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Liberty Nominations

Liberty Nominations image
Parent Issue
Day
29
Month
May
Year
1847
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

From the discussions in the Liberty papers respecting the President i;l nomination, an atlentive reader cannot f;ii! lo perceive that there is an essential cliflerence of opinión respecting the proper cliaracter & province of'the Liberty parly : one class believing that its nominations should be made without any reference to the action of other pnrties, and rigidly adhered to in all cases, uivil the Liberty party shall become predominant, or utlerly fail : while the oihers regard lhe Liherty organizrUion only a means for the advnncement of Liberty principies' to be used while it is fonnd the most efficiënt agency for tl) is purpose, and then to give plnce to nny other Ihat may be found more available for accomplishing the great object aimed at by the Liberty party. Such a división of opinión is to be regretted : but that it exist?, there can be no question. The Emancipntor lieads lhe first class of papers; the Naiionnl Ern the second. We believe that the Liberty men of the West, generally, incline lo lhe views of the Era. Some prominent Liberty men of Ohio have heretofore expressed such views ; and the last number of the Indiana Freeman bringsus a letter from S. S. Harding, formerly the Liberty candidate for Governor of that State, lo the tíditor of the Freeman, frnm which we make some exlracts. The letter is published in that paper without comment, and doubtltss expresses the views of a portion of the party in Indiana. "It will Bion be asked, (in truth it bas been nlreadyj whai course will be pursued by the Liberty party in the ijext Presidential eontest ; wül they run a sco arate candidnta at nll events, or will they unite with either of the other parties 1 In tbis mfffier let me say, tbat Liberty men should be consistent, and act in nccordance with those great principies, which have called tbem to part from their old nssociates. And they o we it not only to ihemselves, but ihose principies, nnd to the world, to show. that thry are wuil they profess to bc, governed by a sensc of righi alone, uncontaminated by ambition. which oftpn springsfrom the hope of personal aggrandizement and power. That we are not seeking to (ïlimb ambition's ladder, in the constant agiiation of this question, slnvery. But that we honcstly seek after lhe means, which in our ;udgment will cure the terrible calnmities which it has visited Upoii the crushed millions around us, and involving alike, us, and them, in ovil moral and social, no longerto be quietly borne. Liberty men, true to their nrofessions, should be content to see the great end of iheirlaborsaccomplished, no mntter by whom, or under whnt name, onlv, they should not be content to stand idly by, and have no part of the glory and reward which follows ; thai is, n éonsciousness of having done riglit. If I am permitted to hazard an opinión, I will say that next ycar will present ■ spectacle altogether anomalous lo the American politician. There will doubtless le in the field, ihree, ond perhaps foui presidential Ii Gen. Taylor ia run, as he most prol) 1)1 y will be, as a Whig candidate, there will be anolber candidate (perhaps he will be called a -hig, perhaps a democratj who will reprpspnt the greut anti-slavery party of the North ; made up of Liberty men and Whigs and Democrats, who are really anti-slavery in sentiment, and feeling, and have vowed to their country and to the God of their fathers, that come what mny, 8arery shall nol drag its blond y carcasa ncrass a given Une, no, not to save the Union and a thovsand such - for it is no longer Treason to talk of its value ; or to calculaie its value in dollars and cents - the South bas been doing this ever since our confederation. Do not misundorstand me, nor think me too sanguine in my belief of a fixed determination in the mindsol' thous-inds of whigs anddemocrats and Liberiy men, upon tliis subject. They w.iuld do almost nnyiliing (but what li a va tliey done,) (o save the Union of these Stutes - so would I, but when il is genernlly understood that its durntion deiencl.-j upon llie so!e acquiescence of the fïeemen of the North and West, lo the coutivtue.1 vio] at ion of our consiilution by the South, in ihe acqnisilion ol new lerriiory, for iho sole purpose of securing the perpetu.-ition of ihis living lie: then lliere 's no earthly power enn long procrastinate the event. But it would f;ill 'ms severed flnx at llie touch of fue." - The question nacuis ; undor a state of facto liUe Ihose above named, what WOüld be the duty of Liberiy men ? To me the answer is plnin and simple ; I will vote for the man wlw fair lij reprcsenls my principies wilmul any regard lo kis parly nam'', if I can hace the proper assurance of liis carryinir ihose principies Iwneslhj out. And if tliore should be two enndidale3 holding the same opinions, (which is not at all likely tJ be :ho case) I would vote for the one most Ükely to be the strongest. But on the other hand, if either or bolh of the other pnrties sliould Bgain bring into the field candidates lio are moral cowards upon this question, and for fear of loosing votes in the South, will not speak out plain, and distinot, witliom fultering or tripping. I will not vote for hint ; 7io, foral the, vnsl patronage at his disposal if elected ; and i f tliere ws a man (no maller how unlikely hiselection inight prove) whpetood ly the Iïight, nnd opnnly advocated it ; I would vote for kim tkeugh no one else should. 1 do not know whether I have spoken any other man's views in this matter, I hnve atmed to speak at least my own. - Holding these views, I would say that no premature move should bc made in regai-d to a Liberty candidate for President. I would say, wail and spe what the oiher parlies will do. It would be greally to our interest to have a full view of the field befoie we act in this mat;er." Mr. Harding then desires Mr. DePu-y to preswit to the Grensboro Convention certain resol utio"'.s, among which are the following : 'Thnt if justice was properly administered under the constitution, slavery wouU be left where itwnsfuund by the fume, a crentureof s'ate luw. That it could hnve no existence without its prescribed hints; and bas no right to appeal to t'ne constitution, fur aid or protection. Th.it when ever we become satNfied, thal eitlier of the parties now formed aims at the abolition of slavery, so far as the same can be done under the constitution of the U. S.we will most heartily, and cordially cooperate jrilh our fellow citizens, without regard to ñames, in necomplishing so grand n desiderátum." We have inserted these extracts for the purpose of giving our readers an idea of tlie views existing elsewhere, and not because we endorse them in full. Witfl our present opinions of propriely and consisteney, we could not support for the Presideney any candidate merely becauso he was opposed to the extensión of Slavery, He must be opposed to its existenxe, as the great evil of our nation, and do all he constitultonally-cuuld for lis extermination. Any position en our part short of this, would he retrograde and injurious, if not suicida!.

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Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News