Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1845-08-06

From Hazeweips Ohio Statesman.
Governor DOrr.
The Rhode Island, qwest;on-its import
aacc, Sc.
A few days before leaving the east.
we visited! Governor Dom. We found
him at the residence of his true and
faithful friend, ANsoN Potter, ESQ. IN
Cranston, r. |. His confinement OF
twenty months, and the indignities heap
ed upon him by the tools of the Alge-
rines, have not been without serious ef>
feet on his bodily health, and it will be
some time before he can be considered
we'll man. But his mind is powerful
and clsaI asst was in his happiest days,
and his .firmness in. the cause Of freedom
and attachment to popular rights is as
remarkable and incorporating now.
as it was during those years when he
lent his entire energies towards the
emancipation of the people Of Rhode
Island. "A few months will, we sincere
ly hope, restore him to the world, when,
with sound mind 10 sound body, he
will once more be found battling for
liberty with all his ancient zeal, and oc-
cupying such position 10 the demo~
cratic ranks as his great talents, the ex.
tent and variety of his knowledge, and
the sacrifices which he has made in the
4 peoples behalf, entitle him to. Under
| the careful attendance Of attached friends
his progress to health cannot be other
wise than rapid, when the world will
again have the benefit Of his Invaluable
services.
The manner in which Mr.. Dorr has
been liberated, has the effect Of keeping
the Rhode Island question before the
people. He has been merely liberated
and is not restored to his rights as a cit
izen. Another effort will restore him to
his wonted position. In the meantime,
his friends, and the friends OF the cause
of which he has been SO distinguished
and self sacrificing champion, must not
permit the matter to be lost sight Of. II
must continue 10 be agitated, so that its
real nature may be thoroughly under>
stood. The Rhode Island question is
the most important matter in dispute be-
tween parties. 1t transcends, not mere
ly some of the great questions of the
age, but towers above them all. How
ever disastrous might be the result OF a
decision in favor Of tho wings, Of the
tariff or bank question, it would not
cause US to despair Of the republic; but
decision adverse to the suffrage party
Of Rhode Island, by the people Of the
United States, might excuse any man for
thinking that the last hour Of our lber..
ties was rapidly approaching. 1t would
involve the whole subject of popular
sovereignty. and would deny the ''sa
cred right Of revolution" to an oppressed
people. So long as they are left to them
selves. aud are not compelled to record
merely the edicts Of corporations, tho
American people will not perpetrate so
suicidal an act aa to deliberately con
denim course which renders their liber-
ties certain, and epahles them TO main
tain the dignity of. manhood. But wher
ever the influence Of wealth is paramount
the position Of the democracy Of Rhode
Island question will meet with emphatic
condemnation as being that which is
antagoaistical to what its own interets
demands its supporters to adopt and up
hold with all their might aRd all their
strength. In this contest between might
and right time must demonstrate wheth-
er the children Of this world, now as OF
cid. are wiser in their generation than
the children Of light. and therefore like.
ly to send freedom, as the weaker party,
to that wall against which the strong
are perpetually thrusting the feeble,
Governor Dorr is extremely anxious
that the merits Of his cause should be
distinctly understood in the western
States, into whose hands the sceptre oi
empire is rapidly passing. With the
west must rest the decision Of his case,
He looks to it for such a decision as
shall confirm the right Of the people Ia
, form governments for themselves, and
/ put down, at once and forever, the aris-
tocratic and most destructive doctrine
that the created government is greater
than its creator, the people. He does
no injustice to the people Of the North
and the East. and believes that they are
warmly attached to the cause offreedom,
| in accordance with which views would
be their unbiased judgment, were his
, case to be directly submitted to them.
, But he knows as must every man who
. has seen much Of those portions of the
Union, that the aggregation Of wealth
there has pretty much destroyed, if net
freedom Of opinion. at least freedom oI
action. Maa is there secondary mat
ter, and property is every thing. New
England 10 becoming like old EngIand-
the rich getting very rich, and the poor
: getting very poor indeed. No popula,
question can triumph in that part Of the
world, 10 that land Of vast monopoIies,
where dozen men control and WELD up.
wards Of an hundred millions ofths most
productive capital on earth. In the west