Southern standard. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1851-1856, 1851-04-26
From the New York Dry Goods reporter.
A Crisis at Hand.

Tho most sapacous and the most impartial 90
servers of public measures and their tenoehcleS
in civilized countries are those VINO compose Inc
~ e-a.o;oI classes 1t is these men who have SO
often to exclaim to their lnconsderate rulers, ie'
nc alone To them, there is nothlng mort ha'e
ful or more ruinous, than the frequent interference
of Governments in their business. This however
tbov cannot always prevent, and therefore, their
ooGaciv IS ever on the alert, to detect and guaru
AGAINST movements which either through rashhess
Or IGNORANCE. a National Legislature sometimes
concentrate Invested or fixed capital Is always
sure to feel the first blow.
It is to this observant class OF men that we now
address ourselves. 1t is to those skllful ana
tbouobtful merchants, whose conduct, example,
and opinions are OF such immense 'aiue 49, "
nubic that we now address ourselves, believing
most sincerely that it is no time to hesltate-mo
time TO s.palter in double sense" with the dill-
entities which are now at hand We are no alar-
mists but we believe the day and hour are nlgh'
which are to upheave the constitutional fouhda-
tons of this country.
But few days since, and at public entertain
ment at which the Legislature OF this state were
guests, and their great leader was present. ana
audible. it was announced that in the course OF
another generation, the United States would ex-
tend southwark to the Isthmus of Panama, and
there would then be neither master or slave
This sentiment was received with applause, and
will 90 forth to our Southern brethren as the voice
of the Empire State. What effect this Will have
on those portions of the confederacy III the SOUTH
which have thus far remained loyal to the Union,
time can alone determine We do not pretend
! to know even, what an amount of disgust such an
avowal NAV produce in the minds of our Southern
friends and correspondents. What we seek to
make the subject of the earnest consideration OF
our readers is the fact that South Carolina at tins
moment is surely preparing for secession from the
| Union, and whether she succeeds or not, the at
tempt will be death blow to the permanence, the
interests and the honor of the Union. This is the
point we should bear in view. 1t is of no conse
quence whether South Carolina withdraws peace
fully, or is compelled by force to remain the fatal
blow will be struck The American Eagle Will
receive its death wound from an arrow poised with
feathers from its own wing. Mr. Seward may Sc
cretlv believe that this constant interference with
the domestic institutions of the South will elevate
him to the Presidency without much risk to the
Union, and that the Southern States will finally
yield under the pressure of Northern opinions and
political necessity. But in our Judgment he and
all his friends err in this view of the subject, and
that unless they are undeceived, coerced by the
public voice to cease their dangerous agitation, a
crisis is at hand which will involve us IN ruln.-
If the agtators contemplate this possible con-
sequence of their agitation and determine to 60
on if they think the Union is of no value, IN COM
parison with the success of an abstract benevo-
Ience to use the mildest term, for practically
nothing better can be expected, even if the ques-
ton of slavery leads to dissolution OF the Union
then no punishment can be too severe, no axe too
sharp for those willing traitors to their country
What can the Southern slave gain by the separa-
ton of the Southern States from the Northern >
Or what the Northern blacks by such an occur
renee :? Neither religion, humanity, nor pa
triotism, white or black, will be benefited
tl,o ~ Dt
such catastrophe
But our object is to show that the danger is
more imminent than has been supposed. 1t will
not require any concert of action at all in the
slavehoding States, to dismember the Union, or
f to destroy its credit commerce. South Carroll
ma is competent do all this mischief herself and
it is this which our hot-headed agitators wilfully
overlook.
This point which they overlook, is precisely the
one which we wish to bring before the readers OF
: the Dry Goods Reporter, for the purpose of indu-
cling them to action, before it is too late. The act
of rupture ''tenth or ten thousandth, breaks the
chain alike
A magazine may be exploded by single spark,
ship may be lost by means of a single Leak
The Union will be endangered, if not destroyed,
by any resistance on the part of South Carolina.
Because, the first act of secession DISCREPANCIES
r the whole theory of Government In this
case 1t VIII be the act of a sovereign State il will
not be Shays revolt, nor whsBey insurrection.-
1t will be solemn act appealing to the United
States not only, but to the whole world and it will
be couched in such language, and be founded on
such show of reasoning, as will have effect, not
only on large body of Americans, with similar
feelings, and smarting under similar provocations
but on the those nations of Europe that have long
: desired downfall
1t will at once be seen that there is no enduring
tie among the States, and that their perpetuity is al
+ an end howl of demoniac 10y will be heard
throughout the pandemoniums of tyranny at the
downfall of Republic, DESTROYED by its own in
ternal dlscords, and which otherwise could have
maintained itself against a world in arms
The United States will no longer present to
them the imposing attitude of powerful and con-
sohdated people, but cluster of broken and disu-
nlted provinces jealous of each other and falling
victims IN turn to the supremacy of the strongest
, tor the time This struggle, commenced bv this
, solemn act OF secession, which will dethrone the
Constitution, and invite foreign nations to the plum
der OF our commerce and our SOIL will be proonp-
ed by the active opposition of the National Gov
eminent IN arms, under such circumstances, prob.
ably controlled by the fanatica politicians who
have produced this disorder We see how nerso.
| nal teats, or personal ambition have already Sc
couded the vision, or paralized the ENERGIES Of
the administration that it has acted for the Union
only by empty and unenforced proclamatons-
But from this position it will be necessarily driven
when the Legislature of South Carolina attemnts
the collection of the imposts The General Gov