'^u. 
 
 /"-^. 
 
 ,^'\ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^s^/ 
 
 
 
 
 
 '-^^«' 
 
 A*"^ 
 
 ** ^ 
 
 
 •30 
 
 
 J""^^ 
 
 -V ^ 
 
 
'O' 
 
 
 '^0' 
 ■8*°- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <^°^ 
 
 "o 
 
 
 0^ 
 
 % ^^ ♦t^ 
 
 ^p-^^^ 
 
 oK 
 
 f»* .0^ 
 
 ^^-^^^ , 
 
 
 ^^\<^ 
 
 
 >^ ..v'-- "<e< 
 
 • ^v 
 
 ^^o't 
 
 5^"< 
 
 »■ •, 
 
 '4* 
 
 
 ^-^o^*" 
 
 **'\ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 rr»' A 
 
 
 ^'4'^ ..^'•- '^ 
 
 
 
 
 O- 
 
 .^^ 
 
 
 •^fRS^Ni*,*- O 
 
 XO. 
 

 -^.::'^i 
 
 ADDRESS TO THE PEdPLlB 
 
 UV THE 
 
 DEMOOR-A.OY of A\^ISCOISrSIN 
 
 / ADOPTED IN STATE COXVEXTIO\ AT MILWAUKEE, Sept. 3d, 1SG2. 
 
 We address you In a time of great trial and 
 oiilaraity. We address you in a time of na- 
 tional suflering and sorrow. We address you 
 in a crisis of tearful peril to the Union and to 
 iho free instiuitions established by our fathers 
 in the several st;i,tes. We do so with a 
 Hulemn sense of tlie responsibilities resting 
 tipon us in commou with the whole Americaa 
 people. We do so with tlic single design of 
 contributing all our aid to the preservation of 
 tlie Union, the constitution, and the liberties 
 of the states. And we propose to do so, ac- 
 cording to our lights, fearlessly and openly, let 
 whatever new power frown upon the ancient 
 American birthright of freedom of speech. 
 
 Uur state constitution, asserting the invi- 
 olable right of liberty of political discussion, 
 adopts an American maxim as old as Ameri - 
 can independence, when it declares that '"the 
 blessings of a free government can only be 
 maintained by frequent recurrence to funda- 
 mental principles.-^ And whosoever, in 
 whatsoever position, asserts that there has 
 come a time in American history, when free- 
 dom of speec!i should be suppressed, when 
 the safeguard of political opposition should 
 be abandoned, and the voice of all parties, ex- 
 cept one, should be silenced, when the admin- 
 istration of the government should pass un- 
 censured and unquestioned, when loyalty to 
 the institutions of our country should give 
 way to passive submission to our rulers, 
 has little sympathy with the spirit of the 
 liberty v/on by '.he valor of our fathers, or of 
 the free institutions established by their wis- 
 dom. In a free country, the freedom of the 
 people abides in peace ard war, in domestic 
 tranquility and civil discord. The constitu- 
 tion of the United States and the constitutions 
 of the several states, provide alike for all the 
 exigencies of peace at home and abroad, of 
 foreign war and of domestic insurrection. — 
 The constitution of the United States and the 
 laws enacted in pursuance of it, are the su- 
 preme law of the land in all conditions of the 
 country. The constitution is inviolate in all 
 circumstances oJ the peopie and the govern- 
 ment. State necessity has no power to sus- 
 pend the constitution or abridge the freedom 
 of the people. State necessity, as an excuse 
 for invading popular liberty, has been in all 
 history the tyrant's plea. When popular lib- 
 erty succumbs to the cry ot state necessity, 
 the land has already ceased to be free. 
 
 Loyalty, in America, is the franchise of no 
 office or officer. American loyalty is due to 
 the Constitution alone. Fidelity to the Con- 
 stitution is loyalty to the Union. There is no 
 Union outside the Constitution. The Consti- 
 tution is the Union. And whatever man, of- 
 ficer or party, assumes to be true to the Union 
 and not to the Constitution as our forefather.s 
 made it and our fathers enjoyed it, is disloyal 
 
 to both. Blind submission to the Admini.'<- 
 tration of the government, is not devotion to 
 the country or the Constitution. The Ad- 
 ministration is not the government. The 
 government is established by the Constitution 
 and rests in its provisions. The Adminis- 
 tration is as subject to the Constitution and a.^ 
 responsible for its observance, as the people. 
 The Administration may err, but the Consti- 
 tution does not change. And when the Ad- 
 ministration violates the Constitution, loyalty 
 to the Administration may become disloyalty 
 to the Union. Devotion to the Constitution !■< 
 the only Araericm loyalty. 
 
 In times ©f peace and prosperity, there is 
 little danger of the loyaltj' of the people for - 
 saking the constitution, fur the principles of a 
 pnrfy or the policy of an Administration, 
 iiut in days of civil discord and convulsion, 
 there is danger of patriotism being blindfold- 
 ed, mistakiugthe object of its faith, and trans- 
 ferring to the servant of the altar the devo . 
 tion due only to the altar itself. And in 
 such days it is the duty of all parties to con- 
 sider well their position, and to determine 
 how far their loyalty to the constitution is 
 consistent with their support of the Adminis- 
 tration of the government. 
 
 Almost as old as the Union, founded in the 
 broart principles of the constitution, identified 
 with all the prosperous history of the United 
 States, the Democratic party has no new 
 principles to enunciate, no new loyalty to 
 pledge. It has always been, as it is, the par- 
 ty- of the constitution. In all its career, tlie 
 constitution has been its only creed, the altar 
 of the country its only place of worship. It 
 is human, and has erred. It has been de- 
 jjressod by defeat and elated by success, and 
 has at times mistaken the true path of duty, 
 iiut it has never lost sight of the constitution 
 or wandered far from its ways. Its history 
 chronicles a devotion to tho constitution, and 
 a sympathy with the spirit of the people, a.s 
 just and steadfast as human devotion and 
 sympathy can attain. If not always right, it 
 has not been often or long wrong. Human 
 history can say no more for any party, in any 
 age or country. The Democratic party 
 needs to-day no platform but its history. 
 But in this unprecedented and terrible crisis, 
 it becomes us to consider the application of 
 old principles to new conditions. 
 
 The democratic party has outlived many an-* 
 tagonists. The Federal party, tho National 
 llepublican party, the W hig party, have suc- 
 cessively struggled with it with varied suc- 
 cess ; but have successively disappeared from 
 history. This was not accidental. The dem- 
 ocratic party was as subject to accident as it.s 
 rivals. It has been frequently defeated. But 
 it has survived all its defeats, while its an- 
 cient enemies have not survived occafioual 
 
 /-— • 
 
 /m 
 
suucfss. The reason is iipparont. It was 
 founded on the true principles of our govern- 
 ment, and guided by true sympathy with the 
 spirit of American institu;ions. Thcij rested 
 iu a narrower coniprehensiou of the genius of 
 the American jieople and in mistaken views of 
 the principles of the Constitution. They died 
 tlie death of error: it lives the life of truth. 
 
 The hi.story uf the country is the history of 
 the democratic party. With occasional inter- 
 missions, it has administered tlie national gov 
 ernmi'iit and guided the march of American 
 history. Under its intiuence, the true spirit of 
 the (/'onstitucion displaced the narro.v and 
 un-Americau compreliension of our system of 
 iiovernment v.'hich originally prevailed and 
 gave tone to the Administration of the elder 
 /Vdams. Under its intiuence, the commercial 
 .anil economical interests of the country were 
 t'lnaucipated from the hot house system of tar- 
 ill's and currency, which bound American en^- 
 rrgy and skill in the ith.ains of European the- 
 ory. Under its leailershij), the American 
 flag was carried in glory through war, and 
 sent in peace floating in security ever all the 
 seas of commerce Under its leadership the 
 area of the country was almost doubled, and 
 new fields of enterprise were populated by 
 prosperous American communities. Under the 
 guidance ot no other party was any great 
 stride made in civil or commercial prosperity, 
 was a war ever waged with a foreign enemy, 
 was an acre of territory ever added to our vast 
 domain. The democratic party led the country 
 from its feeble and poor condition at the begin- 
 ning of the present century, to the great and 
 glorious empire of freedom, the unpar;illeled 
 political and material prosperity, in which it 
 met with its last defeat in the presidential 
 election of ISGO 
 
 8uch defeats of the great party of the coun- 
 try never before carried with them permanent 
 evil to the nation. The old opponents of the 
 democracy took the administration of the gov- 
 ernment upon its defeat, and surrendered it 
 again upon its success, tlie Constitution and 
 the Union remaining unimpaired. The an- 
 cient antagonists of the democracy, whatever 
 their sins of doctrine or action, were national 
 fiarties, resting upon no sectional policy, rep- 
 resenting no sectional constituency. ^Vhen 
 in power, they auminisiered the government 
 upon the policy of a rnnjority of the whole 
 country. When in opposition, they spoke for 
 a minority of the whole country. They were 
 loyal, because they were national. The Union 
 was Bafe, because they were loyal. Their 
 success was harmless to the constitution, be- 
 CHUMO it was the defeat of a constitutional 
 party, and not of the spirit of the constitu- 
 tion itself. 
 
 The defeat of the Democratic Party in 18G0 
 has been followed by t.ho revolt of several of 
 the tit lies from the Union and by the present 
 terrible civil war, because it was defeated by 
 .n sectional puny. Wu reprobate that revolt, 
 us unneces^.l^y unjustifiable, unholy. Devo- 
 ted to the (Jonsiitution, we invoke the ven- 
 geance of G id upon .ill who raisi; their sacri- 
 legious hands agiiinst it, whether wearing the 
 
 I • ^ ! 
 
 I 
 
 soft glove .<! of peace or the bloody gauntlet* 
 of war. But we afiUrm that the revolt and 
 consequent civil war were a long foretold and 
 probable result of the accession to power of a 
 sectional party, because their success was 
 the defeat of the spirit of the Constitution. 
 
 In so vast a union of states, of such differ- 
 ing interests, habits and institutions, the dan. 
 ger of sectional parties to the peace and jier- 
 manence of the Union, was early foreseen by 
 the fathers of the Constitution. The Father 
 of his Country, himself, gave voice to these 
 apprehensions in his farewell address in 1796. 
 He passed a eulogium upon the Union, which 
 no tongue or pen has since improved. He 
 urged "the unity of the government which con' 
 stitutes us one people." He impres,sed upon 
 the nation, that it was "a main pillar in the 
 edifice of our real independence; the support 
 of our tranquility at home; of our power 
 abroad, of our safety, of our prosperity, of 
 the very liberty ivhich we so highly prize." 
 In a spirit of prophecy, he cautioned the peo- 
 ple and their posterity against the dangers it 
 might encounter, and with his parting words 
 invoked them "indignantly to frown upon the 
 first dawning of every attempt to alienate any 
 portion of our country from the rest, or to en- 
 feeble the sacred ties which now linked to- 
 gether the various parts."" lie enlarged upon 
 the mutual dependence of the various parts of 
 the country, north and south, east and west- 
 he warned us against parties founded on '"geo- 
 graphical discriminations, whence designing 
 men might endeavor to excite a belief that 
 there is a real diiference of local interests 
 and views." He foretold that "one of the ox- 
 pedients of party to acquire influence within 
 particular districts, is to misrepresent the 
 opinions and aims of other districts." He 
 forewarned us that "we could not shield our- 
 selves too much against the jealousies ami 
 heart-burnings which would spring from 
 these misrepresentations, which tend to ren- 
 der aliens to each other, those who ought to 
 be bound together by fraternal affection." 
 Fearful prophecy, fearfully fulfilled ! How 
 the great spirit of the illustrious Washington 
 would have mourned, had he been able to for- 
 see the full and terrible measure of the dan- 
 ger he foretold, the insane and terrible disre- 
 gard of his holy advice which has acconi'- 
 plished it. 
 
 There was no reason why the several States 
 of the Union should not hiive abided together 
 in harmony, for all time. Their domestic in- 
 stitutions, their social condition and their 
 habits of life, differed indeed from the begin- 
 ning. And, in the language of General 
 Jackson "this difference was unavoidably in- 
 creased by the varying principles upon which 
 the American colonies were originally plant- 
 ed ;_ principles which had taken deep root in 
 their social relations before the revolution, 
 and therefore, of necessity, influencing their 
 policy since they became free and indepen- 
 dent .States." The progress of all the states 
 was great, but frequently in different direc- 
 tions. But the Constitution left to the several 
 states the exclusive control of their domestic 
 
concerns; and hail tho spirit of the <'oDst,itii- 
 tion prcvailcfl, (liflV^rnncos of domestic institu- 
 tions would never liavc disturbed tho }ieace- 
 I'ul relationy of the states in tho Union 
 The slavery of the African race formed from 
 the boginninc; the n-.ost important and dan- 
 gerous of these difl'erences. The Constitution 
 was a compact of compromises, and in no 
 instance more wisely or generously so, than 
 in relation to the institution of slavery. And 
 iiad the several states of the Union abided in 
 their politics by that necessary and magnan- 
 imous spirit of compromise, the Union would 
 now be undisturbei), and ancient harmony 
 and prosperity -would reign where civil war 
 now roges. 
 
 Fanaticism is the bane of harmony. It has 
 disturbed many states and overturned many 
 governments It is one of the most difScult 
 social evils to deal with. It is a growth of 
 prosperity, and yet gains strength under per- 
 secution. It often appeals to the most gener- 
 ous prrjudices of humanity; it often wears 
 tlie garb of religion and morality; it Las won- 
 ilerful powers of prosclytisra; it has great 
 capacities to mnko wrong look like right, and 
 to deck errors in tho robes of truth. It is 
 a terrible apostle of evil. Discord follow.'* 
 its lead, and revolution too often is the end of 
 its career. 
 
 Unfortunately, among many elements of 
 good and greatness, fanaticism emigrated to 
 this country. From time to time, it has 
 1 layed its part in marring the record of civil 
 and religious liberty in American History, 
 it has, from time to time, sent forth various 
 heretical dogmas of politics. It has asserted 
 a higher law, above the Constitution itself. It 
 has in recent memorable words, sought 
 to do in the name of God what could 
 not be done in the name of tho Constitution. 
 
 It. finally found employment fatal to the 
 j'CMceofthe country in political abolition. 
 The north had riil itself of the incubus of 
 slavery. The north was as responsible for 
 slavery in the south, as the south itself is. 
 But fanaticism became offended with southern 
 slavery ; and overlooking homo evils and 
 homo reforms, it devoted itself to the discus- 
 .sion of the evils of African slavery, clamoring 
 against its criminality and urging its aboli- 
 tion. It disregarded the Constitution and de- 
 nounced its guarantees of the rights of slavery 
 as a compact of sin and shame. Manj' of its 
 teachers openly advocated disunion; ai|d 
 many more proclaimed an irrepressible con- 
 flict between the domestic systems of the 
 north and tho south, arguing that the states 
 of the Union must become all free or all slave. 
 
 These dangerous and revolutionary doc- 
 trines have always been combatted by the 
 democratic party. The democracy has no 
 apology to make for southern slavery. We 
 regard it as a great social evil. But we regard 
 it as a misfortune, not a crime. The crime is 
 in the presence of the African race upon the 
 continent. That is a crime of the past, noc of 
 the present. And even in the past, it was less 
 the crime of the south, than of those who 
 grew rich in tho slave trade, and who now 
 
 clamor for the abolition of slavery which tlicy 
 themselves planted. We hold this country to 
 be the possession of the white race, and this 
 government to be instituted by white men for 
 white men. We commisserafe iho condition of 
 tho slave; but wc are unwilling to violate the 
 constitution in his behalf, or to disturb society 
 by •emancipating four millions of an inferior 
 race in a land possessed by a superior race. 
 It is the sinof history that the African r.ace is 
 here; once here in great numbers, the proper 
 condition of the African was subjection in 
 some form to the White. Equality was im- 
 possible. Nature has made social equality 
 impossilile without fatally sinning against her 
 laws, and without social equality political 
 equality is impossible Nature never placed 
 the races together; when hroujht t. ik the' , 
 the servitude of the inffruM- i-< th'- ^'esr iv,ridi- 
 tion for both r-iccs; a necessary ev'.; resuUing 
 from the violation of natural law in bringing 
 them together. 
 
 But fanaticism did not so sec it. Fanati- 
 cism at the north, unembarrassed by the pre- 
 sence of slavery, did not see slavery as a ne- 
 cessary evil, but only as an abstract wrong. 
 It could make no allowance for the condition 
 of the south, and had no toleration for the 
 compromises of the constitution or the safe- 
 g'aards which it extended to the institutions of 
 the south. 
 
 For a long time the abolition party was a 
 weak political minority; but it was from the 
 beginning an energetic and dangerous apostle 
 of unconstitutional doctrines and of sectional 
 jealousies and distrusts. 
 
 As long ago as 1837, the warrior states- 
 man. Andrew Jackson, in his farewell ad- 
 dress, warned us against it. He quoted the 
 warnings of Washin tion; and SHid: "The 
 lessons contained in this invaluabii; legficy of 
 Washington to his countrymen, should be 
 cherished in the heart of every citizen to tho 
 latest generation, and perhaps at no period 
 of time could they be more usefully remember- 
 ed than at the present moment. For when wo 
 look upon the scenes which are passing 
 around us, and dwell upon the pages of his 
 parting address, his paternal counsels would 
 seem to be not merely the offspring of wisdom 
 and foresight, but the voice of prophecy, fore- 
 telling events, and warning us of the evil lo 
 come. * * * * * *" The federal con- 
 stitution was then regarded by him as an ex- 
 periment. ****** The trial 
 has been made. It has succeeded beyond the 
 proudest hopes of those who framed it. 
 Every quarter of this widely extended nation 
 has felt its blessings and shared in the gen- 
 eral prosperity produced by its adoption. — 
 But amid this general prosperity and splendid 
 success, the dangers of which he warned 
 us, are becoming every day more evident, and 
 the signs of evil are sufficiently .ipriarent to 
 awaken the deepest anxiety in the bosom of 
 the patriot. We behold systematic efforts 
 publicly made to sow the seeds of discord 
 between different parts of the United States, 
 and to place party divisions directly upon 
 geographical distinctions; to excite the south 
 
ugiiinst tlji- north aud the norlJi against the 
 y.oHlh, ami to force into the eontrovorsy the 
 most flolioatc and oxcitcd topict«, upoiv wliicli 
 ir. is impossible that a large portion of llic 
 Union can ever speak ■without strong emo- 
 tions. Appeals too are constantly made 
 to sectional interests, ""' * * * * * 
 and the possible dissolution of the Union has 
 at length become an ordinary and familiar 
 subject of discussion. 
 
 "Has the warning voice of Washington been 
 forgotten, or have designs already been form- 
 ed to pcver the nation ? * *■' * "■* ■■■■ •-• 
 Mutual suspicions and reproaches may in time 
 create mutual hostility; and artful and de- 
 signing men -will always be found, who are 
 ready to foment these ftital divisions and to 
 inl-lame the natural jealousies of different sec- 
 tions of the country. ■* * * ^'^ * ■"■ ■■■ 
 Delude not yourselves into the belief that a 
 l)reach once made may be afterwards repair- 
 ed. If the Union is once severed, the line of 
 separation will gi-ow wider and wider, and the 
 controversies which are now debated and set- 
 tled in the halls of legislation, will be tried 
 in fields of battle and determined by the 
 sword. '"' ^ "^' ■"' "■ The Constitution 
 cannot be maintained nor the Union preserv- 
 ed, in opposition to public feeling, by the 
 mere exertion of the coercive powers confided 
 to the general government. The foundations 
 must be laid in the affections of the people; 
 in the security it gives to life, liberty, charac- 
 ter and property in every quarter of the 
 country; and in the fraternal attachment 
 which the citizens of the several states bear 
 to one another, as members of one political 
 family mutually contributing to promote the 
 Iiajipiness of each other. Hence the citizens 
 of every state should studiously avoid every- 
 tliing calculated to wound the sensibility or 
 oll'end the just pride of the people of other 
 states; and they should frown upon any pro- 
 ceedings within their own borders likely to 
 disturb the tranquility of their political breth- 
 ren in other portions of the Union. "•'■ "■'' -'' 
 Each state has tlie unquestionable right to 
 regulate its own internal concerns, according 
 to its own pleasure. ''• "■•" •■■ ■•" ■•■' And 
 all ef'orts on the part of the people of other 
 states to cast odium on their institutions, and 
 all measures calculated to disturb their rights 
 of property or to put in jeopardy their peace 
 and internal tranquility, are in direct opposi- 
 tion to the spirit in which the Union was 
 Ibunded and must endanger its safety. Mo- 
 tives of philanthropy may be assigned for this 
 unwarrantable interference,, and weak tacn 
 may persuade themselves for a moment, that 
 they arc laboring in the cause of humanit\' 
 and asserting the rights of the human race; 
 but every one upon sober refiection will see 
 that nothing but mischief can come from 
 these improper assaults upon the feelings and 
 rights of others. Rest assured that the men 
 found busy in this work of discord, arc not 
 worthy of your confidence, aud deserve j'our 
 strongest reprobation." 
 
 So spoke one of the greatest aud wisest 
 patriots of American history. Counsels so 
 
 sacred and warnings so solemn, were disre- 
 garded by the abolitionists: and the abolition 
 party continued to teach its treasonable doc- 
 trines and to preach its crusade against the 
 south and its institutions. 
 
 The results so wisely foretold, necessarily 
 followed. The denunciation of the south at the 
 north, was met by denunciation of the north 
 at the south. Hostility in the north to the 
 institutions of the south provoked hostility in 
 the south to the people of the north The great 
 mass of the people of the south were loyal to 
 the union; but a class of public men iu the 
 south had for some time been tainted with 
 disloyalty, and aimed to separate the southern 
 states from the Union, whenever an oppor- 
 tunity should arise to carry the people of the 
 south with them. These men zealously con- 
 tributed to foment the abolition excitement at 
 the north, and exaggerated its power and 
 importance at the south. Thus faction begot 
 faction; and the abolition part}' at the north 
 produced the disunion party at the south. 
 Tiie spirit of northern abolition and of south- 
 ern disunion insensibly grew together for 
 years, until the period of the last presidential 
 election, when a bitter animosity existed be- 
 tween large and powerful factions in the 
 north and in the south. 
 
 In tlie meantime, in 1S54 — fi. t'.c whig 
 party most unhappily abandoned its organiza 
 tions, and the present republican party was 
 founded on the basis of the old abolition jiarty. 
 The best and most enlightened patriots of tlic 
 whigs refused all alliance with the new sec- 
 tional party; but the vast body of the whigy. 
 surrendered their national politics to its nar- 
 row and sectional bigotry. The great leaders 
 of the whig partj' were gone. The mighty 
 voice of Webster, which always spoke for the 
 whole country and never uttereil a sectional 
 dogma, was silent forever. The great head 
 and heart of Clay, whose statesmanship had 
 served to save the Union from more than one 
 peril and was as broad as the Union itself, 
 lay low in death. Had these great lights of 
 the whig party survived, we fully believe that 
 they would have savcil their party from the 
 shame of prostituting itself in the unholy em- 
 braces of a sectional and revolutionary or- 
 ganization. r>ut they were gone; pigmies sat 
 in the seats of giants; the whig party went 
 out of being, and the republican party was 
 ingrafted on the abolition party. 
 
 It is true that the Republican party avows 
 its abolition tendencies loss manfully than 
 the oM abolition party. They assume to in- 
 terfere with slavery in the territories and 
 other places subject to the jurisdiction of the 
 United States, only, and not in the states. 
 'J his thin disguise of their real policy, is 
 fully exposed by the uniform tone of their 
 discussions of slavery, by their resistance of 
 the fugitive slave law, by their avowal of an 
 irrepressible conflict between the institutions 
 of the north and the south, and by the whole 
 tenor of their legislation wherever and when 
 ever they have been in power. That a large 
 and respectable body of the party have no 
 Bympathy with its abolition proclivities, is 
 
i jiurliaps true; but there is no room for (loul)t 
 
 I that the iibolitiou clement in that party ig its 
 i* largest, most energetic, and influential ele- 
 ment. 
 ^ With the strength and influence of the Ho - 
 
 ; jmblican party, grew the strength and in- 
 fluence of the party of secession. 15oth were 
 sectional; both were revolutionary. 
 
 ' It would be idle to show the revolutionary 
 
 character of the secession i>arty. Its rcvo- 
 hitifuiary purposes were avowed. The Re- 
 publican party was no less revolutionary, 
 tlioughits revolutionary tendencies were lets 
 manifest. 
 
 It is evident, fi-oni what has already been 
 seen, that AVashington and Jackson, fit repre- 
 sentatives of the sages and patriots of the re- 
 volutionary and succeeding eras, regarded 
 sectional parties as revolutionary. Under 
 our system they are essentially so; for no 
 sectional party could accomplish any end, 
 except by the scvcrencc of tlie bonds of fra- 
 ternity and unity between the dillcrent parts 
 of the country upon which the Union rests. 
 It is not wc who say, it is the sagos and pat- 
 riots of the past who have said, that in Amer- 
 ican politics every sectional party is essen- 
 tially disloyal to the Union. 
 
 In almost every state of the Union, in which 
 the republican party had the power, they en- 
 acted laws impeding the execution of laws of 
 the United States. Such laws wia-e passed 
 by them in this state. A republican judi- 
 iiary in this state nullified acts of Congress, 
 assumed to overrule the decisions of the Su- 
 premo Court of the United States in cases 
 arising under the constitution and laws of the 
 Union, disobeyed its mandates, and sanction- 
 ed by judicial decision the forcible rescue of 
 )>risoncrs held under the judicial process of 
 the United States. l»ut not content with this 
 measure of disloj^alty, the republican legisla- 
 ture of this state passed in 18.j9, and has ever 
 since refiiscd to rescind, resolutions setting at 
 defiance the authority of the United States, 
 and assorting the doctrine of secession as 
 broadly as it has ever been nsserted by any 
 southern state. This is well understood at 
 home, by democrats and republicans: but to 
 avoid the suspicion of exaggeration abroail. 
 we here insert two of these resolutions in 
 full : 
 
 Jleaolvcd, "That the government formed by 
 the constitution of the United States was not 
 made the exclusive or final judge of the extent 
 of the powers delegated to itself: but that, as 
 in all other cases of compact having no common 
 judge, each party has an equal right to jiulge 
 for itself, as well of infractions as of the vioile 
 and meoKure of reduess. 
 
 '''Resolved, that the principle and construe^ 
 tion contended for by the party which now 
 rules in tlie councils of the nation, that the 
 general government is the exclusive judge of 
 the extent of the powers delegated to it. stop 
 nothing short of despotism, since the discre- 
 tion of those who administer the government, 
 and not the Constitution, would be the meas- 
 ure of their powers; that the several states 
 which formed that instrument, being sovereign 
 and independent, have the unquestionable 
 
 right to judge of its infraction; nml that a 
 2>ositivc dcfitnicc oi ihoao sovereignties, of all 
 unauthorized acts done or attempted to be 
 done under color of that instrument, is the 
 
 ItirUITFUL RKMKUY." 
 
 These resolutions had relation, not to the 
 acts of tho executive of the United States or 
 even of Congress, but to a solemn decision of 
 the Supreme Court of the United States 
 upon the Constitution and laws of the United 
 States. This is the doctrine caucht from se- 
 (•oiling South Carolina by llcpublican Wis 
 cousin, and repeated by the Republican I'arly 
 of Wisconsin, in full communion with the Re- 
 ptiblican party of the north, to justify seces- 
 sion in every disloyal state in the south. 
 
 Thus the Republican Party, as well as tlio 
 secession party, was revolutionary. And 
 these two revolutionary parties grew in num- 
 bers and influence down to the presidential 
 election of 18G0, when the Democratic Tarty 
 was defeated by the sectional influences of 
 both. 
 
 The sectional party of the south succoedeil in 
 intruding some members into the Democratic 
 Convention; and when defeated there, by the 
 steadfast loyalty of the true Democracy, put 
 in nomination a renegade from his party and 
 his country The sectional party of tho 
 north put in nomination a distinguished 
 gentleman, the author of the doctrine that 
 the several states must ultimately become 
 all slave or all free. 
 
 The democratic party nominated as their 
 candidate, a statesman now no more, of great 
 experience and ability in public affairs, of 
 great energy and integrity of character and 
 life, the author of the only just and practical 
 solution of the question of slavery in the ter- 
 ritories, whose whole public life was devoted 
 to the maintenance of the Constitution as it is, 
 and of the Union as it was: and whose zeal 
 for tho preservation of the country sacrificed 
 his life in its prime. 
 
 Tiie history of the convention which nomi- 
 nated ^Ir. ])ouglas. plainly shows that (he 
 cliampions of secession had no hope to carry 
 the people of the south with them save by de- 
 feating the candidate of the democratic partyi 
 The whole tone and temper of the republican 
 leaders and press at the north, before and 
 during the session of the convention, plainly 
 shows that they had no hope of electing their 
 candidate, save l:y diverting the vote of the 
 south from the democratic candidate to 
 the secession candidate. Thus the ac- 
 tion of the two sectional parties tended 
 to the same result of the presidential election. 
 Had Mr. Douglas been elected, secession 
 could not have prevailed at the south, and the 
 several aims of both sectional parties woubl 
 have been alike defeated. 
 
 The result was the defeat of Mr. Douglas 
 ami the election of the Republican candidate. 
 We have no personal objection to the distin- 
 guished gentleman who now sits in the seat of 
 Washington. His election was perhaps less 
 mischievous than that of any other prominent 
 Republican. The evil of his election belongs 
 to his party, not himself. The good he has 
 done is in' a great degree personal to him. 
 
(3 
 
 Republicau as ho is, lio has not forgotten his 
 old national patriotism. If he has notalwaj's, 
 he has often, resisted the abolition clement in 
 his party and stemmed the tide of its revolu- 
 tionary course. In this, he has done the 
 country immeasurable service; and we ho]ic 
 that he will continue to stand as a barrier as 
 well aj^ainst the most destructive faction of his 
 own party, as acjainst the nrmed enemy of the 
 Union flio rospoiixiljilitios of his ])o.<fiti(jn 
 arc such as viiqlit, awe an}' iipin; :ind in all his 
 efforts to sustain the Constitution against rev- 
 olution and innovation, lie lias our liearty sym- 
 pathy and support. 
 
 The election was the, signal for the movc~ 
 mcnt of secession. It was no excuse for the 
 guilt of disunion. The insincerity and bad 
 faith of the leaders in the movement is demon- 
 strated by the fact that in both Houses of Con 
 press there was a safe mnjority against the 
 Republican party. But the truth is that the 
 apostles of secession were traitors at heart, in- 
 dependent of the election; and that they want- 
 ed and used the election only .as a lever to 
 precipitate the south from its allegiance. They 
 duped the south into the belief that the entire 
 people of the north were infected with tlic 
 leprosy of abolition. 
 
 As it was, wc fully believe that the tnnjoritj' 
 of the whole southern people stood loyal lo the 
 Union, and that in no seceding state, except 
 South Carolina, was the ordinance of secession 
 fairly carried before the people. 
 
 The election of Mr. Lincoln, though effected 
 by a minority of votes, was cii'ried in all the 
 forms of the Constitution, was obligatory upon 
 all the states and the people thereof, was no 
 palliation for the unhallowed act of secession. 
 was no ground for the risks, sufferings, hor- 
 rors, and ruin of the most shameless and detes 
 table civil war known in the history o'' civiliz- 
 ed man. 
 
 The standard of revolt was raised, and civil 
 war began. Whatever may have been tlie 
 relative guilt of the two sectional parties in 
 the causes which prepared the sjuth for rev^ 
 olution, the sole guilt in the war itself rests 
 with the southern party of secession. 
 
 Congress has declared the war is w.iged by 
 the government of the United States, not in the 
 spirit of conquest or subjugation, nor for the 
 purpose of overthrowing or interfering with 
 the rights or institutions of the states, ]>in to 
 defend and maintain the supremacy of the 
 Constitution, and to preserve the Union with 
 all the dignity, equality and rights of the sevr. 
 cral states unimpaired; and that as soon as 
 these objects are accomplished, the war ought 
 to cease. Thus carried on, the war is not 
 only expedient, but necessary; not only justi- 
 fiable, but holy. It is a defensive war. It is 
 a war of self preservation. Disunion, once 
 Bucccssful, would be a recurring evil: and in- 
 stead of leaving a northern Union and a south- 
 ern Confederacy, would continue its destruc- 
 tive career until all of the states would be 
 broken and dissevered, until the whole coun- 
 try would be distracted by petty sovereignties 
 and wasted by petty warfare. We cannot 
 calmly contemplate disunion. Wc know and 
 
 love the blessings of Union, but no human eyf 
 can penetrate the dark and terrible future! 
 which lies beyond the grave of the Constitu"| 
 tion. The war for the prcsei-vation of the] 
 Constitution has all our sympathies, all our 
 hopes, and all our energies. 
 
 But we have a right to demand, it is our 
 duty to demand, and wc do demand, that thi.'? 
 war be carried on by the government for the 
 constitution alone, and mnfrr the cod'-Mifution 
 alnn". To that end, aniongst others, we ri; - 
 tain our political organization, and will use 
 our best efforts from time to time and at all 
 times, to regain for the democratic party, un- 
 der the forms and sanctions of the constitution, 
 the control of the legislative and executive 
 departments of the government of the United 
 St.'ites. 
 
 In the meantime, the war must be carried 
 on i\nd sustained with all the energies of the 
 United States, and the people thereof. No 
 blood or treasure is too dear a price to rc-pur- 
 chnse the Union inherited from our father;; 
 and to transmit it unimpaired to our children 
 
 It is not our province to relate the history 
 of the war, or to criticise its movements. 
 Many hundreds of thousands of our loyal 
 brcthern have patriotically gone forth to battle 
 for the Union. All have done nobly, all have 
 suffered nobly, many have died nobly. The 
 angel of death has made bloody vacancies in 
 many a northern home. Few have escaped 
 without the loss of some near or dear friend- 
 American liberty has been re baptized in loyal 
 blood; and hundreds of thousands of loyal 
 men are now in the field, or hastening thither, 
 to conquer or die for the constitution. Vv'e 
 owe it to the memory of the dead, we owe it to 
 the living liosts in tlie field, we owe it above 
 all to the constitution, to respond v.'ith cheer- 
 ful alacrity to every constituiional call for 
 men, to submit to vvcry constitutional exac- 
 tion of treasure. We owe all that we have, 
 and all that we arc, to the Union; we must 
 pay the whole debt if it be necessary. 
 
 But w;ir is not ctir whole duty. We owe a 
 jiolitical debt to the constitution, and tha'-, too 
 must be paid, We adopt the language of 
 Gen. Jackson that war alone cannot preserve 
 the constitution against disunion. War can, 
 and we hope speedily will, subdue the armies 
 of the revolted states. War can, and we hope 
 speedily will disarm every traitor, posses-* 
 every place ofstrength, and uphold the grand 
 old flag on every flag staff in the United 
 States. But when war shall have accom- 
 plished all that war can do, the Union will 
 not bo fully restored. The participation of 
 the revolted states in the government of the 
 Union must of necessity be voluntary. Wai 
 has no power to compel such voluntary ac- 
 tion. The pence and permanaucy of the re-, 
 stored Union will depend, in a great measure, 
 in the confidence of the people of the recov- 
 ered states, in the justice of the general 
 government, and in the faithful observance vt' 
 their constitutional rights. War has no pow 
 cr to inspire this confidence. The stability 
 of the Union then, as in times past, will nee 1 
 the mutual good will and affection ofthepeo- 
 
pie oC tln^ several states. War has no power 
 to control the atFections. The people of the 
 flouth will return to the Union, when thej do 
 return, wounded in their pride and embitter- 
 ed in their feeling. When they return, 
 they will return as brethren, and merit the 
 treatment of brethren. The law may demand 
 its victims, but those guiltless of the war, and 
 those forgiven by the law, will again be our 
 political brothers. The restoretl .states 
 will return to the Union with all the rights of 
 other states. To win back the confidence 
 aud affection of their people, and to restorer 
 tlie Union in the spirit ofthe constitution, the 
 sectional party at the north must be vigor- 
 ously combatted, and in due time overthrown 
 at the ballot box by the Democratic party, 
 the only national, constitutional party left in 
 the land. Jf the Democratic party should be 
 disbanded, or should suffer itself to remain in- 
 active, tlie south would retain its old distrust 
 ofthe llepublican party, and its old aversion 
 to the general government administered by it. 
 It would then believe that the whole north 
 was indeed given up to abolition, aud that the 
 weaker south would receive no justice from 
 the stronger north. But if the south sees the 
 llepublican party defeated, and the ancient 
 defender of its rights against sectional in- 
 fluences once more in power in the Union, or 
 even bold in maintaining its old political war- 
 fare against sectional parties and influences, 
 then may the people of the south, misled 
 from their allegiance by the detestable in- 
 trigues of ambitious demagogues, w^ell hope 
 to find once more in the Union old right^ old 
 blessings, old safety. Disunion is the ofl- 
 spring of sectional parties, and the complete 
 restoration of the Union, in all its old peace 
 aud harmony, rests upon the utter rout, 
 north and south, of all sectional parties. The 
 spirit of the constitution must go hand in 
 lianJ with the letter of the constitution. 
 
 It is no less essential to the people ofthe 
 loyal slates to establish the full reign of the 
 spirit of the constitution; to restore as the 
 supreme law of the land, in peace and war, 
 in prosperity and adversity, in all circum- 
 stances of society, the constitution, the 
 whole constitution, and nothing but the con- 
 stitution. 
 
 We claim the right, as free and loyal Amer- 
 ican citizens, to discuss the conduct of the 
 administration, aud to censure it when we 
 <leem it worthy of censure. Our fathers won 
 and established this right, and we will not 
 .surrender it. Wo utterly deny to the execu- 
 tive of the United States the power assumed 
 by Congress in the sedition act of 179S to sup^ 
 press opposition to the administration, or 
 restrict the full freedom of political discus- 
 sion in the loyal states. This would bo to as- 
 sume a power above the constitution. The 
 administration has no more power to susjiend 
 the constitution, than h.ave the people. The 
 administration is the child ofthe constitution 
 and the servant of the people. The child 
 must not reject the authority of the parent, 
 iior the servant usurp the rights ofthe master. 
 The constitution and the laws give the ad- 
 
 ministration ample power to protect itself and 
 enforce its authority in the loyal states: aud 
 it would at this day be an evil example, preg- 
 nant with anarchy and disorder, to disregard 
 theconstituticnal rights of the loyal states and 
 their people. We cannot bring our.selves to 
 the belief that such a reign of terror is im>. 
 ])ending over us. We respect the adminis- 
 tration too much for such an .apprehension 
 liut if such times are upon us, we must play 
 our parts like men, and not disavow our 
 principles and opinions like cowards. Loyal 
 to the core to the constitution and govern- 
 ment of the United States, the democracy has 
 nothing to fear from the assertion of its prin- 
 ciplos, and the discussion of its political 
 views. 
 
 Allowing much of minor evil to pass un- 
 noticed, in view ofthe diflicult part which the 
 administration has had to play, there are some 
 grave acts of the executive and legislative 
 departments of the government, for which W(( 
 hold the republican party responsible, and 
 for which we arraign it at the bar of public 
 opinion. 
 
 We denounce the mischievous and uncon>- 
 stitutional tone of much of the discussion in 
 both Houses of Congress at its late session. 
 We hold the general tenor of these discus- 
 sions against the rights of slavery in the slave 
 holding states, and in favor of the exercise 
 by Congress of powers not delegated by the 
 constitution, to be eminently dangerous in 
 sustaining the spirit of secession at the south, 
 and creating a disregard for the constitution 
 at the north. 
 
 We denounce the abolition of slavery in the 
 District of Columbia, at the cost ofthe United 
 States, as unconstitutional, and peculiarly 
 mischievous at this time in giving force to 
 the distrust of the north in all the slave states. 
 
 We denounce the sweeping and indiscrimi- 
 nate measures of confiscation and emancipa- 
 tion, as unconstitutional, and as having a 
 strong tendency to unite the whole south 
 against the Union, as one man. 
 
 We believe that these aud kindred things 
 have had a great weight in diminishing 
 the numbers and influence ofthe Union Party 
 at the south. 
 
 We deny the power ofthe executive to sus- 
 pend the writ of kabeai. coryus in the loya] 
 states. We deny that this act, materially 
 changing the laws of the laud, is an execu- 
 tive act. We have the authority of the Su- 
 premo Court ofthe United States, pronounced 
 t)y the voice of Chief Justice Marshall as long 
 l)y 1807, and aflirmed by every commentator 
 ou the Constitution since, that under the 
 Constitution of the United States, it is a legis- 
 lative power. No king has assumed such a 
 power in England, since the revolution. 
 
 We deny the power of the executive to 
 make arrests in the loyal states. The sus- 
 pension ofthe vfrit of habeas corptis, if validly 
 done, would not authorize this. There are 
 federal courts in all the loyal states with full 
 power and jurisdiction to punish all crimes 
 against the United States. No Exercise of 
 executive power baa ever been more odious 
 
than lettres de cacliel, bj' which the executive 
 could arrest and impinson without judicial 
 writ, accusation, or trial. We hold this man- 
 ner of arrest in the loyal states of persons 
 not in arms against the p;overnment to be in 
 violation of Sec. 2 Art. 3 of the (Jonstitution 
 of the United States, and of Art. 4, 5 and (J of 
 the amendments thereto. And wo consider 
 this practice as unnecessary, and tending to 
 (jring the Con><titiition into disregard. 
 
 We deny the power of the executive to tram- 
 msl the freedom of the press by the suppres- 
 sion of ncwspapei-s. The press is .judicially 
 responsible for abuses; but tlie freedom of the 
 press, subject to judicial remedies, is essen- 
 tial to the freedom of the people. And we 
 protest against the manifest partiality with 
 which this new and dangerous poAver is exer- 
 cised* 
 
 We deny the recent semi-official definitions 
 of the crime of treason. "Treason against 
 the United States shall consist only in levying 
 war against them, or in adhering to their en- 
 emies, giving them aid and comfort.'' In 
 commenting on this definition in the consti- 
 tution, Judge Story quotes with approbation 
 the remark of Montesquieu, that if the crime 
 of treason be indeterminate, that alone is 
 sufficient to make any government degenerate 
 into arbitrary power; and he denounces, as 
 the Supreme Court of the United States had 
 rejected, the doctrine of constructive treason. 
 It was in apprehension of the dangers of con- 
 structive treason, that the definition of tliis 
 crime was introduced into the body of the con- 
 stitution itself; and it is a definition far more 
 in keeping the rights of a free people than 
 such vague phrases as disloyal practices. 
 The statutes of the United States amply pro- 
 vide for the punishment of treasonable crimes 
 under the constitution, and we recognize no 
 power in the executive to enlarge them. 
 
 Wo deny the power of the executive to 
 transport persons accused of crime in the loyal 
 states, from the state where th^ crime is 
 alleged to have been committed, to any other 
 state or place for trial; to cause the trial of 
 any person in the loyal states for any crime 
 before military tribunals or other courts, ex- 
 cept before a jury in the Circuit and Dis- 
 trict Courts of the United States; or to subject 
 such persons to such trial, except upon the 
 indictment of a grand jury. These rights arc 
 guaranteed to every person, under all circum- 
 stances, by the constitution itself. And we 
 fully believe that the loyal people of the Unit 
 ed States are worthy of their fathers, who 
 framed the constitution, and will be found un- 
 willing to surrender rights so sacred and so 
 es.ienlial to their liberties. 
 
 Wo believe that the executive acts of which 
 we complain, were done rather in inadvertence 
 by subordinate officers, than in the deliberate 
 purpose of subverting the constitution, or with 
 the sanction of tlie President The stretch of 
 power, however, is too great and too dangerous 
 to the liberties of the people, to pass without 
 the protest of the free and loyal democracy. 
 If done as part of a full and deliberate policy, 
 tliey strike at the root of American liborty, 
 and we are drifting from the safe .'inclior.igo 
 of tlie constitution into an unknown v.'ilder- 
 ness of cruel waters, ' ' 
 
 Let whatever may come, the democracy will 
 abide by their time honored principles, by dm 
 constitution and the Union. "We will neither 
 surrender our rights nor forsake tiieai. We 
 will maintain our constitutional liberty at all 
 hazards, and as a necessary step towards that 
 end, v/e will maintain the Union in like man- 
 ner. We are for the constitution as it is, and 
 the Union as it was." 
 
 AVe call upon our brethren throughout the 
 state to organize the party for the fin = 10; 
 election of members of ('ungre^-. .i I ..; in- 
 state Legislature. )Vo call upon them to ' 
 nominate as candidates tried and true demo- ' 
 crats, on strictly party principles, inviting the 
 support of all persons, but acting in afFliation 
 with no other party or faction whatever. We 
 call upon them, for the sake of "liberty and 
 union, now and forever, one and inseparable," ' 
 to exert all their Constitutional right and 
 power to elect conservative men, who will not 
 blasphemously assume to do any ollicial act in 
 the name of God, which cannot be done under 
 the .sanction of the Constitution. So doing, 
 the democracy of Wisconsin will best serve the 
 cause of the Union, and give the highest proof 
 of their loyalty to the Constitution. 
 
 We claim the right on their behalf and oar 
 own, to censure the political acts of the Ad- 
 ministration, when we think that they deserve 
 it, and to do all lawfully •within our jiower (0 
 sustain the supremacy of the Constitution in 
 all places north and south, and over all per- 
 sons in office and out of it. And to that end 
 we devote our hearts, minds and estates to aid 
 the Administration in the most vigorous and 
 speedy i)rosecution of the war waged against 
 the Union by the revolted states. AVe believe 
 that in so doing we fulfill the most sacred duty 
 we owe to the Constitution. 
 
 And to this, we solemnly pledge the faith of 
 our party .and ourselves, until the war lie 
 ended and the Constitution restored, a8 the 
 supreme law of the land, in every state of the 
 Union. 
 
 c. 
 
 K. 
 
 W 
 
 r.. 
 
 .IIYAN, 
 LORD, 
 , DAVIS, 
 
 Coiinniftop 
 
 III 
 
^^ ^ « 
 
 i:^% ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^r7r« .A 
 
 
 
 ,1*0 
 
 
 
 
 > \.^^' 
 
 
 
 
 
 o,. *''ivr«' A 
 
» • * ' ^^ ^ 
 
 •jJi:5^^i.k*- O 
 
 .^^ ..^'•* ^. 
 
 
 
 
 v.^* 
 
 "o^-P^ 
 
 
 )^..,L:ir* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 '• -^ ** *'^ 
 
 
 tvT* -A 
 
 
 BOOKBINDfNC 
 
 orant^ille. Pa 
 March 4o''' 198? 
 
 
 ^O *