New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-04-29
THE SOUTHERN ADDRESS.

There are tortyyfre Wings of ls48 in the
present Congress, of whom eteren (less
than one fourth) have united in an Address
explanatory and defensive of the recent
bolt of part of them from the Wing Con-
gressional Caucus. That Address appears
in our columns to-day.
The signers disclaim any intention OF
distracting the Wing party or of agitating
the subject of Slavery. They only desired
that the party should succumb to their
dictation and agree to such pronuncia-
mento as they required respecting Slavery,
and there would have been no excitement,
no division. (Hudibras discovered, long
ago, that there never would be fight if
one party would simply consent to take all
the blows and let the other give them
Thus, YOU see, the bolt is the fault not of
the few who ran out of the Caucus, but of
the many who remained. Had all started
when the few did, there would have been
ne bolt but an informal adjournment.
The object of the seceders was to ter
inmate agitation by declaring the finality
of the Compromise. That declaration had
been already made by one Wing Caucus
of this same Congress, and re-affirmed by
the House in its legal capacity: still,
agitation is no nearer its end than before.
By what process of reasoning did these
gentlemen discover that proposition twice
assented to already, without an atom of
tranquilizing effect, would become a per-
feet and infallible soporifc if administered
once again
We venture to say that not one of the
eleven believes that the passage of Com
promise resolve by that Caucus would have
terminated agitation. On the contrary, as
soon as it had been passed, they would
have been agitating zealously for similar
triumph in the National Convention and
that gained, they would have gone at the
Presidential candidate there presented for
like submission on his part. And so on.
But ought such finality resolve
to be passed by Wing Congressional
Caucus!
The Wing party is organized to sustain
POLITICAL views and commend Political meas
ures which have no relation to Slavery or
Anti Slavery. No one will seriously pre-
tend that the Compromise as such, was
passed by either party, or was in any sense
party measure. No one will seriously
pretend that the Wing party grew out OF
the Compromise, or that it is any more a
Compromise party than its antagonist is.
No one will seriously urge that the Com
promise has any relevancy to the issues on
which the two great parties have hitherto
confronted each other. 1t is new article,
q new ISM" which they seek to interpo-
late into the Wing creed by threats of de-
lection and division. And, should it ever
be done, none of them will pretend that
friendship for the Compromise IS an EVIL
dence of Whigism. And suppose the
country should enthusiastically respond to
declaration in favor of the Fugitive Slave
Law, it does BY no means follow that ii
would go Wing; for Maryland, strong
Compromise State, went Loco-Foco last
wear, and Virginia, another Compromise
State, gave a heavy Loco-Foco majority
last December, just after the Wing Con-
gressional Caucus had adopted while the
Opposition had rejected, Compromise
resolutions.
But the Wing Platform will be too mar
row, say Messrs. II. Marshall & Co., un-
less we make the finality of the Compro-
mise an article of our creed. But who
ever before heard of widening a party:
srourd by adding new article to 1T;
creed Ian article which many of ii
members must reject, while thousands o.
lis opponents viii heartily accept it with.
out finding therein reason for change o
pariyi 1t would be just as rational fol
the Wing party to pronounce In favor o
Orthodoxy, Catholicism, or some othel
Religious Faith, under pretense of en-
larging its platform, and hope thereby tt
increase its strength. as to affirm the final
ty of the Compromise for the like purpose
The eleven Members threaten US with I
new party. destined to triumph over boti