The Whig Standard

THE LOCOFOCO NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT.

Well, the Locofoco nominations are made. Unable to agree upon any one of their prominent and able men, the party has let itself down to James K. Polk for President! and George M. Dallas for Vice President. Bonaparte said rightly, Orator Emmons with much point repeated, when the nomination of Mr. Polk was announced, that there was but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous. Truly have the Locofocos exemplified the correctness of this remark, and taken that step. Their orators have suddenly discovered virtues and talents in this man heretofore unknown, and are already laboring to enlighten their Locofoco brethren in regard to them. Those talents and virtues, we venture to say, they may claim by right of discovery, and that their title will be undisputed. Suddenly, Mr. Polk becomes the greatest statesman and the purest man of the age! How fortunate for the party that it had such a man in its ranks, and how blind the people, even they, themselves, have been, not to perceive those transcendent abilities and those shining virtues in him in the course of the twenty years he has been before the public! And especially blind to his splendid talents must have been the people of Tennessee, who have twice rejected his solicitations for the gubernatorial office, after having tried him for one term! For ourselves, we must confess our ignorance still, of those high and transcendent qualities in Mr. Polk, which have heretofore been considered essential in the man selected as a candidate for the first office in the gift of the nation. We are yet to learn what great measure he has originated, or in what manner he has distinguished himself as a statesman; or, upon what battlefield he has won laurels and renown. We have some recollection of his having once been Speaker of the House of Representatives, and of his having been told to his teeth by Mr. Wise, in the most insulting manner that it could be done, that he was a d--d petty tyrant—that in telling him this, he (Mr. Wise) intended to insult him, and that he was too cowardly to resent it. We have heard that General Jackson strove with all his power to make him resent the insult, but was unable to effect it, although he could make him do anything else. We have heard also that upon Mr. Polk being subsequently a candidate for Governor in Tennessee, he was charged with cowardice, and the charge was sustained by its being proved that he had not dared to resent this gross personal insult of Mr. Wise; and that, to counteract this charge, Mr. Polk went to mamma, or General Jackson, and procured a certificate that he was not a poltroon. We further understand that he still carries this certificate in his pocket, to silence all who may question his courage or doubt his bravery. We learn this from a prominent gentleman, and member of Congress, of his own party, who has also said that there were twenty men in every State in the Union better qualified for the station, more entitled to the nomination, and far more favorably known to the people than Mr. Polk. We are inclined to think that, maugre all the attempts of the politicians to get up a little enthusiasm for their nominee, the people will look upon it as a gross insult to them and to the country. Their sentiments, we have no doubt, were expressed by Mr. McGinniss, a delegate to the National Convention from Missouri, and nominated by his party as a candidate for Presidential Elector. On the adjournment of the Convention, Mr. McG. mounted the rostrum and said:

"I have sought, at various times, to address the Convention, for the purpose of expressing my opinion upon the course it has adopted, but I have been rudely and uncivilly denied the exercise of my rights as one of its members. I have, therefore, no resort left except to take this opportunity of proclaiming that I bear no part in the responsibility of what it has done. It has committed a gross fraud—a fraud upon the Democratic party—a fraud upon the country. I go against it—Missouri will go against it! I denounce it. I know that it is useless to spend more breath upon the subject here, but the people will see it, and treat it as it deserves to be treated."

We sincerely believe Mr. Polk will not receive the electoral votes of but five States; namely, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and New Hampshire; and if the democracy in these have any respect for themselves, they will resent the insult cast upon them by the nomination of such a man for President, by staying away from the polls.