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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

ADDRESS

or THE

PEOPLE'S CLUB OF PHILADELPHIA,

IN FAVOR OF

GEN. SIMON CAMERON

FOR THE NEXT

PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES.

PHILADELPHIA! 1859.

ADDRESS

To THE -People of the United States, who are opposed to the
Principles and Policy op the National Administration, and
IN favor op the Election of a Chief Magistrate of the Union,
in 1860, who will inaugurate a truly American Republican
System in the administration op the Government.
By a resolution adopted hy the People's Club of Philadelphia, which has
been organized to promote the nomination of Gen. Simon Cameron, of
Pennsylvania, as the People's Candidate for the next Presidency, it has been
made the duty of the undersigned, the Executive Committee of said Club,
to address you on the subject. While in the performance of this duty,
their preference for the distinguished Statesman, proceeding from an earn
est conviction of his ability to administer the government to the satisfaction
of the people, as well as of his availability to ensure success at the balloU
box, shall be ardently urged upon the favorable consideration of their fellow
citizens, it forms no part of their purpose to give utterance to anything
prejudicial to other distinguished statesmen whose names have been men
tioned as candidates, or that may wound the feelings, or can justly cause
offence to any of their friends and supporters.
The primary design of the People's Club has already been indicated.
Those who belong to it believe that the nomination of Gen. Cameron would
ensure certain success ; and so believing, they felt it to be their imperative
duty, thus to organize, and thereby produce discussion and beget a spirit of
inquiry. If successful in elicitinn; expressions of public opinion, aud de
veloping public sentiment, they will have accomplish >i their object, and do
not fear the result. Well assured of the high administrative capacity of
their choice, and confident of" his eminent availability as a candidate, they
do not fear public discussion of his claims upon the consideration of those
who desire success, both at the polls and in the administration of the govern
ment afterwards. They, on the contrary, invite such a scrutiny and discus
sion, and desire to consult the views, and feelings, and wishes of the great
mass of their fellow countrymen, who are opposed to the present adminis
tration, and desire a change to be effected at the next election.
A nomination so brought about, and whioh will be emphatically the
result of the popular will, can not fail to be the proper one to lead to
victory. Any other course, having reliance only on the machinery of
party, and looking to the discipline of party-drill sergeants for success, in
utter disregard of the views and feelings of the conflicting elements into

2 address.
whioh the great mass of people, whose united support is necessary, are divided,
can not result otherwise than in defeat.
In Pennsylvania, the bond which unites the People's Party on a common
platform of principles, and in a common- cause of opposition to those in
power in the Federal Government, is firm and strong, and will prove itself
enduring, if not weakened or destroyed by misguided and uninformed
councils elsewhere. Our strength here is in union. United action has
secured us two successive victories in the State, and will as certainly obtain
for us in the future what it has accomplished in the past. But, should any
portion of the People's Party, influenced by the action of their distinctive
organization in other States, be disposed to act under opposite impressions,
which, happily, is not likely to be the case with many, if any, those
having a knowledge of the real condition of things in the State, will not
deem us rash in saying, that defeat would inevitably follow such act. To
be successful at the next Presidential election, it seems to be conceded by
all, the electoral vote of this State must be secured ; and it, we are per
suaded, can only be secured by maintaining the integrity of the People's
Party. We hold, therefore,»that but one candidate for the Presidency
should be in the field against the Democratic nominee, and that he should
be the nominee of no distinctive organization, but of the united action of all
branches of the opposition to the Democratic Party of the country. Such
action, we know full well, can only be obtained by a spirit of conciliation
and forbearance. Difficult it may be, but it has been attained in this State,
and glorious results have been reaped from it. What has been accomplished
here may be throughout the Union, by the same sacrifice of partisan feelings
and prejudices on the altar of the public good.
To nominate a candidate, who can unite the whole opposition into one
harmonious organization throughout the country, and command its support,
we know, is no easy task. We take pleasure in the assurance, however,
derived from our knowledge of his ability to do this in our own State, that ¦
the choice already indicated is pre-eminently adapted to become the same
grand rallying point of the opposition throughout the country. We pre
sent, therefore, to the respectful consideration of our political brethren in
other States, the name of Gen. Simon Cameron, as the man certain of suc
cess in this State, and as, in our opinion, the most available to ensure suc
cess in the Union, In doing this, we present, likewise, a brief record of
his private and public career, his opinions on public measures, speeches,
votes, &c.; and we do so, with the confident belief that it need be but
impartially examined to secure for him ardent friends and supporters every
where, more especially among the laboring men of the country, from among
whom he has elevated himself to his present high position, and of whose
interests he is one of the most devoted and ablest champions.
Gen. Cameron's History.
It is the peculiar boast of our country, that its highest honors are within
the reach of all who are deserving of them. It has no honors nor dio-nities
which are not legitimate objects of ambition to those of the humblest pa
rentage, as well as those most favored by the gifts of birth and fortune It
IS one of the happiest results of its free institutions, that none can claim
respect, nor command public confidence or support, on account of parentage
Ihe good name of an honest man, or much desired fame of a distin.'uished
citizen, can neither be gained by inheritance nor bestowed by devise He
that desires to enjoy either, must earn it by his own deeds. Ours is emnha-
tically a Government of the People ; and it has been from their ranks—

address. 3
" the toiling millions " — that have sprung those who have shed the brightest
lustre on the pages of our history. So universally almost has this been the
case, as well to justify the remark of an eminent writer, that " the biography
of our country's most distinguished and honored Statesmen is eminently
fraught with encouragement and hope for aspiring youth — especially for
those who enter upon the stage of active life unportioned and unheralded
by the partial voice of powerful friends and kindred."
The history of Gen. Simon Cameron is a beautiful illustration of the
benign operations of our free institutions. He is one of the very large
number of our eminent men, who, beside the disadvantage of poverty and
obscurity, had to encounter that of early orphanage. He was born to an
inheritance of poverty, and enjoyed not the aid of wealthy and influential
connections. He has achieved eminence for himself, and owes it not to
birth or pedigree. All he is, he has made himself. His history afibrds a
no less pleasing than useful lesson of what may be accomplished, even under
the most adverse circumstances, and in the face of the greatest obstacles,
by intellect and courage, aided and controlled by energy, perseverance.
Sobriety, and integrity. His Ancestry and Parentage.
Gen, Cameron comes from a brave and heroic race of men. He is a de
scendant of the Camerons of Scotland. Donald Cameron, his great
grandfather, was among those who took part with Charles Edward. He
fought at the battle of Culloden, in 1745, and soon afterward came to this
country. On his arrival here, he served in the army which so gallantly
stormed the heights of Abraham, at Quebec, under the lead of the brave
and heroic Wolfe, His grandfather, on the maternal side, was Conrad
Pfoutz, a German Huguenot, who, driven from his native land by bigotry
and persecution, came to this country at an early period. Here, he soon
actively engaged in the wars with the Indians, and became the intimate
associate and companion of the famous Captain Sam Brady, the great
Indian fighter. His Birth, Education, and Apprenticeships.
Gen. Cameron was born on the 8th day of March, 1799, in Maytown, Lan
caster county, Pennsylvania. Both his parents were also natives of Lan
caster, from whence they moved to Northumberland, in 1808, where his
father soon afterwards died, leaving the family without any other inheritance
than an honest name. The family being thus deprived of its natural guar
dian and protector, and left without any means for their education aud sup
port, it was, of course, impossible for the children to enjoy even the poor
advantages of education afFor'ded by village schools in those days. There
were then no free schools; and the mother, though possessed of great
energy, and the most unfaltering courage, had more than enough to do to .
feed and clothe, and keep together her little ones under her own family roof,
until they were able to provide for themselves.
Discouraging and unpropitious as were these circumstances, they had no
disheartening influences upon the mind of her son, Simon ; but, on the con
trary, they seem rather to have had the eff'ect of stimulating him to exer
tions proportionate to the obstacles in his way. He was a lad of but nine
years of tige at the death of his father, possessing a mind that had a craving
for knowledge, and, to satisfy that appetite, he spent every leisure moment
in reading. But there were then no well furnished public libraries, acces-

4 ADDRESS.
sible to boys, as there now are. He accordingly directed his attention to
the village printing office, where he might have the use of the exchange
papers, and thus satisfy his mental appetite, and accumulate a stock of use
ful knowledge. An opportunity soon offered, of which he availed himself
with alacrity, by becoming apprentice to learn the art and mystery of print
ing. While he had this place, he had access to food for the mind, and its
appetite grew by what it fed upon ; but he was not destined long to enjoy
the advantages of the place which he had thus secured. After a year or
two his employer was obliged to succumb to financial reverses, and to close
up his establishment. This happened in 1817, Having by this time pes- j
sessed himself of an amount of practical information that emboldened him
to enter upon life with a confident reliance upon himself, he started from
home, almost pennile.'is, it is true, and with nothing but a small bundle of cloth
ing under his arm, with the intention of working his way, how, or in what
manner, he hardly knew himself, to South America, there to engage in the
struggle for independence, which was then going on between the South
American colonies and Old Spain, When he reached Harrisburg, however,
he already found his feet so blistered as to make it neces.sary for him to
tarry there for a while. Having a letter of introduction to James Peacock,
Esq., then editor of a paper at that place, he applied to him for employ
ment in his office. There was no vacancy, nor need for him in it; but Mr,
Peacock kindly invited him to remain and recruit his energies before con
tinuing his tramp. Finding hira an expert workman, and being pleased
with his manner and demeanor, Mr, Peacock, after the lapse of a few dajs,
offered to take him as an apprentice, whioh offer was promptly accepted,
and an apprenticeship entered into, and faithfully served out to the satisfac
tion of his employer and his own.
His Course after Arriving at Age.
Gen. Cameron having arrived at his majority, in 1820, he left Harris
burg, and spent the greater part of that year in a printing office at Doyles-
town, setting type and editing the paper. The next year was spent by him
as a journeyman printer, in the office of Messrs, Gales and Seaton, publish
ers of the National Intelligencer, in the city of Washington, He returned
to Harrisburg, in 1822, and became a copartner with Charles Mowry, in the
publication of the Intelligencer, which was then the organ of the Democratic
party, at the seat of government, and enjoyed the official patronage of the
State administration. It will be thus perceived that he commenced his
editorial career, with the leading organ of the Democratic party of the State,
within a year after he had arrived at age, and that, too, without having en
joyed any other means of education and training, for so important a duty,
than what the printing office furnishes to an apprentice. How, and with what
skill and ability, he performed the important duty, which he thus assumed
without having enjoyed the usual advantages of even a school education.'
?saying nothing of a collegiate course, to prepare him for it, his success iri
the undertaking, and his rapid rise to influence and position amono- the
public men of the State, aff'ord an answer which can neither be misa^ppre-
hended nor mistaken. He continued to conduct the Intelligencer until
1829, when he retired to engage in other business pursuits.
Was Appointed Adjutant General,
He was the early friend and supporter of John Andrew Shulze for Go
vernor, who, before his election to that office, represented Lebanon county

address. 5
in the State Senate, and, while in that body, had attracted the notice of
some of the leading Democrats, as a popular and available candidate. Gen.
Cameron was active in urging his nomination, and became a zealous and
efficient supporter of his administration. During the latter part of it, he
was honored with the appointment of Adjutant General of the State, the
duties of which he discharged with ability, and to the satisfaction of the
public. His Retirement as Editor of the Intelligencer.
Gen. Cameron took an active part in 1829, in favor of the nomination of
Gen. Bernard as the Democratic candidate for Governor, who was at that
time the favorite of the Democracy of the State, and whose defeat in the
Convention was regarded as a disregard of the public will, and gave rise to
great dissatisfaction in the party throughout the State. Participating in
this feeling. Gen. Cameron retired from the Intelligencer, and turned his
attention to other business pursuits.
Establishment of the Middletown Bank.
In 1832, a charter was obtained for the establishment of the jimaletown
Bank, of which, on its organization, he became the Cashier, a position held
by him from that time until the present. Though mainly occupied from
the time of its organization until 1845, in the discharge of his duties as
Cashier of it, and attending to other private business matters of his own,
he ever took a lively interest in the political movements of the day. Dur
ing this period he was repeatedly brought forward and urged, by his friends,
for public positions, and, in 1838, he was unanimously nominated for Con-
I gross, by the Democratic party of his District, but he refused the use of his
name on all occasions, and declined the nomination thus given him.
Appointment op Commissioner.
In 1838, President Van Buren tendered to Gen. Cameron the appointment
of Commissioner under a treaty with the Winnebago Indians, to settle and
adjust the claim made against the Indians by the traders. Mr. James
Murray, one of the most respected citizens of Maryland, was appointed with
him in the commission. The sum appropriated hy the Treaty was $400,000,
The claims of the traders were for goods furnished the Indians during a
long period of years. The Commissioners were, by their instructions, bound
to examine testimony and allow what, in their judgment, was just, and
after payment, the sum remaining was to remain in the Treasury, The
claims of the traders, on examination, were found, in many cases, to be
entirely without foundation. A Commisisioner had been appointed by the
Indians, to meet the Commissioners of the United States, and every account
allowed by them met the approbation ofthe agent of the Indians. A great deal
of patient labor was given to the subject, and, after more than two months
spent in the Indian country, the Commissioners reduced the aggregate
amount of claims from over a million to about $250,000. In the settlement
of some of the claims, the traders refused to accept the awards, and came
to Washington with charges against the Commissioners. This was met by a
demand from the Commissioners for a re-examination, which resulted in the
appointment of a new Commissioner the next year, under whose direction
the Indians were assembled in Council, who approved, by a united vote of
their Council, the entire acts of Messrs. Cameron and Murray, and the
account thus adjudged was paid b.y the Government.

q address.
His Election as U. S. Senator in 1846.
In 1845, when James K, Polk, tbe President elect, tendered the State
Department to James Buchanan, and that gentleman resigned his seat in
the Senate of the United States, an election, to supply the vacancy, became
n6oes,sary The Democratic party having a majority in both branches of the
Le<-islature, then in session, counted with confidence on selecting a Senator
who would sustain the whole policy of the administration at W ashington ;
but it became apparent, ev«n before the President was installed in office,
that the policy of his administration would be in confiict with the pledges
given in Pennsylvania, on the Tariff question, to secure his election. Great ,
difficulty arose among the Democratic members, m consequence of this
apprehended Punic faith, on the part of the new administration, the major
portion of them being disposed to turn their backs upon their own solemn
pledo-es during the campaign of 1844, while a minority of them were deter-
inine^d to maintain their own honor, and to refuse to lend themselves to
any such breach of faith, George W, Woodward finally became the caucus
nominee. His nomination was regarded as a Free Trade triumph, aud ren
dered it possible for some other Democrat, known to be honestly devoted to
the cherished policy of the State, to be elected, by a union of the Whigs
and Americans, and those Democrats that were in favor of the Protective
policy. In view of this condition of affairs, James Cooper, John P, San
derson, Jasper E. Brady, Levi Kline, John C, Kunkel, and other Whig
members of the Legislature, on the morning of the day fixed for the
election, addressed a note to Gen. Cameron, propounding certain queries as
to his views on the subject of the Tariff, and tbe course he would pursue if
elected Senator. These queries being answered satisfactorily, the Whigs,
and the Americans then representing the County of Philadelphia, went into
the Convention with a determination to support him, in case he should
receive a sufficient number of Democratic votes to secure his election.
Judo-e Woodward received but fifty-four votes on the first ballot, being
thirteen less than a. majority of the whole. Gen, Cameron had eleven votes,
all of whom were Democrats, Four more ballots were had, on the last of
whioh, being the fifth. Gen, Cameron had sixty-seven votes, and was declared
elected. This unexpected result caused great distraction among the
Democracy, It proved a death blow to the further progress of Free Trade
in the State, and led to an overwhelming defeat of those who thus sought
to betray its interest, at the next succeeding election, in 1846.
His Service in the Senate.
Gen. Cameron was a member of the U. S. Senate from March, 1845, un
til March 4, 1849. During that period he was a member of a number of
important committees of the body. He served, for a session or two, as
chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia, and was at the
same time also a member of the Committee on Naval Affairs, that on Terri
tories, and one or two others. He was, also, chairman of the Committee
on Patents and the Patent Office, a member of the Committee on Printino-,
and that on Public Buildings, He not only distinguished himself as one
of the most attentive, active, and useful business members, but acquired
and wielded a personal influence in the body not excelled by any other mem
ber of it. He proved himself true to the great interests of his native State
especially committed to his charge, and never wearied in the support of the
principles on which he was elected. He not only boldly reflected, by his
speeches and votes, the sentiments of the industrial classes whose richts

address, 7
and interests were about being sacrificed, but he fearlessly exposed the
treachery and fraud by which they were swindled into the support of these
who proved themselves so unfaithful. No man ever returned among his
constituents, at the end of his term, and was hailed with more hearty greet
ings of approval of his conduct than was he.
His Nomination for U. S. Senator in 1855.
In 1855, the Whigs and Americans having, in the fall of 1854, by united
action, elected a Governor, and secured both branches of the Legislature,
he again became the caucus nominee for United States Senator, Owing to
internal feuds and divisions among those having a majority, there was no
election at the time fixed by law, audit was subsequently postponed until the
succeeding session of the Legislature, when the Democrats in the meantime
having obtained a majority, Ex-Governor Bigler was elected by them.
His Election as U. S. Senator, in 1857.
In tbe winter of 1857, the entire opposition members of the Legislature
again selected him as their candidate to fill the place of Senator Brodhead,
whose term expired on the 4th of March, 1857. The Democratic caucus
nominated Col, John W, Forney, with great confidence of success, but divi
sions in the party rendered it impossible to unite a sufficient number of
members in .his support to elect him. In this condition of things, three
members, elected as Detuocrats, two from Schuylkill and one from York,
counties in which Gen, Cameron possesses great strength and popularity, on
account of his firm devotion to their industrial interests, found themselves
obliged to defer to the pressure of sentiment upon them from home, and
accordingly united with the opposition in his support, which secured his
election for the second time to the Senate, He took his seat in the Senate
on the 4th of March, 1857, and his course in that body, from that time to
the present, has been in strict accordance with the views, and feelings, and
interests of a large majority of the people of Pennsylvania, He has been
made a member of some of the most important committees in the body, and
his eminent practical business qualifications and habits have not only secured
him an enviable influence in all matters of legislation, but given him a posi
tion as a practical Statesman that now attracts the attention of a large num
ber of his countrymen to him, as pre-eminently fitted for the performance
of the perplexing duties of the Chief Magistracy of the nation.
His Devotion to the Protective Policy.
Gen. Cameron has been all his life the consistent and devoted advocate
of the protection of American labor. Though reared in the Democratic
school of politics, his is not that Democracy which has arisen in these latter
days, and which manifests a disposition to shape our legislation to suit
foreign ciipitalists and manufacturers, instead of protecting and encouraging
our own industrial pursuits. His position, on this subject, cannot be better
I described than in his own language, to be found in a speech delivered by
him in the Senate, in 1846 : — " I ara proud," said he, " to call myself a
Democrat. I am the son of a Democrat. I represent a State whose De
mocracy no one will doubt ; and for one I must object to this mode of fixing
principles on the party. I was taught in early life to believe that the Demo
cratic party was the friend of the poor — of the laboring classes ; that its
principles were calculated to elevate the maisses ; but the principle of this

8 address.
Southern Democracy would rob the poor man of his labor, and make him
dependent un the capitalists of England for his scanty subsistence. Such
was not the doctrine of such Democrats as Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, or
Jackson." Entertaining these views from the time he arrived at manhood, he ably
and efficiently advocated the Democratic policy of Pennsylvania for the pro
tection of American industry, while he had the editorial control ofthe State
organ of the party at Harrisburg. During the memorable contests in Con
gress on this subject in 1823-4, and again in 1827-8, the editorial columns
of his paper were filled with articles proving the Democratic character of a
Tariff for the protection of American labor, and showing that no nation had
ever flourished that did not encourage and protect its own labor, and develop
its own resources. His Letter in favor of the Tariff of 1842.
The letter already referred to, in reply to one addressed to him by
Messrs. Cooper, Brady, Sanderson, Kline, and other Whig members of the
Legislature, at the time of his first election to the U. S. Senate, is as fol
lows : — Barrisburg, March 19, 1845.
Gentlemen : — I have received your note of this date, in which you ask mv answer to
questions touching certain points of national policy. Your position, as members of the
body to which the constitution has confided tiie election ofthe representatives of the State
in the Senate of the United States, authorizes you to propound these questions, and, in
my opinion, requires that I should frankly answer them. I have no difficulty iii making
my reply.
On tlie subjects to which they refer I have long since matured and avowed my opi
nions. During the recent Presidential election the Tariff of 1842 was much discussed.
The Democratic party of this State took a decided stand in favor of this measure. The
leading interests of the State are involved in its preservation. The people, without dis-
tinction of party, concur in desiring that its provisions should remain unaltered, and
regard any attempt to change them as hazardous to the interests of American industry.
Supported by tho Democratic party of the State in my views, and feeling the importance
of the measure to Pennsylvania, I have no hesitation" in declaring that I am in favor of
the Tariff of 1842, and if elected to the Senate of the United States, I will sustain it
without change.
The amount received into the Treasury from the public lands will not, for many years,
be of much importance. Whether the proceeds of such sales should be distributed among'
the States, is a question that, in my opinion, will not for a long period be of much prac
tical moment. Tho public lands are held in trust, however, for the benefit of all the
States. In my apprehension, the best application that this State can make of her share
in that trust would be its employment in the discharge of the State debts. I am there.
fore, in favor of Ihe distribution of the proceeds of the public lands, and if elected, will
support that measure.
The fiihire of the Democratic members of the Legislature to unite on a candidate
may have induced your desire to learn the sentiments of the various gentlemen placed in
nomination. I li,s rejily is merely a repetition of long.cntertained and often-expressed
sentiments. They are given without reserve, and in the spirit of frankness which I de
sire always to characterize my conduct.
I have tlie honor to be, with much respect,
SIMON CAMERON.
His Speech on the Tariff, July 22, 1846.
Ably and faithfully did he maintain the views expressed in this letter on
the floor of tlie Senate In a speech from which a quotation has already
been made, delivered by him in the Senate, July 22d, 1846, he spoke as
loliows : — -^
" I come here the representative of a State deeply interested in the development of nur
resources, and in fostering and protecting the industry of her citizens. A s'ate which
has expended more than one hundred and fifty millions of dollars in making toTere^

address. 9
sources available ; a State which in two wars has expended more blood and more treasure in
the common defence than any State in the Union ; a State wliich has never asked any
favors from the Union, and which has received as little benefit from it as any one in it; 
even the fort which was built for the defence of her city, with the money of her own citi
zens, has been suffered to go to decay by the general government; — a State proverbial for
the democracy of her sons, so much so that no Democratic President was ever elected
without her vote ; nay, one which never gave a vote against a Democratic candidate for the
Presidency, until she believed there was a settled design to desert her dearly-eherished
interests. " You can, therefore, Mr. President, imagine my surprise when I find our time-honored
Conimonwealtli charged with a want of democracy in her opposition to this bill. From
one end of hor wide domain to the other she does oppose il, and if I fail to show that slie
has abundant cause, it will not be for the want of defects in the hill itself So far as she
is concerned, it can produce evil, and evil only.
" The support of a system of protection for the labor of her citizens is with her not
new. It is a lesson she learned from the fathers of the Republic, and which was prac
ticed with uniform and unvarying consistency by all of her early settlers. Her sons have
not, and I trust in God never will, prove recreant to the wholesome lessons of their ancestry.
It is to this practice and to these lessons that she owes her present prosperity and fame.
" Go where you will, there is but one sentiment now pervading the public mind on this
subject. It has grown with her growth, and strengthened with her strength ; and there
is a cry coming up now from her borders, echoed from every hill and from every valley;
from her very bowels, as you saw the other day, by the petition which I presented from
her hardy miners, whose habitations are under ground ; from every village, from every
worksliop, from every farm-house the cry is heard, invoking us to interpose between them
and ruin. Every Legislature for years has instructed her representatives here to adhere
to her favorite policy; and no man has ever presumed to ask her favor witiiout admitting
tlie justice and propriety of her views upon this subject; and I may add, Mr. President, iuoc
betide the man who raises his suicidal hand against her, now in tlie hour of her extremity.
" I have said her favor was never asked without a pledge to support her views. Yon
know, sir, how it was in 1844. I need not tell you that you would not now occupy that
cliair but for the assurances — the ofl-repeated assurances — that her policy would not be
disturbed. You and I remember the scenes of that day. We cannot forget the flags and
banners which were carried in the processions of her democracy pending tiie election
which resulted in the triumph of our party. It cannot, and it ought not to be disguised, that
but for these assurances lo which I have alluded, that triumph never would have been ob
tained. I remember the anxiety which pervaded the minds of politicians until tlie pub
lications of the Kane letter, and I cannot forget the pains that were taken by the leading
men of the party to convince the people that it was evidence of an intention to protect
our interests. Her confiding citizens gave their support in good faith, and they expected
good faith in return. The letter was published in English and German, in every Demo
cratic paper in the State, and in pamphlets by thousands. Every Democrat pointed to it
as a satisfactory Tariff letter, and no Democrat doubted it. It is not saying too much to
ascribe to that letter, mainly, the Democratic majority of the State. Surely, honorablo
men will not now, since the battle has been fought and the honors won by it, evade its
responsibility, by saying that too liberal a construction was put upon it. If il was wrongly
applied, there was time enough for its contradiction between the time of its publication
and the election. The party majority in this Hall may be fairly attributed to that letter,
and I ask honorable senators if they expect that majority can be attained if this bill shall
become a law? I warn them now of the sudden and swifl destruction which awaits us
if Punic faith is to govern the counsels of the Democratic party. It is to avert what I
believe would be a diro calamity — the prostration of Democratic principles — that I raise
my voice to arrest the further progress of this bill."
His Kebuke to Vice President Dallas.
In the same speech from which such copious extracts already have been
made, after noticing a rumor that letters had been received from Pennsyl
vania advising the repeal of the Tariff of 1842, and saying that if such let
ters had been received, they must have been written by men who would
barter principle for office, and see the whol9 State in ruin if they could
only batten upon the offals of the Government, he concluded his remarks by
administering the following withering rebuke to Vice President Dallas : —
" We are told out of the House that this bill is to become a law by the casting vote of
the Vice President. I am happy to say that I have seen no evidence of such intention.

10 ADDRESS.
nor will I believe that there is such a design, until I am convinced by the evidence of my
own senses. To all the inquiries that have been made of me I have said that it cannot
he; that no native Pennsylvanian, honored with the trust and confidence of his fellow-
citizens, could prove recreant to that trust and dishonor the State that gave him birth.
His honorable name, and the connections of his ancestry with her history, forbid it. His
own public acts and written sentiments forbid it. If, as has been said, this question is to
be settled by the casting vote of the Vice President, he will not, as a wise man, ado|)t a
bill which no Senator will father; but will rather, taking advantage of his high and honor
able position, make one which shall contribute to the happiness of our people and the
glory of our common country. Let him not be allured by the voice of flattery from the
sunny south. No man can be strong abroad who is not strong at home. Before a pub
lic man risks a desperate leap, he should remember that political gratitude is prospective;
that desertion of home, of friends, and of country, may be hailed by the winning party
when the traitor is carrying in the flag of his country; but when the honors ofthe nation
whom he has served are to be distributed, none are given to him,
" Will any man believe that a son of South Carolina, occupying that chair, elected un
der such circumstances, with the casting vote in his hands on this bill, would give that
vote contrary to the almost unanimous wislies of his own State? And shall it bo said
tliiit a Pennsylvanian has less attachment for his Commonwealth than a son of Carolina?
I have said that I will not believe it, and as evidence that it cannot be so, I give, in
conclusion, the following eloquent passage from a speech of the honorable George M.
Dallas, when occupying the seat I now hold, on a question precisely similar to the one
now before us."
Exthact from a Speech of Mr. Dallas on the Tariff of 1832.
" I am inflexible, sir, as to nothing but adequate protection. The process of att.iining
that may undergo any mutation. Secure that to the home labor of this country and our
opponents shall have, as far as my voice and suffrage can give it to them, a ' carte, blanche.'
whereon to settle any arrangement or adjustment their inteUigence may suggest. It
miglit h.ive been expected, not unreasonably, that they who desired change should tender
thu'ir projet ; that they would designate noxious particulars and intimate their remedies;
that they would invoke the skill and assistance of practical and experienced observers on
a subject with which few of us are familiar, and point with precision to such parts of the
extensive system as can be modified without weakening or endangering the whole struc
ture. They have forborne to do this. They demand an entire demolition. Free Trade
is the burden of their eloquence, the golden fleece of their adventurous enterprise ; the
goal short of which they will not pause even to breathe. I c-annot join their expedition
for such object. An established policy— coeval, in the language of President Jackson, with
our Government— believed by an immense majority of our people to be constitutional,
wise, and expedient, may not be abruptly abandoned by Congress without a treacherous
departure from duty, a shameless dereliction of sacred trust and confidence. To expect it
is both extravagant and unkind,"
Approval of His Conduct by the People.
After the adjournment of Congress, and his return home, he was hailed
everywhere as one who had been tried and found more than faithful. The
demonstrations of approval were not confined to any particular political
party, but all vied with each other in doing honor to him. The Whio-s and
the Democrats, at their respective county meetings, passed resolutions hio-hly
complimentary to him. Thus the Democratic Conferees of the Schuylkill
Congressional District resolved : " That the ability and untiring exertions
displayed by the Hon. Simon Cameron, in the Senate of the United States
in defence of American labor and industry, have placed his name in the front
rank of Pennsylvania s favorite sons, and we greet him with that salutation
so cheering to an honest, representative, 'Well done, thou good and faithful
servant.' "-While the Wh,<rs of Columbia and other counties, at the same
time, passed such as the following: "Resolved, That as citizens of Penn-
sy vonia, we have looked with pride and satisfaction to the honorable, faith
ful untiring, yet unsuccessftil exertions of the Hon. Simon Cameron, in the
defence of his native State during the pendency of M'Kay's British Tariff
Bill before Congress, and however much we may differ on other questions

ADDRESS. 11
of public policy, as regards this one, we hail him as Pennsylvania's true friend
and champion, standing in noble and honorable contrast to the silver-haired
trickster, who, by his casting vote, sold his native State to the tender mer
cies of Man owners."
Public dinners were tendered to him in various parts of the State, as a
testimony of regard for his services, all of which he declined. The answers
to these invitations are too numerous to in.sert. The one addressed to the
citizens of Danville, one of the most extensive iron manufacturing towns in
the State, gives, however, so briefly and pertinently his views on the sub
ject of the tariff as to justify its insertion at length. It is as fellows :
Middletown, August 31, 1846,
Gentlemen : — Your letter, inviting me to partake of a public dinner at Danville, has
been received, and while I attribute the high honor you design to confer on me lo your
kindness and the partiality arising from early associations, rather than to any merit I
may possess, or any services I have performed, I ani still profoundly grateful for it.
Such a public demonstration of your purpose is only due to the statesman of high re
putation, earned by long and important services rendered his country. I can lay no claim
to such distinction. The recent session of Congress was the first occasion of my con
nection with public affairs. I had no desire when I entered upon its duties to remain
long in the public service, and I have now no ambition connected with official station,
further than to perform my duty fearlessly and faithfully to the best of my abilities dur
ing the continuance of my term. It was my fortune to be in Congress when this revenue
measure, which affects so vitally the interests of my native State, was under discussion,
and connected as I am, in all my sympathies with her laborers and mechanics, I could
not do otherwise than oppose with all my zeal and such ability as I have, a bill affecting
so detrimentally their comfort and happiness, and through them the prosperity of the
Commonwealth. I only regret that my exertions were not more successful.
My rule through life has been not to despond for the past, but to look with hope and
confidence to the future, ^nd to " persevere unto the end" in a good cause. If the friends
of domestic industry pursue this course, we will compel a change of this obnoxious and
ill-digested law at the next session. A little reflection will teach the poor but mistaken
men amonig its advocates of their error, and the others will have to yield. Pennsylvania
has strong claims upon the sympathies of her sister States, and she is too important to the
interests of the confederacy to permit any of them to continue this wrong upon her, if
she resists it boldly, steadily, and legally.
We may be surprised that South Carolina, .which, in 1833, would have destroyed the
Union, but for the firmness of General Jackson, should so soon after his death fix upon it
tlie very principles upon which she based her nullification, and while we cannot approve
her threatened treason, we may with profit follow the example of her determined perse
verance. We have only to be true to ourselves, and we cannot fail to succeed in procur
ing a repeal of the law. A few months will show the want of wisdom in its principles
and details, and prove its failure as a, revenue measure. Thfi very mombfrs who have
forced it upon us, all of whom denied its paternity, will probably soon seek an excuse for its
change. All thriftless persons are discontented with their own situations, and envious of
the prosperity of their more frugal neighbors. Neither men nor States who do not work
•can be prosperous, and our Southern fellow-citizens will find that no reduction of the tariff
will make them rich nor bring us down to their condition. They may retard our onward
progress for a time, but no system of laws will destroy the ultimate prosperity of Penn
sylvania. Until we can accomplish its repeal in a constitutional way, we must make the
best of the law, ahd by greater economy and more intense labor, make up, in some de-
g-ree, for the advantaiges which it takes from us and gives to the workmen of foreign
countries. The farmers of the West will soon see that they have been deceived by the
promised British market for their agricultural products, and that instead of higher prices
they will find them reduced with the prostration of the home market hitherto furnished
them by the manufactories of the North. Having thus learned the truth of the old-
fashioned democratic doctrine, that agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and the mecha
nic arts are mutually dependent on each other, we may expect to see them again acting
with their natural allies of the North for the common good.
With many thanks, gentlemen, for the honor you intended me, I pray you to excuse
my acceptance of it. fshall, some time before the re-assembling of Congre'ss, pay my
accustomed annual visit to Columbia county, and it is my intention to spend some time
about Danville, among your workmen, and in your mines and manufactories, to glean such

12 address.
facts and information as may be useful in the next session, and I anticipate, while there
the pleasure of taking many of you by the hand, at your own firesides.
With sentiments of respect, &c., &c,,
SIMON CAMERON,
To Messrs. Cooper, Boyd, Montgomery, Vastine, Donaldson, Petriken, McReynolds,
Grove and others. Declines to be a Candidate for Governor.
So handsomely and satisfactorily did Gen. Cameron acquit himself in the
Senate, and so proudly aloft, above, and beyond the reach of the Admin-
tration clique who assailed him, had he placed himself, by his able opposi
tion to the repeal of the Tariff of 1842, that the Democratic party began to
turn its attention to him as its candidate for Governor, in 1847. The
Democratic Convention of Northumberland County expressed itself in his
favor, and appointed a committee to solicit him to consent to the use of his
name ; but he declined doing so, as will be perceived by the following let
ter addressed by him to that committee : Middletown, September 26, 1846.
Gentlemen : — I have received your letter conveying to me the resolution of the De
mocratic Convention of the County of Northumberland, nominating me for the office of
Governor. I feel greatly flattered with this compliment, coming from the county which presented
the great and good Snyder to the Democracy of Pennsylvania, and conveyed to me as it is
by gentlemen who have known me from my earliest boyhood. Whether in private or in
public life, every good man must be gratified with evidences of friendship from those who
know him best; and nothing could be more grateful to my feelings than this compliment
from that steady, unwavering Democratic county. The Chief Magistracy of this great
Commonwealth is a post which the ablest and proudest citizen might be glad to occupy.
It should be the highest honor of the faithful public officer, ta.be carried with him into
retirement as the reward of his services. I feel that I have no claim to it ; and having
recently been elevated to a high place, mainly to aid in the protection of the interests of
my native State, 1 could not, in accordance with my sense of propriety, desert that post
while those interests are in danger, for any personal distinction high or honorable as it
might be. I beg you, therefore, gentlemen, fo convey fo the Democracy of Northumber
land my gratitude for their kindness, and my respectful declination of the nomination.
For yourselves, receive the assurance of my continued friendship, SIMON CAMERON,
To Messrs, Hughes, Horton, Nicely, Teats, Parker, Manrer, and others. Committee, &c.
His Position on the Slavery Question.
On this subject, Gen. Cameron occupies precisely the same position
whioh .John Sergeant, .James Buchanan, and all the other eminent men, as
well as the entire people of Pennsylvania, held and maintained in 1820,
and have occupied from the formation of the Constitution until the intro
duction into Congress of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, by Judge Douo-lass.
Recognizing all the compromises ofthe Constitution, and willino- to concede
to the South all the rights guaranteed to her by them, he cannot and will
not lend himself to slavery beyond the requirements of those compromises.
Entertaining these view.s, he recognizes the power of the Federal Govern
ment to restrict slavery within the limits in which it now exists, and deems it
expedient to exercise that power should there be any occasion for it. Act
ing upon this principle, when in the Senate, during the Mexican war, he,
though a Democrat, and acting generally with the Administration, made
issue with it on this subject, and voted to prohibit the spread of slavery
over the soil acquired from Mexico by that war. All the power and influ
ence of the administration and of his party were brought to bear to force
him to pursue a contrary course ; but, true to the old fashioned Democratic
faith of his native State, as he has ever proved himself on all other subjects

address. 13
so on this occasion, and on this subject, he resisted all the blandishments
of power, and terror of party discipline, and voted in accordance with his
own honest convictions and the well known and undoubted sentiments of
the people of the State which he represented.
His speech in the Senate, on the 1st of March, 1847, just before giving
his vote in favor of the non-extension of slavery proviso to tho Three Mil
lion Loan Bill, explains in a very brief manner his views on the subject,
and shows that he is no recent convert to the cause of free soil. In com
mencing his remarks, he gracefully alluded to the instructions the Legisla
ture of Pennsylvania had given him on the subject, and declared, that while
he fully recognized the doctrine of instructions, he would not blindly obey
such instructions, on all occasions, in violation of his own honest convic
tions, and where public opinion itself was doubtful on the subject. He
was, however, relieved from all embarrassment on this occasion, and pro
ceeded to speak as follows :
" In the case before us, there is no room for doubt. The people of Penn
sylvania are united in the wish, that no more slave territory should be ac
quired by this Confederacy ; and they fear that if this bill become a law, it
will bring an accession of slavery with it. Their resolution is so clear, that
there can be no doubt of the three million bill having been before the au
thor of the instructions, when they were penned. They are in these
words :
" ' Resolved: That our Senators and Piepresentatives in Congress be re
quested to vote against any measure whatever, by which our territory will
accrue to the Union, unless, as a part of the fundamental law upon which
any compact or treaty for this purpose is based, slavery or involuntary ser
vitude, except for crime, shall be forever prohibited.'
" So united were the Legislature, that out of one hundred and thirty-three
members in the two Houses, only three votes were recorded against the
resolution. Its mover in the Legislature represents the same county which
is the residence of Mr. Wilmot, tho originator of the proviso in the other
end of the Capitol. They are personal friends, and in this case they have
gone with the current of public opinion upon t;he abstract question of ex
tending slavery. Whether it was wise to engraft so exciting a question
upon a bill claimed by the Executive as all important to a speedy and hon
orable termination of the war, time will determine. The people of my
State will never interfere with the constitutional rights of their southern
brethren. They would be among the first to pour out their blood and trea
sure to sustain the Union, or to protect from wrong the people of the South
ern States. No man there desires to interfere with the local and peculiar
institutions of the South, but very many of them believe that if left to
themselves, the entire southern people will in due time, and in their own
way, abolish the entire institution of slavery ; they think, too, that this
great community of States may, like members of a partnership, before the
purchase of new territory with the common funds of the firm, decide among
themselves what use shall be made of- the purchase. After the land shall
have been bought, it will, in their opinion, he too late to limit its uses.
He added that he could uot waste the time of the Senate, at this late hour,
near midnight, in dilating upon this subject,"
His Course on the Oregon Question.
A few words of explanation may not be out of place, here, to enable the
reader the better to understand and appreciate Gen. Cameron's conduct on
this question. One of the planks of the Platform, constructed by the Con-

14 address.
vention which nominated Polk and Dallas, was, that the title of our Gov
ernment to the whole of Oregon was clear and indisputable, and the rally
ing cry of the party, during the campaign, was " Fifty-Four-Forty, or Fight."
But it so happened, when Congress assembled in December, 1846, Messrs.
Calhoun, McDuffee, Yulee, and, in fact, the entire cotton-growing portion
of the Administration members began to manifest weakness in the knees on
the subject. War with England, and an abrupt close of the English market
for their cotton, was seriously apprehended by them, and they were, there
fore, disposed to shirk one of the issues made by themselves, on which Mr.
Polk was elected. They accordingly united with the Whigs, and passed
resolutions in the Senate, authorizing the President, at his discretion, to
give the British Government notice of the intention of our Government to
abrogate the treaty for the joint occupancy of that Territory, When these
came up in the House, the majority of that body amended them by making
it obligatory upon the President to give the notice. The Senate refused to
concur in tha amendments of the House, and a Committee of Conference was
appointed. Well knowing the character of the issue before the people, on the Oregon
Question, and their decision upon it, Gen. Cameron would not follow in the
wake of the cotton-growing Senators of his Party, and prove recreant to
his own professions and those ofthe Party during the campaign. He acted
on this question, as he has made it a principle of all his actions through
life, by maintaining good faith to the people, and thereby preserving his
own self-respect. The remarks made by him, just before he voted on the
resolutions as agreed upon by the Committee of Conference, explain his
views, and were as follows : —
" Mr. C. said he should vote for the report of the committee, and before
he did so he wished to say a word or two in explanation of his vote. Mr.
C. said he was in favor of a plain notice, and in every vote pending the
termination of the question, he had been with the friends of it. Next, he
was willing to take the notice whioh came from the House of Representa
tives, and had voted for it. Failing to get either of these, he had voted for
the resolutions which had passed the Senate. He did so, because he con
sidered it moreimportant to the interests ofthe country, that the action of
Congress on this important question should be indicated by unanimity th.in
it was to have that action expressed in any peculiar form; and above all,
he believed that a speedy settlement of the impending difficulties between
the two countries could only be had by terminating the joint occupancy of
the territory in dispute. Until a period was fixed at which the state of
uncertainty must cease, he did not believe that the question of peace or war
could be determined. The President, in his annual message, had asked for
authority to give the notice to terminate the joint occupancy, under the
treaty, and having full confidence in his integrity, capacity, and patriotism,
Mr. G. was willing to trust the whole question in his hands.
" Mr. C. said he believed fully in our right to the whole country in dis
pute, that our title only terminates where the Russian line begins at 54°
40 ; but he did not think this the proper time or place to argue the title
It could be better done by the Executive in arranging a treaty or in insist
ing upon our rights He had done so in the published correspondence.
When a treaty should be agreed upon by the negotiators of the two coun
tries, the Senate could revise their acts. This course Mr, C. thouo-ht would
have been more respectful to the President, and in the end, bette°r for the
country But as the defeat of the present notice would, in his opinion be
a defeat of all noticeduring the present session of Congress, he should vote
tor it without meaning to commit himself in favor of any treaty which

ADDRESS. 15
should not secure to the United States, the whole of our just rin-hts in
Oregon." Soon after this action of Congress, the British Minister was authorized
by his Government to propose a Treaty, making the boundary on the line
of 49 degrees. President Polk, beinf; so fully committed to the 54-40
line, yet sympathizing with, and unwilling to become antagonistic to, the
policy of the cotton-growing interest, hit upon the happy expedient of ask
ing the advice of the Senate on the subject. The Senate, by n vote of 41
yeas to 14 nays, advised the acceptance of the proposition, Gen. Cameron
voting in the negative, and thereby washing his hands from the deception
practised upon the people.
His Course on the Mexican War.
After the declaration of war with Mexico, the course of Gen. Cameron,
in the Senate, was to vote all the force and supplies necessary for its vigor
ous prosecution. In presenting the proceedings of a meeting of the citizens
of Philadelphia, tendering their services to the Government, he availed
himself of the occasion to express his views in favor of the most decisive
possible action in support of the war, as the most likely mode of bringing
it to a speedy termination. The following is a report of his remarks on the
occasion : —
" He said that there were twenty thousand persons present ; that men of
all parties hadforgotten their political predilections, and had come together to
sustain the country in its emergency. The meeting had been held within
sight of the building in which was signed that great charter of human
rights, the Declaration of Independence ; and he was glad to say that the
spirit of '76 still remained there. Louisiana had first stepped out nobly
to ofi'er her troops and her money to aid the country in the approaching
contest ; and he felt proud of the spectacle presented by the great city of
his native State, assembling her sons, without a dissenting voice, to sustain
the constituted authorities in their vindication of the rights and the honor
of the nation. Pennsylvania," he said, "had a muster-roll of two hundred
and thirty thousand intelligent and hardy militia, and she has a volunteer
force of thirty-two thousand men, armed, equipped, and drilled, ready for
the field — every one of whom, he pledged himself, would be ready to march
at the first tap of the drum, if the country should need their services. He
would not detract from the merits of other States, £ill of whom would strive
to be foremost in the race of patriotism ; but if the war should continue,
he ventured to say that the unpretending State whioh he had the honor in
part to represent would, as she had twice done before, give more men and
money to the cause of the common country than ever was given by any
other State in the Union. No man would, in that State, inquire about the
cause of war, but would all join the standard of the country, to bring to it
a speedy and honorable termination. Pennsylvania would show to the
world that she had in her mountains and in her valleys ' coal enough to
warm all her friends, and iron enough to cool the enemies of her country.' "
Bounty to the Volunteers in Mexico.
Gen. Cameron, as early as Dec. 9, 1846, introduced a resolution in the
Senate, which was adopted, instructing the Committee on Military Affairs
to inquire into the expediency of granting 160 acres of land to each non
commissioned officer, musician, and private soldier, who volunteered to serve
during the war with Mexico, and also of increasing the compensation

16 address.
allowed by the War Department for the transportation and subsistence of the
volunteer troops from their homes to the places of rendezvous in their dif
ferent States. In offering this resolution, he made the following re
marks : —
"He said that the reason for his asking of the Senate its early action on
this resolution was, that the volunteers in the Pennsylvania regiment, whioh
was the first regiment ready for service under the late . call from the War
Department, are now on their march. The compensation allowed to volun
teers on their way to the place of rendezvous was entirely insufficient to
enable them to reach their destination, it being only about fifty cents for
every twenty miles. Some of these volunteers live as much as two or three
hundred miles from the point where they are required. They are destitute
of means of their own, and but for the kindness exhibited by their fellow-
citizens would not have been able to proceed on their march. A great portion
of the troops are now on the road, and he hoped that the Committee on
Military Affairs would take early action on the subject."
Gen. Cameron perseveringly continued, on all proper occasions, to urge
the adoption of this measure, and to his active efforts in its support are
those who served in Mexico mainly indebted for its final adoption.
His Support of the Tariff of 1842.
The remarks already given, which have been taken from his great speeca,
delivered in the Senate, July 22, 1846, than which no abler was made on
the subject, are abundantly sufficient to show the very able and earnest
resistance he made to the repeal of the Tariff of 1842. Finding, however,
when the bill was ordered to a third reading, by the casting vote of Vice
President Dallas, and that all hope of its defeat was thus cut off by the
recreant hand of a Pennsylvanian, he arose, just before the bill was put on
its final passage, and made a solemn and most emphatic protest against the
great wrong about being perpetrated, by addressing the Senate as follows ;
Mr. Cameron said, " He rose only to repeat his opposition to this bill, to
enter his solemn protest against its passage, and to give notice that the word
' Repeal,' will this day go forth and continue until the loud voice of the
laborers of the North shall compel their oppressors to respect them. This
(he said) was no Bank question, in which the rich capitalists only were con
cerned. Here will be found the laborers and mechanics roused to indigna
tion against those who care not how much they rob them of their comforts
in the pursuit of a wild abstraction.
"If the bill had been made by a British statesman, it could not have dis
criminated more in favor of the English workmen, nor have done more
wrong to our mechanics and manufacturers. He repeated, that from hence
forth repeal would be the word among the Democracy of the North and
that it would not cease until it triumphed." '
The Kane Letter Deception.
In presenting, on July 18th, 1846, the proceedings of a Democratic meet-
'"».!,' ,-^}?-'^U ^''"f ylvania, expressing opposition to the repeal of the
Tariff of 1842, Gen, Cameron said :
"The panicof whioh honorable Senators spoke the other day had commenced
and was spreading m every part of that Commonwealth, But this was no Whic
pania It was a Democratic panic. Thecounty in which this meeting was held
IS a Democratic county. It gives about 2500 votes, and a majorfty to the

ADDRESS. 17
Democratic party, in great contests, of near 1200. Northampton county,
another decided Democratic county, was here protesting against the passage
of the Tariff bill ; these people, these Democrats, feared that its passage
would destroy their business, prostrate the Democratic party, and beggar
their families. Such fears might cause a panic with the honest and best.
Good ' Old Berks,' is here also by a representation of her sons. That
county ia the stronghold of Democracy, Of her 10,000 votes, she gives
often a Democratic majority of 4,000, Her citizens are a steady, industrious
people, who are not easily excited. They are generally agriculturists, who
are content with their peaceful employment, and whose industry and frugality
have made them rich. No common danger would alarm her; but situated
as she is on the verge of the great coal-field of Pennsylvania, she has daily
evidences of the comfort and happiness its mines dispense among the laborers
and mechanics of the country round about, and of the wealth whioh it has
sent among them in exchange for the products of their farms. No one can
charge them with aiding in a ' Whig panic' Their Democracy is un
doubted and beyond reproach. It is known throughout the Union ; and
thrice has it saved the Democratic party of the Union, Her soj^ come here
not to create a panic, but to speak with Democrats in the Senate, and in
other high places ; as Democrats may speak to those whom by their votes
they have elevated ; to tell them how this new principle in legislation will
affect their interests, and to get Democrats here to pause before they ruin
our great State, and take from our laboring people, who cannot come here,
their eiuployment, and from their families their bread. Such a panic as the
passage of this bill will create, would, he repeated, be no ' Whig panic'
He said that we had heard, in a recent discussion, remarks in favor of the
claims of Tennessee for money due her citizens. The claims of Massachu
setts had also been spoken of; and claims due Georgia and New Hampshire
had been urged, and some of them paid. Pennsylvania, he was proud to
say, had no claims upon the treasury of the Union ; she asked for no help
from the treasury ; she was willing to work for her living, and asked only to
be let alone."
Mr. Webster made some comments on the subject. He said he had been
in Pennsylvania in October, 1844, and the three favorites he had seen en-
blazoned on the banners of the Democratic party were, Polk, Dallas, and
the Tariff of 1842. He would ask Mr. Cameron whether he had not seen
these banners ?
Mr. Cameron : " I answer the Senator with great pleasure, I attended
perhaps every Democratic meeting within my reach in that State — and some of
them were at places one hundred and fifty miles distant from my home-— in
order to support the great cause of Democracy, and at all these meetings
the watchwords and the mottoes were, ' Polk,' ' Dallas' and (before his
lamented death) ' Muhlenburg,' and ' The Tariff of 1842.' And after
the death of our candidate for the gubernatorial chair, they were ' Polk,'
' Dallas,' ' Shunk,' and the ' Tariff of 1842.' Neither of the three, sir,
would have got the vote of Pennsylvania without the last, ' The Tariff of
1842.' Much as we disliked Mr. Clay, and sincerely attached as we were
to the Democratic party, all would have gone before we would have relin
quished ' The Tariff of 1842.' "
The following report of the proceedings of the U, S. Senate, July 23, 1846,
copied from the National Intelligencer, shows the fraud practised upon the
people of Pennsylvania, in 1844, by those who presented James K. Polkas
the friend of the protection of Home Labor, and subsequently united with him
in making war upon the Tariff of 1842. Those proceedings also show, that
Gen. Cameron was not one of these traitors to the interests of the American
3

18 ADDRESS.
Laborers, hut that he ably and fearlessly exposed the fraud, and vindicated
the workins^ men of his State from the slanderous attacks made upon them.
The following memorials and petitions were presented and appropriately
referred :
Mr. Cameron- : Various petitions fi-om Philadelphia, Carbon, Luzerne, and Schuylkill
counties, signed by persons engaged in the coal and iron business, against any alteration
in the tariff laws. Also, the proceedings of a meeting held in Nortistown, against the
passage of the tariff bill.
Mr. C. said these petitions were all from persons actually engaged in the business, and
they fear the entire destruction of their business. In proof of what he had said the other
day, that these petitions were from Democrats, he stated that every county from which
they had come, had given a Democratic majority in 1844. To prove this further, he
gave in detail the Democratic majorities ofthe coal and iron counties of Pennsylvania : —
Berks county gave Folk a majority of .... . 4,678
Centre co. " "  '^28
Columbia co. " "  1.629
Clarion co. " "  *^6
Lycoming co. " " ..... 617
Monroe CO. " "  1,394
Korthnmberland co. " "  945
NortHlmpton CO. " "  1,089
Perry co. " " .... 990
Schuylkill co. " " .'.... 847
Venange co. " " .... 822
14,665
The whole Democratic majority of the Stale of Pennsylvania was something over
5,000 ; and it will be seen, therefore, that these counties sustain the Democracy of the
State. The town of Norristown was not in the coal or iron region. It was a manufacturing
town, and owed much of its prosperity to the large cotton manufactories which had sprung
up under our tariff laws, and which gave to its neighborhood a market for its agricul
tural products. In 1640 its population was about 2,500 — it now contains over 5,000.
I^Iontgomery county gives a large and decided Democratic majority.
Mr. Sevier said he was sorry to see the Senator from Pennsylvania engaged in panic-
making this morning; but, to do the Senator justice, he must say that he did it with a
pleasant smile, as though it was a first-rate good joke. They had heard a good deal about
coincidences; there was something like a coincidence in the course of proceeding here;
the first thing upon the meeting of the Senate was to have prayers by the Chaplain, then
the reading of the journal, and next an hour and a-half was to be consumed in reciting
a sort of FUNERAL DIRGE FROM THE PENSIONERS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
He had sat quietly and patiently, hitherto, while all this was going on, because the Sena
tor himself seemed to treat the matter as an excellent joke. Was there a man in Penn
sylvania, he would ask, was there a tingle man of intelligence in that Stale who did not
at the time of the last Presidential election, know perfectly welj. what the opinions of
Mr. Polk were in regard to the Tariff? Was THERE A MAN WHO DID NOT
KNOW THAT HE WAS A FREE TRADE MAN ?
[Mr. Archer : They thought him a better tariff man than Mr. Clay.]
No State had been more thoroughgoing than Pennsylvania in her opposition to char.
tered privileges. Yet they were now told that unless this high protective act of 1842
remained, they were going to be entirely ruined. Bid Pennsylvania expect other States
to pay her debts ? No — such were not their good old Dutch democratic principles. He
had heard it said that under the Act of 1842, one man, formerly a journeyman black
smith, in Pennsylvania, had as many as nine hundred laborers in his employment. How
many would he have if left to go on two or three years longer at that rale ? He would
soon have the control of every man in the State. If in two years time this journeyman
blacksmith had raised a force of nine hundred men, how long would it take him to get
under his power and authority the whole State ? Pennsylvania had made no complaints
heretofore. He believed she never bad been and never would be any other than Demo
cratic. Mr. Cameron rose, and in reply lo the remarks of the Senator from Arkansas, said
that he always smiled when his friend, the Senator from Arkansas, addressed the Senate
on this subject. His wit was so irresistible that it excited his risible faculties, no matter
how sober the mood in which it found him. But he could not permit his frieud to charge

ADDRESS. 19
liis Stiilo or her eitixonn with boing dependants or pcnsionori! on the Government. They
wcro not like ArkiniHiiN, and other Btutes that ho could niinie, that wei-o conBtanlly np.
poiilhig to CongrciMH for aid froiii tho piibllu Treiisury ; for whose bcnelil some twenty
blllu wiru now on our files uskiiig for iiid; and Ibr whoso licncllt llicy had been colled
upon only yeslrrcliiy lor Homo $.50,000, without ivm u voneher, (¦xcept the assertion that
tho iimni'y hud born drawn liir (iiid exiiciidcd, Tho Seniitur from Arkansas, ho Baid,ulflo
did him injiistleo In (pinting his ri'inarlts of yesterday. Ho did not siiy that a hinglu per
son in I'luinHylviiiiiii contiolled nine hundred workmen. Tho workiiieii of thut Stnto
wore not (¦(inlnplli;d by lliiir (iiii|il(iy(^rH, 'J'hey wore l^'reerni'ii, and they could stand erect
linliirc! tliuir <mhI, without being controlled by any onr. The Scniilor li-oin ArknnsiiH lius
ill tills much miHtiikcii tho I'lmraclrr of IheKC! potitioncrH, when ho Cdinpiired tliiiin to the
slave labor of tho South, 'J'liu hibori'iH of PcnnBylvaiiia wore white iiii'ii — they wore
(ici'iiion— tlicy wore intelligent mi'ii, and llicy usk no favors from the Governniont but to
hu let alonc! in the riijuyiiicnt of their liilmr.
'I'lio Si^nator from ArkunsiiH hud charged him (Mr, C, said) with acting on this ques
tion with tho Whig S(Mliitor Croiii MuH.HiielniNcttH, lie luhiiittcd Hint on this qiii'Htion llicy
wcrii (iignther; but he would remind tlint lionorublo Si'iinlor of what seemed to have
esnipc^d hig iiii'inory — (liat ho and tho lionorublo Si^nator from MassucliusultH hud stood
dliouliler to shouldi^r on a question which was, perhaps, of still greater magnitude than
tliiN; one which diiiiiieiiiberod tho nntioii — which took from this country und gave to the
UrilJHh niilloii Hevcrul digrceH.of lulilude in the Oregon country, lie wished his friend
to rceoncilo thut coiilillon boliiro ho ohnrgod otlier Senators with acting in tho oompuny
of VVIiigK. He (Mr. C,) wus acting with tho Deiiioorucy of his own Stntc, and ho de.
nirod to loani no new deinocraoy from geiitloiiieu who compiirod his laboring fellow-citi
zen with tho negro laborers of the South,
The debate was continued, and considerable sparring took place between
Mo.s.srs. Crittondi;n, Sevier, and Iloverdy Johnson, when it was closed by the
following : —
Mr. S'TOnoiTON said ho had not intended to say a word in relation to this subject, but ho
felt ciiiiHlruiiiod to iiinke ii. single riMniirk, which was, tho Tariff of 1842 certainly on-
turcd into tllu contest ut the Presideiiliul electiun; but it wus not tho only question which
eiitcreil into Ihiit conlesl, nor wuh it tho iiieHt prominent. He hud never considered Mr.
Polk a free triido niun, in tho broud sense of tho term, and most undoubtedly tho people
of Peniisylviiiiiu, under the constniclimi given to tho K'lini' letter, considered him a tariff
in.'in, so lUr as to give proteelinn to Ihe inuiiuficturing and coninieroiul iiitensls of tho
country. His own doctrine in regurd In the tnriff, and he licliovod it was the Democratic
doctrine of I'eiiiisylviiiiiu, was a turilV liir roveinic, witli discriminution for protection.
II" was not <',ertiiiii Unit tho Tariff of IH'I2 was the right turiff, but ho was not for cluing-
ing it at a time when they wcro under thu necessity of borrowing money to supply tho wants
of (lio Ciiveriimcnt.
Mr, ,r. M.CIi.AVTON desired to know from tho Senator from Pi'nnsylvnnia whether ho
believed that tho Stale of Peniisylvniiia would have voted Ihr Mr, Polk if it hud been sup.
posed thut ho would reeoniniond the pussngo of such a bill us this?
Mr, Sturokon replied that it was iiiipossiblo lor him to tell how a majority would have
voted in Nuoh a onso,
Mr. Ci.AVTON : I nsk tho gentleman's opinion.
Mr. S'ruiiOKON ; Tli<M-e are between tlireo and four hundred thousand voters in Penn
sylvania; how niany would havo voted (lir Mr. Polk under this view oi tho case, and how
many would not, it is, of course, impoBsiblo for mo lo say.
Mr. ('i.ayton: Tho honorablo Senator will not give it as his opinion, then, that tho
State would havo(gono (or Mr, Polk. I think the honorablo Senator is right not to ven
ture such an opinion. 1 think no iiitolligont inun would venture such an opinion. There
were undoubtedly other questions entering into tlio Prosidontiul contest bosidps tho tariff.
But I think that no man knows bellcu- thiiii tho honornblo Sennlor himself that it wus
upon this jfi'oat and absorbing question ohiofly that tho election turned.
Not deterred by the snoers and jibes of Senator Sevier, he took occasion
again, July 26th, 184(1, in presenting the proceedings of a Democrntio
meeting in' Wyoming valley, to explain the character of that meeting. He
said : —
" That he had presented many petitions and memorials from the
Iftborors in tho coal mines, and nt the iron establishments of his
Stttto. This voice cnuio from a different quarter. The panic of

20 ADDKESS.
which gentlemen spoke the other day, had passed over the moun
tains, and reached the peaceful valley of Wyoming. The gentlemen
who took part in the meeting were, many of them, men retired from busi
ness, who had no interest in the question, except that which every good
man has in the prosperity of those around him. The President of the
meeting, Mr. Hollenback, was the son of one of the early settlers of the
valley. He was a Democrat, honored and respected by all around him.
Gen, Ross, one of the Vice Presidents, was the son of one of th» early
defenders of the soil which the son inherits, whose youthful blood was
freely spilled in achieving our liberties, and he is a man so pure that no
one dare assail him. Judge Kidder, another of them, is a man of learning,
who, for his virtues, was exalted to the head of one of our judicial districts.
All of them are men admired and beloved in their neighborhood ; and all
of them have been honored with public trust by the Democratic party.
Wilkesbarre is the residence of Hendrick B. Wright, the President of the
Baltimore Convention, of which so much hag been said here in connection
with the passage of this bill. 3Ir. Wright took part in the meeting, made
a spaech, and united fully in the proceedings. His Democracy, certainly,
will not be doubted, while all men admit the efficient part he took in the
Baltimore Convention. These proceedings tell you plainly, that the nomi
nees of the party could not have succeeded in 1844, if it had not have
been believed they would be friendly to the labor and industry of the coun
try. They tell you, too, in plain language, that the vote of Pennsylvania
would not have been given to them without this belief. They tell you, too,
of the danger of arousing the indignation of the Democracy of that great
State. He repeated that he wished Senators to listen to this voice from the
Democracy of the North."
His Efforts to Amend the Tariff of 1846.
On the 5th of January, 1847, Gen. Cameron submitted a resolution,
directing the Secretary of the Treasury to report on what articles embraced
in the Tariff of 1846 the duties could he increased beyond existing rates so
as to augment the revenue, to what extent the duties would be increased,
and what additional revenue would accrue therefrom. He gave his reasons,
at some length, for offering this resolution, pointing out the glaring defects
of the existing tariff law, and how these might be remedied. Senator
Breese, of Illinois, undertook to lecture Gen. Cameron for the course pur
sued by him, which brought the latter again to his feet, and elicited from
him the following tart reply: —
« Mr. Cameron, in reply to the honorable Senator from Illinois, said he
was somewhat surprised at his remarks. For himself, he would only say,
that he had not followed the example of that Senator in making lono- and
useless speeches. He had troubled the Senate only when h^had°somethino'
to say; and hereafter, whenever he felt it his duty to address the Senate, he
should do so, though he might receive the admonitory reproof of that very
learned and distinguished Senator. In the present case, he only wanted a
plain answer, from the Secretary of the Treasury, to a plain question. He
was willing to admit the ability of that high officer, and he was anxious to
get his opinion upon a subject which greatly interested the people of his
State; and when it is procured, he will be happy if the Secretary should
receive the aid of the very able Senator from Illinois. He was particularly
anxious to have such information on this subject as would enable us to pro
vide a revenue to conduct this war efficiently. His State felt deeply inte
rested m having the army well supplied. His friends— his neighbors and

ADDRESS. 21
constituents — has filled its ranks. She had not oniy given the regiment
called for, but she had added a second, and she had even sent a company of
fine young men to fill up the quota of chivalrous Virginia. Of the five
thousand men enlisted last year, she had furnished three thousand from her
citizens." The resolution was adopted, and there the matter ended. No further
action was had during the remainder of the session, whioh closed March 4
1847. At the next session, on the 2d of February, 1849, he took occasion'
in presenting several hundred petitions asking for an increase of the tariff^
to express his opinion on the subject. He referred to the distress brought
upon the manufacturing and mining districts, and expressed himself as
follows: —
"On the necessity of protection to the great interests of Pennsylvania,
my mind has undergone no change. The development of our manufactures
and our mines, with the markets their products have furnished to our farm
ers, has given our great State the high position it holds in the Union. They
have filled our mountains and our valleys with an industrious and happy
people, and they will, if properly encouraged, every year add to our wealth
and our happiness. We were told last fall, that when the election was over,
if the Whig party should succeed, a change would take place, and we should
get back the Tariff of 1842. Well, there is a majority in the other House —
where a tariff bill only can originate — of that party; and, although the ses
sion has two of the three months allotted to it already consumed, no bill has
oome here which hints at a change in the system. I desire to make no
charges of neglect, but to say that I shall be most happy to co-operate with
them in modifying the Tariff of 1846 as soon as they shall give me an
opportunity. I shall go with them, as far as any gentleman here, to give
proper protection to all the great interests of the country."
The Lecompton Constitution.
When this measure was before the Senate, April 30, 1858, Gen. Cameron,
before recording his vote against it, spoke as follows: —
" Before the vote is taken, I desire to say a word or two in relation to my
own course. It was my intention, at an early part of the session, to say
something upon the general subject of Kansas affairs; but I am, as you all
Ifnow, not much of a speaker, having but little capacity that way, and no
taste for it. I often felt disposed to take a part in the debate, but when I
proposed to do so, I deferred to others ; and sometimes, when I felt like
going on, I found that some gentleman was discussing the question better
than I could hope to do. I rise at this time only to say that I disapprove
of the proposition now before the Senate, much more than I did of the ori
ginal attempt to force on the people of Kansas a constitution which they
were unwilling to take. The original bill was a plain proposition, for which
men might have voted honestly, without subjecting their motives to censure.
This I look upon as a very different affair. This, to my mind, is a trick to
impose upon weak men, or to enable corrupt men to make the impression
upon their constituents at home that they have been acting honestly. Still,
I should have said nothing on this subject now, if my respected colleague
had not been in such hot haste to announce to the Senator from New York,
while he was discussing the proposition, that the vote had been carried in
the other House, against the wishes of the freemen of Kansas. His act
was so different from what I expected from an honorable Senator from Penn
sylvania, that I was surprised at it. I have always, heretofore, understood
that no man in the whole State of Pennsylvania was more positive and decided

22 address.
in the expression of hia belief, before his election, that the people of Kansas
would not only be a free State, but that she should not have a State Consti
tution at all unless it should be voted for by a majority of her citizens. His
whole course in life, until he came here, was in favor of freemen and of the
free labor of the Northern States. His own history was such as naturally
to make him an advocate of freemen and free labor. Why he has changed
his course here, is no business of mine; but it does seem to me to be in bad
taste that he should act as he does, knowing, as he certainly does, that not
only the whole Opposition party in Pennsylvania, but a very large majority
of the party to which he belongs in that State, are opposed to the measure,
and opposed to the conduct of the President of the L'nited States in regard
to it; and I cannot permit him to come here and make the impression that
he believes the people of Pennsylvania are in favor of it; nor can I remain
quiet, much as I dislike to talk in public, when the impression is attempted
to be made that the people of Pennsylvania are with him or with the Presi
dent of the United States upon this subject. If the vote were to be taken
to-morrow, the people of Pennsylvania, by a majority of a hundred thousand,
would decide that the President of the United States had deceived them in
regard to this matter, and would prove, also, that my colleague is misrepre
senting his constituents on this great question.
" The people of Pennsylvania are conservative, and on all questions con
nected with slavery they have always taken a moderate course ; but, sir, I
tell you that if any man, who was in their confidence in the year 1856,
could have convinced them that, by any possible means, a constitution could be
forced upon the people of Kansas, in opposition to their wishes, and with
out a vote of the people, Mr. Buchanan could never have received the
electoral vote of Pennsylvania. He owes it to the conduct of himself and
the active influence of his friends all over the State, asserting that by na
ture Kansas must be free, and that no man would dare, no matter what his
position was, to attempt to put upon her a constitution unless her people
had the free and full right to vote for or against it. The President himself
thought so until lately. Everybody knows that so late as the 7th of
July last, he wrote a letter to a distinguished man in Kansas, telling him
that the constitution must be submitted to the people of the Territory for
their fair and free vote, or it would not be adopted or sanctioned by the Go
vernment. " I repeat that I do not now desire to occupy the time of the Senate,
now. I am desirous that the vote shall be taken. A majority, by some
means or other, has decided against us in the other House ; the major
ity here we know is against us, and it is idle to talk when a strong majority
will vote against us."
His Support of Eiver and Harbor Improvements.
Gen. Cameron's political principles, to n.'e his own language on one oc
casion, "have always been in favor of the American System/' While in
the Senate, all his votes were not only in favor of encouraging Home Labor
but of promoting the cause of internal improvements. He uniformly sup
ported bills, by his influence and vote, for the improvement of our Piivers
and Harbors. Maintaixins the Eight op Petition.
Gen. Cameron has ever been the consistent advocate of toe rights of the
people, and during the long continued opposition of the party to which he

ADDRESS. 23
belonged, to reception of petitions in Congress on the subject of slavery, he
steadily maintained and contended for the right of the people to be beard,
by their servants, on all subjects. All his votes while in the Senate were
in favor of the reception of these petitions, and again.st the unrepublican
and tyrannical course ofthe representatives of slavery on this subject.
Favoring the Abolition op Floggi.vg in the Navy,
Averse to tyranny in all its forms, and sympathizing strongly with the
brave tars in the Naval Service, who were but too often unjustlv and in
humanly flogged, he took a decided part in the .Senate in favor ofthe aboli
tion of that barbarous practice. While humanity is lifting up her voice
for every other class, he was unwilling that the poor sailor alone should be
unprotected from tyranny, and he enthusiastically espoused his cause, and
came to his rescue.
His Advocacy op a System op Cheap Postage.
A system of Cheap Postage, and the free circulation by mail, of the
newspapers in the counties in which they are published, has ever been a fa
vorite policy with Gen. Cameron, and he actively exerted himself, and suc
cessfully to some extent, in establishing such a system.
His Support op the Irish and Scotch Eeliep Bill.
The Bill introduced in the Senate by Mr. Crittenden, in 1847, providing
for some relief to the famishing people of Ireland and Scotland, received
his earnest support. To the calls of humanity from whatever source they
may come, his sympathies are ever alive and ready to respond with a liberal
hand. His Eemarks about the Eetired Naval Ofpicers.
On the 13th of January, 1858, while the subject of the dropped and re
tired Naval officers was under discussion, Gen. Cameron availed himself of
the opportunity to express his views as follows :
" Mr. President, I did not intend to say a word on this subject, nor to do
more than by a silent vote to endeavor to do justice to these people who
I think have been wronged ; but I cannot help rising for the purpose of
thanking the Senator from New Hampshire, for the just tribute he has paid
to that great man — a native and a citizen of my own State — who is justly
the head of the Navy. Sir, without ' Old Stewart' you would have no
naval history at all. He has done more for the renown of the navy than
all the men who lived before him, or in his lifetime; and yet that man has
been stricken down and disgraced in old age. Instead of thus disgracing
him, we ought to have paid him some such honor as we paid Gen. Scott, for
his great services in the army. If we have it not, we ought to have created
the rank of Admiral, and conferred it on Commodore Stewart. But instead
that old man has been disgraced in his old ao:e.
I shall vote for the motion of the Senator from Virginia to reconsider the
amendment of his colleague, for the purpose, as I hope, of doing justice to
all these people ; for, when you have once confided this discretion to the
bands of the President, there will be no prejudice, and ultimately every man
will be restored to his proper place. When these gentlemen entered into the
service of their country, we made a contract with them, an implied contract, that

24 address.
so long as they behaved themselves well, they should be continued in the
service, and be promoted as often aa opportunities offered. In place of that,
after many of them had spent almost the whole useful part of their lives in
the service of the country, we turned them out to pick up their living as
best they can. We have treated them as a parcel of old stage-horses; we
have turned them out to starve after we have used their manhood."
His Speech in favor of more adequate Protection _ than is
afforded by the present tariff.
Gen. Cameron, in presenting a petition from laboring men of Pennsylva
nia, June 1st, 1858, took occasion to express hia views in favor of more ad
equate protection to the industrial pursuits of the petitioners, as follows :
" I am requested to present a petition, signed by a large number of labor
ing men engaged in the manufacture of iron, in Pennsylvania. I receive a
great many letters daily from persons of this class, and I will say here what
will save me the trouble of writing a great many letters. They think the
Congress of the United States can relieve them from all their troubles.
There never has been a time, in the history of the iron business of Pennsyl
vania, when there was so much real distress among the laboring men of my
State — the men who do the work — the men who go to the forge before day
light, and remain there after the moon has risen — as there is at present. It
is not a complaint now on the part of the capitalists. Men of capital — men
of fortune, can take care of themselves : capital can always take care of
itself; labor, poverty, indigence, want, always need sympathy and protec
tion. These persons reside in the town of Norristown, on tbe Schuylkill river,
some twenty miles above Philadelphia. The river Schuylkill is traversed
on both sides by a railroad, one extending some twenty or thirty miles, an
other one hundred miles. On one side of the river is a canal. All these
works have been made for the purpose of conveying coal and iron to the
place of manufacture and sale. The county of Schuylkill, the great coal
deposit of Pennsylvania, has a population of some eighty or ninety
thousand people, all of whioh has grown up within the last twenty-five
years. At this time, the whole laboring population engaored in the iron and coal
busine.ss of the country extending from Philadelphia to the mountains of
Schuylkill county, are entirely idle ; the boats are tied up, the locomotives
are in a great measure standing still; and the laborers are running about
hunting for employment and hunting food. These are the persons who
complain, — they think that Congress can relieve them, I have told them,
and I have written to them, that they have the power in ther own hands.
The lahoriufj men of this country are powerful for good always. They do
control when they think proper, and I think the time is coming when they
will control the politics of this country, I tell them that before they can
get proper protection they must change the majority in this Senate, they
must change the majority in the other House of Congress, and above all
they must change the occupant of the AVhite House, who is the dispenser
of the power which controls the legislation of this country. In place of
gentlemen who sneer when we talk about protection, they must send men
here who know something of the wants, something of the interests some-
thins; of the usefulness of the laboring men.
Hitherto, they have not acted as if they cared for their own interests •
while they talked about a tariff which would guard their labor from compe
tition with the pauper labor of Europe, they would go to the elections under

ADDRESS. 25
some ward leader, and vote for men to represent them here and elsewhere
who cared only for party drill, and who had no interest above party success.
This system they must change if they hope for success, I think the labor
ing men of Pennsylvania, at least, are now beginning to put their shoulders
to the wheel, and 1 believe they will make such a noise in next October,
as will alarm the gentlemen over the country who laugh at them.
The canals, railroads, and mining operations of this region of country
have cost more than a hundred millions of dollars ; the furnaces and other
works connected with the manufacture of iron, an enormous sum ; and the
people interested in the coal and iron business, directly or indirectly, amount
to more than three hundred thousand souls.
Since 1855 there has been a blight upon the business, growing out ofthe
unwise legislation of Congress, whioh has really protected the iron of
England, Eussia, and Sweden, and thus taken the labor from our own work
men. The iron interest of Pennsylvania, in which these men are employed,
commenced in 1820, with a production of only two thousand tons. In
1855, when it was up to its greatest extent, the production was a million
tons of pig metal. The annual produce of coal in Schuylkill county alone,
in 1855, amounted iu value to $20,000,000. When it is known that it
requires two tons of coal to make one ton of iron, you can imagine the
number of persons who rely for their daily bread on the production of coal
add iron. Iron, in its native mountains, is worth but fifty cents a ton ;
when it is worked into pig metal, it ranges from twenty to thirty, and some
times to forty dollars a ton, and when worked into its various uses, it fre
quently amounts to many hundred dollars a ton. I have said that these
people have the power in their own hands. I am speaking to them, now,
and I wish them to exercise the power they have. I cannot help them,
much as I desire to do so, nor can any of their friends here ; but when they
go to work, as men determined to succeed should do, I have no doubt they
will get protection.
The people in this valley, and on the slope of the Schuylkill mountains,
have votes enough to change and control the politics of the Union ; for as
Penn.sylvania goes, so goes the Union, in all great elections ; and their votes
can at all times decide the politics of Pennsylvania, Let them exercise
the power wisely, and they will no longer be without plenty of work and
good prices." His Devotion to Friends.
A very prominent and marked feature in Gen. Cameron's character,
whioh has secured him so many ardent and attached friends, and reflects so
much credit upon him as a man, is his unwavering devotion to those to whom
he feels himself under obligations for aots of kindness received at their
hands. As an illustration of this noble trait of character, reference need
only be made to his course in the Senate, whenever he could, consistently
with his duties, do a kind service to Messrs. Gales and Seaton, the pub
lishers of the National Intelligencer. The kind treatment whioh he received
from those gentlemen, while in their employ as a journeyman printer, made
an enduring impression upon his heart; and, acting under that deep sense
of gratitude, which is ever exhibited by him towards those who have served
him kindly, he has, on the floor of the Senate, on all occasions, stood forth
as the friend and defender of Messrs. Gales and Seaton. A speech made
by him in the Senate, June 2d, 1858, shows this to be the case, and may
not be- out of place in this connection. It is as follows: —

26 ADDRESS.
"I have opposed the increase of expenditures in this House from the
commencement, and I have been particularly desirous of reducing the
amount of public printing. If this were any ordinary document, I should
certainly oppose it ; but it is of a different character. As has been pro
perly stated by the gentlemen who have preceded me, it is a work which
will some day or other be published. It is only a question of time. Then,
it is to decide whether these gentlemen, who have had charge ofthe former
part of the work, shall continue it, or some other gentleman, or some other
gentlemen, who may not be so properly qualified or faithful. It is useless
for me to say anything of the character of these gentlemen. They are
known to everybody. There is hardly a man in the United States who
does not know Gales and Seaton by reputation ; but to the members of the
printing business, the editorial corps, as we call ourselves, they are especially
known. In very early life I was in their employment, aud there are no
better men in the world than both of those gentlemen. As printers, as
editors, their history is known to the whole country, perhaps to the world,
but as men they are not so well known. These gentlemen have expended
the whole labor of their lives in doing good. No men that I have ever been
acquainted with have so much of kindness, so much of generosity, and so
much of benevolence,
"I could recount fifty instances of men going into their office when it
was inconvenient to them to part with any portion of their means ; and I
have never seen a man go out of that office without receiving some aid and
comfort, I remember a case, which occurs to me at this moment. Thirty
years ago, or more, there came into the printing office of Gales and Seaton, a
pale, emaciated, sickly-looking man, who seemed to be on the verge of dis
solution. He called on the foreman for employment. He was poor, sick,
and had no money. The foreman said to him, rather sharply, 'I am sorry
for it, but I have no work to give.' He left the printing office. At the
door, he met Mr. Gales. He looked so miserable, that he attracted the
attention of Mr. Gales, who said, ' My good man, what is the matter with
you?' 'Why, sir,' he replied, 'I am very sick, and I have been here to
get work, and the foreman says he cannot give me any.' 'Oh,' said Mr.
Gales, ' he has forgotten ; we never turn a man out of this house who is
sick. Go in, and I will find something for you to do.' That act of kindness
saved that man's life, and I have traced him through his history since. I
saw him, afterwards, a learned member of the bar of his own State, a mem
ber of the Legislature, a Judge of the Court, a member of Congress^ and
now a Supreme Judge in one of the States of this Union.
" That is but one of the instances of the kindness of these people. Their
whole life has been spent in doing good. You can employ nobody who will
do this work so faithfully as they will ; probably nobody can do it so well.
That it will be done hereafter, there can be no doubt. It ia only a question
as to time, then. Under the lead of my respected friend, the Chairman of
the Committee on Printing, we have already saved, on the cost of printing
documents ordered previous to this session, over three hundred and sixty
thousand dollars. I think the Senator from Arkansas will bear me out in
that. The expense of printing will be, probably, this year, eight or nine
hundred thousand dollars less than several years past. It seems to me that
that, and other reasons, show this to be the proper time for this work. I
confess I have more personal feeling in this matter, because I know these
men are not only men of intellect, but men of heart; and I never saw a
man of kind heart who was not a good citizen. I have scarcely ever seen
appeals in favor of men of generosity and benevolence, such as these men

ADDRESS. 27
are, that did not meet a response from generous men, such as this body is
composed of." His Identification with the Laboring Classes.
The devotion of Gen. Cameron to what may be truly characterized as the
laboring men's policy, in the administration of the general government, may
justify allusion here to the fact that he is himself, in a great measure, the
embodiment of that policy, and a happy illustration of its beneficent effects.
He is emphatically from the ran-ks of the people. For all that he has and
is, he is indebted, under the blessing of God, to his own manly courage
and indomitable will and energy. Born only to an inheritance of poverty
and obscurity, he struggled bravely with difficulties that would have appalled
and crushed a less daring spirit and resolute heart. Conscious that he is
indebted to that noble policy which guards and protects the poor man's in
dustry, for the laurels which he has won for himself, he could not, to be true
to himself, be otherwise than he is — a champion of it. In the able speech
delivered by him iu the Senate, July 22, 1846, against the enactment of the
Tariff of 1846, he frankly expresses himself as follows on this subject: —
" What I have done, has been with a view of showing the great import
ance of this trade, now threatened with destruction, with no motive, that I
can see, unless it be to build up in the South a lordly aristocracy, who have
no conception of the dignity of labor. It shall not be said hereafter that
this calamity was brought upon the laboring men of my country, without all
the effort in my^power to prevent it. My sympathies are with these people.
I come from among the children of toil, and, by constant application and
honest labor, have reached the proud position I occupy to-day. The best
legacy that I could desire to leave my children, would be the fact that I had
contributed to defeat a measure-fraught, as I believe this is, with calamity
to those with whom I have mingled all my life. These laboring men are
mostly Democrats. Their employers are frequently of the opposite politics;
yet, with the freedom and independence that I hope will ever characterize
the yeomanry of this land, they vote entirely untrammeled. They will be
surprised to be told, now, that the doctrine of a protective tariff, which they
have always believed in and sustained, is not democratic.
" What American citizen can desire to see his fellow-citizens brought
down to a level with the pauper labor of Europe ? What makes our country
great, but the industry, the intelligence, the honest enterprise of the men
whose means of living is to be taken from them by this bill ? In what
country, under heaven, has the man who toils for his daily bread the right
to say who shall make and administer his laws ? Where else is the proud
spectacle presented, of the laboring man approaching the ballot-box free and
without restraint? In what other country can the journeyman mechanic
reach the Senate Chamber ? And yet, this bill seems to have no other con
templation of the laboring man here, than as the pauper labor of Europe."
He is the Advocate op Progress, yet Conservative.
A Democrat by birth, education, and training, in all his principles, feel
ings, and habits, fully, understanding the temper and condition of the labor-
ino- classes, and sympathizing with them in all their wants, he is yet no
radicalist, who would war against capital, and array the poor against the rich.
His aspirations are to build up, not to tear down. He has a profound reve
rence for all the safeguards which long experience and sound wisdom have
thrown about individual rights. His reliance is upon great and enduring

28 address.
principles, and fully confides in those whioh have, formed the rule of his
public life. No crisis, however fearful, surprises or disarms him. Cool and
self-possessed, with a sagacity that can see, through the mist of the hour,
the future to which it leads, he is ever prepared for any emergency. Ardent
and spontaneous, as are all his democratic impulses, and strong as are his
feelings of humanity, he never would lend himself to the destruction of
established order, regardless of the happiness of those most nearly concerned.
Nor would he do so, with ruthless violence, upon established institutions
whioh might stand in his way, even in the assertion of right. His political
sentiments were formed under the instruction and in the intimate compan
ionship of the wisest and most patriotic men of Pennsylvania — men who
loved freedom and cherished the Union, and who knew how to maintain the
latter without being derelict in their duty to the former. The principles he
imbibed from them have been his unerring guide through life ; and as they
are still those of the people of his native State, who have served so long aa
amoral breakwater between the opposing sentiments and conflicting passions
of the extremists of both sections of the Union, his nomination for the
Presidency would afford a happy medium ground, in perfect character with
the geographical position of the State, for the conservative people of all sec
tions to unite and rally upon.
An Old Fashioned Pennsylvania Democrat.
From the remarks already quoted, the reader may readily discover tnnt
Gen. Cameron is an old fashioned Pennsylvania Democral* holding fast to
the Democracy ofthe pure and great men of his native State from whom he
received his political education. Truly national in all his principles, views,
and feelings, he has yet never been so forgetful of the rij;hts of Free Labor,
as to lend himself to its surrender to appease the agp^resiive spirit of slavery.
Nor would he, on the other hand, lend himself to the inf'ritif^ement, or vio
lation, of any Constitutional rights of those enjoyinp; the benefits of slave
labor. He is no extremist on any subject. Schooled in the political creed
of the Democratic party of Pennsylvania, when it had for its main pillars
such men as Simon Snyder, William Pindlay, Abner Lacock, Saml. D. Insr-
ham, Jno. Bannister Gibson, Molton C. Eogers, Isaac D. Barnard. Wm. Dar
lington, Jonathan Eoberts, and their like, he has consistently maintained the
principles of those great men, and steadfastly adhered to them as those of
true Pennsylvania Democracy.
His Public Spirited Enterprise.
As an enlightened, public spirited citizen. Gen. Cameron has few etiuala,
and no superiors. He is not only identified with the varied interests of
Pennsylvania, but connected in .some degree with many of her most impor
tant public improvements. Convinced that a mistake had been nrade by
the State in the location of her main line of Public Works, he projected
the Harrisburg and Lancaster Eailway, to form a more speedy and direct
line of communication between Philadelphia and the West, at an early day
and its construction, at that time, may be solely attributed to his enterpris
ing spirit. It was then a great undertaking as a pijivate enterprise and
but for him, would not have suceeeded. So, too, the Lebanon Valley Eail
way. Though an important link in the chain of Eailways from Philadel
phia westward, there was no prospect of its construction until he led off in
obtaining the means to build it, and pressed it to completion. The ,sime
to some extent, may be said of the Northern Central Eailway, from Harris'

ADDRESS. 29
burg to Sunbury, and of the Tide-Water Canal, and a number of other im
provements that could be named.
His Business Habits and Qualifications.
His business habits and capacities are of the highest order, and enable
him to perform an amount of labor, and attend to a variety of business pur
suits, that few men are capable of. As an illustration of this, it need but
be stated, that, for a while, at one and the same time, he was President of
two Eailway Companies, Cashier of a Bank, and President of an Insurance
Company, all in active and successful operation, and the duties devolving
upon him in each, well and faithfully performed.
His Appearance, Manners, and Habits.
He is tall and slender, having a countenance remarkable for its keenness
and intelligence. His appearance does not indicate the po.ssession of a
robust constitution. There are, however, few men who, at his age, are so
free from disease, and who enjoy the same moral and physical energies- His
is a constitution of great elasticity and vigor, capable of much endurance,
and of active physical and mental exertions. Though his life has been a
very active one, and his energies have been taxed very heavily, his habits
having been temperate and regular in every respect, he possesses yet all the
bodily and mental energy of a young man. His manners are plain, simple,
and unaffected. There is nothing in them that is repulsive or forbidding to
the stranger, but much that is calculated to make him a favorite with all
classes of the people.
His Character as a Citizen and a Man.
• His is a nature that is keenly alive to kindly acts. Those who do him a
favor are sure to have, in return, acts of kindness bestowed upon them with
a lavish hand by him. He is a man of his word ; frank and manly in his
intercourse with all ; never promises any thing that he is not able to perform,
and never fails to perform that which he undertakes. He possesses, in an
eminent degree, those qualities of the head and heart, whioh warmly attach
to him all who make his acquaintance sufficiently well to understand his real
character. In the neighborhood where ho resides, he is esteemed by all
classes, and enjoys a personal popularity which it falls to the lot of but few
men to attain among their neighbors. Liberal in his impulses, and generous
in his feelings, his kindly nature prompts him to the constant performances
of acts of kindness to those with whom he has daily intercourse, and there
are few, among his friends and neighbors, who are not under lasting obliga
tions to him for such acts. In his contributions to the benevolent and
charitable enterprises of the day, he is ever ready and liberal ; aud he ha,s,
perhaps, done more to aid deserving men, laboring under pecuniary reverses,
by furnishing or procuring for them the necessary means to sustain them in
business, and save thpm from ruin, than any other man in the State. Hun
dreds of the most useful business men of the State feel themselves indebted
to him for such favors, and would rally to his support, if a candidate, with
an ardor and enthusiasm which would have no bounds.
As a son, husband, and father, he presents a character truly noble. Were
it in place, here, to dwell on his conduct as such, and the devoted manner
ip which he has clung to all of his father's household, keeping up and unit
ing too-ether the family in an affectionate bond of brother and sisterhood,

30 ADDRESS.
loving and beloved by each other, much might be said highly creditable to
his nature. Suffice it, however, to remark, that in all the duties devolving
upon him, whether as a son, a husband, or a father, they have ever been so
discharged as to prove that he is a man whose heart is in the right place.
A Pennsylvania Working Man.
Such is Gen. Simon Cameron, the choice of the People's party of Penn
sylvania for the next Presidency of the United States ! Were his merits
less commanding and attractive than they are, sufficient reasons in favor of
his nomination might be derived from the fact, that he comes from the body
of the people, sympathizes with them, understands their wants, and knows
how to promote their advancement and welfare. He has none of the daz-
zlin" and superficial qualities of mere scholastic attainments without native
good sense, nor splendid oratory without wisdom or judgment, nor elegance
of manners without sincerity of purpose; but, instead of these he unites,
in a very eminent degree, those rare qualifications of a sound, common sense,
practical, and useful public man, whioh are the result of quickness of appre
hension, with accuracy of judgment, and strong natural talents, improved by
severe discipline and study, close observation, thoughtful meditation, and
extensive intercourse with his fellow men. He combines in his character
those essential qualities of the head and heart which beget for him the con
fidence and esteem of the great mass of the people. He is emphatically a
self-made man — an American mechanic, whose honest pride is that his
social habits and domestic relations are those of that very large and highly re
spectable and useful class of his fellow citizens. He comes from the ranks of
the people, sympathizes with them, understands their views and feelings, and
knows how to promote their interests. Born and bred, as he has ever lived,
a Pennsylvania Working Man, who so satisfactory to the working men
of the country for the Presidency as he? Who, of all that have yet been
named, more worthy of the people's confidence, and so likely to commaltd
their enthusiastic support, than the distinguished man who has surmounted
all the difficulties of early orphanage, poverty, and destitution, and prepared
himself for the high position of Senator of the United States, which he
now fills with so much honor to himself and credit to his native State ?
Pennsylvania a Union Eallying Point.
The people of Pennsylvania have ever sustained, with undeviating firm
ness, the principles of the Constitution, as understood and expounded by
the Eepublican party, when Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, were at its
head. They have, in all times of trial, and of difficulties, and dangers,
proved true to those American Eepublican principles, which form the
ba.sis of the "American System." They have ever formed the grand
rallying point around which the true Democracy of the country have ga
thered, and marched to victory. They now present to the consideration of
their fellow countrymen the name of a man, as their choice for the Presi
dency, whose birth, life, character, principles, and everything connected
with his history, ia not only in entire accordance with the medium geogra
phical position their State occupies in the Union, but in perfect harmony
with, and illustrative of, those true American Eepublican principles to
whioh her people have ever clung with fidelity. About what other stand
ard would there be a likelihood of rallying the opposition to miscalled De
mocracy, to the same extent, and with the same unanimity, as about that of
the Keystone State ?

address, 31
The nomination of Pennsylvania's favorite would be equivalent to secur
ing her vote in the Electoral College of the Union, while it would tend to
harmonize the conflicting elements on a medium basis of action in other
States, bringing together those now separated from each other by non
essentials, and nationalizing the opposition into one common organization
against the Democracy, from one end of the country to the other. We ap
peal, then, to the people of other States — not the politicians, but the people
themselves — those who have at heart the welfare of the country — to ponder
well the suggestions thus made to them. Let their omnipotent voice be
heard responsive to the nomination of Pennsylvania's choice, and they will
secure a candidate, who will not only lead them to victory, but who, when
elected, will inaugurate an administration of the government that will ele
vate and improve the country, restore harmony and peace, and cement the
bonds of Union.
Samuel Lloyd, Charles M. Neal,
John M, Eiley, Thomas K, Finletter,
David W. Sellers, William P. Hamm,
William W. Watt, Samuel P. Welsh
James Work, James A. Bowie,
Eeuben Sands,
Executive Committee,
Published by order of the Club. ISAAC HAZLEHUEST, President.
Jeremiah Nichols, '\
Charles B. Pottinger, \ Secretaries.
John G. Butler, j

Date Due
All books are subject to recall after two weeks.

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