The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1871-01-13
THE PRESIDENTIAL QUESTION

ClnclnnatuS, II tue anclent cnIonlcie
ought to be believed, did not seek Of
fee or even dream of having it; but Of
fee sought him, found him at his pillow,
and took him. reluctant, but obedient,
away. He loved his pillow much, but
his contry more; and 80 he vent
This anecdote is yet in the books, and
is occasionally quoted by orators and
writer's, but the real Cincinnatus of
the present day in America cannot
wait to be summoned from his plow;
he is in such mad haste for office that
he let's the plnw hold itself while he
pushes, and gets letters signed by this
and that Hon. Tingumbob, Esq, and
intrigues to pack nominating conven-
tons with his friends, and makes HIM
self generally buzzing fly on the Ak
letree of all creation, that he may get
an office--big ones preferred, little
ones not refused. Politicians and au-
thors alike write in praise of agricul-
ture, and pathetic longings for u
peaceful rural retreat from the cares
of life; and yet the former at least re-
gard farm as most people do heaven
AS place to be desired at last, but
not to be- taken possession of any ear
lier than absolutely necessary. Since
Washington and his immediate suc-
eessors, how many Presidents and
Presidential aspirants have really pre-
ferred the plow to the helm of State?
Clay would rather be right than Pres
ident; but was he not nevertheless q
secretly disappointed man? Webster
loved his Marshfeld dearly; yet many
people believed his death was hastened
by his failure to receive the nomina-
ton. Horatio Seymour finds his sim
cerest pleasure in his farm near Utica,
but he yearned for the favor of re-
public and found that republic pitt
lessly ungrateful.
We now find Gov. Hoffman, of New
York, modestly declining the nomina-
ton for the next Presidency, "all for
the sake of harmony" as his friends
assert. But does any one suppose
that. if the position were thrust upon
him by an admiring party, he would
turn his back and flee from its allur-
ing presence as did the ancient Joseph
from the offered embraces of Poti-
phar's wife? 1t is absolutely absurd
to presume that such would be the
case. The New York politicians who
are interested in the nomination of
Hoffman, are shrewd and willy in all
the multifarious tricks of the political
arena, and the nation may depend
upon it that the remarkable modesty
of Mr.. Hoffman is one of the means
by which his friends expect to secure
his nomination by the National Demo
cratic Convention. This declining
business is an old subterfuge and has
been played too often to the sorrow
of the Democratic party; and we trust
that the Democracy of the great West
will not be thrown off their guard by
its assumption on the part of the New
=
tied to the first place upon the Demo-
cratic National Ticket, by all the rules
of right and equity, and We should
leave no efforts untried to secure
that end. 1t may possibly be true
that Gov. Hoffman does not seek the
nomination, and if that is the true
state of his feelings it will be discov-
cred at the proper time and he will
receive that measure ofpraise to which
such remarkable character is emit.
tied; and in view of the past expert
ence of the Democratic party in their
National Conventions. he cannot Ger.
tainly censure us of the West if we
make that experience the basis of our
conduct instead of the newspaper as
sertion of some penny-a-liner that ''he
positively will not be candidate!'
The Eastern and Middle States may
possibly defer to the wishes of the
West in the National Democratic
Convention, but it will only be after
our claims are urged with a pertinacity
which will admit of no denial; and il
behooves all of us to bear that fact in
mind and not relax our vigilance until
the goal is reached. Let US not for a
moment forget that upon our success
hinges the fate of the contest, and
"Look WeH TO the Vest" r@
THERE is not in Missouri, or anywhere else