The tri-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1866-1868, 1867-05-14
RALEIGH, N. G.
L U ESDAY, MAY 18th, 1867.
The Republican Party.

IL ~ 10 ODSeIfC thO
and zeal with which the Union people OF TIN
State, in all their public meetings, have rat
flied and approved the platform of princl
pies laid down by the Convention that as
sembled in this City on the 9th of Marcel
last. 1t is true that body could not bt
called in one sense a Convention, for its mem
bers were not chosen in the ordinary way IL
which Conventions arc constituted. 1t was
merely consultative meeting of one hun
dred white and fifty colored Unionists, who
assembled for the purpose of advancing the
cause of reconstruction. The original pur-
pose was to suggest some mode OF recon-
structing the State under the Sherman act,
but meanwhile Congress very properly passed
the supplemental act, which rendered action
in accordance with this original purpose I'M
necessary. This body of enlightened and
patriotic men. thus spontaneously assembled,
thought they owed it to themselves and the
country to announce their principles. They
did so, and respectfully advised the forma-
tion in the State of a REPUBLICAN PARTY,
E. to act in concert with the great NATIONAL
REPUBLICAN PARTY. They assumed the
right to dictate to no one-to bind no one.
but it was the first public movement of the
kind in the right direction, and we repeat
our qualification that the action of the body
referred to has been so generally and so
warmly endorsed by the Unionists of the
State. We have heard several friends say
that they expect to point with pride in after
years to the fact that they were members of
the little meeting which was held in Raleigh
in September, 1866, which endorsed the
Howard amendment and nominated Gen.
Dockery for Governor; but those who were
members of the Convention or meeting in
March. 1867, which laid down the noble
platform of principles prepared for the COM
mittee by our friend Col. David Heaton, of
Craven, and illustrated in its proceedings
practically the absolute political equality
which exists between the two races, will
have brighter and n more memorable epoch
in their lives to refer to. than even those who
attended the September meeting.
1t is frequently said, there are two parties
in this country. This is a mistake. There
are factions, but there is but one party with
a national organization. In the North we
find the Copperhead or Democratic faction;
in the South we have the secession faction,
which is in intimate sympathy with the for
mer. The history of the secession faction
and its present status are we'll known. The
| Democratic faction has no organized connec-
ton with the Southern seceSsionists but it
presents two faces to the two sections Look
! ing South, it says to its secession friends.
1--WE are your true and best allies We dc
test the Republican party, and we want you
to aid us in putting down that party. If
| you will 90 with us We will do you good
We sympathized with you during the rcbell-
we could by demanding that in all things it
should govern itself in its course towards
you exactly by the Constitution. Unite with
US, and, together, we can overturn the Re-
publican party and re- establish the Union as
it was" Looking North, it says to the Re
publicans, We are just as true to the nation
| as you are. We paid our money and sent
our men to suppress the rebellion We hate
rebellion and treason as heartily as you do
We demand that the South shall submit I'M
conditionaly, and if we could have our way
we would establish the Union on a soundcr
and better basis than you can" Such is the
language which this Democratic faction ut
tiers to the two sections. Can such men be
trusted? And if they could be, what
good thing could they do for the
South? They have no power in the councils
of the nation. They have no national Or
ganization. They are as powerless to help
the secedcrs and malcontents of the South as
the latter are to help themselves.
We repeat, there is but one party in the
country, and that is the NATIONAL REpUBL1-
CAN PARTY. We all know it is the party
that suppressed the rebellion and saved the
Union Its principles may be summed up
in few words. They are, equal and eract
Justice to all classes colors and conditions. 1t
is the party of Liberty and Justice. 1t in
culcates the liberal and benign policy of the
| founders of the government. 1t is the pecu-
liar guardian and supporter of labor Its
sympathies are as much with the humblest
as with the highest. Its mission is to edu-
cate and elevate the people, and ts establish
equal liberty, regulated by law, on this con-
tinent. We have had our prejudices against
this party. We have opposed it for years.
But long chain of events under the hand
of Providence has decided against us. We
have always loved the Union, and tits, there
fore, natural that we should now act with
the party that saved 1t, and which alone can
build up and transmit it, with enlarged
boundaries and increasing power, to future
generations.
But there is no choice in this matter. if we
would restore North Carolina to the Union.
If we are really Unionists we must be Repub-
Leans, for no other party can restore the
Union. If we present ourselves for admis-
sion in even doubtful garb, we will not be
received. If we present ourselves as Demo-
Gratis, as copperheads as secessionists, we