New-York daily tribune., 1854-05-27

American History, under the Cons'iiu'iou may W
divided into three periods with reference 10 the rea
t;on Of the Government to Slavery. FROM i'9o 70
100 period of thirty years, FreedOrs "ss d'm'"a"
i sI.,,,, subs,rrieni in the nai0s. The Constitu-
t;op ss considered to favor Liberty anu Saver! was
re,,raed IS an anomalous accident speedily 70 ds'P
pesr under the application of the salutsry reforms
which were expected to be applied through tne 'nao-
nendent LEGISLATION of the States. The North IN SC
eordsnce with this understanding, gradually ool'er
,,ed be traces of Slavery from its SOIL and the Sousa
voud have done the same though perhaps in longer
.;r,o b,d not the new commercial value of Cotton
epb,sced the price of human chattels and made Slav
ery principal element of its industrial system. ihs
Sth therefore began early protest against this in
terpretaton of the spirit OF the Constitution anu 'n
stead of emancpating It's slaves, se' to WORK eagerly
70 acquire new slave territory for the sake OF strength
n its political influence and adding to It's sectional
wealth. But the nation never deliberately changed
II. poicy until after the great struggle that ended
with the Missouri Compromise OF le'o. Ihis COM
or.ad the second period continuing like the first for
thirty years and ending with the Compromises oil iooo
The character of the second period WAS f'eed0"
and Slareru .guiDoiscd. The political doctrine thas
the Constitution recognized Slavery, equally with
Freedom was in fact a compromise between the two'
and Tins ths, the Government under the Con-
stitution should be administered in the spirit
Of tba. COMPROMISE The Territories were
Divided by the line Of 500 80, those north of
the line 10 be guaranteed to free insttu.ions-thOse
south TO he left open the peculiar system OF cvi-
zstion that prevailed in the slavehoding States
During this period the controlling political influence
in the General Government has been kept oscillang
between North and South, though all northerners'
e,cep those tinctured with PrO-Slayery sentiments,
have been as ieaously ostracised as aliens
The wear 1850 naugurated the third period the
characteristic Of which is Slar,ry Dominant Freedom
.uJserriem The equal division principle of ie2O was
abandoned in organizing the Mexican territories The
Fucitiye Slave bill extended the local law of the slave
States over the whole North. The abrogation OF the
Missouri Compromise now aims TO place the lnsldiou'
temptatous of slaveholding under the eyes OF the
settlers of all the New States, and to prevent the
formation of single other free Commonwealth IN the
Confederacy; while the openly ayowed policy of intro
ducuc into the Union slayeholding soverelgntes
from the West Indies and Mexico is designed to COM
pletey parayze the political power of the North and
make it merely commercial appendSge to an all
dominant slave oligarchy.
Now we do not wish to be fauatical, nor in this
connection to utter word that is not cold, calcula-
ting and secular The times are ripe for few specu-
laous of that character this subject In the hrst
place the.antagonism between Freedom and Slavery
is natural inevitable and permanent Garrison did
rot originate nor excite it, Ii the State of Georgia
had paid FIVE thousand dollars for his head. and had
got IT, fifteen years ago, the agitation would not have
sensibly abated Gerrt Smith, Giddings and Sumner
might all be expelled from Congress, and Slavery
would still continue to be the grand theme of debate
there as it has been for six years. Grave divines,
would be famous statesmen, may rebuke what they call
sectionasm, and then proclaim upon their reputs-
ton that il is killed. but the effect of their exhOrta-
tions would be quite apparent in preventing sec
tonal fross and sectional snowstornis. Even II every
northern voice could be silenced, northern town
meetings. northern schools, northern Christianity,
would constantly rcbuke the barbarsm, cruelty igno
rance and atheism of southern Slavery.
IL is utterly futile to attempt to patch up this nau
raj antagonsm between hostile forms OF civilization
by any permanent peace or even temporary truce.
There will always be questions of national legislation
in which the naturally conflicting interests of Free
dom and Slavery are involved. IT, at any time, these
some in favor of one interest and some in favor of
another, the primal difficulty would remain as ugly
as irremediable as dangerous ever; and the very
next year would develop wholly new series of ques-
tions raught with the same danger and generating
the same excitement. Note the proceedings Of Con-
eress and see how the most trihng measure Of na.
tonal legislation is affected and obstructed by these
hostile interests. Every sagacious man laughs at the
idea of concerted action upon any great measure, OF
introducing any sautary policy, promoting any great
reform, while the huge quarrel between Freedom and
Slavery swallows up every other debate.
The war between Slavery and Freedom is inter.
necne; it must be fatal to or the other principles;
or else the North with its cherished Institutions will
be left to form one unitary government and the
South, with its chosen curse, to cOaese, if it can,
into another. 1t is as if thief and honest man
were compelled perpetually to keep each others COM
pany to walk work, eat and sleep together. Either
the thief must corrupt the true man and make him an
accomplice of his arcencies; or the true man must
reproye and reform the thief The permanence Of the
Usion is predcable only upon of two conditions.
Either the South must put end TO Slavery, the
North must adoptit
We know that saveholdng statesmen have, over
and again, proclaimed that they only wanted to
be let alone; that northern noodles have got them
selves impressed with the notion that it is the nudi
ci0us prOpagandsm of AbOitionsm that produces the
excitement so inimca to their hysterc sensibilties.
But it is northern practice and not northern theory
that troubles the South 1t is this anatcal custom of
paying laborers and giving them end Of the bar
gain instead of terminating all disputes likely to arise