The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-11-14
From tAs sousAsrn Jsursal, cOlumDus, Ga.

OF time ana We believe that this Is the honest
opinion OF nine out of every ten rejecting men
In the South. That the day ,ciH come when the
free and slave States will separate, is truth
which candid inquiry into the future must rivet
upon the minds of all. The man who imagines
that the North will ever become so far recon-
ciled to the institution of slavery as to live in
peaceful union with those who tolerate il, has
taken but a surfacs view of that mighty passion
which sways public opinion in that section
Nor is he more mistaken than the demagogue
who so far reckons upon Southern devotion to
the Union, as TO believe that we will give up our
slaves sooner than encounter the evils of DISCO
luton. There are to-day but two elements in
American politics. The one is deep-seated,
undying hostility to slavery, which is determined
to cease its exertions with nothing short of its
extinction; the other is an equally determined
spirit on the part of the South to maintain those
rights which were guaranteed to her in the for
nation of the Government There is between
the two an irreeoncilabe antagonism, and sooner
or later it must result in a rupture between the
opposing parties. We ask in all soberness if
this is not true Is not the contest about slavery
tenfold hotter than it was fifteen years ago -
And are not the indications in favor of an in
crease, rather than an abatement of the eontro-
versy! Is not public sentiment more united on
this question at the North than il ever was be-
| VI
party excitement in our midst, wo are too apt TO
pass inconsiderately BY but they are fraught
with grave issues, and as sensible men, we ought
to ponder them.
Ii it be true then, that the day of separation
must come, why not now, "a well a dozen
| years hence? 1t IL not strange that men should
seek To postpone this issue--it is but an exhibit
ton Of principle we see at work every day in our
own, and the lives of those around us. From
our cradles up We have been taught to love the
Union, and to regard dissolution rs the great I'M
pardonable sin of politics. We shrink from the
contemplation of such an issue with something
Of the same strange apprehension that We would
feel in Drawing the underlined monsters with
which the superstition of youth has peopled a
| haunted house. We cannot divest ourselves of
the idea that it must contain perilS of some kind.
But suppose il is true; admit that all the evils
of disunion are not imaginary, we ask, do we re-
leve it of its difficulties by postponement! Will
separation be less injurious, or will We be bet
ter prepared for it twenty-five years hence than
to-day! 1t may be that some are content TO live
out their own days in peace, leaving to those
who shall come after them the unpleasant task
Of settling the question. We may do this. We
do not say but that the Union may last as long
as we shall live; and if we are prepared to de-
volve upon our children duty which we are
too faint-hearted to discharge, we can do so
but for our part We prefer TO transfer to our
posterity more desirable legacy than a govern
ment fraught with oppression, and bankrupt in
| blessings If we wHl, we may give them gov
eminent such as ours was in its earlier and purer
days; or if we aoiH, we may transmit to them
| tyranny such as was our forefathers before they
"struck for independence"
| But are not the Southern States better pre-
pared for separation now, than they ever will
be hereafter! Upon the supposition that the
North is every day gaining, and the South losing
| strength, it is certainly true that the sooner we
separate the better.-Well, is not this the fact!
Three years ago the two sections were equally
represented in the Senate, but this is no longer
the case. The disproportion is much greater in
the other end of the capitol. Hencetorth the
North is to receive accessions not only from new
admissions into the Union, but by the conversion
| of slave, into free States; n double operation
against the South. AS we now stand, there arc
sixteen Northern, and fifteen slave States.
Twenty years hence there will be an addition to
the North of half dozen States in the West,
and at least one of the present slave States will
| have become free-soil. The South in the mean
| time will not have gained one accession. The
| fiat has gone forth and the last slave State has
been added to this Union.
As consequence Of what we have said, the
separation may be peaceably effected now, where
us, if attempted twenty five years hence, it would
inevitably be attended with violence. Neither
section now desires collision with the other;
neither could come out of it without serious de-
triment; but when that disparity which has al
| ready been commenced shall have been carried
so far tina: the North shall completely overslla-
dow the South, it would be comparatively an
| easy matter to coerce the weaker party into
| terms. The North would not dare attempt to
preserve the Union no,D by force, but when she
is still stronger, and the South still weaker, she
might do so. Not only so, but separation now
would be attended with less angry discussions
among ourselves than it ever will be hereafter;
because there is now leaven of Abolitonsm
in the South, which is every day diffusing itself
more extensively. Mo man has the hardihood
to avow such sentiments as yet, but the day is
not distant when we shall hear openmouthed
abolition in our streets. That spirit may become
formidable, and if we are wise it will be crushed
in its incipiency.
But the subject is too extensive to admit of n
detailed examination in this form. These con-
siderations, and Others which suggest themselves
to the inquiring mind, sufficiently establish the
proposition, that if the Northern and Southern
States are euer to SEPARATE now Is the most IA
vorabe juncture.-We repeat, therefore, the dec
Iaration with which we set out, disunion must
come sooner or later, and the sooner for us the
better.
From the Southern .4rgu,.
FREE NEGRO SAILoRs.-Perhaps no port in
the Southern States affords so many opportuni-
| ties for the escape of slaves to the North as
Norfolk, and no community, in proportion to its
population, has suffered heavier losses of this
! kind. The misfortune is, that nearly all our
coasting trade is in the hands of Northern aboli
tionists, which affords facilities, and offer induce
nents to slaves to effect safe transit to the free
States. Some of these craft, that are constantly |
found in our watersl actually make the Abduc-
ton of slaves matter Of trade and source of
profit. Scarcely week passes that we do not
hear of one or more being taken off. But the
greatest evil is that portion ofthe crew ofthese
vessels consist Of free negroes, who indoctrinate
the minds of the slaves with tho notions of free
dom, and afterwards afford them the means of
transportation TO free soil. With laboring po-
pulation like ours, all must admit, that these
colored denzens of the North are dangerous