The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-08-21
1'IIE STATE CAMPAIGN.


Of principles and its candidates fol
Office.
The record ottcsts the good faith and
honest. Of both.
The platform is a plain and simple
assertion Of the principles Of tho Con.
StitutiOn as 1t is, altl officials of the
government selected from und hv tic
Democratic party arc guided by it in
tho conduct OF their offices.
The duties of each officer arc prc.
scribcu by Mw-writtcn luw-untl
when they arc faithfully performed, il
is the Law that rules and not the ili-
dividual who happens to pcrsonatc it.
Indeed, tho iaiLl,tul discharge Of Official
duty is necessary to this rule OF Law,
on which depends tho peaceful enjoy
mcnt 10y tho people OF all the liberty,
justice and regulated order that their
system of government is capablc OF
aflorling. Honest observance Of oili-
c,al obligation is necessity to the
maintenance and pcrpctuity of this
government Of tho people by the pco-
pie.
Should our government of law, faith
! fully administered, fail to meet the
demands Of the people, the mode is
plainly prescribed by law for such
alteration and amendment us may,
from time to time, become necessary. .
Any stretch of official power, to meet
any supposed demand, is to that cx-
| tent tho exercise OF unlawful or arbi-
trary power, and to that extent
| destructive OF our governmental sys-
tcm,-is, in fact, substitution Of per
sonnl for official power, which is an
| Il if.f fr ItIl l,f
spirit ofour institutions.
However worthy tho motive or
urgent the emergency may be, the OK
crclsc OF personal power by even the
| most patriotic officer should be watch
ca and checked, us il opens the way
.or iaithlcss and designing officials to
use Tic machinery Of government for
its subvcrsion.
1t is to maintain these principles in
the conduct Of the government that
the Democracy is arraying its strength
for the coming conflict.
Whatever may have been tho origi-
nal object and purposes of our great
antagonist, tho Republican party, how
cvcr honest and patriotic its platforms
and candidates may once have been, it
would seem that their organization was
captured in the hour of their triumph
by iaithless, self-sccking officials,
whose construction of tho Constitution
as to their powers would have made
the misguided but patriotic old FEEDER
alists, against whom Jefferson wagcd
war and raised the people in their
might, stand aghnst with horror. Tho
old ship that was stored through the
stormy sea Of Rebellion without the
loss Of spar, had barely reached
smooth water when she was boarded
by these pirates and used to plumber
and destroy what she was built to pro-
tcct. Its flag, which was borne with
such enduring pluck through the
bloody battlcs of q protYac.c c,l war, was
| seized by trcaclcrous hands and made
tho standard OF an arbitrary power
infinitely more dangerous to American
institutions of liberty than the armed
array of the world. Under tlc shadow
Of its folds the old fortress of the Con-
stitution was dis:mantlcd and It's arma-
mcnt moved 10 q "camp outsidc.' >
governmental organization was sub.
ordinatcd to party organization. Con
sut"tiohat power was supplantcd by
cXtra-constit ltional force, and tho
mandates of party were substituted
for the laws Of the land.
Is it strange TINT this mode of con-
ducting a constitutional government
should render necessary the eXpcdicnis
of fraud and force? The employment
OF both is primo necessity to it.
is IN impossibility without ininmou.
betrayal of trust on thc part Of officials
sustained by the force of cXtra-consti
titiOn0l organization.
The practical result Of al this is ,
tic t0cto centralized government, tn,
powers of which are limited only b,
! the discretion its officials.
Thanks to the wisdom Of tho fnthcr
OF the Republic, tho exercise of thi
discretionary power is curbcd by Oh
staclcs inherent in the matchlcss svs
tenn itself which they framed. TN
officials through whom the powers o
government are operated. arc all, from
the President to the humblcst munici
pal officer, sworn to support the Con
slltuilon and laws Of the country; an,
tho extent to, which arbitrary rule
/ practicable is in proportion to Tn
, nithsessncss OF these officials. Whcr
all are true TO their trusts, it is impos
siblc. Where all arc taitllcss, arbitru
' ~. government is fully equipped wit
| with the machinery necessary for il
: complete administration.
When, in the recent past, our Stat
. government, under the control Of tn
= Republican party. was converted int
q an engine Of oppression, dcsyadatio
p and ruin, we were experiencing I'll
G full operation Of this centralized 20,
II crnmeat. The sworn officials furnish
- cd by tho Republican party, so fl
= from interposing tho natural obstacle
u or our governmental system to tho &c
Il ministration Of unlawful govcrnncn
Il themselves destroyed tho barriers .
the law and added their share of arb
=, trary power to the tidc of tyranny tn,
j cnsulphcd us all.
This method of conducting Cover,
mcnt is tho only ono known to q
It Republicans of South Carolina.
J. Driven wcll-nigh to despair, Il
frce-born citizens OF the State resolve
:. to units their strength in suprcn
u effort for relief. They succeeded
10 restoring tho power and authority
n