The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-12-14
From tie Columbus Ca TINES.
Charge and Answer. -

| III poIitiCH ppHlloHs, 10 say lew WORDS
have been reading in your editorials for months,
how basely Georgia has been treated how in
suits and outrages have been heaped upon her :,
and how her quiet submission to all has exposed
her to the scorn and contumely of the whole
" orld. Now have never, though others have,
doubted your entire sincerity in all this. have
never questioned, but have often indicated your
motives, yet am decidedly of the opinion, that
In all this you are Drong; and therefore | con-
tnually regret, as l open your paper, that you
are advocating measures which if carried out nc.
cordlng to your desire, would, as / think, do
more injury to Georgia than all the wrongs the
North ever has or ever can nfct upon her for
when these wrongs do become so great and
glaring that Georgians will see and feel them.
they will instantly and effectually resist" them
and put an end to them. ! say this is what
think +; and as it is only my opinion, (however
firmly convinced ] may be of its correctness
does it become me TO denounce all who think
differently rs aliens and traitors as lost to
every sentiment of honor and patriotism!
humbly Judge not.
And will such course of argument conduce
to the end ardently desire, viz: to convince all
who differ with me that am right and they are
wrong! Will it not rather have tendency to
exasperate them to arouse and strengthen the
worst passions in their nature, to set them in
their pre- udices, and to completely shut me out
from any hope of bringing them over to my
opinions Again, if after advocating my opin-
ions with my utmost zeal and ability, the ques
ton should be fairly submitted to the people of
Georgia. to be decided at the ballot box and
they should decide by n majority of thousands
upon thousands, that | was in error; would it
not become me AT least, to suppose it possible
that the overwhelming majority might be right,
md I ,yronr1 nd for fha ln of at, ,,l
decent respect for the opinions of mankind"
would it not be more comely at least, to refrain
from the re-iteraton Of such opinions and such
dcnunciations in the fact of such decision
Yours respectfully, w.
We do not know if the foregoing was in
tended for publication, or only for our own pri. |
vate admonition. AS it is couched in friendly
terms, and we have no doubt it comes from
friendly quarter, we take no offence at it. On
the contrary, we thank our anonymous cores
pendent for the detences he has volunteered for
our sincerity. But we have sowe comments TO
make on it, and we are thankful for the oppor-
tunity it affords to make them So our friend
"W." thinks we are violent" Well, there are
circumstances of insult, oppression, and outrage,
under which some degree Of violence" is to be
pardoned to the inirmities of human nature, if
not justified by the strcter rule of morality. II,
we could change places with 'W."-if we were
a Northern man, citizen Of the winning and
aggressive section, in all this game of Legislative
fraud and oppression, possibly we could sit down,
like philosopher, as "calm rs summers morn
ing and find fault with the ''voence' of citl-
zen of the aggrieved section, who felt the sting
of ndgnity and oppression, like a stain and
wound to his personal honor. Perhaps, did we
look at the case through Northern spectac.cs,
we might not be able to sec how and when and
where wrongs had been done 10 the South.
But we do not happen to be in that condition.
We are Il Southcrner, bone, muscle and heart
we belong to the losing side--we see the in
justice done our section with Southern eyes, and
we feel it with Southern heart We should
be dolt in head and clod in spirit not to see
and feel it, No wrong done to the South"
May we not be in "error," when so large maj
orUy are of different opinion! Are ma critics al
ways right! We imagnethc victims Mt the stake at
Smithticld, did not think so!-The old women bur-
ned for witches in avs own New England State,
200 years ago. did not think so-the heret'cs
who suffered at the auto da te in Spain and Italy,
and the Huguenots at the ST. Bartholomew
massacre, did not think so. Mojorities may be-
wrong ; and in this case, they have been hel ped
to be wrong by Northern men, indelicntcly vot-
ing on an issue where they should at least have
been neutral; by foreigners, mislcd by appeals
to their oaths of allegiance; and by the masses
Of the honest native people, WHO get their polit-
Cal ideas from Northern newspaper press, dom
ciled amongst U.S. and edited by Northern men |
No wrongs! We presume our phosophic |
friend will at least admit that when the States
of the South went into this Union they entered
it as equals! If so, they should be equals now
they have acquired territory by purchase ard
war as equals, hav'nt they? Well, has it been
equally divided? The South began the copart-
nership with 100000 square miles of land the
North with 100000
How does it stand now? The South is Just
about where SIZE started. The 100000 square
miles of the North have sweled to hro millions
ofsquare miles, How did she come by it Did
she do all tho paying and all the fighting for it ?
Our Mexican territorial acquisitions have i'm
bedded in their soil, the bones of ten thousand
citizens of the South, who fell either by the
sword, or by the more fell hand of disease, in
winning that country for the Union. How much
have their felow-citizens and their children got
oft Not The first foot. "No wrongs done
eh. So thinks our cool and collected Northern
friend. If it had been our bull that gored his
OK he might have changed his opinion, as did
the lawyer in the fable. Aud We must not be
violent"
,re are not able to choke down the choler which
injustice and oppression always excite in our
breast, whether we, or others are the victims.
We cannot even see big dog, tIrottling little
one, and choaking the helpless, yelping thing to
DEATH without experiencing n resstless impulse
to defend him in the unequal struggle. And
we envy not the Southern man who can view
the wrongs of his section with Indifference and
apathy. We take all the impu:ations which
being called "vioent," may cast upon the quail
ties Of our head: in preference to being that
mean, contemplate and sneaking creature who
is incapable Of feeling like wound, the stain
of dishonor and wrong upon his own or his
country's escutcheon.
So much for the generals Of our correspondent
lecture. Now to the particulars Of this indict-
ment We are charged with denouncng all who
differ with in opinion ms " aliens and traitors,
and as lost to every sentiment Of honor and pa
trotsm.'' This charge is no, made by him, only.
We have heard il elsewhere. Come whence II
may, it does iniustice-i is not true. If we had
said simply, that the South had been beaten in
the late contest by traitors" and had said no
hon tbo charp un,ld ha yond Enrt ha