b-C"

1 ar

HASZA it ll’?-

(E \ '

lb, AUGl'ST 6.

Till‘. THREE GREAT PARTIES IN THE UNITED STATES.

We have for some time been looking in the American papers for some plain statement ofthe ‘‘platform'’ of the several candidates for the Presidency, which would give out- siders a clear view of partyobjects in the United States. VVe confess, with al humi- lity our ignorance of many of the grounds of the coming struggle for the Presidency; and though we have tried hard to master the mysteries of“ Doughfaees,” and “ Ra- dical Democrats,” “Locofocos,” and sun- dry other euphonious appellatioiis, we own with sliatne our utter inability to penetrate the undoubtedly sublime inystei-ionsncss of lliese terms. We preferred, therefore, to wait the advent of some reasonable being in the United States, who would comic- scend to remember that, there are those outside the Union who desire to know something of the candidates for the Presi- dency, and rxliiit these gentlemen are ex- pected liy their Supporters to do when the‘ prize is gain--<l. The Boston Journal com-'s' to our relief, and in a sensible way tells us of the “ Three l’latforms.” or the Three Political Parties, who are contesting the

field to secure the administration of the United Stati-s (iovernment, and to shape. the policy ofthat country for the next four years. The Journal says:—

“ Although a rigid adherence to n parti-l culnr line of policy, as enunciated by a poli-~ tical convention, ought not to be expectetl ofa chief magistrate, yet whoever is elec- ted Prcsident may be expected to adopt the general principles of the platform of his party as a guide to the general policy of his administration. In the case of Mr. Buchanan, it is well known that he has gone so far as to sink his own individuality in the platform ofhis party. Col. Fremont has expressed his in-arty approval of the main principles of the Republican phitform, and Mr. Fillmore hns, without solicitation, endorsed the leading principles ofthe Ame- rican platform.

“The three platfoi-in.~:, therefore, chal- lenge comparison, and it is properthat tho should be widely circulated and carctiilly examined. The most striking point of dil- ference in these three platforms is, of course, to be found, upon the question of slavery, that great and absorbing question which is second in importance to no other, except perhaps, the more general one of establishing a radical reform in the admi- nistration of the government. Upon this great issue, the position ofthe three parties may be brieﬂy contrasted as follows:— The Republican platform maintains that Kansas should be immediately admitted as a State into the Union; that Congress has the power. and should prohibit slavery in the territories; that slavery cannot exist under the Federal Constitution; and that citizens of Kansas should be protected in their lives, liberty and property. The De- mocrotic platform, on the other hand, maintains that Congress should not inter- fern with slavery in State or territory, or in the District of Columbia, and that the ter- ritoricr should be admitted as States ‘ with or without domestic slavery, as the run elect.’ The American platform takes the some ground. It affirms the ‘right of the native-born and naturalized citizens of the

United States, permanently residing in any

territory thereof, to frame their constitution and lawn, and to regulate their domestic and social atfniro in their own mode.’ '

“ There are other points of diﬂbrence of

u very i rtnnt character in the three plat- forms. he Republican platform denoun- ce! in

indi cant terms that ﬁlbuetoring api- ' has found on oﬂicial exponent in the noted Octend manifesto. o resolu- tion containing this denunciation may be

ed as n rebuke to all those schemes for the acquisition of Cuba, Central Ameri- ca, Moxico, the Sandwich Islands, lte., the‘ indirect encouragement of which by the present administration has caused com- plaint, and aroused the jcaloqgy of forei in nation. o Democratic pla cm, on t e other hand, directly cym‘ thinoe with the ﬁlbumor proceedings of nlkcr in N icon-

guu, and declares in favor of ‘ every prgielil-_, U 5

otfort to insure our ucendoncy in the ! of Mexico,’ or in other wordl. to add to, our territory l and _cbotit that Gulf. The I American platform II silent upon ‘the lil-,

bustering question,’ which, involving as it’

oes, the national honor and good faith, and even the issue of peace or war, is cer- tainly of momentous importance to the inte- rests of the country.

“The Republican plntform declares in favor of immediate and effective govern- ment aid for a railroad to the Paciﬁc. 'I‘he Democratic platform embraces a very non- committal plank, which may or may not have reference to It Pacilic railroad. lt de- clares it to be the duty of the federal go- vernment, as far as the constitution will permit, to aid in the construction of a safe overland route between the Atlantic and Paciﬁc coasts. The American platform is silent, also, upon this subject. The esta- blislnncnt of a railroad to the Paciﬁc is alleged to be necessary for the develope- inent of the resources and trade of the conntry; for its defence ag-'iinst foreign nemies and to prevent that separation and

e discordatice ofinterests which may lead at

lsome future titne to the succession of the

Paciﬁc States and the estaihlisliiiicnt of a rival Republic on the western border. It is therefore, a great practical qusstion.

“The Republican platform boldly grasps the question of polygamy in Utah. The past and present ndministrntii ns have loin- p0l'lZt‘(l with this foul iniquity, and with the (lemorulizing practice ofthe '.\l-muons. By the doctrine of non-interference with the local government of the territorius—the doctrine of popular sovereignty --the De- mocratic party are pledged to admit Utah into the Union with all her anti-Republican demoralizing, uncivilizud and anti-christian institutions. f Congress has no right to refuse admission to a territory which liar- bors slavery, it certainly, by the some pro-

HASZARD'8 GAZETTE.

W aim... August 9, 1856.

Tue making, of laws and their interpretation when made. are by some people supposed to be among the things easiest ofncquisition. Ex 5- rienced Jud es and well-trained lawyers nd great dillicu ty sometimes in ascertaining the

recise meaning ofthe words of an Act of Par- liament; not so the Editor of a Newspaper, or a Justice of the Peace 2 they,howevcr little their previous studies may have qualiﬁed them for the task, ronounee at once and without doubt or hesitation, that such and so is the clear and obvious intention of the legislator. It most commonly hiip ens, that those who pronounce‘ judgment so 0 -handedly and so positively, are l'ound on more deliberate views of the case by skilful and cautious minds, to be greatly in the wrong. it does seem strange, that a son- teiicc carefully drawn u and intended to ex- press the precise intentions of those framing the law, should prescribe to the mind of one man \vho reads it one line of action as neces- sary to he lollowed, and to that of another is materially different one; yet, such is the case in the ninth clause of tho “ Act to incorporate the Town ofCharlottetown.” We may remiso that in the engrossing of an Act of Par lament, no stop or punctuation of any kind is allowed ; every one, therefore, divides the sentence ac- cording to his own idea of the graiuniiiticnl con- struction proper to be followed. The clause

is as follows .

IX. 'l'lie Mayor and Councillors of the said City of Chiirloitetoirn, at the periods hereinafter appoint- ed, slmll be chosen by the majority of votes of such persons only as shall be qualiﬁed in the terms of this Act. as hereiuhefuro prescribed. Pioiided al- ways. that when and so soon as any rate or rates, nssossinent or assessnients, shall be made by an under the authority of this Act. no inhnbitiint of the said City shall be entitled to vote at the election of. Mayor or Councillors mt aforesaid, unless he shall‘ have been rated to. and in respect of, the rates or ' as aforesaid ; and shall have paid

C-

cess of reasoning, has no right to close the door ofthe Union against it territory which tolerates polygamy. The ground is dis- tinctly assumed in the American platform, which declai-«rs that the citizens of the ter- ritories havo the right to regulate their do- mestic and i-1-rial allliirs in their own mode, subject only to the provisions ofthe federal Constitution, with the privilege of admission into the Union whenever they have the requisite population for one ,reprcsentative in Congress.”

The Journal very rightly adds, that “ the monstrous iniquity of polvgainy, is even more disgraceful to the nation than the to- leration of domestic slavery."

“ Another point in the Republican creed which is peculiar to that platform is its as- sertion of the VVhig doctrine of the consti- tutionality and expediency ofappropriations by Congress for the improvement of rivers and harbors. Against this power the Democratic party is expressly committed by its platform and past action ; and upon this subject, which has attracted H large share of attention of late years, the American platform is silent.”

There is one point, however, in which all parties or “ platforms” agree, and that is the preservation of the Union. Each seen a different way of accomplishing this patriotic object, and each party urges its views with a strength and uncompromising vigor, which seems to those who are look- ing on, to be more like a disruption than a preservation of Unity.

Without any violent prejudices nguinlt t c South on account ofthe “ peculiar in- stitution,” our sympathies are with the party which determines to prevent the ex- tension of slavery, which we look upon or an institution curred in itself and calculated to weaken the love of liberty in the white populction.—JVur Bnctewick Courier.

.:——¢—j

Occupation is the safest thing for man. Those who wot a are less open to temptation, and llkely to be overcome by trouble than others.

A wretched creature has been arrested ,

for declaring that the kiss of a printer's devil would be very likely to prove a night-mare; that is, an lnliy-bur.-—Did you ever!

A young lady was accosted by a clergyman in a lane when going to the

church, who asked her, why she did not go across the fields : which she replied, “They are too rtile-irh for me."

Why in marriage like truth? Because:

all his rater and l.lS98cll'|lI?llll which fall due one inonih before Ilia time of such election, of which payment the evidence shall be the receipt of the City 'l'rens.irer, produced at the time of voting, and then lodged with the Returning Ollicer at any such election. , The llrst period of the clause is suliiciently plain, and refers to the preceding ﬁfth clause, the provisions of which we will pass by for the present. We then come to the proviso, which is also, we confess, sufficiently precise as to one-

bona tide owner of the freehold of one whole Town Lot. Common Lot, Water Lot; or the bong (id. owner of a piece of ground of the yearly value or live pounds; or the bone lids owner of the freehold ofa Dwelli llouae, part of I Dwelling lloure, Store, Ware ouse, Oﬂice; or Shop, of the yearly value of five pounds ; or who shall be in the tenancy. or occupancy ofa Town Lot, Common Lot, Water l.ot, or piece efground, Dwelling House, pan or n Dwelling House, Shop, or Warehouse of the annual rent of ﬁve pounds, payable quarterly, half yearly, or yearly. and no other pelhon shall be entitled to vote at said Elections for such Mayor and Council- men in the raid Wards respoctiv y.

See. 14 is as follows :- “Perroul entitled to vote at the election ofn Mayor or Councillors as aforesaid, shall and may

vote in any and every Ward in which they may be respectively qualiﬁed.” _

The Recorder stated to the Council, that n diﬂlculty might arise at the polling ac to “ the production of the receipt,” that it might and would happen. that ii. person duly qualified in ever Ward of the City. might wish to exercise his ranchise in every Ward, but that, after having deposited his receipt for the payment of the taxes at the place where he was first polled, it would be impossible for him to exer- cise the right given to him by law, if every other Returning ollicer had the power of refu- sing his vote upon non-presentation of the re- ceipt already lodged, and suggested, that the lieturning Ullicer with whom the receipt was tirst lodged. should give a short receipt to that etleet. This was vohcinentl_, opposed by Coun- cillors Davies, Barnard and Mclsuac, on the ground that the Actintended that none but those who paid roperty rates and assessments in the diﬂerent V nrds, were entitled to vote in these Wards. for instance-

A, residing in ward 1 and of course paying his assessment there, owns a freehold estate in wards 2 and 3 tenant:-d by voters who pay rates and assessment by virtue of their occupations there for which they obtain receipts also. A has voted in ward l and wishes to vote in ward 2. On coming to the hustings he states his name and qualilicsotion its the bonaﬁdc owner of the freehold of a dwelling house, which he is willing to swear to ; he is then asked whether he has paid his rates and assessments due one month previous to the election? which question he answers in the aﬂirmative, and that he has in compliance with the law lodged the receipt with the returning ollicer in war , now comes the

uestion,thas A a right to vote in ward 2? The ecorder says he has, and gives the following among other reasons for his decision ; when a

point, viz., that the voter must have paid all " rates and assessments previously to the time of of the election, but when? at any time previous- l , or one month previously to such election ? Now, part of the proviso may be read in two different ways, as will be seen by the dillerent adaptations ofthe punctuation :—“ And shall “ have paid all his rates and assessments which “ fall due, one month before the time of such “ election." Ifread with the comma after the word “ due," the sense is, that the rates must be paid one month before the time of the ,elec- 'on. “ And shall have paid all his rates and “ assessments, which fall due one month before " the time of such election,” placing the comma nfter “ arsessnicnts,” the sentence is made to import. that ifthe rates, &c., which are due one month before the election are aid, it will be cuﬂioient. no matter what the etc of the receipt mi ht be. Nor are these lawyers’ quibbles. The order gave his opinion of the law nccordiug to the first of these readings. and no objection was taken to it,although made pal-l‘o until the evening before the election. It had appeared to him, that the intention of the low was to enforce the payment of the rates and assessments at a certain day, I0 that there should be no hurry or running to the Treasurer when the day of the election approached, which would be productive at any rate of inconveni- en , rhapr fraud. It in fact. struck him to be the obvious reason of the low, and he sought no further. When, however, it was stated, that the words were susceptible of another interprohtion. conceived it his duty, Into an it was. to give it due consideration, the result was, the abandonment of his former o inion, not because it was erroneous in prin- ciple. but for the reason, that no the proviso was restrictive of the rl ht of the citizen or ree- hie elective franc ice. the words of res-

lut lhould have a strict interpretation, and where in rnctico. one mode of construction might do ve o number of oitirune of the w- or of exertin their privilo of voting, a the other allow t on the on so of it, be conceived t to be his duty, and the safest plan, to adopt, that which would best promote that freedom of election which in the constitutional right of the subject and citison. But the diﬁeultier in the construction of this particular clnuco do not end here. It alludes, on me be soon, to cer- tain qualiﬁcations of voters w ich are described in sec. 5 : _ " All the male inhabitants of the ego of meat - one years and upwards, who shall have resided in the said City for at least one year then next preced- and being British subjects, and each ol whom

I H G-

‘ ‘ ‘— gives a right or privilege in express terms such as is given b the 14th section above quoted, it given every fncilit for the exercise of one right, nor can it lie curbed or re- strained except by terms to the full, as express as those by which it is iven. The l4t.h section says "that persons entitled to vote" ; now one of the titles to vote is “being the bone jide owner of the freehold of a dwelling house"; so of that there can be no dispute. Before however he can be admitted to vote, he must be rated and assessed, and must have paid all in‘: rates and assessments. _

It was the Recorder's opinioifthat the words of the clause have a. decided relation to the person of the voter and not to the ro rt which is the subject matter of his qua iﬁeation “Unleash: shall have been rated, and shall have aid In": rates" are the words of the statute, the personal pronoun alone being used without any quali tion. Had the framers of the statute intended, that the receipt should be for the meat of the rates imposed upon the freehol , it would have so stated it, either in the 9th or the 14th section.

It was in the power of the City Council to have rated and uueue the owners or well or the occupants, and in such care the owner would have had a receipt to produce but ‘it has not done ro,and therefore on it was impor- rible for the owner to produce a receipt for the payment ofc tax which was never imposed, it would he the extreme of injustice to deprive him of the right ufvoting given him by the Mth section of the net. It was also in the power of the City Council to have levied the nucle- ‘IIIOIICI on personal estate only ; then every man would have had but one receipt. and ownership »or occupancy of land or houses would have been of none avail to enable the owner or occu- cnt to a receipt, and in such care would the owner of the freehold be deposed of his fran- chine use real property was not taxed!

The true meanin oft e Act, acid the Recor- der wor that none ut those who had paid their rates should vote, and the evidence of that payment should be the reduction of the re- eeipt, and that, once p need and leﬂ with the returning oﬂoer satisﬁed the at city of the not which is, that the proper oeumonmry evidence of the payment of rates &c., should be left in a place rota whence in the event of n scrutiny or o ueltlon it might be p . The law oompe I no men to perform an In: ri- bility and he could no more produce and od

the some reoel t at ﬁve dilferent llin places than he could ave appeared on vo at the some laoel at the some lnehnt. The Recorder

there ore. in the instructions to the returning

tie a certain-tie.

l.h'Ill actaall and within the Ward f0! which he ohnll vote, t on be. and for Two months previously dull have been, actually and in his own right the

ollioors, directed them when such a can occur- red, to take the vote. and morkifon the poll