Newspaper Page Text
No. s.— Martin Van Buren in favor of
a Freehold, qualification for Negroes,
in exercising the Right of Suffrage.
The next subject in order was the com
promise reported by the committee ol'thir
teen, allowing a negro to vote, provided
he had three years’ residence in the Stale,
one year in the county, and was seized of
a freehold estate of the value of two hun
dred and fifty dollars over and above all
debts and incumbrances charged iliereon,
and shall have been actually rated and
paid a tax thereon.
Gen. Root moved that the committee rise
and report. “He hoped they would not
(it being 3 o’clock) take up the negroes on
en empty stomach.” The motion to rise
and report was lost.— Page 300.
Mr. Van Buren said he had voted against
a total and unqualified exclusion [of the ne
groes] for he would not draw a revenue
from them, and vet deny to them the right
of suffrage—but this proviso met his ap
probation, they were exempted from taxa
tion until they had qualified themselves to
vote. The right was not denied, to ex
clude anv portion of the community who
will not exercise the riuht of suffrage in its
purity. This held out inducements lo in
dustry, and will receive his support. —
Page 376.
The question was taken on allowing ne
groes to vote, as above stated, and deci
ded in the affirmative, ayes 74, noes 34,
Mr. Van Buren voting in the affirmative.
Page 378.
The subject was reported to the Conven
tion, and the question was taken on the
whole section, including provisos, &c. and
decided in the affirmative, ayes 73, noes
32, Mr. Van Buren voting in the affirma
tive.—Page 557.
The section thus adopted and made part
of the Constitution of the State of N: York,
is as follows:
“ ARTICLE SECOND.
“Sec. 1. livery male citizen, of the age
of twenty-one years, who shall have been
an inhabitant of this State one year pre
ceding any election, and for the last six
months a resident of the town or county
where he may oiler his vote; and shall
have within the year next preceding the
election, paid a tux to the State or County,
assessed upon his real or personal pro
perty ; or shall by law be exempted fro f m
taxation ; or being armed or equiped ac
cording to law, shall have performed with
in that year, military duty in the militia
of this State; or who shall be exempted
from performing military duty in conse
quence of being a fireman in any city,
town, or village in this State; and also
every male inhabitant of this State, and
for the last year a resident in the town or
county, where he may offer his vote ; and
shall have been within the last year, as
sessed to labor upon the highways, and
shall have performed the labor, or pttid an
equivalent therefor, according to law, shall
be entitled to vote in the town or ward
where he actually resides, and not else
where, for all officers that now are, or
hereafter may be, elected by the people.
But no man of color, unless he shall have
been for three years a citizen of this State,
and for one year next preceding any elec
tion, shall be seized and possessed of a
freehold estate of the value of two hundred
and fifty dollars, over and above all debts
and incumbrances charged thereon; and
shall have been actually rated, and paid a
lax thereon, shall be entitled to vote at such
election. And no person of colour shall
be subject to direct taxation, unless heshall
be seized and possessed of such real estate
as aforesaid.”
The above is a faithful and candid ab
stract of the votes and speeches of Martin
Van Buren in the New York Convention
of 1821, as reported.
Friends ol universal suffrage, what
think you o( the man that uttered the lan
guage contained in the above speeches, and
gave the votes above specified, in restric
tion of that sacred right 1 VVILL ANY
MAN LONGER DOUBT WHETHER
MARTIN VAN BUREN IS AGAINST
UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE? Will the
most rabid partizan longer deny that
MARTIN VAN BUREN ADVOCATED
AND VOTED, FOR THE RIGHT OF
THE NEGRO TO VOTE AT ELEC
TIONS.
The evidence is plain, palpable, and clear
as the light of day—read, reflect. It is
plain English. No man should have a
vote, in the opinion of Martin Van Buren,
unless he paid taxes—did militury duty,
or worked on the highway, and was a
householder. The idea of UNIVERSAL
SUFFRAGE was to him MONSTROUS !
Mark this journeymen mechanics !—at
tend to this, poor, but honest freemen of
the land ! Harken to it, ye aged remnant
of the Revolution —remember it all of yon !
No. 6 —Martin Van Buren opposed to
giving the Flection of Sheriffs to the
People.
General Root moved ns an amendment
to a section on the appointing power that
sheriffs shall be chosen by the people of
the several counties, Ac. — See Journal of
Convention, page 384.
A division having bprn called for on the
amendment of General Root, relating lo
sheriffs, the same was decided in the affir
mative, ayes 71, noes 36—MARTIN
VAN BUREN VOTING IN THE NE
GATIVE, and against giving the election
of sheriffs to the people. The amend
ment was nevertheless carried, and is now
a part of the Constitution of New York.—
See Jour, of Con. page 389.
Kendall draws a very graphic picture of
himself. Behold !
“ The propensity to lying becomes so
tyrannical and despotic, that it does not re
quite the slimulous of self-interest, for fear
or shame; but, on the contrary, indulgw
itself in- the most unbounded license,ffr/An
the mere force of habit, and in hAtb
sence of all temptation, v
From the Madisonian.
THE MODERN SEDITION LAW.
We subjoin quotations, in parallel co
lumns, from the Rules and Articles of War
to which the Executive proposes to subject
200,000 militia-men, and from the Alien
and Sedition Law of the elder Adams, so
that the reader may see at a glance how
much more tyrannical is Mr. Van Buren’s
scheme than the old sedition law of ancient
fi-deralis m:
Extract from the Extract from the
Articles of War Sedition Law, ap
which arc. to govern proved by President
the. militia when John Adams, July
trained under Presi- 14, 1794.
dent Van Buren's new
plan for organizing
them.
Art. 5. Any officer Sue. 2. And be, it
or soldier who shall further enacted, That
use contemptuous or if any person shall
disrespectful words write, print, utter, or
against the President publish, or shall cause
of the United Slates, or procure to bewri
npninst the Vice Pre- teo, printed, uttered,
sidenl thereof, against or published, or shall
the Congress or any knowingly and will
of the United States, ingly assist or aid m
in which they may be writing, printing, ut
quartered, if a com- tering, or publishing
missioned officer shall any false, scandalous,
be cashiered or pun- and malicious writing,
ished, as a court mar- or writings against
tial shall direct; if n the Government of
non-commissioned offi- the United States, or
cer or soldier, he either House of the
shall suffer such pun- Congress of the United
ishment asshail be in- States, or the I'resi
tticted on him by the dent of the United
sentence of u court. States,with the intent
martial. to defame the said
Art. 6. Any officer Government nr either
or soldier who shall House of the jaid Con
behave himself with gress, President, or
contempt or disrespect bring them into con
towards his command- tempt or disrepute, or
ing officer, shall be to excite against them
punished according to the hatred of the good
the nature of his of- people of the United
fence, -by the judg- States, or to stir up
menl of a court mar- sedition within the
tial. United Stales, or to
Art 7. Any officer excite any unlawful
or soldier who shall combinations therein,
begin, excite, cause, tor opposing or resist
or join in any mutiny mg any law of the
or sedition, in any Hatted States, or any
troop or company in act of the President of
the service of the the United States,
United States, or any chine in pursuance of
party, post, detach- any such law, or of
incut, or guard, shall the powers in him
suffer death, or such vested by the Consti
other punishment as Union of the United
by a court martial States, or to resist,
shall be inflicted. oppose, or defeat any
Art. 8. Ar.y officer, such law or act, or to
non commissioned offi- aid, encourage, or abet
cer, or soldier, who, any hostile designs of
being present at any any foreign nation a
mutiny or sedition, gainst the United
does not use his utmost States, their people.or
endeavor to suppress Government, then
the same, or coming to such person, being
the knowledge of any thereof convicted be
intended mutiny, does fore any court of the
not, without delay, United States having
give information jurisdiction thereof,
thereof to his com- shall be punished by a
manding officer, shall fine not exceeding
be punished by pun- two thousand dollars,
ished by the sentence and by imprisonment
of a court martial with not exceeding two
death, or otherwise, years,
according to the na
ture of the offence.
Art. 9. Any officer
or soldier who shall
strike his superior offi
cer, or draw or lift up
any weapon, or offer
any violence against
him being in the exe
cution of his office, on
any pretence what
ever, or shall disobey
any lawful command
of his superior officer,
shall suffer death, or
such punishment os
shall according to the
nature of his offence,
be indicted upon him
by the sentence of a
court martial.
We should never forget them. —The
only three members of Congress from the
free Slates, who sided with the South, on
the Missouri question, were Mr. Kinsley,
of New Jersey, Mr. Moore, of Pennsylvn
nia, and WILLIAM HENRY HARRI
SON, of Ohio. Their names should be
forever embalmed in the affectionate and
grateful recollections of Southern men.—
Raleigh ( N. C.) Star.
As we should expect. —The Van Buren
men in Maine, recently held a convention
in Augusta, and amongst other character
istic exhibitions, hung General Harrison
in effigy. The same party, with Ruel
Williams, now Van Buren Senator in Con
gress, at their head, on the i7th of June,
1813, while General Harrison was defend
ing our northern frontiers, burnt James
Madison in effigy in the same spot.
Colonel Richard M Johnson, now Vice Pre
sident of the United Stales, said, in Congress:
“Who is General Harrison 1 The son of one
of the signers of the Declaration of Indepen
dence, who spent the greater part of his large
fortune in redeeming the pledge he then gave,
of his ‘ fortune, life, and sucred honor,’ to se
cure the liberties of his country.
“ Os the career of General Harrison, I need
not speak : me history of the West is bis his
tory. ior forty years tie has been identified
with its interests, its perils, and its hopes.
Universally beloved in the walks of peace,
and distinguished by his ability in the coun
cils of his country, he has been yet more
illustriously distinguished in the field. Dur
ing the late war, he was longer in actual
service than any other General Officer; he
was, perhaps, oftener in action than any one
of them, and never sustained adefeat.”
Colonel M. Johnson to General Harrison,
■ July 4, 1813, says :
“ We did not want to serve under cowards
or traitors; but under one [Harrison] who had
proved himselflo be wise, prudent, and brave.”
From the Macon Messenger.
HARRISON CONVENTION.
Macon, Thursday, June 13,1840.
In pursuance of the Resolution adopted
by the Anti-Van Buren Convention, as
sembled at Milledgeville, in June last, res
ponsive to the call made by the Tippeca
noe Club of Macon, a Convention of the
People opposed lo the re-election of Marlin
Van Buren to the Presidency, assembled
in this city on ‘Thursday, the 13th instant.
The several delegations having been as
sembled, the assembly was called to order
7iy General Elias Beall, President of the
Bibb County Tippecanoe Club. After
Prayer, by the Rev. George F. Pierce, in
voking the special guidance ofDivine Wis
dom in the harmonious and concerted ac
tion of the Convention ; upon motion of
Colonel William B. .Parker, the Honora
ble John McPherson Berrien was unani
mously chosen President of the Conven
tion : the surviving Patriots of the Revo
lution then present were elected Vice-Pres
idents, and John H. Steele, Thomas N.
Beall, John J. Gresham, Samuel M. Strong
and Samuel R. Blake, Esqrs. were ap
. pointed Secretaries.
The President, in assuming the duties
assigned him, tendered his acknowledge
ments to the Convention, and after adver
ting to the Resolution of the June Conven
tion, and detailing the evil and corrupt
action of the present Administration, in
troduced to the attention of the Convention
the Hon. William C. Preston, of South-
Carolina. Mr. Preston rose antid the ac
clamation of the Convention, and tender
ed his acknowledgements for the notice
which had been taken of him, and made a
review of the leading corrupt measures of
the Administration.
The marshals then reported to the Sec
retaries the several Delegations. After
which the Convention adjourned until 10
o'clock to-morrow.
Friday Morning, June 14—10 o’clock.
The Convention met pursuant to ad
journment.
Absalom H. Chappell, Esq. of Bibb, in
troduced the following Preamble and Res
olutions :
The People of Georgia, opposed to the
corruptions and misrule of the Administra
tion of Martin Van Buren, and friendly to
the election of WILLIAM HENRY HAR
RISON to the Presidency, and of JOHN
TYLER teethe Vice-Presidency of the U
nited States, having come together, in Ma
con, from all quarters of the State, in a
Convention unprecedented in the vastness
of the assemblage, and the patriotic en
thusiasm by which it has been character
ised, cannot separate for the purpose of
returning to their widely dispersed homes
without sending forth to their fellow-citi
zens of their own State, and of the whole
Union, their ardent congratulations on the
triumphant prospects which surround them
in the great struggle in which they are en
gaged.
They view that struggle us one, the is
sue of which will be decisive of the desti
nies of their country. A President of the
United States, who is indebted for his el
evation to thp first office in this free and
mighty confederacy—not to the high esti
mation in which his character, qualifica
tion, and public services, were held by
his countrymen, but to the sycophantic
arts by which he ingratiated himself with
his immediate predecessor, and led that
predecessor to exert the whole power and
patronage of the Government for his ad
vancement —seeks a re-election at the
hands of the American People. Without
having repented of the deep original sin of
Executive dictation, by which he was
brought into office, but pertinaciously
clinging to it, and practising it; without
having done aught during his administra
tion to make amends for the unworthy
manner in which he gained the Presiden
tial chair, but having done every thing
thtit could cause his administration to be
felt, not less as a curse than his election
had been a stain on the country, he comes
before the People for the renewal of his
grossly abused lease of power—relying on
no means of success but the utter and
shameless prostitution of that power to his
own rejection. If he shall be permitted
to triumph in the effort he is thus making,
it will have become a settled point in the
actual working of our political system, that
a President of the United States may con
trol and dictate the choice of his successor,
and that such successor, when thus inves
ted with office, will be strong enough to
secure his continuance there for a second
term, in despite of all objections growing
out of the most grievous misrule and con
sequent public detriment. When such a
principle shall once be practically establish
ed—as it most certainly will be by the re
election of Martin Van Buren—our Gov
ernment will have lost all of Republican
ism but the forms and corruptions, and
lack nothing of Despotism but the trap
ings and title. For, if Mr. Van Buren be
re-elected, will not the power and patron
age oft he Government, in his tyinds, be
as effective, for all purposes of dictating
the appointment of his successor, as they
have been found to be in bringing about,
first, his own election, and then, his re-e
----lection ? And when Mr. Benton, or Mr.
Buchanan, or some other such Party fa
vorite shall aspire, in his tun, to the
Chief Magistracy, what grount of hope
can we have that the same engine of presi
dential power and influence which have
forced such a man as Martin Vtn Buren
on the country, will not be potent enough
to elevate a Benton, a Buchanan, or even
an Amos Kendall / as his successor 7
When to this unanswerable ground of
objection to Mr. Van Buren's re-election,
we add, the manifest design and tendency
of his whole policy, measures and recom
mendations, to augment the already over
grown power of the Federal Executive, by
fresh and fearful accessions ; when we re
collect that his predecessor, in whose foot
steps he is pledged to follow, broke down
the independence of the Senate of the Uni
ted States, by and with his concurrence
and co-operation—and that he himself has
instigated and abetted his Party in subju
gating the House of Representatives to his
will, even though that subjugation hud to
be effected at the cost of the disfranchise
ment of a Sovereign State of the Union ;
when we reflect that his vast band of office
, holders is selected with a controlling re
gard to mere Party devot'on and Party ef
ficiency, and are trained to know no rule
of action but subserviency to the Execu
tive will; when, lo all these things, we
further add the alarming fact, that he has
at last succeeded, after years of systemat
ic struggle, in causing the Purse-strings of
the Nation to be placed in his hands, by
i Congressional enactment, arid that he now
reigns supieme in the collection, custody
and disbursement of the moneys; when,
from these his actual measures, we turn to
his recommendations, and behold him call
ing on Congress to place the Banking In
stitutions of the States at his mercy, by a
Bankrupt Law of which they may be made
the compulsory victims—calling, moreo
ver, for anew and unconstitutional or
ganization of the Militia system which
would be tantamount to placing a Standing
military force 0f200,000 men at his dispo
sal, it cannot be doubted that our Repub
lican Institutions are, at this moment,
struggling in the very crisis of their desti
ny, and that, if the power which now wars
against them, shall triumph in the existing
• contest for the Presidency, it will be ren
dered by the victors too strong even to be
afterwards successfully resisted by the
People.
In this pursuit of new acquisitions of
power, the Federal Executive has not hesi
tated to override and trample in the dust
all the great interests of the country. The
seizure of the money-power has been con
summated by a series of measures which
have brought disaster, derangement and
ruin on the currency, the commerce—the
whole pecuniary prosperity of the People.
They have been reduced to embarrassment
and comparative poverty by a policy
whose only merits are its tendency to
strengthen the Executive arm, and to en
rich monied men and salaried office hold
ers.
Whilst the People have been thus cur
tailed in their resources of wealth and in
come, and subjected to a progressive but
sure impoverishment, that same Federal
Administration, headed, by Martin Van
Buren from which have emanated so ma
ny professions of economy, has signalised
itself by the extravagance of its expendi
tures, and the profligate waste of the pub
lic Treasure. It has carried up the annu
al expenditures of the Government to an
average of thirty-seven millions of dol
lars—more than double what was known
under the ten preceding Administrations;
and we now behold the anomaly of a Bank
rupt Administration sustaining itself by
yearly issue of its own notes, and yet
vaunting itself on the establishment of a
system which makes money trebly scarce
and difficult to be obtained.
When we look through the long politi
cal life of Mr. Van Buren, we find nothing
to relieve the dismal prospect which a re
view of his Administration spreads out be
fore the eye. In all the great and charac
teristic acts of his public life, we find him
against the South and that Republican
Patty to which he professes devotion. In
the outset of his political career at the com
mencement ofthe War with Great Britain,
in 1812, we behold him as a qipm'ip- of
the New York Legislature voting for De
Witt Clinton, the Federal candidate, for
the Presidency, in opposition to Mr. Mad
ison, the candidate ofthe Republican par
ty, and of the entire South. In 1820, as
a member of the same Legislature, we find
him entering into a political coalition with
Rufus King; the then head and leader of
the Federal party of the Union, by which
Mr. King was that year elected to the Sen
ate ofthe United States, and by which, al
so, Mr. Van Buren was himself elected as
his colleage in the same body, the ensuing
year. In 1820, also, he gave his support
to the celebrated Missouri restriction, by
voting instructions to that effect to the Sen
ators and Representatives of New Y'ork in
Congress. In 1821, as a member of the
Convention which framed the present Con
stitution of New York, he supported the
principle of allowing to free Negroes the
right of suffrage. In 1822, as a Senator
in Congress, he voted for the restriction of
Slavery in Florida. In 1824, he suppor
ted thoroughly the high Protective Tariff
of that year. In 1828, he voted for the
celebratedTariffLaw.well known through
out the South by the just and emphatic
name of the Bill of Abominations. In 1826
he voted for the erection of Federal Toll
gates on the Cumberland Road, and after
wards, during General Jackson’s Admin
istration, he subscribed to his doctrine that
works of Internal Improvement by the
General Government were constitutional,
when of National utility; and that the
President, in the exercise of the Veto pow
er, was to determine for himself, over the
head of Congress, the question of their na
tionality. Thus not taking the power out
of the hands of the Federal Government,
but merely shifting it from Congress to the
President. As Secretary of State, under
General Jackson, he compromised the
honor of his Country in his negotiations
with a great Foreign power, by availing
himself of an argument druwn from the
party divisions of our own People, and the
triumph ofthe party to which the then
President belonged.
It is needless to extend further the de
tail of the grounds of objection which Mr.
Van Buren’s political life, and Presiden
tial Administration, so abundantly furnish
against him. Enough has been presented
to show that in whatever view we contem
plate the subject, all things call aloud for
a change of the measures and policy of the
Government, and of the man at the head
of the Government.
That change, so vitally important to the
country, can only be brought about by the
election of WILLIAM HENRY HARRI
SON, to the Presidency of the United
Slates. His public life and character,
from early vouth to the present hour, are
familiar to his countrymen, and they give
assurance abundant and indubitable that
such a change as his elevation to the Chief
Magistracy would bring, would be in ac
cordance with the most enlightened con
viction of public opinion, and promotive of
thp redemption of the country from the
misrule, corruption, and distresses under
which it now so grievously labors. The
confidence of a Washington, of a Jeffer
son, and n Madison—his able, successful
and well-approved conduct in all the great
and responsible stations, in Peace and in
War, which he filled for more than thirty
years—are vouchers irrefutable ol his pa
triotism, his integrity, and capacity.
The People of Georgia, opposed to the
present Administration, have made him
the man of their choice; and will spare no
efforts, becoming freemen and patriots, to
advance his election.
Resolved, therefore, That it be recom
mended to the citizens of Georgia to lay
aside, in the present alarming emergency
of the Country, all pre-existing Parly di
visions and to come to the examination ol
the issues involved in the existing contest,
with minds unbiassed, unprejudiced, and
determined to consult no end but their
Country’s good, and its deliverance from
the mal-administration and misery with
which it is now overwhelmed.
Resolved, That the People he recom
mended to hold meetings in their respec
tive counties, neighborhoods and districts,
for the purpose of diffusing a full and cor
rect knowledge of the true character and
merits of the pending contest, and of pro
moting the election ofGeneral WILLIAM
HENRY 7 HARRISON to the Presidency,
and of JOHN TYLER lo the Vice-Presi
dency, of the United States.
The question being upon the adoption of
the Preamble and Resolutions, Robert A.
Toombs, Esq. of Wilkes, offered the fol
lowing amendment which was carried by
acclamation :
Resolved by this Convention, That
while we, as State Rights Republicans
must ever repudiate and condemn the prin
ciples embraced in the Proclamation and
Force Bill, yet we feel ourselves called
upon as Patriots to forego our peculiar o
pinions of the means to secure the great
ends of State Rights, popular liberty, an
honest administration of the Government
of the People, and a cordial invitation to
our countrymen ofthe Union Party to u
nite with us in the deliverance of our com
mon country from the hands of “the spoil
ers.” In this great struggle, we proclaim
to the world that we stand upon the great
platform of Popular Rights, which is wide
enough, and long enough and strong en
ough for every friend of his Country to
stand upon, without any sacrifice except
Party to Country !
The question then being upon the adop
tion of the Resolutions, with the amend
ment, the Hon. C. B. Strong, of Bibb, in
troduced the following additional amend
ment, which was by unanimous vole su
perndded to the main resolution :
Resolved, That this Convention of th,e
People approve of the able and patriotic
conduct ofthe faithful six of our Represen
tatives in Congress, to wit : Alford, Daw
son, Habersham, Nisbet, King and War
ren; and will support them, with Foster,
Gamble and Merriwelher, and use all hon
orable means to promote theire'lection.
The Resolution, with its amendments,
was advocated by Andrew J. Miller, Esq.
of Richmond, William Law, Esq. of Chat
ham, Robert A. Toombs, Esq. of Wilkes,
and Henry W. Hilliard, Esq. of Mont
gomery Ala.
The question then recurring upon thea
mended Resolutions, it was unanimously
adopted.
The following resolution was introduc
ed by E. Bird, ofDeKalb :
Resolved, That this Convention approve
of the Ticket nominated at Milledgeville,
in June last, for Electors of President and
Vice President, and will support the same
by every honest exertion in their power.
The question being taken upon the adop
tion ofthe resolution, it was adopted nem.
con.
Mr. Lyman Beecher, of Wetumpka,
Alabama, was presented, by the President
to the Convention, as a delegate from the
“ Tippecanoe Club of Wetumpka.” Mr.
8., after making his acknowledgements,
and tendering to the Convention the assur
ances ofthe Club, whose views he repre
sented, of their united and untiring co-op
eratioli, was conducted to a seat among
the members.
S. T. Beecher, Esq., of Baldwin, intro
duced the following resolution, which was
adopted :
Resolved, That the proceedings of this
Convention be signed by the President and
Secretaries', and that Editors friendly to
the great principles of Reform in the Ad
ministration of the Government be reques
ted to give publicity to the same, through
the medium of their papers.
On motion of A. J. Miller, Esq. of Rich
mond, it was
Resolved, That the thanks of this Con
vention be tendered to the Tippecanoe
Club of Macon for their kindness and at
tention to the members ofthe Convention,
and to the citizens of Macon generally for
the hospitality of their entertainment.
On motion of Hon. C. B. Strong, of
Bibb, it was unanimously
Resolved, That the thanks of this Con
vention are due, and are now tendered, to
the Hon. J. McPherson Berrien for the
dignified ability with which he has presid
ed over its deliberations.
On motion of A. H. Chappell, Esq., of
Bibb, a Resolution of thanks to the Sec
retaries, for their attention and efficiency
in the discharge of their duties, was sub
mitted and adopted.
The President then addressed the Con
vention, commending its deliberations, to
gether with the consequent action of its in
dividual members, to the guidance and su
pervision ofDivine Benignity ; after which 1
Prayer was made by the Rev. Jonathan’
Davis, of Lee, and the President then ad
journed the Convention sine die.
j. McPherson berrien, Pres’t.
J. 11. Steele, “|
Thomas N. Beall,
John J. Gresham, J- Secretaries,
Samuel M. Strong, I
Samuel R. Blake, J
™ T 1 L_! 5559
_news and Gazette.
principles and men.
WASHINGTON, GEO.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1840.
Introductory.
We to-day present to the public the first
number of the “News & Planters’ Gazette”
united, and we will proceed todefine to our
readers the course we intend to pursue,
more fully than could be done in the nar
row limits of a prospectus.
Conceiving that the Stale Rights doc
trines are those of true democracy, and of
the patriots and statesmen who contended
in former days for our liberties ; that these
are the doctrines which should govern the
people and their public servants at all times,
we shall in our advocacy of measures ear
nestly endeavor to promote those which
seem to us dictated by those principles ; in
our support of men we shall choose those
who give the surest promise of abiding by
the State Rights tenets.
Following this course, we have already
made a choice between the two prominent
candidates for the chief magistracy of this
great republic. Martin Van Buren has
been tried and found wanting, he is now
known to be faithless and incompetent, we
unhesitatingly have rejected him and shall
give our feeble support to his competitor
Gen. William Henry Harrison, who has
given a good pledge of his devotion to his
country by having fought for it, who
from his youth up, having been in con
stant intercourse with the patriots of the
revolution has imbibed the sentiments of
their political school and whose honest,
plain and upright course, would do honor
to his ancient colleagues.
In our support of these measures and
men, we shall endeavor to treat our oppo
nents with that courtesy due to a party
numbering in its ranks many respectable
members, who, though they differ from us
in opinion still may do so in nil sincerity,
we war not with them as individuals, for
we nre proud to call and to believe many
of them our personal friends, but we wage
uncompromising hostility against them as
politicians; against their leaders and their
principles. We intend so to conduct our
selves that it may be said :
“ No levelled malice
Infects one comma of the course we hold.”
We retain, however, to ourselves the right
of doing by others as they do by us, if we
are reviled we shall most certainly, if we I
think it proper, revile again.
When the fierce political contest now ra
ging shall be finished, we shall appropri
ate a much more of our space to literary
and agricultural news, in which last de
partment we have been promised the as- I
sistance of gentlemen much better acquain
ted than ourselves with the subject. Wo
exchange with most of the Southern agri
cultural Journals and shall be able to make
from them selections suitable and interest
ing to the Planter.
As we have incurred heavy pecuniary
responsibilities and have undertaken this
paper with the determination of'making it’
deserve the patronage of the public, we