The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1851-02-28


balance of power, Ae nulliiers Of the
North and the ultras o. the South hold the game
in their hands; and they cs.a elect wing or demo-
crat, according 10 his endorsement of notification
Or secession. The extremists can do this, if the
old wing a democratic distinctions are to con-
tnue in force; aAd such appears to be the edict of
the organs at Washington. The spoils-amounting
TO nifty Tlilhons q ear-and 4 pickngs, leakages,
and stealings, the wings wish to retain. Four
years viii hardly satisfy their appetite, after a
twenty years fast The de ocrats, even in a scrub
race, have the odds in their favor In the House,
and therefore prefer the whole or none. A divi-
sion, with the wings ontnued in power, might
bring out the democracy at the little end Of the
horn. Hence the organs pronounce agains a
Union party.
The conservatives of the country are, then,
divideG-their strength against the agitators is
lost-there is a third party in each ection capable
of controlling them both. The renewal of agita-
ton hr ges upon the Fugitive Slave act. Every
case of rec apture, successful Hnsucc essful, af
fords materials for agitation. The impulse given
to it by tn Boston mob of negroes and abolitionists
will be followed up by the nulhiers; and the affair
is already appropriated in the South, in support o.
the ctuse of secessi' n.
We have, however, an interval of nine months
to the re.assembling OF Congress Within that
interval numerous elections, State and Congress
sonal will take place in all sections of the Union.
They will undoubtedly contribute materially to the
shaping of public opinion on the slavery question.
Cotemporane ously, the eff ct of the secession
movements in South Carolina, Mississippi, and
some other Southern States, will probably be de-
linn in Hna
merce, and diplomacy, during the iHterregnum,
may also be anticipated, necessarily leading to new
doctrines ard new measures, upon those subjects,
for the coming campaign. The acquisition of Gu
be, and of Lower California, and of the country
between the Rio Grande and the Sierra Madre, may
he brough, into the canvass, to say nothing of
Canada, free farms, free trade, and en- extended
scheme Of A ricsn colonization.
But independently of these elements, the agita-
ton of the Fugitive Slave law in the North; and
Of Southern rights, par excellence, in the South,
promises to keep alive and in active mischief all
the factions of agitation on both sides of Mason
ard Dlxon's line There is every reason, then, to
believe that after having failed TO organize great
rational Union party, the Washington polltici ms
will also fail to rally the South TO their respec-
tive tickets; and that there will be an independent
Southern ticket for the Presidency in 1852. Every
case Of rescue or resistance under the fugitive
law, Dghens this calculation; and the anxiety
of certain presidential candidates. betrayed in the
Senate d. bate on he Boston affair, is doubtless
due to this apprehension. Their hostility 10 fur
Their seits tion, looks, We suspect, 10 the effect up
on the national party conventions of 1852, as
much as TO the restoration of pea ce to this dis
tracted country"
The debate in the Senate on the Presidents
message indicates clearly enough that the ultras Of
Of the South and the nulifiers of the North intend
to make the Fugitive Slave law the theme of con-
tinued sgitation-that its operation will be SUM
cent TO keep these factions alive till the opening o.
the grand campaign, when the introduction Oh d
number Of sectional issue will very likely Increase
the list of candidates from two half dozen
In the meantime, the prospect of great Union
party vanshes into thin air. ThARera Of another
general contest on the slavery question is in the
Fugitive Slave law. II is the test proposed by the
South whether the Union will or will not pay ex
penses In the North, il makes the question an
issue between religious fanatcisn and the con-
siiiuticn. We are yet, then, to have little more
agitation. Let it come. The mass of the peorle
are still sound and with or without the aid of The
army, the navy, and the militia, the supremacy o
the constitution will be maintained. II can hardly
Re otherwise, when fidelity TO The Fugitive law is
TO stand as the test Of Union or dissolution.
The fidelity Of the North to the execution of
Fugitive law requires not only the obedience Of the
officers Of the law and the citzens involved in
any case but it requires ALSO he aid and co-ope.
ration OF the legislatures of the Northern States.
The South expects il. Movements TO this effect,
in several States, are in proress and IL is to be
hoped that the conservatives il the Legislature Of
New York will see to il that heir own State does
not fall behind her constitutional duty. II local
North ern !, gisston on the Fugitive law is not con-
sisent with the soi, it i,, in '.elf, mockery and
an insult TO the South, and ustihes their retalia.
ton. II is not enough that ne federal law over
rides ths Stato-gcod leith requires the co-opera-
ton Of the States in carrying out their constitu-
tionsl pledges. This duty makes the subject ex.
tremely interesting In every aspect the most
important consequences tpepd upon II. Let US
see, then, how II will work. We have had the
beginning; an If such things are produced :" in
the green tree, wha, shall ye have in the dryw