Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-09-25
State Rights.
Prom the Harrisburg Patriot.

Prom the Harrisburg Patriot
There was time not very remote
when some of the most prominent
leaders of the Republican party were
deeply enamored of the doctrine of
State rights which is now to them the
object of so much dctcstation. In
1872 the tendency to Capitalization Of
political power in the general govern
ment in the Republican party which
has since developed to 50 great an cx-
tent led to an earnest protest i'll the
platform of the Liberals who nomna-
ted Greeley and Brown at Cincinnati.
In this platform the Liberal support
ers of Horace Greeley for President
declared that local sclf:goycrnmcnt
with impartial suffrage will guard the
rights of all citizens more securely
than any centralized power The
argument against such Federal lcgi-la.
ton rs the bayonct election law has
not been more tcrscly put than in
this sentence. This appeal for local
self-goycrnmcnt against " centralized
power is only an assertion Of the gen
uine doctrine of State rights in auoth.
cr form of words. The platform Of
the Liberals of 1872 further demands
"for the States self-goyernmcnt and
for the nation n return to the methods
OF peace ami the constitutional limita-
tions of power" Was ever the doc
triuc of State rights more clearly and
emphatically asserted? 50 far from
this return having been made there
have been long strides in the opposite
direction, Us is proved by the Ian
guagc and acts Of the Republicans in
the last session Of Congress, but many
of the supporters Of this platform
have gone back to the party of cen
tralization n the dog returns to his
vomit The air Of genuine Liberal
ism was too fresh aud free for Schurz
Banks, Bullock, Fcnton and White
law Reid. Their political systems
had been too much dcpraycd in the
close aud sitting atmosphere of cen.
tralized power.
The letter Of the candidate accept.
ing the Liberal nomination for Prc-i.
dent as emphatically endorses the doc
trine of State rights "a the platform.
In this letter Horace Greeley said
that subject to our solemn obliga.
tions TO maintain the equal rights Of
all citizens our policy should be to
aim at local self government and not
OF centralization," and that there
shall be no federal subycrsion Of the
internal policy of the several Statcs
and municipalities, but that each shall
be left free to enforce the rights and
promote the well.bcing of its inhabi.
tants by such means n the judgment
of its own people shall prescribe"
These extracts from the platform Of
the Liberals Of 1872 and from the
letter of their candidate formulate
the whole doctrine of State rights as
it has been upheld by the Democratic
party from the foundation Of the gov.
ernment. This is the doctrine advo-
Gated by the New York Tribune in
1872 when it was the favorite organ
of the Southern Democrats north of
the Potomac. With a strange facil.
ity the Tribune now dcnounces its
own State rights teachings as a revi-
val of the ancient herosies of seccs-
sion. In spite of Misrepresentation
and clamor the Democracy adhere to
State rights with pnwavering fidelity
as the essential guarantee of the lib.
critics of the people and the very
breath of the national life. But the
light-limbcd Liberals of 1872 who
sought to vault into political power
from the broad back of the national
democracy and have since deserted
their associates of Cincinnati have
become the most scrvile advocates of
centralized power"
THE Board of Pardons which met