The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-11-11

There are Indications that California has moi
yet exhausted her stock Of material for abolition
agitation. The next Congress has chance Of
being as busy with her affairs as the last A
convention has been called by the southern
counties for the purpose of devisng and carry.
ing out plan of separation from the northern
part, under a territorial not State government
The two sections are essentially different in
character. The one is the land of gold, and ad
venturers, and crimes the other contains nearly
all the old Spanish population, is essentially ag-
rigultural, and would naturally be filled up by
emigration from the Southern States.
The difficulty now presented, and which
seems on the surface, to have caused the move
ment for separation, is the unequal operation
of the State tax laws. The wealth of northern
California depends on the gold digging, where
there is no ownership of lands, and consequent
ly no taxable property. In the South the whole
inhabited country is under individual owner
ship, and thus bears the burden of supporting
the State government, though sharing the least
in its expenditures South and north share il
there, very much as they do here. But the
consequence is different The south, in Cali
fornia, seems to be moving resolutely and quiet
Iy on, to extrcate itself from its unequal posi-
ton, and the north appears by no means bent on
keeping its hand on the throat of its victim.
Several of the papers Of San Francisco favor
the division. They admit that the probable con-
sequence will be the establishment of slavery in
the SOUTH but they say that is matter they are
not called upon to determine for their Deghbors.
We have before US paper from the extreme
north of the California settlements, which treats
the question in much the same spirit, and sec
onds the demand of the south for separate or
ganization. The question, therefore, has be-
come serious and practical.
1t is certainly looked upon in this light by the
Abolitonsts. The last number of the Wash
ington National Era discusses, with much earn
estness this heinous plot for the introduction Of
slavery on the shores of the Pacific, and sounds
the alarm for the faithful to stand to their guns
The Sandusky (Ohio) Mirror, of the 28th ult.
contains the proceedings of public meeting in
Erie county, in which the dangers that threaten
Freesoilism in the Pacific region are largely d.
lated on, and the remedy proposed is the estab
lishment of a Free Territory League" the OBJ
ject of which shall be by raising a large fund, to
set in motion influences powerful enough to
counteract those that are working, or are sup
posed to be working, in favor of slavery The
means they propose, are, lst, the establish
ment of freesoil presses in Santa Fe and San
Francisco, (for they alege there is danger in
view MeAico as wei as CdiioruiaO ~, w pun
ish a series of foul and false Northern tracts, in
both the Spanish and English languages, exhib-
iting the disastrous influence of slavery upon
the morals and the industry of community"
and Sd, to hire a set Of lawyers to be sent as
missionaries t, all suspected places, whose bust
ness it shall be to render it impossible for any
man to hold slave property in peace.
This is the programme of anti slavery for the
present, and we suppose the South may posi-
bly, have spirit enough left to abuse it, and to
say, if much more of the same sort of thing is
done they will hold a convention and pass reso-
lutions; but time will show Charleston Mer-
cury.