The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-11-25
The coal Of WILLIAM II. Seward.

teach MI Seward what his fate and that oil tue
country will be should he ever succeed in Sc
curing triumph for his principles When the
republican movement was first set on FOOT,
William II. Seward occupied the undisputed
position of chief of the anti-slavery party in
this State; opposition to slavery aud Seward
affiliations did not strictly speaking, extend
outside of the State of New York, yet STILL as
the anti. slavery party in the other States occn-
pied comparatively obscure position, and as
New York was generally conceded to be the
leading State in matters wherein Northern po-
iicy was involved, Mr.. Seward had come to be
regarded as the natural head of the extreme
Northern faction, and their inevitable leader in
case they were ever enabled to take the field.
The formation OF the republican party remov-
ed him from this prominence. By uniting the
opponents of slavery in Massachusetts and
Ohio with those of New York, he introduced q
new set Of leaders, none of whom were willing
to accept Mr. Seward. as their master. By
fusing democrats and wings, he brought to light
set Of anti-slavery democrats, who made a
fair partition Of power and influence the con-
dition Of their alliance with the flag end of
whiggery. The consequence was that
the republican party was no sooner formed
and consolidated by q victory or two,
than strife for leadership arose, in
which it was soon apparent that Mr.,
Seward had no better claims to the leadership
than Chase, Of Ohio, or Sumner, of Massa-
chusetts, or Hale, Of New Hampshire It
has 80 turned out-the republicans having
over estimated their strength, and the
little agitation caused by the Nebraska law
having faded away sooner than they expected
that party has been spared internal dis
putes in consequence of it's integral failure.
But had the antislavery feeling been as strong
now as it was year ago, split among the
republicans with Seward at the head of one
section and Chase at the head of another,
would have been imminent, and the fiercest OF
oil strifes would have been waged between
the two.
The same thing will occur on grander
scale should Mr.. Seward ever succeed in be-
coming President or placing a creature OF his
own in the Presidential chair. Disunion would
of course follow, and the South would at once
require, for its own safety and the preservation
Of it's property, to make war upon the North,
Slave property would not be worth holding on
the northern frontier of the Southern republic
without some provision for the recapture of
runaway slaves, which the South could not ex.
tort from the North except at the close of sue
ccesful war; But, besides the South, the West
would in all probability fall away. Diver
gent and hostile interests would spring up
between Wisconsin and New York. Ohio w ould
refuse to be governed by Massachusetts,, and
would. in virtue of its superior population,
insist upon claiming a preponderance in the
councils Of the Northern republic, which the
smaller States would refuse to concede. HE
wisest thinkers who have written upon the
United States have foretold division between
the West and the seaboard as even more likely
to occur than one between the North and the
South. The rivalry that the experience of the
republican party has shown us would spring
up between the leaders of Northern republic,
would be the entering wedge that would pro-
duce the split. In few years, instead Of one,
We might have four or five republics, all ami
mated by the bitterest feelings of animosity
towards each other, and eifectually. neutraliz-
ing each others progress. We might--indeed,
it is rational to suppose we should repeat, for
the benefit of the delighted monarchs of Eu-
rope-the shocking spectacle which was pre-.
sented in former times by the Greeian, more
lately by the middle age Italian, and which is
revived in our own day by the South and Cen.
trail American republics.