Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1844-08-08
SOUTH CAROLINA.

~
the Charleston District, s. G. is publish.
ed in the Charleston Mercury, in which
the writer declares his belief that resis.
lance, Southern resistance if it can be
procured if not, then, State resistance, is
tho remedy for the evils which the South
complains of. Mr.. Holmes says ; Il ad.
nit that the question is narrowed down to
an issue, PASSIVE Obedience or Rests
lance | believe the evils Of the Tariff
cannot be exaggerated-that in few
years it will operate to render the cotton
planting in South Carolina utterly value-
less" Mr.. Holmes concluded his letter
by saying
81 am obliged to acknowledge, that af.
ter the position assumed by South Carroll"
ma in 1882; alter the declaration she put
forth at the time, she, thought the Con-
vention, adopted the compromise--'That
if the expiration Of ten years brought not
the promised relief, she would again re-
sist;' that the Resolution passed in our
Legislature in 1912, asserting resistance
after the hope of relief had aed--aIl-all
call for manly ayowal Of our determi-
nation. The only value Of liberty con-
sists in the security impaired 10 property,
and the protection thrown around society.
Our property and society depend so es.
sentiaIly and intimately upon our pocuii.
ar institutions, that whatever affects those
institutions injuriously, endangers our lib.
erty. Liberty is blessing too inestima-
bic for State or People TO yield it, when
there appears any probability Of preserv.
ing or recovering it; however great the
labor or imminent the peril. If, then, we
have rights which we solemnly believe
are vio.ated-if rights without a remedy
be an absurdty-if our wisest politicians
and most profound statesmen despair of
any ordinary remedy -ihe remedy in this
case must be the extraordinary one Of
Resistance. For it must be admitted that
affairs have come to that extremity, that
the Constitution can be defended by il
alone.
81 trust that have spoken plainly-I
know that have spoken honestly.
THE opinions of others, wiser and moro
sagacious than myself, TO whom the State
looks for counsel and whose eyes are
ever wa,chful over her interests, differ
from my own. A remedy, it is thought,
may be found in other expedienls. 1t is
certainly due 10 those who have plloted
US through so many difficulties, that we
act not iashly. That we wait awhile the
chapter of accidents. But upon the
failure Of those expected remedies, we
must finally decide--Passive Obedience
or Resistance--l cannot hesitate"
Mr.. Holmes does not specify what kind
of resistance" he would advocate against
the Tariff, His illusions however TO the
course Of South Carolina in 1882 would
seem 10 indicate that he had in his mind
the species of resistance which was con-
tempated then. Mr.. McDufiio, in the
Senate last winter, spoke Of another sort
of resistance, and declared that he woald
use his influence to have an excise impost
placed by the Legislature OF his State
upon all articles manufactured in other
States and brought into South Carolina.
The following remarks from the Charles
ton Patriot will apply to Mr.. Holmes no.
ton Of resistance, as well as to that Of
Mr.. McDuliie, against which they are
particularly aimed. The true cause Of
the decline of the cotton planters profits
in South Carolina, it will be seen, is be-
coming apparen: to men OF observation
in that Siate--it has been apparent else.
where for some time past:
STATE EXCISE ON Domestic MANUFAc-
TUREs. A State Excise would be one OF
toe worst forms Of separate State action
that could DO devised. If tried and aban.
doned, it would destroy the moral innu-
ence of South Carolina. 1t would consii
tute lasting reproach against the sagaci-
ty Of her statesmen. What then, it may
ba asked, is tAe remedyl 1t is 1ot to be
found in counter legislation. 1t canno;
exist in war Of fiscal regulations. Tax
alton in one form is not the proper cor.
receive for Ia Ration in another FORM
After volumes of discussion and debate,
the remedy must ultimately be sought in
a change Of industrial pursuits. We
have called on the owners Of slaves and
lands in South Carolina TO prepare them
selves for this change. They cannot OPP
pose that great law Of progress which is
efiecting a revolution in the application
of capital and modes of industry between