Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1855-05-31
POLITICAL,
The Change Of Public Sentiment.

attention. III ADDITION 10 the eShiUit ION at
the anniversary meetings ia New York allu.
ded to in the article we have copied below
from the N. Y. Courier and Ehgairer-a pa.
per, by the by, noted for its eUhyetsatisth on
this subjective make mention of the fact
that Senator Sumner, of Massachusetts,, has
repeated his onti-Slavery lecture to audlen-
ces too large for the largest Halls TO contain
them, twice in New York and once in Brook
lyn. The tone of the article which oiows,
coming from the source il does, will attract
attentions:
Unwonted exultation Las markedstho an.
nual Anti-Sovery meetings, in this city,
which have just closed. There is reason
for it. Deplorabe or not, the fact is certain
that the agitators never before stood on so
advantageous ground, or had before them
SO fair sweep as now. The speakers felt
it, and the audiences felt it. 1t was manifest
in TIE language, the tones and the whole
bearing of the former, and the uproarious ap-
piause:o the latter-an applause which was
perfectly new in its kind at an abolition mee-
ting in this city, for 10 storm Of Kisses mix
ed with it or followed il, not even % al we
say itD the fantest semblance OF single
hiss. These gatherings though men Of no.
torously intidel sentiment and odious associ-
alton figure in them as prominently as ever,
are no longer visited with those manifesto
tions Of Indignation and scorn they once
were. There is very marked change and
lis cause is manifest. 1t comes, it is impos-
sible to ignore it, and i. is folly to slight it
it comes from the altered relations OF the
a..
South in repe ling the Missouri Compromise,
and by the acquiescence Of the South in the
ou,rages of the Missourians in usurpng the
electoral rights of the settlers Of Kanzas.-
The whole Northern press, with three or
four souIless and venal exceptions, have rung
with indignant protests against this rascality
while the organs of spabic feeling at the
South have either openly countenanced it or
virtually connived at it by their silence. Had
there been the prompt, Outspoken, emphat-
ic condemnation by the South there ought to
have been--had it been proclaimed by the
! people of the Slave States that the doctrine
/ Of popular sovereignty in the territory was
! law that must not be brUken-had they i'd
jured the proceedings Of the Missourians, and
thrown the whole weight Of their pubic
opinion against it, the perpetrators of the in
iquity would have been covered with confu.
sion, and the North would have seen in il un-
mistokeable evidence that the South. mista-
ken as it was in destroying the compromise
OF 1920, was yet consistent in principle and
reliable in action The moderate and ra-
tional men of the North had right to ex-
pect this. They have been isappointed.-
! H., al g. J,l,.
the invasion Of the Missourians was but
fair t-ofiagainst the operations of the Kan
Zas Emigration Societies, and that Governor
Reeder, whose administration of the laws
was over-rdden, was specuator lin lands;
but where such pretences take thetshape o.
justification they are to every hot.est man,
mockery. The law organizing the Territory
gives every settler the right to vote, and none
but settlers. The men who avaled them
selves of the facilities offered by the Emigra-
lion Societies were iona fdi settlers: the in
vading Missourans were not. This is the
controlling, decisive fact; and all attempt to
plead aside from il is an insult 10 every in
te!igent mind. Gov. Rceder's dealing in
lands wgs right he was as much entitled to
as any private individual, whether its eXer-
else was proper or improper, it had nothing
to do with the wrongs of the MissouIians.--
The one was not against law, the other was
The one was a private right, the other was a
public crime.
This Kanzas difficulty bodies no good to
the coun,ry--least of all to the South. 1t
is daily forcing itself more upon the public
attention, and exciting deeper feeling; and
it Is fast opening the way for Presidential.
campaign of the most thorough and most
bitter sectionality! The Nebraska Act and
the subsequent events in kanzas have given
the extreme ant-slavery men power in
twelve months which they, Of themselves,
could not have acquired in twelve years;and
have weak cned The neral position of the
South more than all previous occurrences
combined The South cannot too distinctly
or too soon understand this, for nothing is
more dangerous than false security What
ever means there may be Of correcting or in
any way abating the evil should lie faith
/ fully employed. If there be common ground
upon which the calm rejecting moderate
men of the North and the calm reHetting
moderate men the South can meet on this
slavery question, the sooner it is discovered
aud occupied the better.
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hL-n,y;d p Atrhison Vice President of