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Election At Hand

Election At Hand image
Parent Issue
Day
21
Month
October
Year
1844
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

As tbis is the last paper that will be certnin to reach all our subscriborg befure the the electipn, we shall put toetlier some considerations respecting the duty of nnti-slavery men, which we thiök may be appropriate to the occasion. 1. Our object is the triumph of Liberty principies, throuorh the bullot-box, produced by the sober convictions of a nmjority of the people. That triumpl will not be fully attained at the coming election. Tlie Liberty party eommenced in lí39 with fifteen persons: four yeats sïnce the vote was aboot one in every three h'indred and fifty; at the present eleclion ït will not probably exceed ono in thíríy. But the action of the Sfteen original advocates of the party was necessary to the attainment of the sevcn thousa:id votes of 1040, and these were indispensable to one hnndred thousand voies in 1844. In like mannér, these ast, at the same ratio of increase, will nniount to onemilllon threc hundred thovaar.ü in 1343- eiiough lo elect a Liberty President. Remember, Uien, thnt y our vote vill not be lost if given for Bimey. It object may be delayed, but not defeated. To aciievè your purpnse, you must vote for Bimey lioice instead of onco.2. Our ivhole strength should be polled.- Otir üdversaries count our streuglh by its ex . hibition at the polls: ánc' there it should be displayed. A hirge Liberty vote in Michigan will every whery encouruge our friendf, and comnmnd respect frorn our enemies. The vote of this State will be known througho'it ihe Union; it will be conned over in the pnrlor of the tlaveholder, und rehearscd in the cabin oí the slave. This Liberty movernent, iastead of being: confined to a corner, vviU henceforth be pubhshed on the house tops. Let Micliigan contnbute lier fuïl share. One additional vote in each town will make severa! huudredá diílerence in the State. 3. Plenty of tickets muet be seasonably provided, distributed, and krpl at the polk. Liberty men have been more rcmiss m this than in any otlier point. In every town,let two or rrore niake it their business to atfend the polls the whole time, wilh liats of Liberty voterp, and mark each one as soon as be votes. Conveyance must be provided for those who do not come in season. Liberty men, .must leafn the neceesiiy of atrention to theae minor particiilars. If votinir have no efficacy, it should be abandoned: if it be at all eftectual, a juli vote must be worih more tlian a lean one: and you cannot have a full one, without iièing the apprópnate nipans lo obíai4. Let some Liberty man be present wben :he votes n re canvassed, to deteet and prevent frauds: and let the result be forwarded to the Signal for pubücatioi). together with the Liberty vote of previous years. 5. It woüld be wel! for Liberty rnen generally to altend the polls, and defend iheir principies. Onlhe tlnys of election.the whole people in the Staie wil] be in débating clubs, in whjch the principies of the Liberty party should beexhibited in contrast with those of tlieir pro-slavery opponents. There is no necessity lor rancorous feelins or snory words: but the gieat truihs in which we believe, in very many place may be profitably reiieraled on that occasion. G. Lastly, we woiildsay. beworeof all mon ner of stoiies and rumora. Old ones will be revivcd, and new ones invented, Tlie one receniiy circulated in reference to the nomination of Mr. Birney by Ihe Dcruocrats, wil! undoubtedly be epread widcly, with nnmerous addiiions, and persisted in with obstinacy.- The Jackson Gu zette hos alrei-dy made a labored appeal to the Liberty men of that county wiih an argument Iike this: Bírrjey has turneda Loofocv traitor to the Liborty party: Thereforc, yon ought to become a Whig traitor lo that party.' Birney supports one slaveholderi Thercore, you cuglit to vote for the other!You will hear that tho Sigml has turned Wíiig or Loco- tijut the candidutes for Pies idenüal elcctuis me Whigs - lliat the New York Abolitionists are going for Clay- tlmt ilie Liberty vote nOlno and Pennsylvaijiahas fallen off half - that Clny lias manumittedhis slaves, &.C. &cc. Every hiud of lies which tuight shake your fidelity to L'berty principies will be resorted lo wilh perseverance and unblusiiing impudcfice. To aJl these teinptaüons ym may properJy reply that in conncclion with others, you bave commenced a great and noble enterprize- that your business is to do your part towards its success, however hvpocritiöal or treacheroiia others may be- that you deem the Liberty principios worthy of support by your influence and your vote, and you are ready if nced be, to avow and advocate them, on all proper occasions, solilary and alont! Dut tbe result io Michigan willbe very differeHt. We kuow of no couníy n which there is auy prospect of a oiminution of the Liberty vote, and in quite a nuruber of new countics, it will be doublcd, i f not trebled. Ba nothn, a traitór to yourfeílow .V borert-, nor to your professed principies; bul be "a hero in the strife"! Bonnet of the New York Herald aboundsof late in noticesöf the AEöïition party. Week after weck finds him calling the attention of nis nunierous readers to theirrapid growth - their objects, their influence on the other párties, and the danger their organization threatens tothe whole Union. We scarceJy know how lo account for his frequent eirlogies npon us, while he so roundly condemns our principies. That paper is said to bc occasioually subsidized by individuals, or parties, who have the rneansj but Abolitionists aro sopoor they could nöt make up much of a purse if they should try,. and they would pi-efer to-hire the praises of some press whose moral principies were less directly antagonistic to their own, than are those of the Herald. However, we commend the following extract 'Vom this unscrupnloas poïitical caterer o those Abolitionists who are fearful they shall exert no influence, or lose their vote, by supporting the Liberty party.- Shrewd politicians see things in a very. different light:Froni ihe New York Herald, THE AB0LIT10N PARTY- ITS ORGANIZATION- 1TS POWER IN THE COMING ELECTION. It is now admitted on all hands by the Whigs, as well as the Locofocos. that the organizationof the abolitionisís iníoaparty which has been brought about by the agitation of the slave question in Congress during the last few years, principally by Whig membcrs, will exercisea most powerful influence on the Presidential elsction, and henee the most gloomy forebodings begin to oppress the minds of the friends of Mr. Ckiy, with respect to the particular direction which this rnffuence rnay take. The abolitionists as a parfy are orgamzed iu all the free States, particularly in Ohio, New York, and Massachusetts, aud pariially in Pennsvlvania and New Jersey. At the recent elections they took about 60,000 votes in all these State.?; buL during the last year their moveraents and genera] agitation ïave been conducted on a more compreïensive scale than on any fpwner occa. sion, and we should not beat all surprised, f during the ensuing election they were to number 100,000 votes in all the free States, and perhaps over that number. The principal point, however, to which we intend to direct the attention of our readers at present, is the position and power of the abolitionists as presented by themselves, and admitted by all parties. in the State of New York at this particular moment.A bout a. week or ten days ago, a convenlion of the abolitionisís inet at Utica, At this convention, we íearn from their own orgains, tliat at least jPour thousand i persons were present. The convention ; eontinued in session íbr some cíays, and it appears that they discu-ssed, deliberated, and adopte'd a general plan of agitation from this till November, throughout the whole State of New York. About nine years ago the first Gonvention of these men in this State was held in t hu same place, Utica. But so impopular was the movetnent at that time, that they had to disperse tbemselves beforethe impending excitement of the people of Utica, who considerad thernselves disgraced and out-' niged by such an assemblage. On the present occasion from their position - -from holding the balance of power between the two great political parties - from their organization - from their enthusinsm - and their stern purpose of going ahead- they have commanded the attention of boih parties, and it is an absolute fact that bolh parties are beginning to crotich to these abolitionists, who will probably number from twenly thotisand to twenty. five thousand in the State of New York. This Convention at Utica have issoed a report on their present position, declar atory of their views, and feehngs, and purposes, in regard to the other two partic, which is of such acurious character, and has such an important bearing on the coming election, that we annex the material portion of it at length: - Here the Herald publishes most of tho annual report and then goes on to say: It will be perceived from this extraordinury document that the abolitionists do not make the annexation of Texas a prominent queslion in their particular movement. They actually consider the admission of Texas into the Union as a , measure that would assist ihem in their ( grand ultimate project of emancipatingthe whole, black population of the south. - Prom this view which they talce of the i Texas question, it isvery evident that they . will repel with great scrycrit v: all the 1proaches at compromise presentcd to them by ihe Whig party, or by ány other party. Their purpose is to form a poíitícal organization - to créate a great party At the north and in the free States, which wijl compcl the other two parties to succomb to thcir views, so as to carry their agitation and schemes info Congress and general legislation. This is the most dangerous position for the peace and happincss of the country that the abolitionists can talte; and with sucfi parposes guiding them in their present movementsr we do not see the least possibility of a compromiso being effected with them by the Whigs. As matters now stand, it is very evídent that the abolition party in the Stats of New York, througliout New England, and ín the other free States, will control the movementsand operations of the two parties hereafter, tvnd may, in process of rime, produce a complete díssolution of the wliig party, so as to endanger the peace and safety of this Union, creating acorresponding impulse and movement at the South, that may bring down the whole fabric of the constitution in ruin upon us all. The defeat of Mr, Polk, or his success - the defeat of Mr. Clay or his succcss, dwindle ínto insigniilcance when. eoütrasted with the dangers that threafen: the confederacy if the iron purposes of the abolilion party be carried out from year to year, assisted by the eiTects of agitation in Congress and throughout tho country, and eventually embracing wiihm t&emselves one of the two great political parties. Nor ís this an imaginary danger. These abolitionists appear fo be guided by some master hand. They seem. tounderstand well the power of their position and the opportunitiesafibrded to them by the peculiar círcurnstances of th& other two parties, of extending their influence and increasing their strength. - From the present moment their movements will be scanned with the deepest arixiety by the polticians ofboth parties. In iact it is high time for both democrats and whigs, wbo desire the stability and perpetuity of this glorious Union, to look well to the ckinger which threatens the confederacy from this source. Is it nof, indeed, time for all to cease the fierce personal contests - the violent feuds- -the Iow scurrillity, the vulgarslander - which now disgrace the men of bofh parties, and unite in opposing the further progress of a party, so compact, well organized, and determined, which ia marching up resolutely io the överthrow of the principies on which the safety, seciirity, and very ejisience of the fepublic repose.

Article

Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News