The globe. (Huntingdon, Pa.) 1856-1877, September 19, 1860, Image 1

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Vo
FULL REPORT OF .TUDGE DOUGLAS'
SPEECH AT READING.
Enthusiasm of the Sterling Democracy of
" Old Becks" at his coming among them.-
Judge Douglas reached Reading early on
Saturday morning, the Bth inst., by the Leb
anon Valley Railroad, in charge of the fol
lowino•t' committee of the Democracy of that
city: E. L. Smith. C. P. Muhlenberg. .- M.
Sallade, Joseph Henry, J. D. Davis, A. Jor
don Swartz, Cul. S. L. Young, John Green,
P. Lantz. He was also accompanied by a
number of the,Democratic State Central
Committee and other prominent Democrats
of the State, among whom we noticed the
two old veterans, Gen. John Davis, of Bucks,
and Hon. J. S. Schindle, of Lehigh.
On his way over from Harrisburg, he was
met at Hummeistown, Palmyra, Lebanon,
MyerAown, and Womelsdorf, stations on the
Lebanon road, by large delegations, who
came on to Reading. The citizens of Leba
non turned out very strong, with a band of
music, and carried a banner, with the motto,
" Douglas, the choice of the People." A na
tional salute announced his arrival at Rtad
ing, and he was met at the depot by the De
mocracy of Reading and the visiting delega
tions from the neighboring towns. A pro
cession was formed, Joseph Henry, Esq., act
ing as chief marshal, assisted by G. Smith,
E. Pearson, and I. Brenholtz, and he was es
corted through the principal streets of the
city to De Bourbon's Mansion House. Every
available spot of the wide space which sur
rounds this hotel was crowded with people,
and, as Douglas alighted from the carrirge,
the cheers which rose in the air were perfect
ly deafening. As he passed into the hotel
the ladies, who thronged the balcony over
head, showered him with boquets. Shortly
after his arrival, a committee of the Central
Club of Philadelphia, headed by Wm. V.
McGrath, Esq., had an interview with him
in order to fix a day fur his visit to Phila
delphia. As his appointments, already pub
lished, extended far into October, he was
unable to give them any assurance that he
could visit this city before the election. When
they expressed the regret which their people
would feel at this disappointment, he told
them that they had the consolation of know
ing that here his presence was not at all
necessary, for in Pennsylvania all his friends
were heroes, and all the people were his
friends. During the morning thousands
called upon Douglas to pay him their re
speet4. The hour for the meeting was -1
o'clock, in order to give the farmers and oth
ers who had come from a distance an oppor
tunity to hear him and return home before
night. A stand was erected on Penn street,
near the Mansion House, and an immense
throng assembled around it an hour or two
before the time announced for the meeting.
At precisely 1 o'clock, James Nieholson,E,q.,
the President of the Democratic Club of
Reading, appeared on the stand, accompanied
by judge Douglas and Hon. Wm. M. Ileister,
Secretary of State, who had been selected to
extend the formal welcome of the glorious
Democracy of Old Berks to the " Little
Giant."
The appearance of Judge Douglas was
greeted with loud and hearty chkrs.
President Nicholson introduced Mr. Heister
to the people.
Mr, Heister said : Senator Douglas, it be
comes my pleasing duty, as the organ of this
vast assemblage of your friends, to bid you
welcome, a hearty welcome, to the city of
Reading and the county of Berks.
I greet you, sir, the nominee of the Demo
cratic party for President of the United
States, and I thank you for the honor you
have done us in coming here to-dav, to ena
ble the people of Berks county to hear, from
yOur own lips, an exposition of the great
principle of popular sovereignty, of which
you are the ablest advocate and the bravest
defender. We believe with you, that in the
administration of this Government the inher
ent right of the people of a Territory, as well
as of a State, to manage their domestic in
stitutions in their own way, should be pre
served and protected. That policy alone
can keep out of the halls of Congress the ex
citing and dangerous subject of slavery, give
quiet to the country, stability and perma
nence to the Union.
Sir, the people of Berks coanty have care
fully watched your career in Congress, and
admired your commanding talents and hero
ic courage, always devoted to the support of
principles and measures near and dear to the
loyal Democracy.
Permit me to say, that no act of your pub
lic life gave more lively satisfaction to the
people of this county, or is held in more
grateful reiuembrance than your brilliant
and conclusive speech in vindication of the
name and fame o ndrew Jackson, in which
you became th piece of that highest
court of errors u is opinion—in reverting
the unjust juk ent under.which he had lain
for thirty years.
A word more, and I have done. There
are individuals elsewhere whose nice sense
of, delicacy is offended that you, the candi
date for the high and dignified office of Pres
ident, should personally engage in the can
vass. ram happy to say that no such sickly
sentimentality exists here. If your course is
unusual and unprecedented, let it be remem
bered that the circumstances which sur
round you are extraordinary and without a
precedent.
Pardon me, sir, in saying that if you bad
not grappled successfully with this peculiar
necessity of this campaign, as you have with
every other emergency in your eventful life,
you would not be Stephen A. Douglas. [Nina
cheers were here given for Douilas:]
SPEECH OF JUDGE DOUGLAS
Judge Douglas said :
Mr. Chairman and fellow-citizens of Old
Barks, and you, sir, (addressing Mr. Ileis
ter,) will accept my sincere thanks for the
kind and complimentary terms in which you
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WILLIAM LEWIS,
VOL. XVI.
have been pleased to speak of my public ca
reer. You have particularly -referred to the
first speech I ever made in Congress—a
speech in vindication of the old hero, Gen.
Jackson, for having saved the city of New
Orleans from the hands of the British.—
[Cheers.] There is no act of my public life
the memory of which I recall with more
pride and more satisfaction than my defence
of Andrew Jackson against his enemies and
the enemies of our country, and I will confess
to you, sir, that the most consoling and the
must gratifying incident in my whole career
was the public acknowledgment of general
Jackson himself, at his own house, at the
Hermitage, that my speech constituted his
defence of his conduct at New Orleans.—
[Three cheers.] I wish to God that we had
a General Jackson at this day, [renewed
cheers,] in order that we might grapple with
Northern Abolitionism and Southern Seces
sion - and trample them into a common grave.
[Great applause.]
My object in appearing before the Democ
racy of old Berks to-day is for the purpose
of comparing notes with you in reference to
the true policy which it is the duty of the
Democratic party to pursue. The name of
Berks county is historical in connection with
the Democratic party. In Pennsylvania it
occupies the same political relation as the
Tenth Legion does in Virginia. I have just
returned from a tour through the Tenth Le
gion, and there I found the Democracy firm
and true to their organization and their prin
ciples. [Applause.] I trust that I will find
the Democracy of Berks equally firm in their,
adherence to the regular organization of the
Democratic party. [A voice, " You will."
Great enthusiasm, and three cheers for
Douglas.] So long as we have principles to
defend, it is essential that we should preserve
the regular organization by which those
principles are to be maintained.
Eight years ago I visited the city of Read
ing for the first time, to make a speech in
defence of the platform, the usages, the or
ganization, and the nominee of the Demo
cratic party of the United States. Although
I have never been here since, I recognize
this street, and the end of the market house,
as the place where the meeting was held, over
which James Buchanan presided, whilst I
made a speech in . defence of Democratic prin
ciples. [Cheers.] I propose to enter into a
vindication of the same principles to-day
which I advocated then, and which you ap
plauded with so much enthusiasm. At that
time• General Pierce was the Democratic can
didate for the Presidency. My own humble
name, among those of James Buchanan,
Lewis Cass, and others, had been presented
to the National Convention in• opposition to
that of General Pierce, but- the instant that
the telegraph announced to me at Washing
ton, that Mr. Pierce had received the vote
of the majority of the Democratic party in
Convention,
I immediately telegraphed to
Baltimore, declaring that in my opinion he
was entitled to the nomination, and I trusted
my friends would conform to the wishes of
the majority of the Democratic party. [Ap
plause.] That despatch from me was read
to the Convention before the official result
had been recorded and promulgated. Again,
at Cincinnati, in 1856, the names of General
Pierce, James Buchanan, and myself, were
presented to the Convention, and at the very
instant of time that Mr, Buchanan received
the vote of a majority of the delegates, I
sent a despatch by telegraph withdrawinc , my
name, and declaring that, a majority of the
party havin g voted for James Buchanan, he
was entitled to the nomination. (Cheers.)
I desire to say to you, my- friends, that my
ambition never yet led me so far as to induce
me to desire a nomination in opposition to the
wishes of a majority of my party. (Three
cheers fur Douglai.)
When the Democratic party assembled in
Convention at Charleston during the present
3-ear, they proceeded first to lay down a plat
form of principles. The platform they agreed
upon was identical with the one adopted at
Cincinnati in 1856, which was affirmed when
James Buchanan was elected President and
John C. Breckinridge Vice President of the
United States. After thus making the plat
form, the party proceeded to vote for a can
didate for the Presidency, and I received a
majority of all the votes cast in the Conven
tion, and a majority of the whole number of
votes of a full Convention on a large number
f successive ballots. (Applause.) I confess
that I expected that the other candidates
would then feel bound in in honor to treat
me as I had treated - them on former occa
sions. (Great applause.) Inasmuch as I
had given James Buchanan the nomination
in 1856, by withdrawing in his favor, under
the same circumstances I had a right to be
lieve that he would be as generous towards
me as I had been towards him, (cheers;)
and, inasmuch as my conduct at Cincinnati
made John C..Breckinridge Vice President,
I had a right to expect that he, as a gentle
man, would feel bound to observe that line
of conduct towards me that I had voluntarily
adopted towards him. (Applause.) If that
course had been pursued, there would have
been no division in the Democratic party.—
(There never should have been, either.)—
Whilst there was a large number of candi
dates before the Charleston Convention, it so
happened that I received more votes than all
of them put together on every ballot, and al
most two-thirds of the whole number. When
the Convention adjourned to Baltimore, and
it was ascertained that the majority of the
party could not be made to succumb to the
minority, the defeated candidates formed a
combination to break up the party rather
than permit the majority, under the two
thirds rule, to govern as in former cases.—
[A voice—"Bigler was at the head of the
conspiracy.
I believe the Democratic organization is es
sential to preserve the peace, the propriety,
and the unity of this Republic. [Applause.)
It is the only historical party now in exis
tence in America, and it has achieved all the
civil reforms, and all the great measures of
progress during the existence of our Govern
ment. Look over the map of the United
States, and you cannot put your finger on a
State or a Territory annexed to this Union
..,
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since the Revolution that hasnot been acquired
by the Democratic party under a Democratic
Administration. [Cheers.] Whenever dis
union and secession have raised their heads
in open rebellion against the Federal Govern
ment, it has been a Democratic President,
sustained by the Democratic party that has
crushed the monster. [Cheers.] Never was
there a time when the services of our party,
united and compact, have been required more
imperiously than at this moment, and now
an attempt is being made to distract and di
vide it. What is the excuse given by the dis
organizers who are fighting the party to which
they formerly belonged, with the prospect in
view of electing a Republican by a minority
vote ? They assert that the platform adopted
at Charleston, and reaffirmed at Baltimore, is
not a sound national platform. Let me ask
your attention to that proposition for an in
stant. What is the platform which is thus
denounced ? It is no more and no less than
the Cincinnati platform, on which Mr. Bu
chanan was made President and Mr. Breck
inridge Vice President of the United States.
[A voice, " They were right then, but are
wrong now."] Was not that platform deemed
sound by the Democracy four years ago? [A
voice " Yes." Another voice, " It's as good
now as it was then."] Mr. Buchanan him
self declared that it was so sound that there
after he was the platform, and had no iden
tity separate from it. [A voice, " You're
right."] But it may be asserted .that there
was a difference of opinion in respect to the
meaning of the platform at that time. Well,
all we have to do is to turn to Mr. Buchanan's
letter of acceptance, and construe it now as
he then construed it. I accept the Cincin
nati platform without the dotting of an i or
the crossing of a t, together withlhe construc
tion put upon it by Mr. Buchanan in his let
ter of acceptance. [Cheers.] In that letter
he said that " the people of a Territory, like
those of a State, shall decide for themselves
whether slavery shall or shall not exist with
in theirlimits." [A voice—"Sounddoctrine."]
Yes, my dear friends, it was sound dectrine
then, and it is sound doctrine now. [Ap
plause.] It is the doctrine on which our
fathers fought the battles of the Revolution.
What was the point of quarrel between our
ancestors and the Tories of Great Britain ?
Remember, they did not desire independence
at the beginning of that struggle; they only
desired the right of local self-government at
home, in the Colonies. In every petition to
the King, in every address to the Crown and
the people of Great Britain, our fathers
averred their loyalty to the Throne, their de
votion to the British Constitution their affec
tion for the people, and their desire to remain
forever a part of the British Empire. But
they claimed that the people of the British
Colonies in America had the sole and exclu
sive right to manage and control their own
domestic affairs to suit themselves through
their Legislature, without the interference of
the British Parliament. [Cheers.] This right
was distinctly set forth by the first Continen
tal Congress that ever assembled, at Phila
delphia, in 17.74. The British Government
would not acknowledge the right of their col
onies in America to control their own institu
tions, slavery included, and for that reason
the colonies declared their independence as a
means of achieving it. [Cheers.] Hence,
when Mr. Buchanan, in his letter accepting
the nomination of the Cincinnati Convention,
declared that " the people of a Territory, like
those of a State, shall decide for themselves
whether slavery shall or shall not exist with
in their limits," lie was only asserting what
our fathers asserted and maintained against
the Tories of the revolution. The Dem
ocratic party of to-day stands where Mr. Bu
chanan, Mr. Breckinridge, and the party
stood four years ago, saying that Congress
has no right to interfere with the local and
domestic concerns of the people of the Terri
tories. I renew the question : What excuse
had Mr. Breckinridge and his friends for
their attempt to break up the Charleston and
the Baltimore Convention ? [A. voice, "None
whatever."]
Mr. Breckinridge, three days ago, made a
stump speech at Lexington, Kentucky, in
which he is represented as stating that the
Convention insisted upon a dogma in its plat
forth, and demanded the representative of
that dogma as the candidate. Since Mr.
Breckinridge regards a political dogma incor
porated in the Charleston and Baltimore plat
form as a sufficient excuse for destroying the
party, let us inquire what that dogma is.—
The only dogma which the Democratic Na
tional Convention demanded was the Cincin
nati platform. We did not desire any express
recognition or . approval of any peculiar theo
ry that I or any other member of the party
might favor ; we only asked that the time
honored principles, the ancient platform of
the party, should be affirmed and maintained
by the Democratic organization. On the
other hand, Mr. Breckinridge and his friends
took the ground that the old creed of the De
mocracy, the Cincinnati platform, on which
he was elected, contained a dogma hostile to
reason and the Constitution. Why did he
not tell us in 1856, when he pledged his hon
or to sustain that same dogma, that it was
hostile to reason and the Constitution ? [Tre
mendous applause.] Old Berks county then
gave Buchanan and Breckinridge, for Pres
ident, between six and seven thousand major
ity, on this very dogma which Mr. Breckin
ridge now scorns and repudiates. [Voices—
" That's true," and cheers.] He now informs
you that the man who holds to the principle
which he, and you, and I, pledged our joint
honor to maintain, four years ago, is no bet
ter than an Abolitionist ! [Laughter.] Were
you no better than Abolitionists when you
voted for Buchanan and Breckinridge? Is
not the Democratic platform as sound to-day
as it was then ? [Voices—" Yes, indeed ;
more so."] And yet the only reason the
Breckinridge men give for breaking up the
party is that the party would not change its
platform. [Laughter and cheers.] They de
manded that the principle of non-intervention
should be abandoned. They claimed that
the doctrine of Congressional protection for
slavery in the Territories, when necessary,
should be out; and because the Dem
ocratic party, by a vote of nearly two to one,
rejected their new article of faith, and stood
-PERSEVERE.-
HUNTINGDON, PA., SEPTEMBER 19, 1860.
by the old Jackson creed, they bolted, and
tried to break up the party. [Cries of " Jack
son, Jackslan."]
Now, I ask you, my friends, to bear in
mind what took place in this city of Reading
in March last, when you appointed your del
egates to the Charleston Convention. I. read
the Reading platform at that time, and came
to the conclusion that the Democracy of Penn
sylvania were sound now, as they had been
in former days. [Cheers.] In order that I
might not be .mistaken I have read again,
since• my arrival in this city to-day, the Read
ing platform, upon which General Foster was
nominated for Governor, and the Pennsylva
nia delegation was sent to Charleston and
Baltimore and I find that your State Conven
tioned affirmed the Cincinnati platform with
out dotting an ior crossing at. [Three
cheerE.J I am informed that those resolu
tions, endorsing and reasserting the Cincin
nati platform, were adopted by the unani
mous vote of every delegate from every coun
ty in the State. You will observe, therefore,
that the Charleston Convention simply reaf
firmed the same platform which the Democ
•racy of Pennsylvania had adopted in this city
only a few weeks previous ; and, notwithstan
ding this, leading politicians in this State,
who represented you at Charleston, there de
denounced, and are still denouncing, the very
platform which they were selected to repre
sent and defend. [Cheers.] Some very sud
den change must have come o'er the spirit of
their dream. [Laughter and applause.]
I stand to-day before the Democracy of
Berks county in support and defence of the
principles set forth by the Reading Conven
tion; so far as the question of slavery is con
cerned, which are the time-honored princi
ples of the, Democratic party as proclaimed
in all its National Conventions. [Cheers.]
How, I ask, can a Breckinridge man vote
for General Foster on the Reading platform,
and object to me on the Charleston platform ?
[Three cheers for Douglas.[ General Foster
was nominated at Reading on the identical
principle that I was nominated upon at Bal
more, [cheers,] and he is thus pledged by his
nomination to the identical principle to which
I am irrevocably committed. How can a man
vote for the one without supporting the other,
if he professes to be governed by principle ?
[Three cheers.] I tritst that every Democrat
in Pennsylvania will rally zealously, cordially,
and heartily around the banner of Foster and
non-intervention, [three tremendous cheers,]
and when you shall have done that, how can
you refuse to sustain me, on the same plat
form ? [Voices—" We can't we are for you
all the tinae." &c.] True, Mr. Breckinridge
tells you that the National Convention adop
ted a dogma contrary to reason and the Con
stitution. If what he tells you is the truth, the
Reading Convention adopted the same dogma,
equally , hostile to reason and the Constitu
tion. [Cheers.] lam very free to say to•
you that, in my opinion, the national platform
and the Pennsylvania State platform are both
in harmony with reason and the Constitution.
[lmmense applause.]
But I find that Mr. Breckinridge has de
clared, in his Kentucky stump speech, that I
was not nominated according to the usages of
the Democratic party. [Voices, "You were.")
I suppose Mr. Breckinridge thinks otherwise,
or he would not have said so. But he only
shows his ignorance of Democratic usages
when he makes the declaration. The record
shows that, in 1848, General Cass received at
Baltimore one hundred and seventy votes,
two-thirds of those present, but not two
thirds a full Convention, and thereupon
the president of the Convention proceeded to
declare him the regular nominee of the Dem
ocratic party. The record proves that, in the
Baltimore Convention of this year, I received
one hundred and eighty-one and a half votes,
more than two-thirds of all those present, but
less than twothirds of a full Convention.—
Hence I was nominated precisely as General
Cass was nominated, according to the known
usages of the party. But I suppose Mr.
Breckinridge will elXcuse himself for not re
garding the nomination of . Cass as regular
upon the ground that, at that time, he did
not belong to the Democratic' party, [shouts
of laughter and applause,] and was not bound
by its usages. You all remember that, in
1847, Major Breckinrido went into a meeting
atLexington, Kentucky, and there denounced
the Democratic party as a corrupt faction,
and declared in favor of General Taylor for
the Presidency ; and no doubt his apology
for not being bound by the regularity of the
nomination of Cass is, that he did not belong
to the party at the time he was nominated,
and further, that he went hunting on election
day and did not vote. [Uproarious laughter.]
But, my friends, while Major Breckinridge,
in his Kentucky stump speech, confesses that
he was in favor of Taylor in 1847, and went
hunting in 1848 so that he could not vote fn.
Cass, asserts that he made speeches fur Cass
because the old veteran then represented his
(Breckinridge's) principles. Now, all you
have to do, in order to discover what Mr.
Breckinridge's principles then were, is to in
quire what General Cass was in favor of. [A
voice—" The Nicholson letter."] Yes, my
friend, you have hit it exactly. [Laughter,
and three cheers.] You have saved me the
trouble of telling it. Gen. Cass had just
written the Nicholson letter, in which heas
serted that Congress had no power to inter
fere with the slavery question in the Territo
ries.
Mr. Breckinridge says that he made a
speech for Cass, although he had up to that
time been for Taylor, when he found that
Cass advocated his principles. Thus it ap
pears that in 1848 Mr. Breckinridge was for
Cass and , the Nicholsen letter. [Laughter
and cheers.] And I, too, was for Cass and
the Nicholsen letter. [Cries of "good," and
applause.] So we were together in 1848.
[Laughter.] Again, in 1852, Mr. Pierce was
nominated at Baltimore, on the platform of
non-intervention by Congress with slavery in
the Territories. As I before remarked, I
came to Reading that year, and made a speech
for Pierce and non-intervention from yonder
market house, James Buchanan presiding
over the meeting. [Voices, "That's so."]—
And I appeal to every old citizen here pres
ent to bear testimony whether or not I did not
advocate then the same principles I do to day.
[Cries of "Yes," three cheers for Douglas and
great enthusiasm.] Pennsylvania sustained
Mr. Pierce by he electoral vote on the doc
trine of non-intervention. Again, in 1856,
the party assembled in convention, at Cincin
nati, reasserted the doctrine of non-interfer
ence by Congress with slavery in the Terri
tories, and Buchanan and Breckinridge were
elected President and Vice-President on that
platform. I stand to-day by that identical
principle. The Convention which nominated
me reaffirmed the same platform on which
Buchanan and Breckinridge were elected in
1856 and yet you are now told that I am not
sound, because I stand where they then stood,
on the platform which Mr. Breckinridge de
clares, after his election is "contrary to reason
and the Constitution." Mr. Breckinridge
now regards the Cincinnati platform, and the
dogma of popular sovereignty incorporated in,
it as so great an evil, that it is better to break
up the party, destroy its organization, and
elect Lincoln by a minority vote, rather than
allow the regular nominee of the party to be
elected on it.
No man doubts but what I would easily
have beaten Lincoln if Breckinridge and his
friends bad not bolted at Baltimore. They
all acknowledge that I would have been elec
ted if they had not bolted, and therefore they
thought it their duty to prevent my election
in that way,securing the election of Lincoln.
They certainly did not expect that the choice
of less than one-third of a party, bolting a
nomination and repudiating the old platform,
could be elected himself. All they hoped for
was through Executive patronage and Fede
ral power to take off enough Democrats from
the regular organization to enable Lincoln to
be elected, and this they now prefer rather
than see the nominee successful on its time
honored principles.
And now, you Pennsylvanians, you true and
loyal Democrats of old Berks, you men who
never bolted in your whole lives, are called
upon to sustain the bolter I [Cries of "They'll
see how we do it," and laughter.] I have
only to say to you that I never bolted a regu
lar Democratic ticket in my life. [Three.
cheers for Douglas, followed 17)y three more of
the same sort.] I never failed to vote the
regular Democratic ticket, and I never went
hunting on the day of a Presidential election.
[Uproarious laughter and cheers.]
Hence, if bolting against the regular organ=
ization constitutes a claim to Democratic sup
port, I am entitled to no credit en that score.
[Applause.] But let me ask you, fellow-Dem
ocrats, what is to be the consequence if you
sustain this scheme of secession and bolting.
How will it work ? Suppose you call a con
vention to nominate a Governor, and two can
didates present themselves, one receives two
thirds of all the votes cast and is nominated,
and then the other bolts and proposes a com
promise by way of fusion. [Laughter and
applause.] Or suppose you call a Congres
sional Convention in old Berks county to nom
inate a candidate for Congress, and of the as
pirants the regular Democrat, who never bol
ted in his life, gets two-thirds of all the votes
cast, and the equivocal Democrat, who goes
hunting on election day, [,laughter,] gets the
remaining one-third of the votes, all the mi
nority man has to do is to bolt, run against
the regular organization, and demand a com
promise and a fusion. When yon come to
nominate candidates for the Legislature the
same thing will occur. There will be a ma
jority in favor of certain men, and a minori
ty in favor of other men, and the minority
will bolt and refuse to support the ticket, un
less you combine with them and form a fu
sion by way of compromise. I ask you what
kind of Democratic organization, what kind
of Democratic unity and strength, which at
taches to fidelity to principle, you will have
if you sanction this principle - of bolting and
secession ? Why it seems that in order to be
a true Breckinridge man you must vote
against regular nominations every time or
else you must go hunting on election day.—
(Great laughter.)
Now, my friends, I desire you calmly to
reflect on these considerations. I believe that
the old Democratic party, according to its old
organization and its old platform of princi
ples, is essential to the peace, the security,
and the stability of this Government, and I
am making this appeal to you to-day; not as
a candidate for the PreSidency, but as a Dem
ocrat who never faltered, and never wavered,
and never cheated his party. (Three tre
mendous cheers.) I am told that it is very
imprudent for me thus to speak without pre
paration, under the impulse of excitement, to
large crowds ; that I might say something
which could be perverted to my injury, just
as if a man, by uttering honest sentiments,
prompted by - honest impulses, would drive
votes from among his supporters. (Applause)
I hold no opinion which I am not prepared
to avow boldly in all portions of this country
alike. I have just returned from Virginia,
North Carolina, and Maryland, and there I
lrave explained to the people the same viows
I have submitted to you to-day. I wish to
see the Democratic party preserved, and the
great Democratic principles of non-interven
tion by Congress with slavery in the Territo
ries maintained inviolate. I believe that our
prosperity depends upon maintaining that
principle. (Applause.)
You now find this country divided into two
sectional parties—one appealing to the pas
sions and prejudices of the North to prohibit
slavery wherever the people desire to have it,
and the other demanding that the Federal
Government shall pass laws to maintain and
protect slavery , wherever the people do not
want it. The Northern Republicans or Abo
litionists do not propose that Congress shall
prohibit slavery anywhere except where the
people want it, for they say truly that wher
ever the people do not want it they will pro
hibit it themselves, and hence it is not neces
sary for Congress to do so. On the other
hand, the Breckinridge Secessionists tell you
they are in favor of Congressional interven
tion only when it is necessary. When it is
necessary for Congress to intervene according
to their theory ? Certainly not when the peo
ple are in favor of slavery, for the reason that
in every such case the people themselves will
pass laws to protect it, the same as they have
done in New 'Mexico. They tell you it is neces
sary for Congress to interfere and maintain
Editor and. Proprietor.
NO. 13.
Slavery wherever the people .do not want it
(Laughter.) This Breckinridge party, there..
fore, is pledged to use thepower of the Fede
ral Government to force the existence of sla
-1 very Wherever the people ,are apposed to it !
I tell you, my friends, that Congress shall
iaevei prohibit slavery 'Where the people want
it if I can prevent it, (cheers,) and on the
other hand, that Congress shall never force
slavery on a people who de not want it if I
can prevent it. (Cheers.) lam equally hos
tile to the Northern Abolition doctrine and
the Southern Secession doctrine. (Applause)
I am in favor of the good old Democratic
principle of non-intervention by Congress
with
: slavery in the Territories. If the pep-,
pie want slavery they have a !eight to . it; if
they do not want it no power on eart Shall
be permitted to -force it on them. (Cries of
"That's right," and cheers.) If you acknowl
edge the propriety either of the ,Abolition doe;
trine; or of this Secession doctrine; you are
then boUnd to have the whole time of Con:-
gress occupied with the discusSion of the sla
very question.
Who can deny that for the last four or five
years CongresS has Utterly failed to perform
the duties for which it was created. Any of
you who feel an interest in any great meas.;
ure of legislation may : inquire of your Sena
tors and your Representatives, when they re=
turn home, what become of your bill, and
they will tell you that:it was lost for the want
of time ; and when you ask them why it was
that CongresS had not time to attend to that
measure, they are bound to toll you that the
slavery question occupied the whole session;
and so there was no tittle left for other busi
ness. Take the question of revenue as an il
lustration. For the last fotir or five years the
expenditures of this Govermtbrit
over
ged about $2O 000 000 a year over and above
the income. Whenever a proposition haS
been brought into Congress to increase the
tariff up to the grade of expenditure, or to re
duce the expenditure down to the rate of the:
revenue, you find the slavery question he
comes the point of discussion, and the bill is
lost at the end of the session for want of time.
The consequence has been that,just as theses
sion is about expiring Congress has been corn
pelted to pass a law borrowing . twenty
lion of dollars more money, - or issuing twen
ty millions more of treasury notes to make up
the deficiency in the Treasury. NoW, let me
ask the people of Pennsylvania if they expect
to ever get the question of the tariff revised
and reconsidered, unless they first drive this
slavery question out of Congress. Every in
terest you have connected with the revenue
and with the tariff is sacrificed by this eter
nal agitation of the negro question.
I undertake to say that no Statesman cae
defend for a single moment, tho policy of
spending twenty millions of dollars a year
over and above the income. Yon must do
one of two things. You must either in
crease the revenue or diminish the expendi
tures. The Democratic creed on this supjeot
I understand to be this: that we must main
tain a tariff which will raise revenue enough
to defray the expenditures of the Goverment,
economically administered, and in that man
ner we must furnish all the protection to
American industry that a revenue tariff will
afford. (Loud and long-continued applause.)
Now, we do not raise revenue enough to pay
our expenses and keep clown the public debt.
We must stop the increase of that debt, we
must pay the interest on it, we must extin
guish the principle, and we must keep the
expenses of the Government within our rev
enue. (Cries of " That's right !" and ap:
clause.) But we Will never have an oppor
tunity to do this as long as this slavery ques
tion occupies the whole time of Congress.—
You may take another question for the pur
pose Of illustration. There is the Pacific
Railroad Measure. Ever since,we acquired
California the whole people of America have
had their eyes turned to the constuction of a'
Pacific railroad. Nearly every Legislature
in the Union has instructed in favor of the
measure, and whenever CongreSs assembles,
four-fifths of the Members declare themselves
in favor of the road. At the last Presiden-:
tial ,election, we had three candidates in the
field, each pledged to the Pacific Railroad;
not only by their indiVidn'al pledges; but by
the resolutions and platforms of their panties.
You remember Mr. Buchanan's letter to Cal:
ifornia in behalf of it. You remember Mr. Fre
mont's letteiin its favor,. and tilo that of Mr.
Fillmore, adiocating the game measure. It
was then gupposeet tlu no matter who might
be elected President, the Pacific Railroad
would certainly be built. Many au iron mart
took it for granted, in Pennsylvania, that in
carrying on his business he might calculate
on that great work, and Many a farmer it
the Northwest made his arrangements in ref
erence to it. Four years have elapsed, and
where is your Pacific Railroad ? It has been
introduced into Congress each session, but
the moment it came up some man made a
speech in favor of protecting slavery in the
Territories,
(laughter,) and another man got
Up and made a speech in favor of protecting
slaVery in the Territories; and thus, between:
the_Northern Abolitionists and the Southern
Secessionists, the whole session of Congress
was exhausted,- and the railroad was lost for
want of time. (Laughter and applause.)'
When your Representative returns home,
and
you ask him why the' Pacific Railroad bill
was not passed, he will tell you, " I was for
it, and the majority of my party was for it.—
It was only lost for want of time, and we will'
surely pass it next session." The next ses.
sion the same thing occurs again, and so it
goes on year after year, the negro occupying
the whole attention of Congress and the white
man having no show whatever. I think it id
time that we should banish the negro from
the halls of Congress, refer the slavery ques- -
tion to the people, to decide as they please";
and then give our attention to the Material
interests of the white man, for which this
Government was made: I hold this Gov
ernment was made by white men, for the
benefit of white men, to be administered by
white men forever; and wherever we have
the misfortune to have negroes among us;
each State and each Territory must provide
for its own negroes. The people of other
States have consciences as well as you in
Pennsylvania and we in Illinois. Let them
provide for their negroes according to their'
own consciences and be responsible to God
and posterity. You manage your own affairs
to suit yourselves, take care of your own ne-*
gross, mind your own businem and let your'
ncighbers alone. (Applause.) If every State
and every Territory will act on that principle
there will be peace and harmony between the --
North and the South, the East and the "West,
and every portion of this Confederacy. There
are principles, in my opinion', to which the
Democratic party is pledged:
I have no hope of maintaining the the
peace of this country except by a firm adhe
rence to these great Democratic principles.—
How, then, shall we maintain those princi
ples ? Only by adhering firmly to regular
nominations, and putting down all seceders'
and bolters. (Great enthusiasm.) Whenev
er you make terms and compromises with'
bolters, yell bold out a bounty for every faith.:
(Concluded on ,fourth, page.)
II