The Placer herald., 1871-04-22
THE DUTY or DEMOCRATS.

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the party and the good of the country to dis
arm themselves of all personal feelings, all
individual spites or prejudice, all thoughts of
personal gain either in filthy lucre or official
position and all else that stands between them
and their solemn unsefsh duty to the party
and country. Especially is this the duty OF
all leading Democrats and Democratic ed-
tors The rank and file are always true,
always sensible and sagacous and reliable,
when correct principles and honest, com
petent and able candidates ere placed before
them. These being facts and no man dare
dispute them, then if we are beaten mem
bers or professed members of our ownparty
will be the only persons to blame. We
have no right to hope or expect the support
of the great producing and industrial classes
of our countrymen unless we present such
platform of principles and candidates repre-
senting these principles in their persons and
acts as well as by profession, as will COM
mand their hearty endorsement, full conf
dence and entire respect. These being also
facts, the party and each member Of it has
a plain and known duty to perform to insure
success. Nationally speaking, the party is
a unit on principles in every portion of the
Union, and on State policy in this State
there is no division Of sentiment except on
one question Of subsidies to private in
diyiduals and corporations. On that ques
ton we believe we speak the truth when we
assert that out of every hundred Democrats
in the State, ninety-nne Of them are oppos-
ed TO all these subsidy schemes and schem
ers The right of one man to vote the prop
erty of another into the pockets Of private
individuals or corporations is so abhorent to
every principal Of justice and equity-"the
right to acquire and enjoy property" that
there are but few men bold and bad enough
to longer contend for it. Then we assume
that when the Convention meets, if it fairly
represents the wishes and principles of the
party, that it will lay down in plain and un-
equiyocal language a plank in the platform
that will forever give quietus to this mon
strous plundering doctrine in the ranks OF
Democracy-that will divorce and forever
separate the Democracy from all plundering
schemes of robbery on the masses Of the peo-
pie. This done, and the next and final task
of the Convention will be to give US candid
ates, every one CT whom represents this prin-
ciple in his person andacts, such as can point
to past acts and declarations that insures
and guarantees their good faith and unater-
able determination to carry out this doctrine
in its most radical sense; and especially should
this guarantee be demanded Of the candi-
dates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor
and Judges Of the Supreme Court. Here
the duties Of the Convention ceases, and il
they are in harmony with the above ideas,
the people will do the remainder of the work
and a Democratic victory unparalleled in
California will be the result. The eyes Of
all who agree with us on these questions turn
instinctiyely to Governor IIaight as the man
to head such ticket, to lead in such a con-
test and to enforce and carry out these doe
trines and indelibly imprint them on our
State policy in the coming four years. lie
it was that crushed these monster plunder-
ing subsidy schemes at the close Of the last
session of the Legislature, and with him we
hno1U it will be done again; and this is the
reason that 800 or 400 honest, heretofore,
Republicans stand ready in this countvto vote
for him ;-Republicans, We mean, that think
more of the vital interests of the masses than
of a mere party name. TO Governor Iaight
and the fourteen Senator's who stood by him
belongs the honor of retrieving the Demo
cratic party from ruin, and saving to the
people of the State millions upon millions OF
dollars, and to him should all good men
turn for protection and security from these
grasping monoposts in the future. He it
was whose, when his signature would have
commanded hundreds upon hundreds Of thou
sands Of dollars had h but winked at the
coruptionists, that had the nerve, honesty
and integrity to withhold that signature and
save the people their property. For this the
food-gates of nasty, villainous pens and
tongues Of corrupt monopolies we're hoisted
to empty the forebay Of its wrath upon him,
but the people remember him as their true
and incorruptibe friend.
After his nomination the people demand
as insurance on his life, in their behalf, the
nomination Of one holding to the same prn-
ciples and of the same nhexible integrity, as
candidate for Lieutenant Governor, and as
security against the possible corrupting OF
two-thirds Of the Legislature, they also de-
mand the nomination Of two candidates for
Supreme Judges equally sound and commit
ted against the constitutionality Of all sub
sidy schemes. This would make all safe,