The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1867-08-30

n is, that no limit ian be seen to til,
S extension of slave territory if sucl
f an interdict is not interposed. W,
cannot acquire free territory"
h This extract contains a very fai
statement OF the grounds on which
e Mr.. Lincoln was elected President
: / suspect. however, that a great many
4 of Judge Thurman's political friend.
2 were in the habit of calling it aboii
e tiunism. Whether it is sound doc
: trine or not, it is part of speecl
| made by Judge Thurman in Con
t gress, on the 18th Of January, l847
The Judge had been voting for ths
Wilmot proviso. know not how
: many times, when Southern Demo.
! crat, Mr.. Leake, of Virginia, taunted
him and other Democrats of his
school with belonging to a set OF
scur"y politicians, who were court
ing the votes OF the AbOlitionists.'
) and Judge Thurman, in reply, made
the good Free-sOil, or, if you prefer
it, the good Abolition speech from
which i have quoted.
Perhaps some friend of Judge
Thurman will suggest that this Free
soil doctrine is not the very poison
abolitiOnism, to which such dire con-
sequences are attributable in his Wa
verify speech. Well, what other doc
trine or sentiment did Mr.. Lincoln
entertain on this subject? know he
said, /" l was always anti-slav0ry;''
d" slavery is wrong or nothing is
wrong" "no man has right to eat
,, his bread in the sweat of another
mans brow" But is there anything
very dangerous IN these ideas? II
Won will look up AL old file of some
Democratic newspaper you will find,
in the prOceed'nds Of the Ohio Dem
Ocratic State Convention, of January
8, 1913, this resolution
Resolced, That the people Of Ohio,
now, as they always Rave done, look
upon the institution of slavery in any
part of the Union, as an evil, and un-
favorable to the full development of
+ the spirit and practical benefits of
free institutions; and that, entertain
ing these sentiments, they will feel it
to be their duty to use all power con-
sistent with the notiOnal compact to
prevent its increase, to mitigate, and
finally eradicate the evil
Certainly, this is indeed 4" the poi
son of abolitlonism. At the South
it was known as tue abolition plank
of free soil Democracy of Ohio. Ac-
cording to the Cincinnati Enquirer,
of January 10, 1913, it was first IN.
troduced into Democratic COnven-
ton by " Mr.. Thurman, of Ross"
Now, when n gentleman in whose
record are found such tracks rs these,
talks violently of "the poison of alb
olitionism," and speaks of abolition
lists as persons who are necessarily
'enemies of our Government one
naturally seeks for some explanation
of such singular conduct / know of
nothing which explains it better than
eaying OF Gen. Benjamin f. Butler.
at the Charleston Convention. Ac-
cor,iing To Mr. Halstead, of the Gin
cinnati Commercial, General Butler
said ''that free soiiism among North
srn Dsmoerats was a sort of politi-
cal measles, from which many never
entirely recovered" Now, if in the
Waverly speech. we find that my
friend Judge Thurman is horribly
afraid of abOlitionism. and makes
statements as to the awful things it
has done, which nobody else has
seen or heard of, we must have the
charity to remember the fact that,
during three or four years the Judge
suffered from violent and protrac-
ted attack of political free soil neas-
les, from the effects of which he has
never entirely recovered.
The truth OF the whole matter /
suppose to be this. In lS47 and
l64S the great body of tie people of
Ohio concurred in the views OF Judge
Thurman on the subject of slavery,
as set forth in his free soil speech
and his anti-slavery resolution. They
also agreed with him in his speech
of 1916 on the duty of the citizen in
time of war. in case the war was of a
character which imperiled the nation
al safety. Since then Judge Thur
man has changed. From being a
war Democrat of II e Jackson school,
he has become peace Democrat of
the Calhoun school. But the people
of Ohio still hold to the old opinions.
Judge Thurman saw, or thought he
saw, "new lights, and turned sharp
corner" but the people. not seeing
"the new liguts also, have kept
straight on in the old paths" Un-
der these circumstances, submit
that, whatever others may say, it is
not for Judge Thurman to charge
Mr.. Lincoln and his supporters with
having been changed into ''enemies
of our Government by '.the poison
of abolitionism" If that sort of
poison has been poured into the pub
lie mind, Judge Thurman record
tells us that one OF the post promi
nent gentlemen who engaged in that
work is now the Democratic candi-
date for Governor of Ohio.