The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1856-12-10

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of individual and public prosperity t
which there is no parallel in history, an,
substituting in its place, hostile govern
ments driven at once and inevita bly, int,
mutual devastation and fratricidal car
mage, transforming the now, peaceful anc
felicitous brotherhood into vast perma
nent camp of armed men like the riva
monarchies of Europe and Asia.
Well knowing that snch only are the
means and Fthe consequences of theil
plans, and purpose, they endeavor to pre-
pare the people of the United States for
Civil War, by doing everything IN their
power to deprive the Constitution and
the Laws Of moral authority, and to un-
| dermine the fabric of the Union by ap-
peals TO passion and sectional prejudice,
reciprocal hatred and by educating them
to stand face to face as enemies rather
than shoulder to shoulder as friends
1t is by the agency of such unwarran-
teble interference, foreign and domestic,
that the minds of. many otherwise good
citizens have been so Influenced into the
passionate condemnation of the domestic
institutions of the Southern States as at
length to pass invisibly to almost equal
ly passionate hostility towards their fell
low citizens of those States and thus
finally to fall into temporary fellowship
with the avowed and active enemies of
the Constitution.
Ardently attached to liberty, in the
abstract, they do not stop to consider
practically how the objects they would
attain can be accomplished, nor to re-
fleet that even if the evil were as great
as they deem it, they have no remedy to
apply, and that it can be only aggrava-
ted by their violence and unconstitution-
al action: question which is one o.
the most difficult of all the problems of
social Institutions Political statesman
ship, they treat with unreasoning intem-
perance of thought and language. Ex-
tremes beget extremes. -.ss
Violent attack from the North finds
its inevitable consequence in the growth
of spirit of angry defiance at the South.
Thus in the progress of events we had
reached that consummation which the
voice of the people has now so poiutediy
rebuked, of the attempt of a portion of the
States by a sectional organization and
movement to usurp the control of the
III GiiC OnibGu tOtdtcS
| confidently believe that the great
body of those who inconsiderately took
this fatal step are sincerely attached to
the Constitution and the Union. They
would, upon deliberatjon, shrink with
unaffected horr1r from any concious act
of disunion or civil war; but they have
entsEeaia*e-a ta-sp4iel, lesde-tsesHhaEa-
unless to civil war and disunion, aud
which has no other possible outlet
They have proceeded thus far in that di
rection in consequence of the successive
stages of their progress having consist
ed of series of secondary issues, each
of which professed to be confined within
constitutional and peaceful limits, but
which attempted indirectly what few
men were willing to do directly-that
is, to act aggressively against the con-
stitutional rights of nearly one-half of
the thirty one States.
In the long series of acts of indirect
aggression, the first was the strenuous
agitation by the citizeus of the Northern
States in Congress and out of it, of the
question of negro emancipation in the
Southern States. The second step in
this path of evil acts of the people of the
Northern States and in several instan-
ces of their governments aimed to tacili
tate the escape of persons held to service
in the Southern States, and to prevent
their extradition when reclaimed accor-
ding to law and by virtue ofexpress pro-
visions of the Constitution. To pro
mote this object, Legislative enactments
and 9th r means were adopted to take
away or defeat rights which the Consti-
tuition solemnly guaranteed
In order to nullify the then existing
acts of Congress concerning the extradi-
tion of fugitives from service, laws were
enacted in many States, for bidding their
officers, under the severest penalties, to
participate in the execution of any act
of Congress whatever. In this way that
system of harmonious cooperation be-
tween the authorities of the United
States and of the several States, for the
maintenance of their common institu-
tions, which existed in the early years of
the Republic, was destroyed. Conflicts
ofjurisdiction came to be frequent, aud
Congress found itself compelled, for the
support of the Constitution, and the
vindication of its powers to authorize
the appointment of new officers, and the
officers of the States were the Ministers
respectively of foreign Governments, in
state of mutual hostility, rather than
fellow mag gistrates of common country,
peacefully subsisting under the proteo-
tion of one we'll constituted Union. Thus
here also aggression was followed by re-
action, and the attacks upon the Consti-
tuition at this point did but serve to raise
new barriers for its defence and security
The third stage of this unhappy sec
tioDal controversy was In connexion with
the organization of territorial Govern
ments and the admission of new States
into the Union. When it was proposed
to admit the State of Maine by separa-
tion of territory from that of Massachu-
setts, and the State of Missouri formed
portion of the territory ceded by France
to the United States. Representatives
in Congress objected to the admission of
the latter unless with conditions suited
to particular views of public policy. The
imposition of such condition was sue
cessfully resisted, but at the same peri
cd the question was presented of impos-
ing restrictions upon the residue of the
territory eeded by France. That ques-
tiol was, for the time, disposed OF by
the adoption of geographical line of
limitation. In this connexion it should
not be forgotten that France, of her own
accord. resolved for consultations of the
most far-sighted ssgacity, to cede Louis
lana to the United States, and that ac-
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