard at every village, hamlet and
cross-road in the country. And the Copper
head leaders now take up the same cry and
hope to deceive loyal people and drag them
back into the Democratic fold. 1t is false
cry, and the Copperhead wire-pullers know it I;
| and thanks to our common schools ard to the
lessons the war has taught us, the people
know it too We say again, the party that
attempts to rally its forces with the battle
cries of the past and plants itself on exhaust
ed issues, cannot hope to fl its wasted ranks
from loyal and intelligent people. s.7, ..,-,