THE HUNTINGDON GLOB DIi,MOCRATIC FAMILY JOURNAL, DEVOTED TO LOCAL AND GEN ii,RAL SEWS, &C.
are regularly rising to wealth. We have all,
therefore, a common interest, as it is our
common duty, to protect the rights of the la
boring man ; and if I believed for a moment
that this bill would prove injurious to him,
it should meet my unqualified opposition.
"Although this bill will not have as great
an. influence as I could desire, yet, as far as
it goes, it will benefit the laboring man as
much, and probably more than any other
class of society. What is it he ought most
to desire ? Constant employment, regular
wages, and uniform reasonable prices for the
necessaries and comforts of life which he re
quires. Now, sir, what has been his condi
tion under' our system of expansions and con
tractions ? lie has suffered more by them
than any other class of society. The rate of
his wages is fixed and known ; and they are
the last to rise with the increasing expansions
and the first to fall when the corresponding
revulsion. occurs. He still continues to re
ceive his dollar per day, whilst the price of
every- article which he consumes, is rapidly
rising. He is at length made to feel that, al
though he nominally earns as much, or even
more than he did formerly, yet, from the in
creased price of all the necessaries of life,
he cannot support his family. hence the
strikes.for higher wages, and the uneasy and
excited feelings which have at different peri
ods, existed among the laboring classes.—
But the expansion at length reaches the ex
ploding point, and what does the laboring
man now suffer? He is for a season thrown
out of employment altogether. Our manu
factures are suspended ; our public works are
stopped ; our private enterprises of different
kinds are abandoned ; and, whilst others are
able to weather the storm, he can scarcely
procure the means of bare subsistence.
"Again, sir ; who, do you suppose held the
greater part of the worthless paper of the
one hundred and sixty-five broken banks to
which I have referred ? Certainly it was not
the keen and wary speculator, who snuffs
danger from afar. If you were to make the
search, you would find more broken bank
notes in the cottages of the laboring poor
than anywhere else. And these miserable
shinplasters, where are they? After the re
vulsion of 1837, laborers were glad to obtain
employment on any terms; and they often
received it upon the express condition that
they should accept this worthless trash in
payment. Sir, an entire suppression of all
bank notes of a lower denomination than the
value of one •week's wages of the laboring
man is absolutely necessary for his protec
tion. He ought always to receive his wages
in gold and silver. Of all men on the earth,
the laborer is most interested in having a
sound and stable currency.
"All other circumstances being equal, I
agree with the Senator from Kentucky that
that country is most prosperous where labor
commands the highest wages. Ido not, how-
ever, mean by the terms "highest wages,"
the greatest nominal amount. During the
Revolutionary war, one day's work comman
ded a hundred dollars of continental paper;
but this would have scarcely purchased a
breakfast. The more proper expression would
be, to say that that country is most prosper
ous where labor commands the greatest re
ward; where one day's labor will procure not
the greatest nominal amount of a deprecia
ted currency, but most of the necessaries and
comforts of life. If, therefore, you should,
in some degree, reduce the nominal price
paid for labor, by reducing the amount of
your bank issues within reasonable and safe
limits, and establishing a metallic basis for
your paper circulation, would this injure the
laborer ? Certainly not; because the price
of all the necessaries and comforts of life are
reduced in the same proportion, and he will
be able to purchase more of them for one dol
lar in a sound state of the currency, than he
could have done, in the days of extravagant
expansion, for a dollar and a quarter. So
far from injuring, it will greatly benefit the
laboring man. It will insure to him constant
employment and regular prices, paid in a
sound currency, which, of all things, he ought
most to desire ; and it will save him from be
ing involved in ruin by a recurrence of those
periodical expansions and contractions of the
currency, which have hitherto convulsed the
country,
,
"lhis sound state of the currency will
have another most happy effect upon the la
boring man. He will receive his wages in
gold. and silver; and this will induce him to
lay up, for future use, such a portion of them
as he can spare, after satisfying his immedi
ate wants. This he will not do at present,
because he knows not whether the trashwhich
he is now compelled to receive as money, will
continue to be of any value a week or a month
hereafter. A knowledge of this fact tends
to banish economy from his dwelling, and in
duces him to expend all his wages as rapid
ly as possible, lest they may become worth
less .on his hands.
"Sir, the laboring classes understand this
subject perfectly. It is the hard-handed and
firm-fisted men of the country on whom we
must rely in the day of danger, who are the
most friendly to the passage of this bill. It
is they who are the most ardently in favor of
infusing into the currency of the country a
-very large amount of the precious metals.
"The Senator has advanced another posi
tion in which I am sorry I cannot agree with
him. It is this; that a permanent high rate
of interest is indicative of the prosperity of
any country. Now, sir, a permanent high
rate of interest is conclusive ,evidence of a
scarcity of capital, and is indicative of any
thing but prosperity. I think, therefore, it
would puzzle him, with all his ingenuity, to
establish his proposition. To render a coun
try truly prosperous, capital and labor must
be so .combined as each to receive a fair re
ward. In England, when the rate of inter
est was very high, the country was not at all
in a flourishing condition; but as capital grad
ually accumulated, and the rate of interest
consequently sunk, she became more and more
prosperous, though she did not reach her
highest elevation until money yielded con
siderable less than five per cent. But this
subject is so little relevant to the question un
der discussion, that it is scarcely necessary
to pursue it. If it were, it would be easy to
show that a high rate of interest, generally,
if not universally, enter into direct conflict
with the wages of labor, which the Senator
is so anxious to maintain.
.Suppose, for ex
ample, that it required a capital of $20,000
to put and to preserve an iron manufactory
in successful operation. In one country, the
interest on this sum at ten per cent. would
amount to $2,000 ; whilst in another it could
be procured at four per cent., or $BOO. The
difference would be $1,200 ; and, unless this
amount can be saved either by a reduction
in the wages of labor, or in some other man
ner, the manufacturer who pays the higher
rate of interest cannot endure the competi
tion. A higher rate of interest almost al
ways
presses upon the wages of labor.
"If the gentleman's theory be correct, Wall
street must be a perfect paradise of prosper
ity. There, the rate of interest for a long
time has been permanently high, varying be
tween two and four per cent. h month, or be
tween twenty-four and forty-eight per cent.
per annum. Post notes of the Bank of the
United States have been discounted freely at
two per cont. per month. ; With these facts
before him, lilr. Jeffrey would not now de
clare, as the Senator informs us he formerly
did, that this country was the heaven of the
poor man, and the hell of the rich.' lie
might probably reverse the position, though
it would be equally extravagant one way as
the other. A country in which a rich man
can realize from twenty-four to forty-eight
per cent. for the money, would certainly be
anything but a place of torment for him.—
But what is the condition of a poor man in
such a country? When capital commands
such an extravagant interest to liquidate com
mercial debts, it will no longer be used in
the employment of labor; and hence, poor
men must necessarily - be thrown out of em
ployment. Such a condition is anything but
a heaven for them."
Condition of Affairs in Kansas—Official
Correspondence,
WAsnixoroN, Sept. s.—ln order to correct
the false and exaggerated statements regard
ing the condition of things in Kansas; and
the acts and purposes of the Government of
the United States, and to show the precise
truths in both respects, the Union of to-mor
row will publish the following and other in
teresting correspondence :
SECRETARY MARCY TO GOV. GEARY.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 1856.
Sin:—The present condition of the Terri
tory of Kansas renders your duties as Gov
ernor highly responsible and delicate. In
the instructions heretofore communicated to
your predecessor, in February last ; in the
annual message of the President to Congress,
of the 24th of the previous December, and in
the orders issued from the War Department,
printed copies of which are herewith fur
nished, you will find the policy of the Presi
dent fully presented. It is, first, to maintain
order and quiet in the Territory of Kansas;
and second, if disturbances occur therein, to
bring to punishment the offenders. Should
the force which has been provided to attain
these objects prove insufficient, you will
promptly make known the fact to the Presi
dent, that he may take such measures in re
gard thereto as to him may seem to be de
manded by the exigencies of the case. It is
important that the .President should be kept
well informed as to the state of things in ,
Kansas, and that the source of his informa
tion should be such as to insure its accuracy.
You are, therefore, directed by him to com
municate constantly with the Department.
Such facts as it is deemed important to have
early known here, you will cause to be trans
mitted by telegraph as well as by mail.
The President indulges a hope that by
your energy, impartiality and discretion, the
tranquility of the Territory will be restored,
and the persons and property of our citizens
therein protected.
1 - am, sir, &c.,
W. L. MARCY,
His Excellency John W. Geary, Governor of
Kansas Territory.
In a letter to the Department, dated Au
gust 22d, Gen, Smith speaks of the exagger
ations relative to the contemplated attacks,
but says that, "on the assurance of both the
Governor and Major Sedgwick, that there
are 800 armed men now assembled at Law
rence, who can be increased in twelve hours
to 1200, and that it is expected they would
attack and destroy the capitol of the Terri
tory, Lecompton. I have ordered Lieutenant
Johnston's Second Cavalry•to go there with
all the troops at Fort Leavenworth, except a
small company, and have ordered all the
men from Fort Riley, except a small garrison,
to the same place. I have sent down to have
all the troops, recruits and others at Jeffer
son barracks to be sent here, and will send
them and arty companies of the Sixth regi
ment that may arrive to reinforce the com
mand on the Kansas if necessary. A large
force may prevent any violence—a small one
might tempt to the commission of it.
Ile further says, I enclose also a commu
nication from an fficer of the militia, on the
western border of the Territory, showing how
contradictory and inconsistent are the ac
counts spread over the country, for the par
ty that Lane brought from lowa, is on the
northern border, and in Kansas at the same
time.
Col. Sumner's regiment cannot now mus
ter 900 men, including a detachment under
Lieut. Stewart's company on its way to Fort
Lawrence, and a detachment under Lieut.
Wheston, en route for Fort Kearney, with
the Sioux prisoners. Lieut. Col. Cook's six
companies have a little more than 100 horses.
A letter from Governor Shannon to Gen.
Smith, dated Lecompton, says that he had
just returned from Lawrence, where lie had
been with the view of procuring the release
of nineteen prisoners that were taken,. lie
saw in that place at least 800 men who mani
fested a fixed purpose to demolish this town.
lie remarks that he knew they intended an
attack - , and that too very soon. It would
seem that the business of "wiping out," as
they term it, the pro-slavery party, had been
commenced. Under these circumstances he
requests Gen. Smith to send from the Fort
all the disposable force.
Major-General Smith, of the Kansas Mili
tia, under date of August 10th, says to Gen.
Smith: In addition to the extra herewith en
closed, I had reeeived besides information
that a state of Actual war existed in Douglas
county, and that in other parts of the Terri
tory, within this division, robberies and
other flagrant violations of law are daily oc
curring by armed bodies of men from the
Northern States. In the absence of all in
formation from the Governor of the Territo
ry, I have taken the liberty of exercising the
authority in'ine vested, in case of invasion,
by ordering out the entire strength of my di
vision, to rendezvous at various points of the
division, to receive further orders.
General Smith, in his instructions for. the
officer in command of the detachment of the
United States troops ordered to assemble in
the neighborhood of Lecompton, on the re
visition of the Governor to repress insurrec
tion, concludes ;Is follows :—The General
begs and directs you to avoid, as long as pos
sible, any appeal to arms. Use every endeav
or in your power, to bring those who are in
opposition to the law, to a sense of their er
ror. Especially avoid "small" conflicts, and
consider the shedding of a fellow citizen's
blood as the greatest evil that can happen,
except the overthrow of law and right, which
must end in civil war. But when the neces
sity of action and the employment of force
does unhappily arise, employ it at once with
all the power and vigor at your command
but continue it only until you have suppressed
the insurrection, and then interfere to pre-
- vent any cruelty from others. The Governor
of the Territory should, if possible, take
means to keep the prisoners arrested under
his authority, and such as may hereafter be
taken. Their custody embarrrasses the troops
and diminishes their efficiency.
SECRETARY MARCY TO GOY. GEARY.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
IVASRINGTON, Sept. 2, 1856.
Sin:—Reliable information having reached
the President that armed and organized bod
ies of men, avowedly in rebellion against the
territorial government, have concentrated in
such numbers as to require additional mili
tary force for their dispersion, you will have
the militia of the territory completely enroll
ed and organized, to the end that they may,
on short notice, be brought into the service
of the United States upon the requsition of
the commandant of the Military Department
in which Kansas is embraced,
,you will fur
nish by companies, or regiments, or brigades,
or divisions, such number and composition of
troops as from time to time you may find, on
his report to you, to be necessary for the sup
pression of all combinations to resist the laws
of the United States, too powerful to be sup
pressed by the civil authority, and for the
maintenance of public order and civil gov
ernment in the Territory.
W. L. MAucy.
To His Excellency Alin TV. Geary, Governor
of the Territory of Kansas, Lecompton.
Secretary Davis to Gen. Smith, under date
of September 3d, says :—" Your dispatch of
the 22d of August and enclosures, sufficient
ly exhibit the inadequacy of the force under
your command, to perform the duties which
have been devolved upon you, in the present
unhappy condition of Kansas, by the orders
and instructions heretofore communicated.—
To meet this exigency, the President has di
rected. the Governor of the Territory to com
plete the enrollment and organization of the
militia, as you will find fully set forth in the
enclosed copy of a letter addressed to him by
the Secretary of State, and the President has
directed me to say to you that you are au
thorized herewith to make requisitions upon
the Governor for such militia force as you
may require to enable you promptly and suc
cessfully to execute our orders and suppress
the insurrection against the government of
the Territory of Kansas, and under the cir
cumstances heretofore set forth in your in
structions, to give the requisite aid to the of
ficers of the civil government, who may be
obstructed in due execution of the law.—
Should you not be able to derive from the mil
itia of Kansas an adequate force for these
purposes, such an additional number of mili
tia as may be necessary will be drawn from
the States of Illinois and Kentucky, as shown
in the requisition, a copy of which is enclos
ed. The views contained in your instructions
to the officers commanding the troops, under
date of Aug. 10th, are fully approved and
accord so entirely with the purposes of the
Executive, as to leave but little to add in re
lation to the course which it is intended you
should pursue. The position of the insur
gents as shown by your letter and its enclos
ures is that of open rebellion against the laws
and the Constitutional authorities, with such
manifestation of purpose to spread devasta
tion over the land as no longer justifies any
further hesitation or indulgence. To you as
to every soldier, whose habitual feeling is to
protect the citizens of his own country and
only to use his arms against the public ene
my it cannot be otherwise than deeply pain
ful to be brought into conflict with any por
tion of his fellow countrymen ; but patriotism
and humanity alike require that rebellion
should be promptly crushed, and the perpe
tration of the crimes which now disturb the
peace and security of the good people of the
Territory of Kansas should be effectually
checked, you will, therefore, energetically
employ all the means within your reach to
restore the supremacy of the law, always en
deavoring to carry out the present purpose to
prevent the unnecessary effusion of blood.—
In making your requisition for the militia
force, you will be governed by the existing
organizations of the army, and the laws made
and provided in such cases. When compa
nies, regiments, brigades or divisions are pre
sented to be mustered into service of the Uni
ted. States, you will cause them, before they
are received into the service, to be minutely
inspected by An officer of your command ap
pointed for the purpose.
Secretary Jefferson Davis, under date of
September 3d, in the requisition to the Gov
ernor of Kentucky and Illinois, says: "'To
suppress insurrectionary combinations against
the constituted government of the Territory
of Kansas, and to enforce the due execution
of the law, I am instructed by the President
of the United States to invoke this, his requi
sition upon you for two regiments of foot mil
itia, to be furnished to Major-General P. F.
Smith, of the United States Army, command
ing the Military Department of the West,
whenever the exigencies of the public ser
vice shall induce him to call upon you for
said troops, to be employed for the purposes
above indicated, within the limits of said
Territory.
Other documents of minor importance will
be included in the publication.
Who are the Ruffians in Kansas?
We publish the following letter, as the
most effectual and conclusive answer that
can be given to the momentous question that
stands at the head of this article. The wri
ter is well known in -this State as a gentle
man of honor and unimpeachable integrity,
and his statements can be relied upon with
unhesitating confidence. If the startling
facts which he narrates do not startle those
who are aiding and abetting treason and civ
il war, then we are nearer a frightful abyss
than we had imagined. We commend what
follows to the careful consideration of every
patriot in the land:
INDEPENDEXCE, MO., Aug. 27, 1850.
DEAR arrived here yesterday en
route for .New Mexico; and having leisure on
my hands, will give sonic account of the ex
isting difficulties in Kansas. 'This unfortu
nate Territory had remained in a state of
comparative quiet until the entrance of Lane
and his regiment, when disorder and civil
war were again renewed.
The first that was known of the coming of
these free-hooters, for their conduct shows
them to be such, was noticed in the Chicago
papers near a month ago to that effect ; and
they were next heard of at Fort des Moines,
in lowa ; thence they marched for the Mis
souri river, which they struck in the vicinity
of St. Joseph. When they arrived at the
latter point, they were said to be in quite a
starving condition, much dissatisfied, and
that they were disbanding rapidly, and not
much attention was paid to them; but it is
now thought they placed these reports in cir
culation to deceive the inhabitants of the Ter
ritory as to their true object. They number
ed from 500 to 600 men, and were well arm
ed. Before they entered the Territory they
sent word to the Governor that they wished
to, enter as bona fide settlers and not as an
armed force; after which they came into the
Territory, and marched to Lawrence in par
ties of twenty and thirty men, where-they
organized. Their first act was to take a has
ty enumeration of the inhabitants of the
counties of Douglas and Franklin, to see how
they stood upon the question of slavery; af
ter which Lane's men went to the farms and
houses of the settlers, and told the Pro-Sla
very and conservative meal that they must
declare themselves in favor of Free State
measures, or leave the Territory. They im
mediately commenced committing outrages
upon those who refused to comply with their
demands, such as driving the families from
their homes, stealing the horses and guns,
and sometimes money. Among others, they
drove a settler, named Davis, from his home,
near the town of Franklin, who was overta
ken on the road with his family, by a party
of some twenty-five of Lane's men, who made
a young man, in company with Davis, dis
mount from his horse, which they took and
rode away. They overtook another settler,
named Muir, when they took the horses from
his wagon, leaving himself, wife and children
in the road, with no means of reaching their
friends, except on foot. One family had to
fly from their house in the night, naked, in
which condition they sought safety and shel-.
ter in Missouri.
Their next aggressive movement was upon
the settlers at Hickory Point, whom they
drove away, and burnt some houses, not more
than two or three. They then moved upon
Franklin, which they attacked early in the
morning. There were only twenty-five or
thirty men in the place, who defended theta,
selves for three hours, and until the enemy
were bringing a piece of cannon to bear upon
them, when they retreated, with the loss of
six Free State men killed, and one or two
wounded. They burnt two or three houses,
took all the arms they could find, including
a piece of cannon taken at Lawrence last
spring. They then attacked the house of
Col. Titus, where some twenty settlers had
assembled for mutual defence, who defended
themselves until the Free State men brought
their cannon to bear upon them, when they
surrendered with the loss of one man killed,
and another wounded. A small party of
Lane's men missed their way, and were cap
tured by some of the settlers from Lecomp,
ton, whom the Governor exchanged for those
taken at Col. Titus' house, and the piece of
cannon. The free State men now moved up,
on Lecompton and told the inhabitants that
after they should get through at Topeka,
whither they marched, they would come back
and regulate them; but they did not return,
nor can I learn of their doing any damage
at Topeka.
Lane's whole force numbers near fifteen
hundred men, whom Im has distributed as
follows ; Between two and three hundred,
under Brown, are at Ossawatomie, or Sugar
Grove, where they have surrounded 65 pro
slavery men; and when Brown told that he
had come down expressly to regulate that
portion of the Territory, one of the pro-sla
very men attempted to escape, and come into
Missouri, when they took his horse, and thus
cut off his retreat, except on foot. Brown is
a man of notorious bad character, and is said
to have been a robber in his day. lie was
formerly from Illinois, but of late hails from
Missouri. The main body of the free State
men is under Lane, at Lawrence, and num
ber near a thousand strong, and are entrench
ing themselves. He has also stationed three
small parties at as many points on the Mis
souri river, in lowa, to keep open their com
munication for provisions and men, and also
to assist them in case of retreat.
Yesterday the acting Governor of Kansas
issued his proclamation, declaring the Terri
tory in a state of insurrection, and &ling
upon the militia to turn out in defence of life
and property. lie also requested assistance
from - Forts Riley and Leavenworth, which
will probably not be rendered under existing
orders. The militia of the Territory have
turned out in considerable numbers, and a
detachment under Richardson have marched
to thelower line,to intercept any reinforcements
that may lac coming in, and also to disperse
the parties left on the river. The flying set.
tiers of Kansas have appealed to their fath
ers, sons, and brothers, in Missouri, to come
to their rescue, and protect them from the
Free State freebooters ; and they have respon
ded in considerable force. At this time about
fifteen hundred men, under Atchison, Doni
phan, Reed, Majors and others, are encamp
ed at New Santa Fe, on the western frontier
of Missouri, twenty miles from this place.—
It is their present intention to cut off the re
treat of Brown, when the main body will
move down upon him, at Sugar Grove, and
give him fight—after which a force of some
two thousand men will march upon Lawrence,.
The Free State men at Lawrence are said to
be almost in a starving condition, and that
they made application toGeneral Smith for
provisions,who refused to supply them.
I have earned, while writing, that the set
tlers on Pottowattamie creek, some sixty-five
in number, who had assembled together for
mutual protection, were attacked to-day by
Brown, when several were killed, and about
forty ent'off, but it is not known what has be
come of them. The settlers from that region
are all coming in, and some of them are al
most naked, having to make their escape in
the night. I have no time for comment.-
The above items you may rely upon as cor
rect, as I have obtained them from men.of
undoubted responsibility, and who have nev
er been engaged in the difficulties in Kansas.
I will write again before I leave.
Listen to the Mechanics
A large gathering of the persons lately
employed at the United States Armory, at
Springfield, Mass., was held in that town on
Thursday last, to take into consideration
their situation, having been thrown out of
employment in consequence of the Black Re
publicans having failed to pass the Appro
priation Bill. Several able and eloquent
speeches were made, and the following res
olutions were adopted unanimously
1. Resolved, That in the opinion of this
meeting, the suspension of operations at the
United States Armory, is due to the action
of the so called Republican majority in the
House of Representatives of the United
States.
2. Resolved, That the action of that major
ity is unprecedented in the history of this
Government; that it is revolutionary and an
archial ; and calls for the earnest reprobation
of every conservative citizen of the country
of whatever party.
3. Resolved: That the Senate has again
proved itself to. be the bulwark of the consti
tutional rights of the several co-ordinate bran
ches of the government, and vindicated the
wisdom of the founders of our republic.
4. Resolved, That the refusal of the so
called Republicans of the house to pass the
Senate bill for the abrogation of the uncon
stitutional laws of Kansas, and their deter
mination to stop the wheels of government,
in order to force upon the Senate their ob
noxious proviso, prove beyond a doubt that
there is no sincerity in their professions ; that
their object is to compass personal or party
ends ; and that for those ends they are -wil
ling to sacrifice the best interests of their
constituents and jeopard the existence of the
government itself.
5. Resolved, That in the sudden loss of the
means of supporting ourselves and our fami
lies, we recognize the legitimate effect of the
passion and recklessness which control the
present House of Representatives.
7. Resolved, That we are convinced that
there is no safety either for the public inter
est or for private rights, to be expected, ex
cept from a return to the principles and prac
tice of the earlier days of the republic ; and
that under this conviction we call, earnestly
and sincerely upon all good, true, conserva
tive, sober-minded citizens of all parties to
unite, and not only banish bigotry and pas
sion from the halls of legislation, but, if pos
sible, to wipe out from the records of our
country all traces of their baneful action.
The Adjournment of Congress—The Army
Bill Passed—The Constitution Triumph
ant—The Presideflt Vindicated—:-The Fall
of the Conspirators--The Evil One in the
Dust.
Every announcement we here make is true,
and will carry a thrill of joy to the remotest
parts of the Union.
The Army bill passed this evening by a
majority of four votes. The conspirators ate
utterly broken down. The constitution is
saved, revolution is rebuked, and the course
of the President vindicated. It is not only
a total change of the aspect which was be
fore us, but it may be received as an unques
tionable assurance of the final overthrow of
the enemies of our institutions. Never, in
our history, has there been a more anxious
time. Each particular element of the occa
sion has been, in turn, the subject of discus
sion.
When Congress first met, for the extra ses
sion, there were some of our friends who
doubted the wisdom of the policy pursued by
the President. It was a doubt expressed in
the best terms of faith and confidence, and
therefore, springing from the right spirit,
was removed. Oar enemies were un
measured in their abuse and denunciations
of the President; but guided by a sense of
duty, he had acted as a patriot ought to do,
and summoned Congress back to the dis
charge of the high trust committed to them
by their constituents. A factious majority
of Black Republicans, varying from one to
three, had steadily refused to vote for the ar
my appropriation bill except with an ;uncon
stitutional and arbitrary proviso. In the face
of all these discouraging circumstances, the
President met the crisis, and we owe our pre
sent triumph to his firmness and his sagaci
ty, It reminds us of the truth, that from the
first assembling of Congress in December un
til the hour in which we write, his civil path
way has been lined with brilliant triumphs.
He began by rebuking conspirators, and he
has closed by a signal triumph over their
fall. These are recorded honors which will
live in the grateful hearts of his countrymen.
But let us advert for a moment to the state .
of the case which was before us. The House
of Representatives had no more right to usurp
the whole legislative power, and dictate to
the Senate and the Executive in the exercise
of their respective duties, than the Senate
had to imitate such a pernicious and danger
ous example, or the executive to assume the
one-man power, and attempt to Co7ll7lland
both. Let us inquire, for a single moment,
what might be the effect of these pretensions
on the part of the House. We know, for in
stance, that it is quite possible there may be,
in the progress of the life of the nation, a
majority of one in the House for four ses
sions ; but if it were so for only two, the ex
ample is sufficient for the illustration. Let
us suppose, in consecutive sessions, then, that
majority of one should be exerted with the
same obstinacy, and with a like evil purpose
as now, to refuse supplies for the support of
the government, how could we continue its ex
istence? Would not revolution and anarchy
follow? Is it possible, therefore, we can
predicate government upon such
.an abs,ur
dity ?
lf tine had written a constitution expressly
prescribing such a rule of power, could it be
preserved for ten years? or even for four?—
By no possible wisdom or prudence which
has ever been known of the human family.
Man must become more perfect than he ever
has been before he can be trusted with such
absolute and uncontrollable power. That ma
jority of one in the House, which might thus
become so absolute, would certainly aspire
to the supreme abuse, both of the one-man
power and of the one-house power. It would
be precisely the example before us. It has
had, for the present, so far, but a fitful and
temporary reign. It is, nevertheless, now,
the one-house power, with all its evil por
tents, which has passed away. If we had
submitted to it, our government would have
been revolntionized, and our republic des
troyed. No argument lies against the truth
of 'this conclusion.
But we turn from this view of the subject
to apart only of the other mischiefs, which
would have followed by their locking up fif
teen millions of the public treasure ji•om, 'l:2*-
C2(1(16011, That is about the sum for the sup
port of the army which the conspirators had
determined shoidd lie uselessly in the treas
ury. That fifteen millions would probably
pay, in the progress of its numerous changes,
if put into motion, one hundred millions of
private debts ; and the circle of its direction
would administer to the comforts and neces
sities of several millions of people. In the
list of its beneficiaries, besides the soldier,
are to be found all the classes of our social
system, from the farmer to the mechanic, the
laborer, the artisan, the man of science, the
lawyer, the preacher, the printer, the mer
chant, and the trader. It is such classes and
such interests, equally various and impor
tant, embracing all the pursuits of mental
and physical enterprise, which they haVe had
the senseless and criminal hardihood to attack.
The notorious licentiousness of their un
constitutional triumph over the vital interests
of those people, for weeks,past, is only equal
led by the dangers they would have entailed
upon their country, and the shame they would
have brought upon its good name in the pres
ence of the civilized world. They will go
W. 11. W. D.
The End of the Struggle.
[From the Washington Union, of Saturday Evening.}
dowisto posterity cursed in more ways than.
one. Usually the mistakes or the offences of
a party incur only such degrees of guilt as
are applied to it as a body, which are lost
upon the individuals of it at its dissolution.
But such is the deep disgrace, and the vast
and, perilous Consequences of what they would
have done against the welfare of the repub
lic, that the sal of condemnation is not on
ly fixed upon them in their voluntary and of
ficial association, but through all their future
lives, each one of them will stand, by the
public judgment of their country, attainted
in his person. They may please themselves
with the thought that they have escaped the
rigors- of the law by being entitled, as legis
lators, according to parliamentary rules, to
the infamy of perpetrating the worst of trea
son. But they may be assured they will
never escape the present verdict of their con
stituents, nor the just judgment of posterity.
They have done what Satan did to Paradise.
They have entered in and. betrayed its peace;
and like him, after his crime, their sentence
will be, for the remainder of their days, to
crawl in the political dust, and to seek to do
mischief by the lowest invisible means.
It is well under such circumstances, that
they have already begun to harden their
hearts, because that worm which never dies
will, for the evil which they have done, enter
into their consciences, and their ears will
finally hear from every patriot the terrible
rebuke, Get thee behind me, Satan I—their
political existence will have had a short du
ration, and, saving the making of "a good
thing" out of some committee, will have the
slightest possible consolation left. Consid
ering, it is thought, that they have always
made money a condition precedent to any of
their political acts of personal kindness or
public utility, it would be quite a blunder
with them to forget the inimitable fiction of
the Devil and Torn Walker. They will find
it in the classic pages of Washington Irving.
He tells us that the ambitious Tom had
made a compact with the Evil One, and suc
ceeded to the last, as he thought, in all his
projects. He had chests full of money and
of mortgages. He had ground down the
poor. lie had deprived the laborer of his
wages. He had ruined the rich, and set his
neighbors at war with each other; and the
village where he lived, which had once been
' peaceful, ho had made a hell upon earth.
But, at length, when his term was out, he
was snddenly kidnapped by his master, and
disappeared from the scene. His friends,
who administered upon his effects, found.
that his silver was dross and dirt, and his
mortgages were ashes. And the whole peo
! plc said amen ! As certain as there is a
heaven above, the same doom awaits the par-
ty who have been conspiring in the House
against the country. They have made a
like compact. Their time is nearly up.
Their sudden prosperity will perish, their
gold will be gone, and their political power
will soon be 'nothing but dust and ashes. It
is all, emphatically, the devil's own. The
parallel will bear quite a minute tracing.
He made his instrument plunder the poor
and the laborer. They have, by their legis
lation, tried to deprive the mechanic of his
wages, and his wife and her children of their
bread. Ife obtained mortgages against 'the
people. They have endeavored to enforce a
mortgage upon the Executive, and get into
their own hands the entire power of the State.
He set the neighbors at war with each other,
It has been the endeavor of all their pres'ent
public life to have the blood of a brother
shed in Kansas by the hand of a brother.
He had changed a beauteous village, where
peace and happiness reigned, into a scene of
strifes, anarchy, and rank offences. They
have already embroiled the passions of the
people of a great nation and now aim at the
total destruction of its social order and politi
cal security. The likeness, we think, is per
fect, and a plain and honest man would be
lieve, if they had one 'moiion of kindness or
patriotism left, they would be startled at the
contemplation of their own terrible work of
iniquity. Their sin has found theM out,
and will pass beyond the generation in which
they are. It will go down—down—with the
memory of their defeat. Time, distance,
and tradition - will blacken their conspiracy
with a deeper shame because it dishonored
the most enlightened century, and the most
Christian country of the world.
Democratic Conference
The Democratic Congressional Conference
of the 38th Congressional District of Penna.,
met pursuant to notice, at the Exchange
Hotel, in Johnstown, Cambria County, on
Friday, the sth day of September.
On motion of H. Orlady of Huntingdon,
Isaac Hugus, of Somerset, was appointed
President, and P. Gallaher of Blair, Sec'y.
The fopowing Conferees presented their
credentials and took their seats.
Blair--Jon, D. Lcet, Wm. G. Murray and.
P. Gallaher.
Cambria—H. A. Boggs, Wm. Palmer and
Wm. A. Murray.
Huntingdon—Wm. Lewis, H. Orlady.
Somerset--A. H. Colfroth, John 0. Kim
mel, Isaac Hugus.
On motion of H. Orlady, the Conferees
from Huntingdon were allowed to cast three
votes, one of their number being unavoidably
detained from attending the Conference.
-On motion, the Conference do now proceed
to nominate a candidate for Congress.
Win. G. Murray of Blair, nominated Cyrus
L. Pershinc , ,Esq., of Cambria.
A. H. Coffroth, 6 of Somerset, nominated
Win. J. Baer, of Somerset.
On motion, the nominations closed.
FIRST BALLOT.
C. L. Pershing,
SECOND BALLOT
Q. L. Pershing,
THIRD BALLOT.
C. L. Pershing, 6 W. J. Baer, 6
Mr. Coffroth withdrew the name of Mr.
Baer.
FOURTH BALLOT.
Cyrus - L. Pershing,
On motion of Mr. Boggs, a committee of
three was appointed by the chair; to notify
Mr. Pershing of his unanimous nomination,
as the Democratic candidate for Congress in
this district. Chair appointed Messrs. Boggs,
Lewis and Coffroth said Committee.
In a short time the Committee returned
with Mr. Pershing, who thanked the Confer
ence in a handsome manner for the honor
conferred upon him.
Mr. Baer, G. N. Smith, Orlady, Leet and
lino-us ' being severally called upon delivered
shat addresses, they spoke of the prospects
of the Democracy in their counties, and gave
assurance that the Democracy throughout
the District would poll the heaviest vote this
Fall on record.
After returning thanks to the officers,
mine host and hostess of the Exchange, the
Conference adjourned SINE DIE with three
times three for the National Democracy and.
its candidates.
( Signed by the Officers.)
6 I W. J. Baer,
6 1 W. J. Baer,
12 votes