Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1855-07-20
Neutrality ON the Slavery Question

the people themselves remain true In the letter
and the spirit of that i'm orta document
= Neutrality ON the Slavery Question
The Richmond Enquirer Of wednesday ad.
dresses u long and earnest appeal 10 the South
ern Know Nnthiugs 10 kick over their platform
and Join tho Democracy. alleging ihai they will
be compelled 10 do this sooner ar later The In.
quirer SAYS.
Its alike due to truth mud to sound policy Ia
avow our belief Tint As party yon are loyal To
the Mon. the South and tn her peculiar inStiiu-
ians. We would not have the nb1lfinni-ts take
the nattering unctinn Ia their souls TINT There Is
any difference 81 opinion among MS. southern
mon. IS Ia our rights or our duties. But we do
differ most widely from You to the best means
Of performing those duties and ofmain'nininL
those rights. The most your party promises Is
10 observe neutrality, il mnv he armed nen-
tralitv on the subject II abolition. You have
81 tied anl irnmmelled Yourselves that YOU are
cstopped from carrying on offensive war--al
though that should he, it often il. the only Ell
fecinal measure al defence.
Now We beg leave in This connection 10 invite
the Enquirer attention ia the following extracts
from a recent editorial article in the Washington
Union. from which it will he seen that the Ma
tinnnl Organ of the great Democratic party lays
il down n mn axiom ihnt neutrality on the qups.
tion Of slavery the only hasis OF a national party
.arhrrp Gun be such things as National par.
tics. except upon the basis OF an entire exclI.ion
If The subject (~lnvery) from thar political
crerd.'" Furfilrr-"lhese truths will command
ready assent with Abolitioui-ts' and they demon
strnte tie proposition TINT m purity embracing
members at the North and South. can be nation.
al ar harmonious, which does not exclude the
question Of slavery from lis crccds :"
II thus appears, on the high authority of the
Washington Union TINT all that the South has
a right 10 expect from the Democratic party is
the exclusion Of slavery from its creed or in other
word. neutratdy The right Of the Union 10
spenk nthorta,ivey en- the subject is better
thnn that If the Enquirer-for the Union is the
national orgnn Of the party and the representa-
tive of the Administration Mt Washington. If
then, the position of the Democratic party on the
slavery question is to be one Of neutrality, our
Richmond contemporary will readily perceive
that his appeals to the Southern Know Nothngs
Ia abandon their party aud go over 10 the De
macracy, stripped AT once of all their frrce.
Even admitting it To be true as the Enquirer ar.
que, that the American party Of the South are
trommclcd by their pledges on the subject of,llve-
ry.6 nrc c-teppnd from waging an offensive war
fare ngnu> abolitoniSln, still il il evident that
they have nothing to gain hy getting "n the
democratic platform for the Union tells that
slavery is IN he excluded thcrefram aud the
whole question completely ignored.
But We beg leave to eontrovcrt tho aseump.
ION of tho Enquirer that the Southern Know
Nothings nre nentrals on the slavery question T
nd have debarred themselves tho privilege Of
lass To understand how ting Enquirer ever got I
UGH crotchet in i's head. There is no sort Of I
for our contemporary assertion that I
he American party at the South are bound not TO
tack the aboliionists, but "mnst sit still on
herr platform and fcnd and wand off their blows
n the best way they can.a Thcrois nothing in
he platform promulgated nj Philadelphia 10 nsli-
y any such inference. That platform emho1rs
5 good southern creed aS either the Drmn.
ratic or the Wing platforms put forth at BATH. I
more, in 1852. l}ut nobody ever dreamed 7
hat there was anything in the two Inst mention I
i documents that prevented either Southo"n |
Democrats or Southern Wings from denopncjng T
nd exposing the enormities of ubnlitionism whom.
'yer they drought fit 10 do So
The Southern Know Nothngs nre not likely /
q heed the Enquircrs invitation to ioin the de- +
nocracy, but TINT journal labors under an sb. |
urd aud unaecoun,able delusion fit reilly sup
,oses that the American party Of the South have
entered into any obligation to become ncutral4
IN the slavery question,