The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1856-09-13
Prom the Albany Statesman, (p;,.r.c-e o-gan.)
The Time to Pause.

Hc AEuc W Il 0uScs
The startling accounts that reach US from
Kansas, of the massacre of southern set
tiers, the burning Of their houses, and
doubtless the murder of their wives and
children, by large bands Of well armed free
state men--the attempt Of the majority OF
the republican house of representatives, to
compel the President to leave the territory
free from the presence of the United STATES
troops, so that no force might be near, arm
ed with proper authority to preserve peace
and put stop to bloodshed-thc deliberate
defeat Of the Army Appropriation Bill, with
the design of palsying that important arm
Of the government--the incendiary articles
| in the republican journals, not excusing on
ly, but applauding the violence of their
friends in the territory, and melting them to
further acts of murder and arson-thcr
open promises of laid" in the shape Of re-
/ enforcement from the northern states to the
now aggressing party-all these things taken
in connection with the the admissions that
have from time to time been wrung from the
( leaders of the republicans, or that have oc-
casionally dropped from their lips, point dis
tinctly to the line Of policy to be pursued by
I that party, and to the ends they labor to ac-
| complish.
! We are no alarmists; indeed, we believe
that we have been accustomed to look with
too great Indifference upon the dangers that
have, from time to time, TIN eatened the
/ Union, and to believe perhaps TOO readily,
that the sound sense and patriotism Of the
| American people would always be found
sufficient to resist the attacks of fanatcism,
and to defeat the wicked schemes Of reck less
adventures. But it would be foly-It
would be madness to disregard the startling
I 10, .g =.
imminent peril in which the nation stands
/ It is, indeed, fearful to make the discove-
y that regularly organized political party
party that numbers its thousands and tens
of thousands in half the states of the
! J..ion, IS deliberately and in cold blood lay
ing the ground work and calculating the
chances OF civil war. 1t appears beyond re-
lief that men can be found base enough to
seek the destruction Of Union cemented by
the blooa Of the brave men who fell in our
struggle for independence; u array Ameri-
can born men, whose fathers and grandia-
therS fought side by side against the foreign
OpprcssOr, in deadly hostility 10 each other.
Il seems incredible that any citizen OF this
republic, living beneath the protection OF q
flag that has won for itself not respect only,
but rcnown in all quarters Of the globe en-
joying all the benefits Of those free ins,itu-
tiOus that are the pride Of the New, and the
envy OF the Old World, and sharing equally
in the prosperity that attends Us power
ful and united nation, should be mean and
base enough TO play the part of a traitor for
the sake Of the pa.try reward his treason
may secure. But what the evidences
Is !. not clear-painfuiiy, frightfuly clear
that such men DO exist and that their wick
ed designs are even now hurrying the nation
ii. /, - r, - 81.
of which is fearful to contemplate: Let
u sec.
For years past, set Of men have been
banded together as distinct political party
n this and other northern states, VINO have
held a.ooi from other organizations, and
have a. election times cast their votes away
upon a candidate Of their own. These men,
abusing that freedom Of speech which IS our
cUuutry's boast, have for years preached
doctrines 30 viilaiDous and reasonable as 10
entitle them thousand times over 10 tral-
tors reward. For the men whose blood was
shed for the Union in the revolutionary
struggle. they have had nothing but abuse
and deuunciatIon. For the Union itself,
they have had only curses. The sacred
name Of Washington has been branded ss
league with hell. Up TO this time they have
repuiateG al. other parties. But tctsre are
.
fighting side by side with the Weeds and
Stewards and Greeleys for the success Of
John c. Fremont.
Some two months since there was a meet
ing Of republican Kansas convention in
Buffalo a. which the prominent men Of the
party figured conSp!cuousiy. There, openly
and plainly, Gerrit Smith declared that the
avowed intention OF the republicans was to
send armed men into Kansas for the purpose
Of resisting the troops Of the federal 60
vernncnt, and making war upon the instliu-
ton of slavery in the southern states
There was no msapprehensiOn IN what Mr..
Smith said. He offered series Of resolu-
tiOns, that We're suppressed by the conven-
ton, and stolen away from the reporters,
ayowing the intention OF armed opposition
to the federal troops; and he stated in his
place, that either the party was decciyng
those who were in its confidence, or such
was its real design, and such the object for
which it sought to raise a Kansas fund
Gov. Reeder, the very mouthpicce of the
republican party on all Kansas matters, as
seuted TO all Mr.. Smith said but favored
the policy of concealing their real design in
order that they might strike a fatal blow at
the heart of the south when she was least
prepared to meet it. But he did not pretend
to deny that the object of the party in rails
ing subscriptions for Kansas, was to steal
into the territory organized bands of armed
men who would, when there in force, drive
out the federal troops and make war upon
Missouri
We'll a large amount of money has been
raised. Not dollar of it has found its way
into Kansas, for the relief of the needy set
tier, and the inquiry has gone forth, what
has become of the fund: The first answer,
we fear, is heard in the murder of southern
settlers, the burning of their dwellings,, and
the massacre of their families Heaven only
knows in what tones the next reply may
reach our ears
Trace once again, in connection with
these facts, the apparently systematic and
preconcerted action of the republican con-
gress, and the tone of their press through
out the north. The house Of representa-
tives, at the very moment when an in
creased force is necessary in Kansas, seeks
to withdraw the troops Of the United States
from the territory, and to deprive the entire
military department of the government OF
all power and efficiency. The press misre-
presents their object and applau Is their ac-
ton, while red0ubllng its efforts to fan he
spark of civil war into blaze We ask
reasonable men to say whether this does not
| look Ike systematic plan Tor Fastening on
those scenes of bloodshed and horror which
must end i'll disruption of the Union p
We enireat all good citizens, all patriotic
Americans, to ask themselves seriously if
there is not reason for alarm and occasion
for action?
1t is idle now to talk of border rufiians,
and Missouri invaders, and southern aggres-
sion. 1t is worse than idle-it is sinful to
cn6eayOr TO Justify these terrible acts by the
plea of 1.-The south began it." 1t resolv es it