Year: 1859

The following extract is clipped from
recent speech Of Tom Corwin, at
Ironton. Ohio:


We have parties am not one of
those that believe that political par
ties are necessary. l am not one that
believes that, as men of sense and dis
cretion, we have need to differ about
this thing at all. | admit that par
ties are made necessary by the pres.
ent imperfections Of mankind. But
while would say that, would beg
Of you, in Gods name, to put away
the little, mean, and trifling ambitions
and asperities of parties, and, my life
on it, if you would do that, there
would not be so much party in the
country as there is. If you could get
President who would devote tho
whole faculties of his head and the
better emotions Of his heart and con.
centrate them upon the idea that he
was the representative of the only
free Government on the face of the
earth, and the one supposed to be the





nations of the world, that want to be
free-if we could but get man that
would elevate himself even so high as
to think that, and act upon it, do you
believe that the postmaster whose Of
flee is on some prairie in Illinois Il
am speaking of fact that have seen
related in the newspapers the pro-
ceeds Of whose Office amounted to
three dollars and seventeen cents per
annum, gross, laughter, who had
the impudence to poke his head out of
the little log cabin in which his office
was held, and say that he thought
Stephen A. Douglas was respectable
man, and was overheard by some poor
man--not poor in property, but poor
in soul, that had a little starved and
miserable soul in him, who wrote on
to this mighty representative Of the
only free country on the face of Gods
earth, taking care of the liberty of the
people of the country-thirty millions
of them-that he did not like Mr..
Douglas while the other man did
that he, the President, would send
forth mandate to that poor little fel-
fow on the praires, who was collect
ing his three dollars and seventeen
cents a year-not tenth part of the
expense of fuel that he burned in one
winter-to go out of Office laughter
and let some man come in who did
not like Douglas.


This is a fact so they say. Don't
let me now be holding up Mr.. Buchan:
an as an exception. Such has been
too much the case with every Prcsi-
dent since this party spirit has been
so much in vogue. Wing and Demo-
crat, etc, have been guilty of the
same sin. l know when you are elect.
ing men to make laws for you, you
must elect one whose notions agree
with yours but do not know that
when you have a clerk at Washing
ton, and the Wing party believes that
the pen-knife he uses ought to pay
thirty per cent. od ralorem, duty, and
that poor clerk has not been able to
see that distinctly, although he is II
capital book-keeper and faithful
man, but in his soul and conscience, he
thinks it would not be right to pay so
much duty as that, that you should
turn him ont of Office, and say that he
is not fit for a book-keeper. 1t is not
respectable know that, because |
have tried it. No man can feel like a
gentleman, if God has made him one.
and do that thing. Ii that man holds
his tongue, we will not question that /;
but if he is to go to Congress and
make laws for US, to establish that du-
ty on the pen-knife, then We will ask
him about it.