xt79zw18m290 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt79zw18m290/data/mets.xml  1856  books b92-71-27213715 English Printed by R.A. Waters, : Washington : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Campaign literature.Cluskey, M. W. (Michael W.) Democratic hand-book  / compiled by Mich. W. Cluskey ; recommended by the Democratic National Committee. text Democratic hand-book  / compiled by Mich. W. Cluskey ; recommended by the Democratic National Committee. 1856 2002 true xt79zw18m290 section xt79zw18m290 



BUCHANAN AND BRECKINRIDGE.



                 THE


DEMOCRATIC HAND-BOOK,



        COMPILED BY


MICH. W. CLUSKEY,

           OF


 WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.



               RECOMMENDED BY THE


  DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE.





The success of the Democracy essential for the preservation of the Union and the
          protection of the integrity of the Constitution.



  WASHINGTON:
PRINTED BY R. A. WATERS.
       1856.


 
This page in the original text is blank.


 





                         PREFACE
                               TO THE

DEMOCRATIC ELFCTORAL HAND-BOOK.



  The demand for authentic documents disproving the unprecedented
charges against the Democratic candidate, and refuting the unblushing
pretensions of the Black Republican Know-Nothing nominees for
the Presidency, has rendered it important in the opinion of leading
members of the Democratic party, that some compilation of argument
and fact derived from indisputable authorities should be prepared and
published.
  In the execution of this work. selections have been made from the
works of the Democratic leaders-Leaders who represent the uniform
and united opinions of the Democracy, North and South, whilst the
motives of those, patriotic citizens who have forgotten the prejudices of
party, to bestow their support upon the only National candidate, are
illustrated in the speeches and letters of the old line Whigs, vindicating
their course of action in that respect.
  The Electoral Hand Book, will be found to contain, also, the most
important enactments and reports bearing upon the great issues of the
day, with a mass of other matter sufficient to furnish any enquirer with
the means of making up an impartial opinion upon the questions involved
in the canvass, and to furnish speakers and writers with the material for
defence or assault.
  The author can only add, that having access to the whole magazine
of political missiles, proper for employment in the present campaign,
and enabled by his position and pursuits, to furnish any specific infor-
mation from the published political records of the country, it will afford
him pleasure to communicate any answer to any inquiry which may be
made of him, and which is not satisfactorily responded to in the
"Hand-Book."
  Appealing to the magnanimity of his fellow-democrats to attribute
any omission, to the hurried manner in which he is necessitated to pre-
pare his work, he submits it for their judgment and use.


 
This page in the original text is blank.

 




                 THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE.

  The excitement created by the repeal of a geographical line, the existence
of which Mr. Jefferson said " would be recurring on every occasion, and re-
newing irritations, until it would enkindle such mutual and moral hatred as
would render seperation preferable to eternal discord," has induced us to re-
publish the unfortunate act of Congress which first gave existence to what
was called the Missouri Compromise line.
  Missouri having applied for admission into the Union as a State, the House
of Representatives, on the 16th of February, 1819, passed a bill providing for
her admission, and affixing as a condition thereof, the prohibition of slavery
within her limits. On the 27th of February, 1819, the Senate struck out of
the bill the clause prohibiting slavery, and thus amended, sent it back to the
House. On the 2d of March, 1819, the House refused to concur in the
amendment of the Senate. On the same day the Senate insisted upon its
amendment, and the House adhered, so that bill was lost.
  On the 6th of January, 1820, the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate
reported a bill from the House admitting Maine into the Union, which con-
tained no prohibition whatever, with an amendment admitting Missouri with-
out any clause concerning slavery. It was then that Mr. Thomas introduced
as an amendment what is called the Missouri Compromise which was adopted,
and the bill as amended, passed the Senate on the 18th of February, 1820.
The bill came to the House.    After numerous messages between the two
Houses, informing each other of their disagreements, and after motions had
passed both Houses te insist on their respective positions, a joint committee of
conference was appointed. Whilst this committee was in session, an inde-
pendent bill to admit Missouri was taken up in the House and passed, contain-
ing a clause prohibiting slavery in said State, which was sent to the Senate,
amended by it, and returned. Upon its return, the managers of the conference
reported, that the Senate recede from its amendment to the bill admitting
Maine, and that the House bill, admitting Missouri, should be amended by
striking out the clause prohibiting slavery, and inserting in lieu thereof, what
is now known as the Missouri Compromise. The bill thus framed, was,
after one disagreement on the part of the two Houses, passed, and is as fol-
lows:
An ACT to authorize the People ofthe Missouri Territory te form a Constitution and State Government, and
  for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with Lhe original States, and to prohibit
  Slavery in certain Territories.
  SEtC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and louse of Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled, That the inhabitants of that portion of the Missouri Ter-
ritory included within the boundaries hereinafter designated, be, and they are hereby
authorized to form for themselves a Constitution and State Government; and to assume
such name as they shall deem proper; and the said State, when formed, shall be ad-
mitted into the Union, upon an equal footing with the original States, in all respects
whatsoever.
  The 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th sections of the law, embrace mere matters of
detail, having no connection with the great question which is now agitating
the country. The 8th section, which is what is generally known as the
Missouri Compromise, is as follows:
  SEc. 8. And be itfurther enacted, That in all that territory ceded by France to the
United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-aix degrees and


 
6



thirty minutes north latitude. not included within the limits of the State contemplated
by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of
crimes, whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be, and is hereby
forever prohibited; Provided always, That any person escaping into the same. from
whom labor or service is lawfully claimed, in any state or territory of the Uniitedl
States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming
his or her labor or service as aforesaid.          [Approved 6 March, 1820.]

   The action of Congress after the passage of the foregoing act rejects the idea
that it was a compact, or that the Missouri Cnmpromise embraced in the 8th
section thereof was at all a condition to the subsequent admission of Missouri.
After the enactment of that law, Missouri applied for admission as a state, and
her application wats rejected.  Congresss disregarded the act establishing the
geographical line and shut the door on Missouri.     The following act was
afterwards passed and she was admitted:

                                 RESOLUTIONS.
[No. 1.] RESOLUTION providing for the Admission of thelState of Missouri into
                         the Union, on a certain Condition.
  Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Untted States of America in
Congress assembled, That Missouri shall be admitted into this Union on an equal footing
with the original States, in all respects whatever, upon the fundamental condition, that
the fourth clause of the 26th section of the third article of the constitution submitted on
the part of said state to Congress, shall never be construed to authorize the passage of
any law, and that no law shall be passed in conformity thereto, by which any citizen, of
either of the states in this Union, shall be excluded from the enjoyment of any of the
privileges and immunities to which such citizen is entitled under the constitution
of the United States: Provided, That the legislature of the said state, by a solemn
public act, shall declare the assent of the said state to the said fundamental condition.
and shall transmit to the President of the United States, on or before the fourth Monday
in November next, an authentic copy of the said act; upon the receipt whereof, the
President, by proclamation, shall announce the fact; whereupon, and without any further
proceedings on the part of Congress, the admission of the said state into this Union shall
be considered as complete.                           [Approved. 2 March, 1821.]

  From this it will be seen that the only condition under which Missouri was
admitted, is contained in the proviso of the last act, which Missouri in her ac-
ceptance of the terms of admission denied the right of the United States to make
whilst she nevertheless yielded and became a part of the Union.     The effect
of this condition was to force Missouri to agree to admit within her limits to
the same privileges which white citizens of other states might have, the negro
where he is recognised as a citizen by any state.
  Mr. Jefferson's opinion of the enactment of a geographical line in the country,
referring to that instuted by the Missouri act of 1820.
                                  THOMAS JEFFERSON to WM. SHORT.
                                                  MONTICELLO, April 13, 1820.
  DEAR SIR:           Although I had laid down as a law to myself, not to write,
talk, or even think of politics, to know nothing of public affairs, and therefore had
ceased to read newspapers, yet the Missouri question aroused and filled me with ala m.
The old schism of Federal and Republican, threatened nothing. because it extended in
every State, and united them together by the fraternalization of party. But the coinci-
dence of a marked principle, moral and political, with a geographical line, once con-
ceived, I feared would never more be obliterated from the mind; that it would be re-
curring on every occasion, and renewing irritations, until it would enkindle such mutual
and moral hatred as would render separation preferable to eternal discord. I have been
the most sanguine in believing that our Union would be of long duration. I now doubt
it much And see the event at no great distance, and the direct consequences of this
question not bv the tiwe which has been so confidently counted on-the laws of nature
control this-but by the Potomac, Ohio and Missouri, or more probably the Mississippi,


 




upwards to our northern boundary. My only comfort and conjidence is that I hallnot live
to see this; and 1 envy not the present generation the glory of throwing away the fruits
of their father's sacrifices of life and fortune and of rendering desperate the experiment
which was to decide ultimately, whether man is capable of self-government. This treason
against human hope will signalize their epoch in Jitture history as the counterpart of their
predecessors.
                    THOMAS JEFFERSON to JOHN HOLMES.
                                                  MONTECELLO, April 20, 1820.
   I tnank you, dear sir, for the copy you have been so kind as to send me of the letter
 to your constituents, on the Missouri question. It is a perfet justification to them. I
 had for a long time ceased to read newspapers, or pay any attention to public affairs,
 confident they were in good hands, and content to be a passenger in our bark to the
 shore from which I am not far distant. But this momentuous question, like a fire-bell
 in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the Knell
 of the Union. It is hushed indeed for the moment, but this is a reprieve only, not a
 final sentence. A geographical line, coinciding with a marked principle, moral and
 political, once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men, will never be ob-
 literated; and every new irritation will mark it deeper and deeper. An abstinence, too,
 from this act of power, would remove the jealousy excited by the undertaking of Con-
 gress to regulate the condition of the different descriptions of men composing a State. This
 certainly is tne exclusive right of ever, State, which nothing in the Constitution has taken
 from them and given to the General Government. Could Congress, for instance, say that
 the non-freemen of Connecticut should be freemen, or that they shall not emigrate into ary
 other State.


    EXTENSION OF THE MISSOURI LINE TO THE PACIFIC.

    On the 10th of August 1848, in the Senate of the United States, the Oregon
bill being under consideration, the question was taken on the amendment extend-
ing the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific, and it was decided in the af.
firmative as follows:
  YEAs-Messrs. Atchison, Badger, Bell, Benton, Berrien, Borland, Bright, Butler, Cal-
houn, Cameron, Davis of Miss., Dickinson, Douglas, Downs, Fitzgerald. Foote, Hanneyan,
Houston, Hunter, Johnson of Maryland, Johnson of Louisiana, Johnson of Georgia,
King, Lewis, Mangum. Mason, Metcalf, Pearce, Sebastian, Spruance, Sturgeon, Turney,
and Underwood-33.
  NAYs.-Messrs. Allen, Atherton, Baldwin, Bradbury, Breese, Clarke, Corwin, Davis of
Mass., Dayton, Dix, Dodge, Felch, Greene, Hale, Hamlin, Miller, .iiles, Phelps, Uphham,
Walker, Webster and Wescott-22.
   'The Bill with this amendment came before the House on the next day,
and the amendment of the Senate extending the Missouri line to the Pacific
was non-concurred in by the following vote:
  YEAS-Messrs Adams,-Atkinson, Barringer, Barrow. Bayly, Beale, Bedinger, Birdsall,
Bocock, Botts, Bowdon, Bowlin, Boyd, Boydon, Brodhead, Chas. Brown, A. G. Brown,
Buckner, Burt, Cabell, Chapman, Chase, Beverly L. Clarke, Clingman, Howell Cobb,
Williamson R. W. Cobb, Cooke, Crozier, Daniel, Donnell, Garnett Duncan, Alexander
Evans, Featherston, Flournoy. French, Fulton, Gayle, Goggin, Greene, Willard P. Hall,
Haralson, Harmanson, Ha1riss, Haskell, Hill, Hilliard, Isaac E. Holmes, Geo. S. Hous-
ton, Chas. J. Ingersoll, Iverson, Andrew Johnson, Robert, W. Johnson, Geo. W. Jones,
John W. Jones, Kaufman, Thomas Butler King, Ligon, Lumpkin, McDowell, McKay,
McLane, Meade, Morohead, Outlaw, Pendleton, Phelps, Pillsbury, Preston, Rhett, Ro-
man, Sheppard, Stanton, Stephens, Thomas, Jacob Thompson, J. B. Thompson, Robert
A. Thompson, Tompkins, Toombs, Venable, Wallace and Woodward-82.
  NAYs-Messr8. Abbott, Ashmun, Bingham, Blanchard, Brady, Butler, Canby, Cathcart,
P. Clark, Collamer, Collins, Conger, Cranston, Crowell, Cummins, Darling, Dickey, Dick-
inson, Dixon, Duer, Daniel Duncan, Dunn, Eckert, Edsal E, Edward, Eszbre, Nathan
Evans, Faran, Farelly, Ficklin, Fisher, Freedly, Fries, Goat, GCre5gry, GTizneUl, Hale,
Nathan K. Hall, Hammons, Tas. G. Hampton, Moses lf4zistcra, tenly, Henry, Plias B.
Holmes, John W. Houston, Hubbard, Hudson, Hunt, Joseph R. Ingersoll, Irvin, Jenkins,
Kellogg, Kennen, D. P. King, W. T. Lawrence,Sydney Lawrence, Lblostn, Lora, Ly4nde, Ma-



 


8



clay, McClelland, AMcClernand, McIlvaine, Job Mann, Horace Mann, Marsh, Marvin, Nil.
er, Morris, Mullen, Murphy, Nelson, Nes, Newell, Nicoll, Palfrey, Peaslee, Peck, Petrie,
Pettitt, Pollock, Putnam, Reynolds, Richey, Robinson, Rockhill, Jno. A. Rockwell, Rowe,
Root, Rumsey, St. John, Sawyer, Schenck, Sherrili, Sylvester, Slingerland, Smart, Caleb
B. Smith, Robert Smith, Truman Smith, Starkweather, Andrew Stewart, Chas. E. Stuart,
Strohm, Strong, Tallmadge, Taylor, Jaltes Thompson, Richard W. Thompson, William
Thompson, Thurston. Tuck, Turner, Van Dyke, Vinton Warren, Wentworth, White, Wick,
Williams and Wilmot.-121.
   The House having thus non-concurred with the Senate, the question was
decided in the Senate, on the 12th of August, 1848, in favor of receding from
its amendment, running the Missouri line to the Pacific, by yeas and nays, as
follows:
  YEAS.-Messrs. Allen, Baldwin, Benton, Bradbury, Breese, Bright, Cameron, Clarke,
Corwin, Davis, of Mass., Dayton, Dickinson, Dix, Dodge, Douglas, Felch, Fitzgerald,
Greene, Hale, Hamlin, hlannegan, Houston, Ailler, Miles, Phelps, Spruance, Upham,
Walker and Webster-29.
  NAYs-Messrs. Atchison, Badger, Bell, Berrien, Borland, Butler, Calhoun, Davis of
Miss., Downs, Foote, Hunter, Johnson of Maryland, Johnson of Louisiana, Johnson,
of Georgia, Lewis, Mangum, Mason, Metcalfe, Pearce, Rusk, Sebastian, Turney, Un.
derwood, Westcott and Yulee-25.
  So the Senate receded, and the Compromise line was not extended.
  By analyzing this vote it will be seen that upon its being first proposed in
the Senate to extend the Missouri line to the Pacific, the entire North in that
body with seven exceptions voted against it, whilst the entire South with one
exception voted for it.
   In the House the entire North with four exceptions voted against it, whilst
the entire South with one exception voted for it.
  Upon receding in the Senate the entire North voted to recede whilst the en-
tire South with two exceptions voted against it.
  NOTE-Those in Italics are from the North. Those not in Italics are from the South.



  LEGISLATION OF 1850, SUPERSEDING THE MISSOURI
                             COMPROMISE.
  We do not deem it necessary to burden this book with a publication of the
whole of the Territorial laws of the memorable year 1850. The extracts
bearing directly on the subject are all that is necessary.
  The Act approved September 9, 1850, for the organization of the Territory
of New Mexico, being a part of the act fixing the boundaries of Texas, con-
tains the following proviso in its second section.
  "Provided furtker, That when admitted as a State, the said Territory or
any portion of the same shull be received into the Union, with or without slav-
ery as their constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission."
  The Act appreved the same day for the organization of the Territory of
Utah, contains an identical provision with that cited from the New Mexico Act.
  A portion of New Mexico lies north of 36.30. The whole of Utahlies
north of that line.


 
                                          9


 THE WHIG AND DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS OF 1852 EN-
    DORSE TIHE LEGISLATION OF 1850, SUPERSEDING THE
    MISSOURI COMPROMISE.
    We here subjoin the Whig platform of 1852. It will be seen that it fully
 endorsed the legislation of 1850, and aflorded the South ample guarantees for
 the protection of its institutions.

                     NATIONAL WHIG PLATFORM OF 1852.
   The Whigs of the United States, in convention assembled, firmly adhering to the great
conservative republican principles by which they are controlled and governed, and now,
as ever, relying upon the intelligence of the American people, with an abiding confi-
dence in their capacity for self-government, and their continued devotion to the Consti-
tution and the Union, do proclaim the following as the political sentiments and deter-
minations, for the establishment and maintainauce of which their national organization
as a party is effected.
  1. The Government of the United States is of a limited character, and it is confined
to the exercise of powers expressly granted by the Constitution, and such as may be
necessary and proper for carrying the granted powers into full execution, and that all
powers not thus granted or necessarily implied are expressly reserved to the States re-
spectively and to the people.
  The State Governments should be held secure in their reserved rights, and the Gen-
cral Goverement sustained in its constitutional powers, and the Union should be rever.
ed and watched over as "the palladium of our liberties."
  3. That while struggling freedom, everywhere, enlists the warmest sympathy of the
Whig party, we still adhere to the doctrines of the Father of his Country, as announced
in his Farewell Address, of keeping ourselves free from all entangling alliances with
foreign countries, and of never quitting our own to stand upon foreign ground. That
our mission as a Republic is not to propagate our opinions, or impose on other countries
our form of government, by artifice or force, but to teach by example, and show by our
success, moderation, and justice, the blessings of self.government, and the advantages
of free institutions.
  4. That where the people make and control the Government, they should obey its
Constitution, laws, and, treaties, as they would retain their self-respect, and the respect
which they claim, and will enforce, from foreign powers.
  5. Government should be conducted upon principles of the strictest economy, and
revenue sufficient for the expenses thereof, in time of peace, ought to be mainly derived
from a duty on imports, and not from direct taxes; and in levying such duties, sound
policy requires a just discrimination and protection from fraud by specific duties, when
practicable, whereby suitable encouragement may be assured to American industry,
equally to all classes and to all portions of the country.
  6. The Constitution vests in Congress the power to open and repair harbors, and re-
move obstructions from navigable rivers; and it is expedient that Congress shall exer-
cise that power whenever euch improvements are necessary for the common defence or for the
prolection and facility of commerce with foreign nations or among the States; such im-
provements being, in every instance, national and general in their character.
  7. The Federal and State Governments are parts of one system, alike necessary for
the common prosperity, peace, and security, and ought to be regarded alike with a cor-
dial, habitual, and immoveable attachment. Respect for the authority of each, and
acquiescenee in the constitutional measures of each, are duties required by the plainest
consideration of national, of State, and individual welfare.
  8. The series of acts of the 31st Congress, commonly known as the Compromise or
Adjustment, (the act for the recovery of fugitives from labor included,) are received and
acquiesced in by the Whigs of the United States as a final settlement, in principle and
substance, of the subjects to which they relate, and so far as these acts are concerned,
we will maintain them, and insist on their strict enforcement, until time and experience
shall demonstrate the necessity of further legislation to guard against the evasion of
the laws on the one band. and the abuse of their powers on the other, not impairing
their present efficiency to carry out the requirements of the Constitution, and we depre-
cate all further agitation of the question thus settled, as dangerous to our peace, and
will discountenance all efforts to continue or renew such agitation, whenever, wherever,
        2



 
10



or however made; and wc will maintain this settlement as essential to the nationality of
the Whig party and the ittegrity of the Union.

   The Democratic platform of 1856 embraces the whole of the platform of the
same party in 1852, with the exception of the twofollowingsectiods. D     See
platform ol 1856 in proceedings of National Convention, contained in this
volume.
  IX. "Resolved, That the war with Mexico, upon all the principles of patriotism and
the laws of nations, was a just and necessary war on onr part, in which every American
citizen should have shown himself on the side of his country, and neither morally nor
physically, by word or deed, have given 'aid and comfort to the enemy.'
  X. "Resolved, That we rejoice at the restoration of friendly relations with our sister
republic of Mexioo, and earnestly desire for her all the blessings and prosperity which
we enjoy under republican instituons ' and we congratulate the American people upon
the results of that war, which have so manifestly justified the policy and conduct of the
Democratic party, and insured to the United States "indemnity for the past and securi-
ty for the future.'"
   Upon these platforms the two parties went into that contest-their candidates
standing uneqvivocally upon their distinctive features.  The candidate of no
other party carried a single State. Every State in the Union endorsed one or
the other of those platforms. Both platforms endorsed the Legislation of 1850.
Therefore, every State endorsed the legislation of 1850.


         THE NEBRASKA AND KANSAS ACT OF I854.
  This act contains the following section, repealing in direct terms the 8th sec-
tion of the Act approved March 6th, 1820, commonly known as the Missouri
Compromise.
  "SEC. 14.    \         That the Constitution and all the laws of the Unit-
ed States which are not locally inapplicable shall have the same force and effect within
the said Territory of Nebraska (or Kansas, the language being the same in reference to
both,) as elsewhere within the United States, except the 8th section of the act, prepara-
tory to the admission of Missouri into the Union, approved March sixth, eighteen hun-
dred and twenty, which, being inconsistent with the principles of non-intervention by
Congress with slavery in the States and Territories, as recognised by the legislation of
eighteen hundred and fifty, commonly called the compromise measures, is hereby de-
clared inoperative and void; it being the true intent and meaning of thls act not to
legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave
the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their
own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States. Provided, That noth-
ing herein contained shall be construed to revive or put in force any law or regulation
which may have existed prior to the act of 6th March, 1820, either protecting, estab-
lishing, prohibiting, or abolishing slavery."
   This act passed the House by a vote of 113 to 100-44 northern men, all
Democrats, and 69 southern men voted for it in the House.-91 northern
men and 9 southern men voted against it.
   The final vote on its passage in the Senate, was 35 to 13.
   In that body, 1 1 Southern men and 14 Northern men-the latter all Demo.
crats, voted for it.-1 1 Northern men and 2 Southern men voted against it.


  READ THE PLATFORMS OF THE OPPONENTS OF THE
                              DEMOCRACY.
                   KNOW-NOTHING PLATFORM OF 1855.
  1. The acknowledgment of that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe-who
presides ever the Councils of Nations-who conducts the affairs of men, and who, in


 
11



every stop by which we have advanced to the character of an independent nation, has
distinguished us by some token of Providential agency.
  2. The cultivation and develonment of a sentiment of profoundly intense American
feeling; of passionate attachment to our country, its history and its institutions; of
admiration for the purer days of our National existence; of veneration for the heroism
that precipitated our Revolution, and of emulation of the virtue, wisdom and patriotism
that framed our Constitution, and first successfully applied its provisions.
  3. The maintainance of the union of these United States, as the paramount political
good; or, to use the language of Washington, "the primary object of patriotic desire."
And hence-
  First. Opposition to all attempts to weaken or subvert it.
  Second. Uncompromising antagonism to every principle of policy that endangers it.
  Third. The advocacy of an equitable adjustment of all political differences which
threaten its integrity or perpetuity.
  Fourth. The suppression of all tendencies to political division, founded on " geo-
graphical discriminations, or on the belief that there is a real difference of interests
and views" between the various sections of the Union.
  Fifth. The full recognition of the rights of the several States, as expressed and re-
served in the Constitution; and a careful avoidance, by the General Government, of all
interference with their rights by legislative or executive action.
  4. Obedience to the Constitution of these United States as the snpreme law of the
land, sacredly obligatory upon all its parts and members; and steadfast resistance to
the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. Avowing
that in all doubtful or disputed points it may only be legally ascertained and expounded
by the Judicial power of the United States.
  First. A habit of reverential obedience to the laws, whether National, State, or Mu-
nicipal, until they are repealed or declared unconstitutional by the proper authority.
  Second. A tender and sacred regard for those acts of statesmanship, which are to
be contra-distinguished from acts of ordinary legislation, by the fact of their being of
the nature of compacts and agreements; and so, to be considered a fixed and settled
national policy.
  5. A radical revision and modification of the laws regulating immigration, and the
settlement of immigrants-offering the honest immigrant, who, from love of liberty or
hatred of oppression, seeks an asylum in ths United States, a friendly reception and
protection, but unqualifiedly condemning the transmission to our shores of felons and
paupers.
  6. The essential modification of the Naturalization Laws.
  The repeal by the Legislatures of the respective States, of all State laws allowing for-
eigners not naturalized to vote. The repeal, without retrospective operation, of all acts
of Congress making grants of land to unnaturalized foreigners, and allowing them to
vote in the Territories.
  7. Hostility to the corrupt means by which the leaders of party have hitherto fo reed
upon us our rulers and our political creeds.
  Implacable enmity against the present demoralizing system of rewards for political
subserviency, and of punishments for political independence.
  Disgust for the wild hunt after office which characterizes the age.
  These on the one hand. On the other-
  Imitation of the practice of the purer days of the Republic; and admiration of the
maxim that " office should seek the man, and not man the office," and of the rule that
the just mode of ascertaining fitness for office is the capability, the faithfulness, and
the honesty of the incumbent candidate.
  8. Resistance to the aggressive policy and corrupting tendencies of the Roman Cath-
olic Chnrch in our country by the advancement to all political stations-executive, leg-
islative, judicial, or diplomatic-of those only who do not hold civil allegiance, directly
or indirectly, to any foreign power, whether civil or ecclesiastical, and who are Ameri-
cans by birth, education, and training-thus fulfilling the maxim, "AmERIcANs ONLY
SHALL GOVERN AMERIOA."
  The protection of all citizens ia the legal and proper exercise of their civil and reli-
gions rights and privileges; the maintainance of the right of every man to the full, un-
restrained, and peaceful enjoyment of h s own religious opinions and worship, and a
jealous resistance of all attempts by any sect, denomination. or church, to obtain an
ascendency over any other in the State, by means of any special privilege or exemption,
by any political combination of its members, or by a division of their civil allegiance
with any foreign power, potentate, or ecclesiastic.
  U. The reformation of the character ef our National Legislature, by elevating to that


 
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dignified and responsible position men of higher qualifications, purer morals, and more
unselfish patriotism.
  10. The restriction of executive patronage-especially in the matter of appointments
to office-so far as it may be permitted by the Constitution, and consistent with the
public good.
   11. The edueation of the youth of our country in schools provided by the State;
which schools shall be,common to all, without distinction of creed or party, and free
from any influence or direction of a denominational or partisan character.
   And, inasmuch as Christianity, by the Constttutions of nearly all the States: by the
decisions of the most eminent judicial authorities, and by the consent of the people of
America, is considered an element of our political system, a