i)EMOCrvACY NATIONAL AND NOT SECTIONAL. SPEECH OF , ^ , 1882 HON. THOMAS J. D. FULLER, OF MAINE, 'I DELIVERED IN THE IIOUr^E OF REPRESENTATIVES, AUGUST 28, 1856, In VindicaUon of the. Democratic Party from the charge of Sectionalism, made by his Colleagues, and Defending its action upon the Disagreement of ike tW9 Houses of Congress upon the Army Appropriation Bill. Mr. FULLER, of Maine, said: Mr. Speaker: Havino^ been unable to obtain the floor, until this late clay — though I have dili- gently and poi-severingly sought it for weeks — I avail myself, by the courtesy of the House, of this first occasion to express my sentiments upon questions which have been much discussed dui-ing the recent long session of Congress. In doing so, however, [ am constrained lo overcome a strong natural repugnance to making a political speech in a legislative assembly like the House of Rep- resentatives of the United States. I assure you, sir, that this sentiment has rather been strengthened than weakened by a legisla- tive experience of seven years in this body. For weeks and months I have been compelled to listen to the most inflammatory partisan harangues, better suited to tlie theater of the political hust- ings than to the statesmanlike deliberations of an American Congress — harangues, apparently designed to inflame the passions and to excite the prejudices of one section of our common coun- try against another section, and to create the settled conviction in the public mind that the true interests and the political welfare of tlie free and the slave States of this great Republic are antag- onistical to each other; and, what is worse and far more miscliievous and dangerous in its prac- tical effect, to inculcate the idea in the northern mind, that the slaveholding States are inspired with a haughty and arrogant disposition to rule by imperious sway their political brethren of the free States — that the free States having the majority of numbers, ought rightfully, and regardless of con- stitutional restrictions and obligations, to impose their own notions of moral and political ri";ht upon their brethren of llie slave States — that northern Democrats, who do not enlist in this crusade against the slave States, " arc base truck- lers," "dirt-eaters," "contemptible dough- faces," and similar terms of contumely and reproach. Upon northern Democrats, in an es- pecial manner, are concentrated the most intensi- fied political, spleen and vituperation of the I'lack Republi '.ans. What is this for ? Why, to render unpopular, obnoxious, and odious, every man who exerts an influence or stands in the way of tliese immaculate Rejiublicans in gaining their dosired political ascendency in this Government. They seem bent on overthrowing the last barrier in the way of forming a sectional party, which must weakerT, if not fatally disrupt, the ties that bind us together as one people. Among the foremost of that party, I regret to find a member from my own State — the gentle- man from the Oxford district — as is shown by the S])oeches delivered by him at the late session. What good or useful purposes will such speeches serve? Is it desirable that the free and slave States of this Republic should separate, and pro- ceed to form two distinct and separate Confedera- cies? If so, why not boldly and manfully avow the purpose to be attained, and proceed at onc« to tlie accomplishment of the desired object? Why seek, indirectly, to accomplish a purpose which may be come at directly ? But, if not, is it wise, discreet, or commendable, to puisue a course of policy which, inevitably, and according to well known experience, tends most unerringly to this end ? If one will but read the Farewell Address of the Father of his Country, and then, animated with the spirit and ti-mper which the patriotic sentiments of that address shall inspire in his bosom, sit down and peruse the speech of my colleague, he will fully appreciate the force of the idea I wish to express. In my judgment, the true patriot, in this houhof sectional hatred and politicalstrife,can do his country no greater service than by exerting his influence to ameliorate and soften down the sectional feeling already engendered to such a fearful and alarmmg extent, even if it be at the expense of having heaped upon his head those opprobrious epithets, calculated and designed to bring him into disrepute among his fellow-citizjfis. Madness will not always rule the hour; for I believe that this sectional hatred has been fomented, excited, and intensified, for no other purpose than to further the hopes and wishes ef partisan njgrandizement. Hitherto the opinion has been considered as a speculative one, whether this Government con- tained within itselfsufficient strength and adhesion to withstand successfully, the shock of a sectional political controversy based upon the slavery ques- tion. The issue is now made ! The fearful ques- tion is upon us ! The experiment is to be tested, however much prudent men have sought to avoid it. AVashington and his compatriots, who con- ducted the colonies triumphantly through the American Revolution, and afterwards completed that greater labor of forming a constitutional model Republic (wherein all the States were blended into one for national purposes) were fa- miliar with the history of the rise and fall of civil Government. They were undoubtedly stimu- lated to incur the responsibilities attendant upon so great an undertaking by the renown which would follow their success. They seem to have fully a]ipreciated this idea. The student of Amer- ican history cannot fail to notice, in the writings of the patriots of the Revolution, that they were laboring more for the benefit of theif posterity than for the generation of their own time. Hence their solicitude to give durability to the mighty superstructure which, in their bright visions of the future, they saw was to arise upon the founda- tions laid by them at so great personal sacrifices, well knowing that their own fame would be com- mensurate with the magnitude and duration of the Republic. For tliis purpose, Washington pointed out, with prophetic foresight, the causes (as we now see) which seemed most likely to be the means of overturning the Republic, and, by timely admonition, to avert so great a calamity. In his Farewell Address he says: " In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it occurs, as a matter of serious concern, tliat any ground should have been furnished for characterizing par- ties tjy geograpliical discriminations — Northern, Soulliern, Atlantic, and Western" — [.Mark the words !]— " whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients to acquire influence within particular dis- tricts is to misrepresent the opinions and views of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart-burnings which spring from these misrepresentations. They tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affections." No passage of Holy Writ is imore prophetic than is this advice of Washington to his cojin- trymen. He must have been inspired with a prophet's vision when he uttered those words. And to-day, scarce sixty years since the language was penned, through fanaticism and sectional hatred, regardless of his warning voice, this Re- public is tottering to its fall. For the purpose of turning the attention of the citizens of my own State to their own true and peculiar interests, I invite their attention to another extract from the same address; for I deem it not irreverent to say, that Washington's Farewell Address should be to the citizen in his political relations, what the Sermon on the Mount is to the life of the Christian: "The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the « South, protected by equal laws of a common Government, finds in the productions of the latter great additional re- sources of a maritime and commercial enterprise, and per- ceives materials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the, same intercourse, benelUed by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow, and its commerce expand ; turn- ing partly into its channels the seamen of the North, it tinds its particular navigation invigorated ; aivd while it contrib- utes in different ways to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the pro- tection of a maritime strength to which itself is unequally adapted." But our opponents, the Republicans, conscious of the fast and strong hold these sentiments have upon the popular mind of the North, seek to weaken their i)ifluence by affirming that they are not a SECTIONAL PARTY ! For iliey know that no party, sectional in its principles and organization, can expect to succeed. The popular mind will not be i?atisfied with any political organization which does not embrace, witliin its ample folds, the whole country. Hence their solicitude to avoid the odium which most assuredly will attach to such an organisation. As evidence to this assertion, I append the subjoined extract from the revised speech of the member from the Oxford district, as published in the Appendix to the Congressional Globe: " As I announced in the commencement of these re- marks, I shall now attempt to show that the Republican party is a national party ; that it stands upon a platform of principles eminently na«!07iaZ; and that no national man. North or South, East or West, can, with any show of con- sistency, refuse to stand upon it. " The Democratic platform is sectional in all its parts ; and to call it a " national" platform is a libel upon the com- mon sense of every man who reads it. " With all these facts glaring them in the face, the mem- bers of the so-called Democratic party, the supporters of the present national Administration, have the unblushing impu- dence to stand up, and say to those of us who have, on the stump and at the ballot-box, through good report and evil report, supported Jackson, and Tan Boren, and Polk, and Pierce, (until he forsook his friends and abandoned his plat- form,) and have clung to the Democratic party like the mariner to the wreck, until there was not a single plank of its good old platform left to save us from perdition, that we have left the Democratic party — that we have changed and gone overto Abolitionism — when they know, and we know, and the whole world knows, that they are the men that have changed — tkey are the deserters, that they have gone off and offered sacrifices to strange gods, while we are de- fending the sacramental altars and consecrated fires of the ' God of our fathers.' While we are, in goo1 faith, main- taining and defending the doctrines of Jefferson and the Democratic party, they are bowing down and worshiping the Dagon god of African slavery." I take issue with the allegations in the above extract. I aver that the Deinocratic party of to- day stands where it ever has stood — is national in its sentiments, and in its organization, and occupies no new ground upon the slavery ques- tion. I do not stop there — I go further. I allege and will show, beyond cavil or doubt, that the so- called Republican party is a sectional party in its principles — is identical with the Abolition party, and occupies the same ground which that party did in the presidential elections of 1848 and 1852. Now, what are the opinions and sentiments of the Republican party of Maine (for uf this por- tion of the party I intend to speak) upon the great slavery questions, and, as they say, the all- absorbing questions of the day } To prove what they are, I will not rely upon the isolated opinions of this or that man, but will adduce the highest and most conclusive evidence which the case affords, and it is ample, to wit: the repeated res- olutions of their organization, put forth in a legislative as well as in conventional form. The first is the resolutions of instruction from the Republican Legislature of Maine, approved March 17, 1855, instructing the Senators, and requesting the Representatives, to vote on the several prop-. ositions therein named, and are in the following language : " Reso!veil, That our Senators in Ounyrfss he iiislructnl, and our Krpn-iioutatjvos riM|Ui'sU'(l, to iisi- all |)rup|iral)li' means to srctirr tlie pa-;f^a!;i' of the t'ollowin)! ftiai-tnifnts : "First, An ai-t rein-alins; all laws ol" the Tnueil Slates authorizing slavery in tlu- l>islriet of diluiiitiia. " Sccomi, An let rep^-aling the statute of 18.">l), known as ihe fugitive slave law. "Third, An aet forever proliihltinp slavery or involun- Wry servituil'-, e^eopt for crime, within the Territories of tlie United Stales. " Resoleed further. That our Senators in (^on^ress be instructed, aiid our Representatives requested, at all tunes hereat'ter, n\ost strenuously to oppose in every justifiable way the admission of any new Stali? into the Union, ex- cept upon the condition to beenihrared in the netof ailinis- sion, that slavery or involuntary servitude, exceptiuj; that for crime, of wliieli the aeeuseil shall have been duly pri>ved guilty, shall he forever prohibited therein. " Rcsolvtil. T'lat the Governor be requested tn forward a copy of these resolves to each of Our Senators and Uepre- tcntativcs in Cotuiress, and to the Governors of each State, with a request that the resolves be laid before the Legisia- 1 lure thereof." Did the Abolition or Garrison party ever make greater demands tlian do these resolutions.' Second. The call for a grand rally of the Republicans of Maine, in nuias convention at Portland, on the 14th of August, 1855, signed by the Republican Slate committee, with the list of speakers expected to be present, and the resolu- tions adopted, with extracts from the speeches made by the gentlemen invited to speak, and published immediately in the Republican papers, and distributed very generally throughout the State. REPUBLICANS OF M.\IKe! Jl »ranrf rally of the people opposed to the National Admin- istration, andt) the extension of tlavery over the Territo- ries of the Uniicd States. I The citizens of the State, who desire to help rescue this Republic from its perils and downward tendencies, are re- i|uested to meet in mass convention at Deering Hall, Port- land, on Tuesday, August 14, to take counsel, and determ- ine on such a course of action as the love of freedom and sound patriotism demand. The slave power in this nation has so strenirthened itself by the tbrbearance and remissness •f the North and West, and the treachery of some of their Representativi.'s, that it is no longer a question whether Africans and their descendants shall be enslaved, hut whether the people of the free States shall be the humble eervantsof theslaveholding oliaarchy .' It is not a sectional issue between the North and the South ; but the question pressing on us is. whether Democracy or aristocracy shall rule the nation? To day the Government of this mighty Republic is in the hands of a class, and not of the people. The years through which we are now passing are to determ- ine whether the free States are to be subdued provinces, with a mere dutsidc or secondary influence in the councils of the nation, or equality, good iaith, and sound republic- anism shall prevail among the Slates of this Union. Is the law of freedom, or the iron rule of slavery, to be re- garded as national .' Let the freemen of Maine answer, as the crisis demands. The Government must be restored to the principles and policy of its founders, or this Union can- not permanently endure. The immense territories of the West must be "saved from the black tide of slavery that threatens to sweep over them. Kansas betrayed, outraged, overrun by armed rulfians. sp.-aks to us with a tongue of flame. The people of .Maine will prove true to her instincts of justice and freedom, and to her fornic-r renown. Let the asseniMiicof Ausust 11, in numbers and delerm- ination, be such as itic. occasion demands. 1-:minent speakers of our own and from abroad will address the convention. The following cciitlemen are engaged, and confidently ex- pected to be present on the occasion : aiaiiic— William riltFessenden, Anson P. Morrill, Amos Nourse, Samuel .Mavall. Israel Washburn, Edward Kent, Samuel P. Ben.son', Freeman H. Morse, and John J. Perry. ^ . , New Hampshire.— John P. Hale, James Bell, and Daniel T. Clark. Connecticut. — Ex-Governor Clcaveland and Truman New Vork.—n. V. Hutler and John A. Dix. Edward Keiino, Charles J. (;ilman, Iliram Ilubbardi James M. Deering, I'lulandi-r C.iinirn, Alon/.o (.'areelon, Franklin Clark, AI.ii.t II. Ilallowell, N. G. Iliehliorn, George Dowms, .1. S. .MuMMi', JohJi li. .Morrison. John Hridges, Lemuel I'rott, and Wushinglon Long, Republican Statt Vommitlee. Jrou-20, I8."i,'). Thud. Resolutions adopted nt the same meet- ing with '♦ thundering unaniniily:" " We, the people of Maine, members of the Republican party, assembleil In State convention, believin* the que»- tion of human freedom to he paramount to all other political questions now ai;ilaling our country, hereby deelartr tlie principles which have brought lis toiielher, and for which we will contend iinlll tiny shall he adopted as a eonlrolling element in the adiiiiiii.-lralion of our national Government. " 1. That the t'onstitiilion of the United States was de- signi'd by the people who adopted it to be a law of inipai- tlal government. "•J. Thai by the Constitution, Congress is made the special guardian of the liberties of the: people inhabititl| the District ol Culnmbia and the Territories of the United States ; and until it shall abolish slavery in ihe former, and forever prohibit it in the latter, it remains false to the soU enin trust comiiiilted to its charge. "3. That the Constitution, while it prohibits the several Stales from enacting any ' law or regulation' discharging fugitives from service or labor from their obligations, confen no iiower whatever upon Congress to lenislaie on this suN- jeet. The act of Is;:")!), called the fuuilive slave law, w therefore, not only inhuman, but unconstitutional in its provisions, and should lie immediately and iiiicondilionally repealed. " 4. That it is the right and the duty of Congress, in aU acts for the admission of new States into the Union, W prohibit forever the introduction of slavery therein." Extracts from the speech of Mr. Wade, of Oliio, the present Senator from that Stale: " I know very well that you have among you, as we have amon;; us at the West, a few men who think they can reor- ".iiiize the old Wilis party. Now, sir, I can speak verjr freely of that party, because I belong to it. I followed that party, with an unwavering fidelity, for twenty five years; , but I say now that that organization is not only dead, but it already stinketh ; and they who expect to resuscitate it expect a miracle greater than that that was wroushl at the tomb of Lazarus. [Renewed applause.] I was present when it died. It died the death of a felon ; and I stand here to-day to pronounce it dead— dead— dead ! It died by the perfidy of its own members— thus coniniitting a kind of political suicide. " I am not going to speak about your Nebraska hill, for I have already told you that the North is completely prostrate by this curse of slavery. There is no union now between us and the South. The' pretended Union now existing is all meretricious— the heart docs not participate in it; and I believe, from all that I have seen, and I am one of those who ■ dare speak what I believe— I believe that there are no two nations on earth— not even the Russians and the English at this day— who at heart feel more enmity towards each other than the men of the Norlti and the South." Extracts from the speech of Hon. Israel Washburn, Jr., from Maine: " I regard our action this year as being of as much im- portance as it was last year, and more important, perhaps, than it will be next year ; for on what we do in ls'.'>5 depends, in a great measure,' what we will do in iaj6; and not only so, but it depends in a s;reat degree on what .Maine may do this year, as to what will be done in other States in 1856. As we put the ball In motion, so it will go on rolling to the end. Let M^ine triumph nohlv this year, as she will, [very great applause ;] let her elect Morrill as her Governor by ten thousand majoiitv, as she will, [renewed applause;! let her do that— let the word be sent to Ohio; and lei Ohio respond with her one hundred thousand majority for Chase ; let Indiana and Wisconsin resound with similar music; and then let the influence of these triumphs return to the Empire Stale and the Old Bay State in November; let the North bo swc^pt now, and we may be sure that, in 1&.>G, a northern Republican President will be elected; and that is a result which will be in no small measure influi iicid by this meeting in Portland to day, and by the vote of .Maine on the 10th of SeptemlMT next. That done, the State Legis- latures will be chansed, so that, during the fir.-t Congress of the next Presidc-ncy, we shall have all the branches of the Government, and will thus be enabled to make slavery sectional and freedom national as it should be. [Applause.] 4 But let >is break down now; let Wells be elected or Mor- rill defeated — no matter how — and what will you heat? Why, it will go abroad swifter than if on the wings of the wind, that Maine is backing down ; that Maine is sustain- ing the Pierce adiniiiistratioii ; that the Democracy of sla- very is trinmpliant; that the Representatives of Maine have been rebnkcd; and that Moses McDonald has been sus- tained. That will be the word, and you all know it." How unfortunate for the gentleman, in that instance, did his predictions prove.'' It was almost cruel in the people of Maine to throw a wet blanket over the high hopes and bright visions of the future, as they so beautifully glittered in the gen- tleman's imagination. Now, have the Rcpubli- ans of IVIaine ever repudiated these sentiments.' Do they not hold to them to-day .' Who will say that they are not now the sentiments of that party.' Everybody knows that the above resolutions, and those sentiments, constitute the platform of the Republican party of Maine at this moment. Now, compare this platform with the Abolition plat- form of 1848, as established at the Buffalo con- vention, which nominated Van Burcn, and the platform established at the Pittsburg convention, August 12, 1852, which nominated John P. Hale for its candidate. In 1852, three conventions were held for the purpose of nominating presidential candidates for the three parties. I quote from the platform of each party, with the names of their respective candidates, and the number of votes, by States, which each candidate received. It will ail"ord in- formation of a useful character, in determining this question of political consistency, and show who it is that has taken a new position in 1856 on the slavery question. The Democratic Convention atRaltimore (June, 1852,) nominated General Pierce, u]5on the follow- ing platform touching the slavery question: "9. Tliat Congress has no power, under the Constitution, to interfere with or control tlie domestic institutions of the several States, and that such States are the sole and proper judges of everything appertaining to their own affairs, not prohibiled by the Constitution ; that all eflorts of the Ab- oIitioni^ts or others, made to induce Congress to inter- fere with questions of slavery, or to lake inoipipnt steps in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the iiio-f danger- ous and alarming consequences ; and tiKit all such eliorts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger the stability and permanency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend •four political institutions. " That the foregoing proposition covers, and was intended to embrace, the whole subject of slavery agitation in Con gress ; and therefore the Democratic party of the Union, ■tandmg on this national platform, will abide by, .and ad here to, a faithful execution of the acts known as the com promise measures, settled by the last Congress, and the act lor reclaiming fugitives from service or labor included, which act, being designed to carry out an express provision of the Constitution, cannot, v/ifh fidelity thereto, be re- pealed, or so changed as to impair or destroy its efficiency." The Whig Convention at Baltimore, of the same year, nominated General Scott, upon the following platform touching the slavery question: " 8. Resolved, That the series of acts of the Thirty First Congress, commonly known as the compromise or adjust ment, (the act for the recovery of fugitives from labor in- •luded.) are received and accjuieseed in, by the Whigs of the United States, as a final settlement in principle and suh stance of the subjects to which they relate; and so far as these acts are concerned, we will maintain tliem and insist on their strict enforcement unlii time and experience shall demon.strate the necessity of further legislation, to guard a^inst the evasion of the laws on the one hand and the abuse of their pDWers on the other, not impairing their pres- ent efficiency to carry out the requirements of the Consti- tution. And we deprecate all further agitation of the ques- tions thus settled as dangerous to our peace, and will di.s- •ountenance all efforts to continue or renew such agitation, iBhen^ver, wherever, or however made ; and we will main- tain this settlement as essential to the nationality of the ■Wilis party and the integrity of the Union." The third party, being the Abolition parly proper, under the name of Free Democracy, in convention at Pittsburg, on the 8th of August, 1852, nominated John P. Hale, upon the follow- ing platform touching the slavery question: "5. That to the persevering and importunate demands of the slave power for more slave States, more slave territory^ and the nationalization of slavery, our distinct and linaJ answer is, no more slave States — no slave territory — no nationalization of slavery, and no national legislation for the extradition of slaves. That the fugitive slave act of 1850 is repugnant to the Constitution — to the principles of the American law — to the spirit of Christianity, and to the sentiments of the civilized world. We therefore deny its binding force upon the American people, and demand its immediate and total repeal. " That the acts of Congress, known as the compromise measures of 18.50, by making the admission of a sovereiga btaie contingent upon the adoption of other measures, de- manded by the special interests of slavery ; by their omis- sion to guaranty freedom in free territory : by llieir attempt to impose unconstitutional liniitaliniis on the power of Con- gress and the people to admit new Stairs ; by their pro- visions for the assumption of five millions of the State debt of Te.xas, and for the payment of five millions more, and the cession of a large territory to the same State, under menace, as an inducemertt to the relinquishment of a groundless claim ; and by their invasion of the sovereignty of the States and the liberties of the people, through the enactment of an unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional fugitive slave law, are proved to be inconsistent with all the principles and ma.tims of Democracy, and wholly inade- quate to the settlement of the questions of which they are claimed to be an adjustment. "20. That the Free Democratic party is not organized to aid either the Whig or Democratic wing of the great slava compromise party of the nation, but to defeat them both ; and that, repudiating and renouncing both, as hopelessly corrupt and unworthy of confidence, the purpose of the Frife Democracy is, to take possession of the Federal Gov- ernment, and administer it for the better protection of the rights and interests of the whole people. " That wejnscribe on our banner free soil, free speech, free labor, and freemen, and under it will fight on and fight ever, until a triumphant victory shall reward our exertions." This Abolition platform ernbraces distinctly the five propositions contained in the Republican plat- form of Maine. Upon these three |>latforn(is, in Novernber, 1852, the popular verdict was ren- dered, by States, as follows: Pierce. Srott. Hale. Maine 41,609 3l>,.543 8,030 New Hampshire 29,997 16,147 6,69» • Vermont i:j.044 23.173 8,621 Massachusetts 46,880 53,063 29.993 Rhode Island 8.735 7,626 644 Connecticut 33,219 .■30,,359 3.160 New York 282,083 231,882 25,323 New Jersey 44,305 38,.0S6 380 Penrr-ylvania 198,,568 179,122 8,524 Ohio.". 169,220 152,526 31,689 Indiana 95,299 80.901 6.934 Michigan 41,842 33,860 7,237 Illinois 80,.597 64,934 9,96i» Wisconsin 72.413 37,1.32 Iowa 17,762 15,855 1,605 California 39,665 34,971 100 Delaware 6,318 6,293 62 Maryland 40,022 35,077 54 Virginia 72,413 57,132 5i> North Carolina 39,744 39,058 South Carolina (Electors chosim by the Legislattu'c.) Georgia 34,705 16,660 Florida 4.318 2,875 Alabama 26.881 15.038 Mississippi 23.876 17,.5'!8 Louisiana 18,647 17,255 Texas 13,,5.52 4.99.5 Arkansas 12,173 7,404 Tennessee 57,018 58,898 Kentucky .53.805 .57,068 Missouri 38,353 29,984 1,640,252 1,422,954 149,311 Tho Dtmocrnlic and Wliio; pnrties of 1832 were national. Tlicir plaiforms upnii tlu' slavory qni's- linn were suljstanlially iln- sami'. An inspeiuioii of the voles shows iliai many <>f thi; States wore quite nearly tlividcHl between those two national parties. Arid wiiat was the result? Over three millions of votes, ns^aiiist one hundred and forty' nine thousand sectional votes. In that contest, section was not arrayed aijainst section — we heard then no charijes between "the two i^reat parties of "northern Intclillng,''' or "soutlicrn arrogance." It was a scjuaru-out, stand- up contest, in which tlie Dbinocratic party pre- vailed. Were those who acted with either of the preat parties of that year, sinci>re and honest in their support of their respective platforms? If not, were ^heyhypocritical,and barely yielded support to the candidates, regardless of the i>latfornis? It is admitted by many, that Mr. Buchanan is an experienced and worthy statesman, but that the platform upon which he is placed is objection- able, and therefore he cannot receive their sup- port. How can any honest Democrats, or honest Whiq-s, who sincerely supported their respective candidates, and the platforms upon whicli.they stood in 18.5i!, now support ihe llopulsliean nom- ination, upon the Abolition platform of 1H52? My pity is excited for the man who voted either for Pierce or Scott, in ]8^)'2, and now supports the Republican nominee, for the alleged reason that tlje old parlies have takfti new ground upon the slavery qucsiion . Is it not rather he that has gone over to the Abolition camp, and accuses others of inconsistencies of which he himself is guilty? I know there were jioliticians, and journals too, at the North, in 1852, who publicly pro- claimed, while they supported General Scott on personal grounds, thi'v, at the same time, con- temptuously spit upon the platform upon which he was placed, and who, after the result of the election was known, proclaimed the Whig party dead ! and immediatel)' set^ibout forming a north- ern sectional party, based upon the Abolition platform of antagonism to slavery. I have said, and shall now proceed to prove, that tlie_ Democratic party is a national one. It is so, because the Democrats of Maine and Geor- j gia, the one a free and the other a slave State, at | the two extremiis of the Union, hold to the same rule of political action by the General Govern- ment, and stand upon a conimon platform of prin- ciples now, just as they did in lb48 and 1852. It would seem that those Democrats and those Whigs who have deserted from the old party or- ganizations, and have marched over to the Aboli- tion camf), and are marshaled under the leader- ship of .\lr. GiDDiNGs, (just in proportion as they have abrditioiiized themselves,) profess to think, and, indeed, positively assert, that the Democratic party has become pro-slavery. There are many of the so-called Ilepiiblicaii party, who in 1852, were ready and willing to abide by the compro- mise measures of 1851) in principle and substance, and weri! willing honestly to carry out the pro- visions of the fugitive slave law, but wlwi now hold the law to be unconstitutional, and that Congress has no power to enact any law upon the subject. Such converts undoubtedly think that their form /r political associates have become i a grcftt pro-slavery party. They think the party 1 which they left has, in the cant Janguage of new Abolition converts, " sold itself out to the South" — that slavery has .s.-i up new and uiilnard-of pn.'tensions — has become very arrogant in its de- mands! ! > It is undoubtedly true' thai the Aliolition party has .strengthemd itsi If greatly in ihi- free States within the past t%'o y''ars; but it by no means estal)lishea the fact that the Democratic party has abandoned, in any particular, its old and timc- honori'd doctrines, or become desirous of extend- ing slavery any whire. As jiolitical history may always be read with iimtruction, I append ex- tracts from the Uull'ilo restijutions, adopted in 1848, which form'-d what whs then ealli'd, and is now rcmemliered as, the " Hulfalo platfortn:" " Rcsolrcd, That it is tlio duty of the KedcTil Government to relieve itself from all rcspiiii.' We invite all eitizens, without distinction of party, and regardless of fill mer diirereiices of opinioti, who are op- pt)sed to the repeal of the Missouri eonipromise, to the an- arctiical and dangerous doctrines of the Cincinnati plalform, 6 to the extension of sla*'ery into the Territories of the Uni- ted States, in I'avor of freedom in Kansas, of the preserva- tion of the (Juioii, and of restoring the Governmoit to the principles and j/olicy of Washington and Jefferson." Mark tlie langjuage italicised ! If this Repub- lican party intend to carry out their principles, as shown in the above resolutions, they will vio- late the principles and policy of the administra- tions of Washington and Jefferson; but if they adhere to the principles and policy which gov- erned the administrations of Washington and Jefferson, they will violate their platform. They may take either horn of tli.e dilemma. They are either inconsistent in their professions, or they intend to be hypocritical in their practice, that is, provided they can get the power. In the admin- istrations of Washington and Jefferson we have a standard — a test of high authority. Who does notentertain a profound respect for the measures and precedents established by those administra- tions? What they did do is preserved upon the i imperishable records of the country. Let us com- ' pare, for a moment, those records with these { modern Republican platforms. The Republicans propose to abolish slavery in the District of Co- lumbia; did Washington or Jefferson ever recom- mend that measure ? Washington superintended thelayingoutof thecity. Heapprovedand signed the act making it the permanent seat of Govern- ment; can any one learn from his administration that he advised or recommended any such meas- ure as these Republicans are ready to spill their blood to force upon the country? It is not to be found. Again, how is it in regard to the fugitive slave act, which the Republicans say. Congress has no power to pass — which they resist vi et armis ? What was the iDolicy of Washington in relation to that measure? Washington, on the 17th of February, 1793, himself, signed and approved the first fugit've slave law enacted by Congress, the third and fourth sections of which are in the fol- lowing words: " ^nd he it also enacted, That when a person held to labor in any of the United States, or in either'of the Territories on tlie northwester soutli of the river Ohio, under the laws tliereof, sliall escape into any of tlie said States or Terri- tory, the person to wliom such service orlabor may be due, bis agent, or attorney, is liereby empowered to seize or arrest such fugitive from labor, and to take liim or her be- fore any judge of the circuit or district court of the United Slates, residing or being within the State, or before any magistrate of a county, city, or town corporate, wherein »uch seizure or arrest shall be made, and upon proof to the satisfaction of such judge or magistrate, cither by oral testi- mony or affidavit, taken before, and certified by, a magistrate of any sueli State or Territory, tliat the person so seized or arrested doth, under the laws of the State or Territory from which he or she fled, owe service or labor to the per- son claimiii!; him or her, it shall be th,e duty of such judge or magistrate to give a certificate thereof to such claimant, his agent, or attorney, which sliall be sutFicient warrant for removing the said fugitive from labor to the Slate or Ter- ritory from which lie or she fled. "Sec. 4. ^nd he it further enacted, That any person who ihall knowingly and willingly obstruct or hinder such claimant, his agent, or attorin^y, in seizing or arresting such fugitive from labor, or shall rescue such fugitive from such claimant, his a<;erit, or attorney, when so arrested pursuant to the authority herein given or declared, or shall harbor or conceal such person after notice that he or she was a fugi- tive from labor as aforesaid, shall, for either of the said offenses, forfeit and pay tiie sum of five hundred dollars; which penalty may be recovered, by and for the benefit of Buch claimant, by action of debt, in any court proper to try the same ; saving, moreover, to the person claiming such labor or service his right of action for, or on account of, the said injuries, or either of them." Again: how is it in regard to the next point of the Republican platform in relation to the pro- hibition of slavery in the Territories? Within the period of time embraced by the administra- tions of Washington and Jefferson, eight terri- torial governments were formed, to wit : Ten- nessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri — as slave Territories — and Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, as free Territories; yet the Republican platfo'rm demands that slavery must be prohibited in all the territory of the United States. And still upon anotherpoint — to wit: the admis- sion of slave States into the Union — how stands the Republican doctrine as compared with th« acts of those immortal statesmen? During the administrations of Washington and Jefferson four new States were admitted into the Union — two free and two slave Stales — Kentucky and Ten- nessee as slave States, Vermont and Ohio as free States; and yet the Republican platform pledges the party to admit no more slave States into the Union. What do the Republicans mean by this invita- tion, when they invite you to unite with them in forming a party that shall restore the action of this Government to the principles and policy; which governed the administrations of Wash- ington and Jefferson ? Are they sincere? Ifthejr are, they are both false and inconsistent! Is it not rather that they wish to invoke the example of great names, keeping their acts in the dark, the better to mislead and deceive the honest and well-meaning voter? They had better correct their platfor*n, and make it correspond with ths examples they profess to imitate. Tlie fathers and early Presidents were in favor of carrying out ALL the provisions of tiie Constitution in all its parts; while these modern Republicans are in favor of carrying into effect o.ily such parts of it as they like, and rejecting all other par' 3. There is one other point of comparison I will not omit to notice in this connection. The Re- publican Know Nothing Legislature of Maine enacted a law prohibiting; the judicial courts of that State from naturalizing any foreigner at all. It is notorious that, as a party , the Know Nothinga stand committed to the pohcy of 'extending the period of naturalization for the term of twenty- one years' actual residence. Now, what was th« policy of the fathers "in the earlier and better days of the Republic" on this question? In Washington's administration the first act was passed, to wit: March 26, 1790, to carry into effect that provision of the Constitution which is in these words: Congress shall have power "to establish a uniform rule of naturalization," lim- iting the period of naturalization to two years. In the administration of the elder Adams th« term was extended to fourteen years; and in the administration of Mr. Jefferson the period of residence was reduced to five yfears, where it ever since has remained. So much, then, for the comparison of the pol- icy of the present Republican party with th« principles and policy of the administrations of Washington and Jefferson, on this head of nat- uralization of the foreign-born citizen. But I cannot let off my colleague, who affirms that " that the Democratic party is a . octional one," and that " the Republican party is na- tional," without bestowing some further consid- eration upon his allowntions. The gentleman I undoultii'dly supportod Gcnernl Pierce for the ' Presidimy in 185:2, witli tho full kndwledse of his poliiieiil antecedents. He must have known ' the conspicuous part he bore in setting aside tlie , nomination of Rev. Mr. Atwood for Governor of the Slate (.;' New Hanijishire, in ci)n.se(]nencc of his writiuij a Free-Soil letter soon after his nom- ] inalion by the Democratic party. He must liave i been acquainted with the jjlatform upon which he j ■was placed, and the pledge made to carry out the ' provisions of the fuijitive slave law. j I conclude he was a member of the political i convention holden at Portland on the 4th day of August, 1853, and addressed that convention, i which passed the following resolutions, among others : • I " Rciolvcil, That we recognize as fundnmcntal JelTcrso- | nian principle's of the Dcniocraiic psrfy, ' thesoverti!.'iily of [ the people ' — Uie sacrndiiess of the Union and Corislilution I — faith in the inlelliiience of the people — strict accouni;i- 1 bility of public agents — and ' appeals to the virtue and inlel ligeiiceof tin- people' for the proniotion of the ends of true | Democratic Republican government. t "Reso/rcrf, That Franklin Pierce, by the noble stand he j has taken in his inausural address upon the principles and present measures of the national Democratic party — by the wisdom and Ibrecast he has manifested in the selection of i his Cabinet .and subordinate officers— by his honesty and fidelity to the people, and by the industry, integrity, and patriotism he has shown in the discharge of all the trusts I committed to his care as Chief ,M;igistrate of the nation, •has comn\;inded, an'd should receive, our iinqualltied ap- probation anil enthusiastic support.' " The gentleman must pardon me for placing before the Flouse and the country the active agency which he had in eleclinj^ General Pierce, upon the precise platform which he now so in- dignantly spits upon, and fiercely condemns. While the President has stood firmly upon the Baltimore platform, which was fully approved and indorsed by my learned friend, he has found it impossible to maintain an erect position upon it, but has tumbled headlong into the slough of Black Republicanisn*. I beg him to listen, while I pursue this train of thought, touching his polit- ical tergiversations, still further. The following extracts are copied from the pro- ceedings of the abovenamed convention, as pub- lished in the Oxford Democrat, a newspapernow edited by the gentleman: " Hon. JoliM J. I'erry, of Oxford, and Dr. James M. Buz- rell, of Portland, addressed the convention. " On motion of Hon. John J. Perry,of Oxford, voted that the thanks of this convention be tendered to the Democracy of Portland, I'or the manner in which they have entertained the convention ; and the ofTiet^rs of the convention for the faithful manner in which they have discharged their du- tie«." Still further, I beg to call the attention of the House and of my consistent colleague, to another and subsequent convention, holden at South Paris on the 16th of August, 1853, of which conven- tion he was a prominent member. At that meet- ing the following resolution was unanimously adopted: " Resolved, That the Democracy of Oxford county con- gratulate the country on the election of Franklin Pierce to the Presidency; that the unparalleled majority by which that result w.as accomplished, atfords, both at home and abroad, a signal illustration of the deep seated and almost universal attachment of the people to Democratic princi- ples; that the policy of his Administration, as indicated in his inaugural addr(^ss,and as successfully carried out by his official acts thus far, meets our cordial approbation ; that while demagogties and factionists may denounce his patri- otic eflbrts to harmonize the Democracy of the Union, the people whose virtue and intelligence are above all price, will triumphantly cuitain hlin, and thereby cooperate suc- ceHHfully with a ruliT alter their own heart in iniiinlaining tlio public honor and promoting (he national prosperity." From the.se resoluiions, it is plain and clear as noonday, that my collen;;ue was, at the time' of their adoption, an ardent admirer of President Pearce, and particularly of the jirrsonnil of his Cabinet. There are sonle very si;;nifi(ant quota- tion.s in the first resolutions, to wit: "The sov- ercijjniy of the people," " Faith in the intelligence of the people," "Appeals to the virtue and ih- toUigcnce of the people. One holding these sen- timents, it would be supposed, coiild hardly be unwilling to leave to the pi.-ojih; of Kansas, as was left to the people of the thirty-one States, the question of forming their own doinestiir institu- tions in their own way, uninliueiiced by outside opinions, without undergoing a slii;hl change of ntind. Now, Mr. Speaker, I beg leave to ask, with all that respect for the member from Oxford, to which his position as member of the American Congress entitles him, whether you, sir, or any member on this floor, in view of the indisputjible facts which 1 have presented in my remarks, have ever known or read of, in the history of any nation, the conversion of a public functionary which was so sudden, so thorough, and so unac- countable as that of tlie honorable gentleman re- ferred to .' The allegation that the Democratic party is sec- tional and tlie Republican party national, made by the gentleman, taken in connection witli the fact that a portion of his own Rejjuldican constituents undertook to celebrate (I should say desecrate) the last anniveasary day of American independence, by hoisting a flag with only sixteen stars, emblem- atical of the free Stales alone, is only eqiialed by the coolness of the Spartan youth. The bpartans, to perfect their youth in the ar^ and strategy of war, taught them to steal, but punished detection with great severity. A youth had stolen a fox and concealed it under his cloak; the llieft was charged upon him, he denied it, though the fox was gnawing out his vitals at the' time. THE K.^VSAS aUESTION. The troubles now existing in Kansas ought not to be. They seriously threaten tlie safety of the Union. It is now no time to bandy epithets, as to who is responsible or who is chargeable for the difficulties existing at this moment in that Territory. The all-imiiortant question is, how can we best allay them? Whether it were wise or unwise to have repealed the Missouri restric- tion is no longer an open question; for good or for evil it was done. Eve^i if it were wrong or unwise to have repealed it, it furnishes no justi- fication, or apology even, for those who may be disposed to increase the evils which have followed , it. (Questions of higher moment are now in- I volved — the question of domestic peace or civil war. How does this question aflect the people of Maine, a frontier Stale, with property to the amount of fifty millions afloat, and exposed to all the hazards of foreign aggression.' Is it for her interest to have the prestige of a strong national Government, composed of tiiirty millions of peo- ple, to guaranty her security, or to be left at the mercy of every marauder, whose cupidity the ocean shall invite, with no other means of protcc- wSl ,2!. ""cwss 8 tion than sucli as a Government, about to break UD in anarchy, can furnish? _ "if the state of things now said to exist in Kan- gas be permitted to go on unrestrained, the very- atmosphere will become rarefied by the intense heat of excited passion, and prejudice, and the rush from the surrounding States will be in- creased, adding frrsH fuel to the flame already j jo-nited, until the whole country will be wrapt in the blaze of rcvoluiion. What can be done to avert this imnending danger? What has been attempted? The Senate have pa*scd a bill re- pealing the objectionable and obnoxious territo- rial laws, providing for taking a new census, for a new classification of the inhabitants into elec- tion districts, affording every reasonable guarantee for the enjoyment of the right of suflfrage, and for a free and unbiased expression of the popular will. In this measure of relief they have asked the concurrence of the House of Representatives. The House have refused that concurrence. The majority of the House are Republicans; it has the organization. Upon whom, then, rests the responsibility? Certainly, not upon the minor- ity, who voted in a body to suspend the rules to take up this identical bill, when the Republicans, to a man, voted against that suspension. Do the Republicans desire to have the Kansas troubles adjusted ? I unhesitatingly answer, I believe not, until after the presidential election shall have taken place. They have " tacked " to the Army bill a proviso which is wholly unprecedented m the history oflegislation, clearly unconstitutional, and one which they well knew the Senate would \ never agree to: evincing a determination to arrest the wheels of Government, unless they can coerce 1 the Senate and the President into the adoption of j their policy, against their convictions of duty. Thus Congress stands at a dead lock ! ' What is toJje the end of these things? The j Army disbanded— civil war rearing its horrid front— inflammatory zealots, running to and fro through the land, crying " no union with slave- holders," embittering the passions and exciting the prejudices of the people of one section against another. Can the result of such efforts, if per- sisted in, be doubtful in the mind of any one ? There is but one mode of escape, and that is, in the spirit of our fathers, to frown indignantly upon the efforts of all such agitators, and endeavor to quiet the public mind by inculcating measures of pacification. I am willing to concur in any mode of relief which shall give to the people of that Territory a fair and just opportunity of express- ing their wishes, unawed by threats or by inva- sion from any quarter; and, as they decide, I will abide by that decision, always provided they act within the limits of the Constitution. My own personal wishes are, that they should make Kan- sas a free State. Those wishes, however strong, I hold in subordination to the great principles of Bclf-government. I prefer, on many accounts, that the question, whether that Territory shall be a free or slave State, shall be decided by the actual settlers therein rather than by Congress. It is, after all, more a question of jurisdiction than of measures, which really divides political parties whether Congress or the people of the Terri- tory ''''''''''''''W///l///M//f|////MMM '^^'^^ ^^^^ the r 011 oa!-, !^'Wn^^^ ons. It better co.n,.,,^"^^ ^97 887 0^ .heory of our Government for them lo ^>^ _ ^^ was this principle which settled, the great controversy of 1S50. The case of California was a practical illustration of it. It worked well in that case; and why not, tried by the same principle, in this case? It must come to that after all. Suppose Congress were to admit Kansas as a State under her fi\mou3 Topeka constitution : the moment she was admitted, it would be clearly within her power to call a State convention and revise her constitution. All our institutions in this country have for their basis the jiopular wili; and it is illusory and vain lo suppose that any permanent advanllige can be obtained in eitlier event, if the people are determined to have slavery. Congress has now been in extra session over a week; time and again has the Army bill been voted upon and lost. The majority of the House adhere to the proviso attached to it. The Senat* strike it off. The Constitution divides the powers of the Government into three separate branches, the legislative, judicial, and executive. This legis- lative proviso usurps both judicial and executive powers. Congress may determine whether th« Army shall be greater or less, or none at all; but when created, the Constitution confers the power of commanding and locating it upon the Execu- utive. Congress may declare war, and provide and maintain an army. Could Congress attach to a supply bill the direction of its movements, or say what officer shall command the Army? That is a power which belongs exclusively to the Executive. And so with the judiciary, another distinct branch of the Government. To the civil bill, which contains the appropria- tions for the salaries of the judges, could thi House tack a proviso, that no salary should bs paid to a judge unless he decided that some par- ticular act onthe statute-*ook was null and void ? If the power of the House, as a coordinate branch of the law-making body, extends to the length of this proviso, it may control the action of the whole Government. The nature of the object to be ac- complished has no influence in determining the question of authority. The object sought to be obtained may be right or wrong in itself. That is immaterial. These laws in Kansas may be ever so odious and tyrannical, yet the House have no more power to "tack" a proviso to the Army bill, that the President shall not use the Army to enforce them through the judicial tribunals, than if they were ever so wise and just. It is solely a question of constitutional power. Who, then, is responsible for the defeat of the Army bill? Is it the party which has confined itself within its constitutional prerogative? or that party which has usurped the power and prerogative which the Constitution vested in the Chief Magistrate? There cannot be a doubt in the mind of an im- partial reader of that sacred instrument, as to where the responsibility rests. Itis the first time in the history of our Government that this inva- sion of the authority of the Executive has been attempted; and itis devoutly hoped that itmayb< the last. The country will judge between them Printed at the Office of the CongresBional Globe.