VOL. 18.
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QUERIES
Is it anybody's business
If a gentleman should choose
To wait upon a lady,
If the lady don't refuse?
Or to speak a little plainer,
That the meaning all may know,
Is it anybody's business,
If a lady has a beau?
Is it anybody's business
When that gentleman does can t
Or when be leaves the lady,
Or if he leaves at all?
Or is it necessary
That the curtain should he drawn,
To save from further trouble,
The outaido lookers on 7
Is it anybody's business
But the lady's, if her bean
Rides out with other ladies,
And doesn't let her know 7
Is it anybody's business
But the gentleman's, if sho
Should accept another escort,
Where he doesn't chance to be ?
Is a person on the sidewalk,
Whether great or whether entail,
Is it anybody's business
Where that person means to call?
Or if you see a person,
As he's calling anywhere,
Is it any of your business
What his business may bo there?
The substance of the query,
Simply stated, would be this—
Is it ANYBODY'S BUSINESS
What ANOTHER'S BUSINESS ta7
If it is, or if it is'nt,
We would really like to know,
For we're certain if it is'tit,
There are some who make it so.
If it is, we'll join the rabble,
And act the noble part,
Of the tattlers and defamers,
Who throng the public mart;
But if not, we'll act the teacher,
Until each meddler learns
It were better in the future,
To mind his own concerns.
ADDRESS OP
ALEX. X. MoCLURE.
Delivered at Huntingdon, on Thursday,
August 25th, 1853.
Hr. Chairman and Fellow•Cilizcns
However dark may bo the clouds which ob
scure the future of the Whig party, while I
have abiding faith in the patriotism and intelli
gence of the people, I shall adhere to and bat
tle manfully for the old Whig flag. A lost
Thermopylm was the signal for a succession of
victories, that shed the richest lustre upon the
pages of Grecian history; and though the op
ponents of the Whig party may riot in univer
eal triumph, as long as truth and justice are the
landmarks to which the most boisterous tide of
political revolution must ultimately return, I
shall look with confidence for the permanent su
premacy of Whig policy. In the general gloom
which manteled us when overwhelmed with the
noble SCOTT, though all were dispirited and
many despairing, still the Whig cause was as
dear to the million and a half who sustained it,
as it was when victory had rewarded our efforts.
Combinations may overwhelm it; disaster cloud
its immediate prospects, and even treachery
may pervert its victories; but its strong arm is
not paralyzed, nor are its sacred principles
blemished. It is still the hops to which the
Country turns,when Democracy has spent its fa
tal power in the administration of the govern
ment, and left us on the verge of bankruptcy,
or in the midst of sectional revulsion.
Though defeated now, and without a voice
in the National orState administrations, the in
dications aro that tho Whig party cannot long
be spared from the Government. We have the
so•called Democracy en mg full and unlimit
ed sway, and it is but let it be tested by
the fruits of its power. both the State and
Nation they succeeded Whigs, and Executives
whose wise and successful statesmanship could
not be excelled. In both instances they found
each branch of the government meeting every
reasonable demand and every just expectation
of the people. Our State finances and credit
were never in a more healthy condition, and
our National treaaury was overflowing, instead
of the usual Democratic legacy of a crushing
debt. But it was under Whig rule that our
governments were thus successful—Democra
cy did not divide the plunder of the adminis
trations, and they were assailed with a ferocity
only equalled by the unscrupnlous misrepre
sentation of their merits.
Had I time I might review with profit the
memorable contest of 's2—memorable not so
much because of the signal victory achieved,
as because of the base hypocrisy employed to
achieve it. A contest in which every real issue
mils overwhelmed by the clamor of Democratic
ambition, or prostrated by Democratic intrigue.
A contra in which the must brilliant services
Q.T Yl'Lv: I littingbon )oilin Act.
" I SEE NO STAR ABOVE VIE HORIZON, PROMISING LIGHT TO GUIDE US, BUT THE INTELLIGENT, PATRIOTIC, UNITED WHIG PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES."•-•- [WEBSTER.
rendered to our flag and our Country since the
days of WAOIUNOTON, were ignored by party
passion, to elevate a foundling of the Baltimore
Convention to the most honorable and responsi
ble office in the World I
I need not dwell at length upon the means
employed to effect this result. All who aro fa
miliar with the current political history of the
country, know that it was by every species of
political trimming, and by the most unnatural
combinations. Our sectional strife, fostered by
Democratic authority, and maintained in its
extremes by Democratic organization, was
oven made to contribute its vast power to Dem
ocratic success in one united body. Tho Se
cessionist and the Unionist of the South, and
the Abolitionist and the Hunker of the _North,
all battled manfully in one common cause
against the Whig party. The Compromise,
which was openly repudiated by nearly if not
every Democratic Convention in the Southern
States, was made a plank in the Baltimore
platform, to balance the selection of a candidate
for the Presidency who had declined to com
mit himself on the subject when addressed, and
the nomination of a candidate for the Vim Pre
sidency who had uniformly opposed it. With
this coalition of interests, and with candidates
answering to every shade of opinion, the De
mocracy was ready for the contest. Tho hopes,
if not the distinct pledges of official patronage,
reconciled the more uncongenial elements of
this pie-bald organization, and with every spe
cies of antagonism thus marshaled in the sup
port of the Democratic candidates, it need not
excite surprise that they were successful. The
gallant old Seorr, who bad fought the battles
of his Country in every clime, and whose flag
was never sullied by defeat, was assailed with a
fierceness unparalleled in our political conflicts.
In the South be wee charged with the most
contracted Sectionalism, and in the North ho
was opposed because of his alleged fidelity to
the South; and in every section of the Country
his position was misrepresented, his spotless
character traduced, and his great National
fame blackened by the malignant shafts of par
tizan virulence. The Whigs, with such a no
ble leader, battled with a heroism worthy of
their glorious canoe; but though they displayed
greater numerical strength than on any former
occasion, they were defeated, and Democracy
restored to power.
But let us pause to look et the Kneel.—
Brief as it is in reference to the National ad
ministration; it already furnishes some most
instructive lessons. In it wo have the singu
lar spectacle of a powerful party, just fresh
from victory, sacrificing not only the great in
terests of the Country, but its own harmony
and perpetuity, on the altar of Suction. And
where has faction been engendered? The ad
ministration has not proposed a single meas
ure, or matured a single feature of its policy.
Its policy is yet a blank, and if those who
should bo its friends aro to be believed, it is un
settled, unstable, and shivers on the question
of political expediency whenever it approaches
a public measure. But this is not yet a crime.
When it takes its position on the great issues
of the age, it will be time enough for censure
or for praise on this point. Why, then, do wo
find it assailed by the bold spirit of faction
within the house of its friends in almost every
State in the Union? What principle has it
sacrificed?—what pledge has it violated?--
what interest has it betrayed? Ah I tho "cohe
sive power of public plunder," once the great
anchor of Democracy, has now become fruitful
only of discord and estrangement, And why?
Why has this once all-powerful means of suc
cess recoiled with deadly aim at the adminis
tration andits party? Simply because the
price in the bond of coalition beggared the con
sistent.frionds of the Democracy. Tho Presi
dent dare not disregard the claims of those
whose support and whose reward were condi
tions in the union of the Babel of factions in
'52. Look at our Foreign Missions, our Char
ges, our Consuls, our Collectors, our Post-mns
tors, and even our,Tudges, and there is hardly
one in five that does not give the falsehood di
rect to the loud professions of the President and
his party, in favor of a strict maintainance of
the Compromises of the Constitution. And
look at our Cabinet. See the Free Seiler of
the West; the Fire-cater of the South; the
patched Hunker and Barnburner of New York,
and the arch-Renegade of the East. And
these are the Constitutional advisers of the
great National Democracy I Look at the Di
plomatic and Consular appointments. We see
a Disunionist on his way to Madrid; another
on his way to Brazil; another to Mexico, and
another to Central America. Look at our
Charges. We see a Disunionist on his way to
Denmark; another off to New Grenada; anoth
er to Turin; another to Belgium, and many
others I cannot now recall. And these are
the Representatives of the Union-loving Demo
cracy in foreign countriesl If the President
will confess to motives of patriotism in trying
to get ns many of the leading Secessionists out
of the country as possible, he might be pardon
ed if their banishment was perpetual, but when
those most resposiblo positions are withhold
from competent and deserving men, merely to
reward the political services of a single cam
paign, there can be no language too strong to
portray his treachery to the sacred principles
he professed to cherish. When upon treason
can thus command a premium in the distribu
tion of National patronage, what cheek does
not flush with shame at the reflection that the
triumph of President Pierce was claimed as a
victors for the Constitution and the Union?--
By no rule of argument can his sincerity bo de
feuded, while the whole moral force of his ail
ministration, as displayed in his appointments,
is in direct contradiction of his pledges. If
any thing is ment by professions, there never
was a man entered the Presidency so solemnly
committed to discard sectional fanaticism in
his appointments; and never has a President
lavished favors with such an unsparing hand
upon the open, insolent, defiant enemies of
our ljuivu I
HUNTINGDON, PA., WEDNFASDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1853.
Remember that these rewards have bean
showered upon the Disunlonists and the Aboli
tionists by the party which professes to be the
groat Union party of the country. It is done
with the approbation of those who, In Pennsyl
vania, crushed the most enlightened and the
most successful Chief Magistrate we ever had,
because he dared to claim for the free North
the right of petition and the freedom of con
viction. He was slaughtered in the Union,—
though he yielded implicit obedience to the
laws, and never sought to impair the compro
mises of the Constitution,—and by the very
men who now applaud our National adminis
tration in strengthening our sectional strife by
the smile of official approbation.
I have no disposition to over-rate the dissen
sions in the ranks of the Democratic party; but
the causes I have referred to interest not only
those who supported the administration on
National grounds, but every ono who desires
to tree harmony exist between the two great
sections of the Country, must feel keenly the
miserable, truckling course of the President.—
It is not merely disgraceful to a powerful par
ty for its acknowledged head to prefer those
for official stations who have madly advocated
the right of Secession, but it is a disgrace to
tho Nation, and nn insult to every patriotic
heart. When the Whig party Is so humiliated
by the power of faction, that it must share offi
cial favors with those who would sever this
blood-bought Union on sectional grounds,vneff
I BIM CEASE TO BE A WINO I
But let the National administration rest. It
must have its constitutional time to die, how
ever despised or reprobated. It fruits cannot
fail to overwhelm It, and with it the countless
factions which gave it birth. No party tactics
can bind such discordant Interests in one com
mon brotherhood, when all claim especial con
sideration in the distribution of patronage, and
each is the deadly antagonist of the rest. Lot
us wait for the end of this bold experiment, and
the Nation will not soon repeat the folly. Its
beginning has threatened &aster in every
quarter—its end must be annihilation!
—But Pennsylvania has more immediate in
terests for the consideration of her people. Of
all the States in the Union, sho is tho richest in
natural resources, and yet she is not only poor,
but beggared. She has been the victim of a
policy which has not only been foolish, but sui
cidal. By her own arm has the deadliest
blows boon struck at her own prosperity in our
National Councils; and at home she has follow
ed the prejudices of party, oven to the abandon
ment of the wisdom of her earlier rulers, and
paralyzed the hands of her hardy eons as she
coursed her way to ruin. Do not tell me that
her people aro prosperous—that her credit is
unimpaired—that her industry, is rewarded.—
Great as she is, any prosperous as she may be
under the present almost caiversal prosperity
of the world, she is still half a century in debt,
and eternally so if Pennsylvania Democracy is
still to rifle her. Her people have been taxed
to the utmost to make public improvements;
and now our thoroughfares reach:every section
of our noble State. But why were these im
provements made? Was it merely to convey
the predate of our farina 7--or was it to bring
the inexhaustible treasures of our mountains
and hills to poor their vast tribute into the
treasury? It was to invite capital—to increase
and diversify our industry, and to maks our
State what sho now should be,—the mightiest,
the richest, and the most prosperous in the
Union. Look around us, where a liberal poli
cy has prevailed. Turn to the East, where
mineral wealth is almost unknown, and where
Agriculture furnishes the poorest rewards to
the husbandman. We see our public improve
ments surpassed—our system of Education ex
celled—labor is in bettor demand and is better
rewarded,—their people aro comparatively free
from taxation, that curse of curses; and last
but not least, no crushing debt saps the vitals
of their progress. Why, then, is Pennsylvania,
with all her unequalled resources, stippled in
her enterprise and bowed down with a moun
tain of debt? It may do for unscrupulous
politicians and a hireling press to say that
these are not the fruits of bad government; but
to what other cause can they bo charged?—
Who can tell us why we are half a century be
hind the high rank our natural means entitle
as to ? Why are we almost hopelessly in debt,
and still adding to it, while other States, with
scarcely half oar elements of wealth, surpass
us in nearly every essential particular, and aro
yet comparatively free from embarrassment?
Those who have sustained this fatal policy can
weave their sophistry around this question
as they may; but the man who dispassionately
inquires into it, must charge our misfortunes
solely to the imbecility and illiberality of our
government.
We have expended millions to open markets
for our mineral wealth and the produce of our
farms, and then with a suicidal blow, only wor
thy of Pennsylvania, wo struck down our man
ufacturers, and sent our people begging to
England, instead of giving employment to
American capital, creating a demand for
American labor, and converting our immense
mineral resources into revenue to the State,
and profitable enterprise for our citizens.--
True, Pennsylvania was slow to consent to the
repudiation of her long cherished policy. De
mocracy had preached Protection in every sec
tion of our State; had fostered and defended it
in other days; and when its sacrifice wag do
molded by an administration that owed its ex
istence to the vote of Pennsylvania,—which
was secured by the most gigantic fraud,—but
one of our Representatives could be found on
the floor of Congress to approve the consumma
tion of the deed. But official patronage was
more powerful than the most sacred pledges,
and after on exciting contest, in which the
great North and especially our own State mani
rested an intense interest, one of our own hon
ored sons cast the fatal vote, and the Protec
tive policy was stricken down by the very men
who were unqualifiedly committed to its sup
port. It cost the hero of that eastiug vote all
ho had gained in a life of devotion to Demo
cracy, but the treason was applauded, and
Free Trrdo became one of the cardinal doe.
trines of the Opposition.
I cannot here follow this question as I would
wish. Of all public measures it bears the clo
sest relation to the pro'sperity of our State, and
until it is adopted as ono of the permanent fea
tures of the government, Pennsylvania, notwith
standing her high position, must he but "a hew
er of wood and a drawer of water" for her more
sagacious and thrifty neighbors. Nor do I view
it as a mere State measure. It is a vital Na
tional question, and is inseperably associated
with our National progress and independence.
Its abandonment may for a time bo attended
with apparent blessings, but it can end only in
disaster. No human agency den avert the
wreck that must result from it. It may be post
poned for a time, but only to gather power, and
render disaster more terrible and complete.
"Ah I more ruin I" responds some Free Tra
der with more zeal than wisdom. Yes, I say
it boldly, wo aro rushing to bankruptcy with a
recklessness and rapidity never paralleled In
our chequered history. While we have a bal
ance of trade against us of from forty to fifty
millions a year, and while we are creditors to
England besides for an amount that would crush
us to-morrow, I point to the future end warn
the people of Pennsylvania of the fearful retri
bution their apostasy is inviting. Call it vis
ionary if you will; but until you explain how we
aro to make up a balance of trade of forty or
fifty millions annually, and how our bonds in
the hands of European bankers for building our
railroads and saving the credit of our good old
Commonwealth, are to be paid, while our mon
ey Is drained from us for European fabrics—l
say until these things aro explained, the future
promises only revulsion and gloom. Remember
that we have a National debt of over sixty-five
millions; our State debts exceed two hundred
millions; our Municipal debts reach seventy
millions; our Railroad debts are not lees than
two hundred and fifty millions; our Mercantile
Foreign debt exceeds ono hundred and fifty
millions, and our Private Domestic debt is es
timated at not less than nine hundred millions.
By this estimate, which is sanctioned by the
Cincinnati Railroad Record and rants Mer
chants Magazine, two of the most reliable pe
riodicals in the country, wo have over SIXTEEN
lIUNIMED MILLIONS of debt upon us, and five
hundred millions of that indebtedness Is held
by Europe I And yet we aro told by the advo
cates of our present policy, that the country
never enjoyed as snostantial prosperity as it
does now. Look around you, and you find Eu
ropean capital in almost all our public improve
ments; you find our farms mortgaged to secure
the European banker when he stepped between
Pennsylvania and bAkruptcy; you find British
iron lining our railroads from ono end of the
Union to the other; you find our, exports 'ex
ceeded by our imports almost a million a week;
and yet with every advantage against us, we
are lured by temporary prosperity to still great
er recklessness and profligacy. Remember that
this balance of trade must be paid; that our for
eign bonds must be cancelled; that our British
iron must transfer the remuneration due Amer
ican labor to the pauper labor of Europe; and
tell mo how the means aro to be provided.—
Could wo meet these demands now? If not,
when shall we be more prosperous than at pre
sent, and better prepared to liquidate them 7
It is hard, I know, to make an adverse future
visible in the midst of unclouded prosperity,
but when we are involved in financial gloom,
which courses its way into every channel of in
dustry and trade, we must realize too late the
bitter fruits of our policy. Look at tho teach
ings of the past. Have wo not boon prosperous
before ? llaq not labor been as well rewarded?
and has not every branch of industry been as
cloudless as now? But why has disaster suc
ceeded it again and again ? Was it the result
of accident or chance? or was it the natural
consequence of a failure of our resources/
No-4 was by rushing heedlessly in debt; by
filling the coffers of European manufacturers
at the expense of American labor, and by Buf
fering millions to accumulate against us in our
trade. These causes have convulsed us from
centre to circumference heretofore, and what
must they lead to now? I appeal to every
candid man—must not our present policy strike
fatally at every element of prosperity?
But it is not only our National policy that
retards our progress. Powerfully as it has con
tributed to that end, wo have, been cherishing
a State policy that has been no less fruitful of
injury. Our State administration, which cams
into power pledged to economy and reform,
seems to have no higher ambition than to swell
our indebtedness. It must grate harshly upon
the ears of those who repudiated the eminently
successful administration of Wu. F. Jonxirrox,
when they are told that their great champion
of retrenchment is likely to increase our State
debt at the rate of a million a year. Nearly
his first official act was to sign a bill for a loan;
and at this time, with nearly half his term be
fore him, the loans he has sanctioned amount
to nearly $3,000,000 I I grant that this amount
has not been added to the funded debt of the
State, for $1,000,000 was borrowed to pay $l,.
000,000 of debt; but when it is remembered
that nearly all of the balance Is to swell our
enormous indebtedness, toll mo how the bold
professions of the administration are to be re ,
conciled with its official nets. It will not do to
say that Gov. BIGLER and his party have mere
ly "anticipated the revenue" to meet present
demands. We have been "anticipating our
revenue" until we have FORTY-TWO MILLIONS of
debt upon our shoulders ! And nine times out
of ten, when our administration modestly de.
mends that our revenues be anticipated, the
plain English of the request is MORE OEBTI—
Nor is the and of the chapter yet visible. Tho
North Branch Canal is yet unfinished, and the
Allegheny road is just commenced. Both are
in the hands of the Democracy; both have been
used to reward political merit, without regard
to cwt, and when both are completed, our
debt must be swelled from three to five millions
under present management.
If onr public improvements would justify
this outlay, and give reasonable assurance of
remuneration, even then I would not be prepa
red to approve an increase of our debt; but
when I consider that our improvements have I
ceased to be a source of revenue, and that they
are claimed and used by the Democracy solely
for personal and •political aggrandizement, I
could wish that I had a voice like thunder to
protest against it. Let us glance at our public
works. Our present debt of $42,000,000, as
appears by the records, dates its foundation
about 1841, when public improvements became
the orde f the day. That it has been incur
red principally in the construction and main-
Winona) of our public works, is not to be denied;
and what has been our revenue ? The interest
on our debt, at five per ant., is over $2,000,000
and our improvements have for the first time
yet to nett us half that sum. That they might
yield a million or more, I am fully persuaded;
but under the present system of management
they are a curse to the State. Prior to 1848,
as far back as I have examined the official re
cords, our public works were kept up at a cost
ranging from $600,000 to $700,000 per annum.
Since then they have never required less than
$1,000,000 annually, and some times they have
cost us over $2,000,000. I will give the rove
nue and expenses for the last five years:
1848. Total Revenue,
Expenses,
Balance over expenses, 525,000
1549. Total Revenue, 1, 1 100,000
m Expenses, 1,000,000
Balance over expenses, 600,000
1850. Total Revenue, 1,700,000
0 Expenses, 1,500,000
Balance over expenses, 200,000
1851. Expenses, 1,900,000
" Total Revenue, 1,700,000
Balance over REVENCIS, 200,000
185 Expense% 9,300,000
" Total Revenue, 9,000,000
I:lalance over Revs:von,
By this official statement, taken from the
Annual Reports of the Auditor General, we
see that during the last five years, our public
improvements have yielded the commonwealth
an aggregate of only $825,000, or $165,000 per
annum; which would not pay the interest on
—3,500,000 of our State Debt at 5 percent. It
is true that during the years '5l and '52 a lit
tle over a million was appropriated to the
North Branch Canal, which. if deducted from
the expenses, would leave $500,000 of revenue
instead of $500,000 of excess exponditures;but
a angular feature in the statement of expendi
t—ca presents every thing in confusion, and
renders it impossible to do exact justice to tho
subject. Since the cost of maintaining the
public works has been increased so alarmingly
certain expenditures are withheld from the
public each year, and crowded into subsequent
statements in the most vague and unsatisfactory
manner! Take, for instance, the year 1850,
which appears, according to the Auditor Gen
eral's report, as yielding $200,000 from the
public works above expenses; but in the report
for '5l, we find over $900,000 in the statement
orexponses for that year, as having boot paid
for debts "prior to Dec. 18501" So a true
statement for '5O would have shown that the
expenses for that year were $700,000 more than
the rercnue / Turn again to the report for '52
and wo find $970,000 paid for "sundry expenses
incurred prior to 1850 and 18511" This swells
the expenses for 1850 to $2,400,000, when wo
had but $1,700,000 of revenue, and when :the
Auditor General was made to report a nett
revenue of $200,000; and for the year 1851 it
makes on actual outlay of sl,97o,ooo,exclusive
of the $900,000 saddled on it for the previous
year. And what of 1852? Who can tell
whether a million will cover the expenses re
served for some future statement, or who can
say that there are not several millions of float
ing debt yet unknown to our official records,
which has been contracted for our public works?
Tho managers of our improvements were afraid
to let the cost for lhe year '5O come before the
public in ono year, or oven two years, for we
find in the statements for both '5l and '52 sun
dry expenses paid for that year. And may
there not bo unsettled accounts still hack for
'517--at least what assurance have we that all
the expenses for '5l and '52 have been paid.—
But to take the very best face this matter can
present, wo can arrive at no other conclusion
than that, independent of all extraordinary ap.
propriations for prosecuting now works, our
public improvements are sinking the Common
wealth every year deeper and deeper in debt !
Notwithstanding the mystery in which the re
ports are purposely involved, this fact is appa
rent, and admits of no denial; but they can,
and they doubtless do, withhold from the pub
lic the exact amount of debt they annually
throw upon the State. In the brief space of
five years we see the cost of maintaining our
public works swelled from $700,000 to over
$2,000,000; and if this species of Democratic
progression is to bo continued for five years
more, it will require tho sale of the works, and
exhaust all the proceeds, to pay the debt in
curred in merely keeping them np.
This condition of affairs has been brought
about by the most unbounded profligacy and
corruption. For years our public improve
ments have been made a mere rendevons for
tho pampered pensioners of tho Democratic
arty, and the means of fostering the most ex.
tonsive and high-handed villainy. So notori
ous have our officers on our public works be
come for dishonesty, that an honest man
scarcely aspires to a position connected with
them; or if ho does accept one, it costa what
ever reputation for integrity he may have ac
quired. They ore prostituted into a vast.polit
ical engine, and mado to contribute only to the
political power and private fortunes of these
controlling them. They have been destroyed
so a source of revenue, because the private in
terests of officers and their friends have to be
advanced at whatever cost to the Common
wealth. And yet year after year, with this fes
tering corruption as clear as noon day, the
people of the State have, through the force of
party drill, sanctioned it with their votes. Ap
proach a liberal member of the opposition par
ty, who is familiar with the management of our
improvements, and he will tell you that it has
corrupted the whole body politic as far as its
influence extends, and that those who cannot
breathe the contamination either silently or ap
provingly must full beneath the merciless pro
scription of official power.
Such has been the history of our public
works, and nothing but a thorough revolution
of the system can result in substantial good.—
We have tried reform, but as often es one abuse
has been corrected, a wider and bolder channel
of corruption has been opened. We have tried
legislation to close the countless avenues of
fraud which lead from ourimprovements to the
treasury, but every effort has been crippled by
the controlling influence of State patronage.—
We have appealed to the people to crush the
whole system of robbery by which they have
to suffer, but party discipline has been too po
tent for the cause of truth. We have tried to
sell them, and the people manfully seconded
the effort by an immense popular majority; but
Democracy could not spare the patronage and
the power they afforded, and the plainly-ex
pressed will of the people was Insolently diere•
garded. At last hopes were entertained that'
we were to be relieved of this blistering stain
upon our character, and this destroying canker
preying upon our vitals. A company compos•
ed of a number of gentlemen In the State, of•
fered to lease our public works for a term of
years, and pay, I believe, a million annually
for the use of them. This proposition, by
which the State would have been the gainer of
the whole amount tendered, it was hoped by all
disinterested persons would be accepted. But
again Democracy interposed—it was not yet
glutted with official plunder. The offer was
rejected, and Democracy continued its career
of profligacy.
But by whom was this offer made ? Among
the gentlemen composing the company were
several ex-Canal Commissioners, under whose
management of the improvements the State re
alized little or nothing. As public officers
they could bring no revenue to the States but
as Individuals, with the same resources, they,
could calculate a liberal profit for themselves
and then afford a million of dollars annually
for the lease. Why was it that such a strange
discrepancy existed between the proceeds of
the public works under their direction, and the
offer of the very men who controlled them?—
Can it be explained In any other way than that
this sum is annually squanderedby our agents?
I have considered this matter carefully, and
I mid charge it ,q,en the Democratic party,'
that the men they keep ia parser are swindling
the Commorueealth oul of a million of dollars
annually/ If I urn wrong I shall be glad to
make the correction, but a general denial will
not suffices For years this corruptionhas been
conceded by the candid of all parties, and if
explanation is possible, it is high time it was
furnished. I have shown how the expenses of
our public works have been more than trebled
in five years, and that a fair exhibit of any cur
rent year has not been presented to the people
of the State in that time, and if this conduct is
defensible, I beg the Democratic party to let
no have the defence.
$1,550,000
• • 1,025,000
300,000
And what a spectacle does this present! To
see our noble old Commonwealth dragged to
the very verge of bankruptcy by the habitual
villainy of her agents, and the people still fol.
lowing the behests of party blindly to sustain it.
Tho general system of transacting business on
our public works, would make a man in pri
vato enterprise despised in any community,and
our Courts would seize him as a felon. He
would bo dreaded as if his very touch was con
tamination, and until his operations could be
confined to the walls of some hospitable prison,
public justice would not be satisfied. But ho
is an agent of the State, forsooth I—ho deals
bountifully and shares his plunder liberally
with his accomplices, and public opinion seems
to have grown strangely indifferent to this spe
cies of robbery. And how long will the people
of the State, by whose hard-earned taxes this
profligacy is supported, stand idly by, and per
mit it to run its high-handed career? Is there
no remedy for this official villainy? I answer
there is but one hope of substantial reform,and
that is THE UNCONDITIONAL SALE OF
THE PUBLIC WORKS! And until this is
effected, the indications Aro that the same fatal
abuses which are now practised, and which
have been practised fur years, will be practised
still. I grant that wo can not realize the cost
of their construction--that wo must lose hea
vily in the sale; but wo can reduce our state
debt nearly one-half, and destroy the great
cause of its increase, without reducing our rev
enue. Why then will wo madly persist in re
taining them in the possession of the State,
merely to fill the coffins of our agents and their
accomplices, and to be used as a vast machine
to crush the honest sentiments of the people ?
Why will wo go on recklessly and spend mil
lions to improve and perfect them, when the
experiment thus far has been worse than a
failure ? Look at the Alleghenies !—They are
studed with the favorites of the dominait par
ty; and with our treasury just replenished ith
borrowed capital, contracts have been awarded
with the most shameful disregard of fairness,
and thousands of dollars have been needlessly
expended in the enterprise. Thus we urn not
only plundered of the resources of our present
improvements, but we are plundered again to
extend them, and make the field still wider for
favoritism and fraud. And where is the chap
ter to end? Are wo to go on year after year
still increasing our annual appropriations, still
adding to our debt, and crippling still more the
prosporiiy and progress of our State ? If not,
when is revolution to begin? Should it begin
now, or are there still fresh swarms of corm
'ants whose thirst for public plunder is yet to
NO. 36.
be satiated? We have again and again been
driven to the very verge of vitality in our fi
nancial operations, and if our improvement.;
are still held by the,State, and if millions nre
yet to be expended on them, in what a midnight
of financial despair mnst a revulsion land
us 7
I appeal to every candid citizen whether this
question should not rise above party considera
tions, Gentlemen of the Opposition I remem
ber that It is under your sanction that these
habitual frauds are practised. It is by your
votes that this infidelity in our public agents is
approved end perpetuated. It is by your in
difference that Reform has been crushed again.
and again under the stroke of official power.—
And what honest man does not blush with
shame, when be reflects that he has been to any
extent instrumental in sustaining the reckless
villainy, where fidelity and integrity are so im
peratively demanded?
ma shall the public works be sold! I need
not ask whether the people will favor the mess
ure, for they have already spoken in terms of
decided approbation. But will the Democracy
still openly disregard their wishes? They have
done so thus far, and with impunity; and as
they have the patronage and the plunder in
their hands, they will continue to do so in spite
of all the efforts of the people. They have
shown an utter contempt for the petitions of
our tax-payers--they seem to care nothing for
the crushing burdens they impose on them, if
they can only be permitted to squander our
revenue, and increase our debt. But, fellow
citizens, can you follow the Democratic party
in its defiance of the popular will? Look at
Its professions—it claims to be governed by the
will of the people, and yet it plants itself above
their verdict, and is deaf to their supplications
for relief. Its very name is falsehood—a bold,
Insolent, defiant falsehood—for It cloaks the
wildest antagonism to its professions.
That an intelligent and sovereign people
should thus kneel at the shrine of party, where
their dearest interests are perfidiously betray
ed, Is the most litimiliating feature our system
of government is capable of presenting. And
if it is persevered in, the reign of a Russian
Autocrat could not be more subversive of the
general good. Citizens of Pennsylvania I—
you who have been bowed down by an imbe
cile and profligate government; you who have
been robbed to give scope to official corrup
tion; you who have been involved in an almost
hopeless debt mainly by the treachery of your
ruler—is not the time for action now at hand f
Will you still groan under misrule, and a tle
liberute system of villainy, or are you prepared
to assert your majesty, to vindicate your honor,
and to restore purity and integrity in our gov
ernment? Will you r II bow to the slavish
mandates of a prostituted Democracy, and let
it riot in the fruits of your honest toil, or will
you burst the shackless of party to secure your
own and your Country's good? If you are pre
pared for this, Dirac boklly fir the uncondi
tional sale of the public works! Let this issue
be successful—l care not by whom or by what
party—and our good old Commonwealth, which
for more than a quarter of a century has been
crippled in every element of her gigantic
strength, will rise regenerated and disenthrall
ed, to take the high and commanding position
among the States of the Union, to which her
natural resources and her honest industry enti
tle her. Strike Now I—strike in your might
for this Reform, and parties must bow submis
sively to your will.
llow-citizons, lam not here to beg your
votes. I care nothing for whatever personal
interest I may have involved in this contest.
I have a home and a vocation which are dear
er and more congenial to me than any official
position you could assign me. But being the
youngest candidate ever presented to the peo
ple for a State office, and having been placed
in that position by the voluntary action of tho
Whig party, I shall not stop to inquire wheth
er victory or defeat. is to reward my efforts.—
While the old Whig flag waves over me, I shall
follow its fortunes through the din and smoke
of every battle, and call upon the young Whigs
to join thoirMthers in sustaining our noble
cause. I can grant no respite to Pennsylvania
Democracy while it is oozing corruption from
every pore, and while our Commomwealth is
tho victim of its fronds. Though disaster may
again and again confront me, I must ever an.
ewer as did the brave leader of the Old Guard
at Wilterloo- S TnE GUARD DIES—IT NEVER
SURRENDERS r
If you are Poor, don't stay Poor.
" Dollars and dimes, dollars and dimes,
An empty pocket is the worst of ci-iMn..—.l'
Yes; and don't yon presume to shew yourself
anywhere until you get it filled. Not among
good people? No, my dear Simplicity, not
among good people. They will receive you
with the galvanic ghost of a smile, scared up
by the indistinct recollections of the "Ten Com.
mandments," but it will be as short as their
stay with you. You are all in a perspiration,
lest you should be delivered of a request for
their assistance before they can get rid of you.
They are 'very busy,' and what's more they al
ways will be busy, when von call, until you get
to the top of fortune's ladder.
Climb, man, climb! get to the top of the lad
der, though ndverse circumstances and false
friends break every round in itl and see what
a glqpjous prospect of human nature you'll get,
when yon arrive at the summit t Your gloves
will be worn out shaking hands with the very
people who did not recognize your existence
two months ago.
'Yon must come and make them a long vis-
it; you must stop in at nny time.' It is such a
long time since they had the pleasure of a visib
from you that they began to fear you never in
tended to come; and they will cap the climax
by inquiring with an injured air, 'lf you are
near-sighted, or why you have so often passed
them in the street without speaking?'
Of course, you will feel very much like laugh
ing in their faces, and so you can. You can't
do anything wrong now that 'your pocket is
full.' At the most, it will only be an 'eccentri
city.' Ynu can use anybody's neck for a toot.
stool, bridle anybody's mouth with a silver bit,
and you have as many 'golden opinions' as yes
like. You won't see a frown again this side of
your tomb•stoue.—Funny Fcrn.