Who Shall Be The Next President?

For the Signal of Liberty

Mr. Editor : - I should like tn cali tho attcntion of your readers to a subject, which I consider in the highest degreo practical. Every Liberty man who has had his eyes open during the present administrotion of the general government, must acknowledge that it is of the grea:et inporiance that our ncxt President atid Vice Prf-sident should be antislnvery men. No ono in his senses, can expect thot a nomnee of the Liberty party will be elecied. Public sentiment is not sufïïciently advanced for that. What then is to be donei It is to be hoped that one of the leading parties of the day, will have the audacity to nomínate a [nim-]slnveholder for the suffrages of this free (1) people. And indeed, from present appearances, this result is not nltogcthcr improbable. As the Liberty Party holds the balanceof power, and has shown to the satisfaction of all that it cnnnot be induced to throw its influence or its vote in favor of a slaveholder, or a pro-slavery man, it will of course ba for the interest of the other party to nomínate an antislavery man. ThÍ3 nommee, whichever of the two pnrties ho may belong to, will undoubtcdly secure the whole Northern vote of lus respective party. And such is the disgust that hns been excited by the exhibition of the slave power wilhin a few years past, that he would undoubterilv draw off large numbers from the oiher party. These, with the Liberty party would constisute a majority. Now f the above is a rational view of tho e.iting staie of things, would it mt be the duty of tho Liberty Party to have no nominee for that office, and to throw in whole influenre for the antislavery nominee. - Some perhaps would ui ge thnt by votingfor the candidato of a proslavery party wc would vote for the proslavery party itself. Suppose we grant that our vot would for that party ; does it folkn that we vote for it as a proslavery party Not at nll, if we vote for it in any par iicular charncter, we vote for it as an ant-slavery party ; for we uttcrly refuse t vute for any other than an antislavery man. And moreover, we vote for it no only as an nntislavery pnrtv, ns far as i is such, but for the purpose of making i wholly so. Do you ask how we expec to accomplish that result. I only answer by referring you to the past. How was t with the party that brought the present administraban into existence ? When Martin Van Buren was its candidate, their cry was, down with Slnvèry- keep off Texas, simply because the other candidate was t Southern slaveholder whosest it wou ld bo to have Texas admitted and slavery perpetuatod. But when James K. Polk wns nnnounced ns 'he nominee of tho Baltimore Convention, I how soon was tlie tune changed ? barely ' time was allowed for their indignation to subsidc a little and the cry watí u Polk and Texas." I merely mention this to sliow that in the present condition of , ciety, the sentiment of a candidato for an important office will to a great extent be ariopted by hts party, and if afterwards he filis the office to their satisfaetion, they will continue to hold the same opinions. Thus, ifoneof the leading parties should from motives of poücy, nomínate an antislavery man for the Prcsidncy, all their political leaders would become by a sort of meiamorphosis, able champions of Human Rights. Their influence would be feit where none othercould reach. Those who had never examined ihe subject would be induced to give it their aitention, nnd even thosc who had opposed antislave ry mensures from principie - if such thcrebe - would bi under the necessity for party purpo?es, to advocate tliem, until by a well known law of the human mind, they wouW become convinced of their truih. Who but a Fnlher Matthew could have efleeled such a reform among the Irish Cntholics as has been effected in respect to intemperance ? A Protestant might havo exhausled the eloquence of a Demosthenps with comparatively little efTect. If party ór sedarían prejudices can be wielded in favor of the great cause of Human Rigtits, let us so wield them. It is evident that the people of tho Noith are becoming moreed with the reign of slaveocracy. lt is evident that some kind of action might be aken that would result in awakening their dormant energies and banding them torei her flgainst the common fop. As 1 said before, the Liberty pai ty has not asvet sufficient influence for the purpoe. It might have had, perhaps, had it in season taken definitie and decisivo grounds n relation to thoseobjects which ihe mass of the people contend for so strenuously. To form a party having for its paramount object the abolition of slnvery, nndsecondary to thaí, to define and carry out those other ohjects growing out of the greatideaof Liberty, which the circumstancesofthe present age seem to cali "or, would no doubt tend to divide our sresent party into lactions and on the whole, not be acivisable, nt least not until afterthe Ptesidential Elcction. As the existing Liberty Party is not of such a characteras to leod us to expect that it will ever be a dominant party, it must foilow that its iniluence over the othcrarties consista in a great degrce in the 'act thatit possesses the balance of power. [f it refuses to exert this power n favor of right, when one of the other parties meets it on its own ground, what good can t evor accomplish by menns of it ? VVhatcver measures may be taken by the grent body of nntislavery men, I hope that no reliance will be placed upon the "questioning system." If a candidato is up who is nol knoxen to be thoroughiy opposed nit only to the exlension but to the perpeluily of slavery, let us vote for candidates of our own. Dut if tliey will come to our own grounds, we can do no less than to umte with them.