The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-12-11
MR. BUCHANAN AND THE ANTI-sLAvERY
SENTIMENT

the voters for Mr.. Buchanan, at the late election
were many persons sincerely opposed to the
extension of Slavery, and who were induced tt
sustain him under the impression that his AID
ministration would rather favor than counterac
the policy of making Kansas free State.
gentleman, wellversed in the politics o
Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, dis
tinctly stated to US that, to his knowledge, some
of the representative men of the Quakers voted
for Mr.. Buchanan. Such men have their fol
lowers could they have taken Mr.. Buchanan
on trust, or had they opportunities for confer
ring with him?
We know, personally, respectable men, indig
nant at the course of things in Kansas, revolted
at the idea of extending Slavery, who yet voted
for Mr.. Buchanan, under the delusion that be
would not give any encouragement to the Prop
agandists.
The Cincinnati Commercial says that Mr..
Groesbeck, elected to Congress by the Demo
Gratis of the second Ohio district, has pledged
himself to vote to make Kansas free State.
Such is the position of Mr.. Hickman, Blu
chanan member of Congress- elected from Penn.
sylvania, If not that Of others of his associates
In the 18th district, New York, Mr.. Chamber.
lain, Democratic candidate, in his letter of &C.
ceptance, says: Il
| "By reference to the proceedings of the
| convention which nominated me, / discover
that allusion was made to the subject of Sla-
very, and gladly avail myself of this occasion
to say that am now, and always have been,
earnestly opposed to the extension of the insti-
tuition of Slavery"
The editor of the Independent IN. H. DEM
Ocrat, says:
Thousands of men in New Hampshire voted
| the Buchanan ticket last week, with the solemn
VOW on their lips, that, unless, Kansas be made
free State, they will never cast another vote
for that party. Many of those men honestly
think Buchanan and his party are going 70 make
it free State"
The editor of the New York Courier and En-
quirer says that the following statements came
to him in shape that commands his belief in
heir accuracy:
cat an early period of the late canvass, it
became apparent to the Democratic party,
North and South, that if Mr.. Buchanans friends
did not repudiate the principles of the Cincin
natl Convention, in relation to the extension of
Slavery into the free Territories of the Union
he would lose every Northern State Consulta-
ton was therefore had, among the leaders of
both sections of the country, and the result
was, a determination to claim throughout the
North, that Mr.. Buchanan is opposed to Sla-
veryextension and to the admission of Kansas
into the Union as a slave State. In conformity
with this determination, every public speaker
on the part of the Democracy, in the States of
NeU Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Ill
a0is, declared most solemnly, from the stump,
that Mr.. Buchanan is opposed to Slavery-ex-
tension and to the admission of Kansas as q
slave State and it was these declarations, con-
frmed by Democratic banners everywhere,
bearing the inscription "Jan,es Buchanan,
FREE Kansas, and FREE Soii," that the States
named were carried for the Democratic candi-
date. This fact is conceded on all hands, and it is
especially insisted upon by the Northern Dem
ocrstic leaders, that they acted with the sane
ton and full concurrence of the South, who
plainly discovered that, without resort being
had to such a course, their defeat was certain"
And, since the election, we hear the Pitts
6lrgA Post, the old Democratic organ in that
place, and warmly devoted to Mr.. Buchanan,
announcing
"Before another Presidential election occurs,
Kansas will be a State of the Union-a free
State, and one of the most thriving of the whole
Confederacy. 1t is probable, also, that Mime
sofa, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, and Ore |
gon, viii become States of the Union, within
the next four years. Six new States, and all
free States. Thirty-seven stars will be seen on
our national banners then. And these six new
States will all be free from Slavery. The free
States will then number twenty-five, having
forty-four Senators in Congress. In the mean
time, both Texas and Nebraska may be divi-
ded. They are far too large, and division
has always been contemplated. 1t is quite
probable that, upon division of Texas, its
northwestern portion will become free State,
and its southern and eastern portions form two
slave States. A Missouri editor, not long ago,
said that if Kansas became free State by the
will of its people, Slavery would be abolished
in Missouri before ten years. We hope the
prediction will be verified and believe it will
be. The signs of the times point to glorious
future for this country. 1t has passed one
peril of late and has now a bright prospect of
peace and prosperity for years to come"
All this shows lamentable ignorance; but
it shows, too, how the Democratic Party at the
North was rallied for Mr.. Buchanan. The
masses were induced to believe that his election
would not harm the cause Of Free Kansas,
that Squatter Sovereignty, in the long run, would
work in favor Of the extension of free institu.
tons.
How many were deluded in similar way into
the support of General Pierce How many of
those, then deceived, rallied to the Republican
standard in the late conflict Four years more,
when the honest masses shall have found them
selves again deceived, where will be the Demo
cratic Party?
Mr.. Buchanan will be called upon to favor
the annexation of Nicaragua to wink at fill
clustering on Cuba and to cooperate with the
Shareholders in preparing new slave States to
keep pace with the increase of new free States.
The last item is thus distinctly put down in the
Richmond (Va.) Whig:
"At least four of the Territories are expected
to present themselves for admission as free States
during Mr.. Buchanan's Administration. We
take it that the South tcH endearor to keep pace
10Th this Increment by making an equal number
of STARE States out of Teras and California If
| the Northern Democracy scM come mp like men,
and rote for Stare States pari passu ,cith free
States, noe piH take back erery hard cord zee
erer said about them tn our Tires. Ifhey fail
TO do IL, then it aciu be time enough to fall back
upon Mr.. Rhett's scheme Of a Southern Copfed-
erdcy, and see ,chat can be made out of IL. If
the North degrade us to a position Of inferior.
ity and dependence, ace riH hare no other rene.
dy"
The Democratic Party, with Mr.. Buchanan
at its head, must violate the laws of Nature,
common sense, common decency, to keep slave
States equal in number to free States, or the
/ c.. Il. e L..