The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1877-09-05
A FEW OLD FACTS.

Stanley Matthews maze III
statement:
''In 1851 the Democratic party rent
asunder the Union rather than peacefully
submit to the inauguration GA Republi4'
eau President There was no question as
to the fact or rightfnlness Of his electio,l,
but it was made the pretext and signal fOf
a disruption The Democratic party had
taught itself to believe that it was the
exclusive depository of some divine right
to rule; and the election Of Mr.. Lincoln,
though constitutional in itself, rudely
shocked the party tradition ofinfallibiity
He was treated as an intruder and tres,
passer whom it was lawful to eject
and expel." - z
Macaulay said of an. sala-s SANDER
that it had long before been aban-
doned by statesmen to aldermen; BY
aldermen TO clerggmea; by clergy
men to old women, and bsioll w4neiF
to Sir Harcourt Lees. We. are sorry
TO see Stanley Matthews assume. the
position Of final sponsor for a lpotiti-
cal outcast OF the same kind. It.
may be worth while to repeat G few
facts in regard to the Presidential
election Of 1860 which are no longer
fresh in the public mind. They,
show clearly that the Democratic.
party accepted the election of Presi-
dent Lincoln in good faith and sup
ported him loyalty, and had as little
to do with secession as the .Republi-
can party. There were four tickets
in the field during that canvass--the
ticket nominated by the National
Republican Convention at Chicago,
headed by Lincoln; the ticket nomi-
mated by the regular Democratic
Convention at Baltimore, headed by
Douglas; the ticket nominated by
the seeding Democratic Convention
at Richmond, headed by Brecken-
ridge, and the ticket nominated by
the Constitutional Union Convention
at Baltimore, headed by Bell. The
Democratic organization now in ex
istence succeeds in direct line the
Douglas Democracy of 1860, and is
only responsible for the record of
that body. On examining the popu-
lar vote in the national election Of
1860 it appears that Lincoln received
1,S57,610 ballots, of which only 49,,
400 were cast in the slave States,
and of this number but 1929 were
cast in the States that subsequently
seeded. Douglas received 1921, 574
votes, of which only 163,525 were
cast in the slave States, and Of this
number but 1904 were cast in the
States that subsequently seeded.
Breckenridge received S50,OS2 votes,
of which 5?O,S7l were cast in. the
slave States, and Bell received 646,-
124 votes, of which 515,973 were
cast in the slave States.
These figures are significant. =
They show that the popular vote cast
against Lincoln was 930,l70 in ex.
cess of that cast for him and that the
Regular Democratic ticket had in
1860 but little more support in the
South than the Republican ticket.
Was the attitude of the Democracy
on that occasion what Stanley Mat
thews represents it to be? The par
ty found itself with the beggarly
showing of II electoral votes and a
popular vote of /, 291,574 while mi
nority candidate, with popular vote
not greatly in excess Of its own, was
constitutionally elected by an electo-
raj vote of $50 out of 303. 1t was
certainly an occasion to try the pa
thence of any set Of men, but so
strong was the party instinct in ia
vor Of the forms Of law that few
Douglas Democrats hesitated mo-.
ment about acquiescing in the cleo
ton Of Abraham Lincoln or main
tanning his authority after his inau
guration; and when the Southern
States seeded and the storm of civil
war loomed in the horizon Lincoln
could lean with confidence on the
faith ofhis former rival. The course
of Douglass was in that crisis con
sidered guaranty Of the safety of
the Union. If there was any waver-
ing or paltering with what was called
''disloyalty'' at the North it was
among the supporters of Breckin-
ridge and Bell, many Of whom, like
Butler, Tremain, Stanton and Dix,
afterwards became renegades to re-
publicanism and the fiercest enemies
of the Southerners whom they had
served. The Democrats fought
faithfully to maintain the Union,
though they were vilely slandered by
the party that reaped all tie glory
and profit out ef their sacrifice.