Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1851-09-25

uuctS oil tnelr IarmS ana workshops,
while descending that river which we
all now navigate in peace and har-
mony together shall pass under the
muzzles of Paixhan guns at every
bend that brings its channel under
the Ohio shorel What benefit, what
but unmitigated evil on all sides
should we gain by that! No, sir; we
Of the west on both sides Of the
Ohio are indiSsolubly one. We have
ever lived in harmony together. and
ever shall. No power can part US.
Nor can the line be drawn any
where else. If the attempt at sepa-
ration be made at the north or south,
in Massachusetts or South Carolina,
it will be put down by the hand Of
this great central power, impelIed to
action by an overruling necessity
1t must put it down, or lose its own
independence, and its people become
hewers of wood and drawers of wa
Ter for the people of the new en-
pires at the north and the south.
Mr.. Chairman, if had the power
to do it, l would impress upon the
mind of every man beyond the
mountains the great conception that
to preserve the Union is the glorious
destiny of the west. If | could, |
would fill the public mind there to
overhowing with this sacred senti-
ment-wiih a firm resolve, with a
holy zeal, TO prove itself faithful to
the great mission to which il is cal
led. would transmit it from father
to son TO the latest posterity. |
would, if | could, make them Ieel,
that, like the vestal virgin that kept
the sacred fire, the high command is
upon them TO keep the Union, to
watch over it, to maintain and de-
lend it forever.
But, sir, why speculate about re-
sistance TO a separation Of the Unionl
Why talk about secession at the
north or southl Is il not a fact that
both are so welded and bound to the
west by nature and art that neither
can break away the connexionl
Lay down the map Of the country
before you; look, sir, at the wonder
ful network uniting the west with
the north and the south. and then let
any northern or southern man tell
me where he would begin the work
OF its destruction. Let him show me
how he could do it without bringing
ruin on the part broken off. But
this selfpreserving power of the
Union has IFS limits. Just so far as
this mutual and indispensable con
nexion with and dependence upon
this great central and conservative
power can be extended, so far and no
farther can you extend the limits OF
this republic with any hope of per-
manently preserving its unity
When you reach beyond the confines
OF this mutual connexion and depen-
dencv, and break into other geo.
graphical systems, no mater whether
the communities added be Slavehold
ing or non-slaveholding, they will
inevitably prove, in ID government
like ours, resting for lis maintenance
on public opinion and a sense OF
common interest, an element of
weakness-a centrifugal and distur-
bing force to the Union. By art we
have overcome the barriers of the
Alleghanies, and that great valley
beyond them, spreading out far be-
yond the conception OF our fathers,
instead Of being a great centrifugal
power, as they thought il must ever
be, and perhaps would have been If
those barriers had not been surmoun-
ted, has now become, and as | have
shown must forever remain, itself
the great conservative power Of the
Union-the heart and seat Of our
glorious empire in prospect such as
the world has never seen.
But we have also within the pres
ent limits of our republic centrifugal
tendencies whose influence we have
not yet felt and cannot fully esti
mate. need not say that refer to
OREGON. Can it be brought into this
great system OF mutual connexion,
and made 10 feel its dependence upon
what will be to it the great eastern
valley on this side Of the Rocky
Mountafnsl II this can be done we
nay counterpoise and overcome its
tendencies. The waters
IF the Mississippi spread out almost
% the shores Of the Pacific. Art,
inder the guidance Of enterprise and
cience, has already accomplished /
wonders in removing barriers on this c
ide of the great valley, and binding ,
ogether those whom nature had put :
sunder; aud science and enterprise $
ave capacities for the accomplish q
nent Of still greater wonders
Khenrt those barriers that now sepa-
ate Us from Oregon shall be over I
ONE and a great system of CONNER S
ial intercourse opened up between {