The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1856-09-18
From ne Msnsaeid BabBsi.
The Position OF Horace Greeley
and New York Tribune On the
Negro Question In sac. !

~N@@ w ~ n [aaoutAG OAA NnG
Negro Question In sac. |.
The most extensively eircuIaied vehicle
Of sophistry, falsehoOd, and political uboli.
iionism at the present DAY. is the New York
Tribune. Greeley, the editor, has been an
advocate Of all the ridiculous humbugs of
the age, from Fourier. to Spiritual Rappings,
and il is not surprising, that he should now
be engaged in the ireasonsble fanaticism OF
political abolitionism. 1t may, however, be
interesting as well as amusing, to look back
little and see where Greeley stood ON the
negro slavery question in lS44, when he ud.
vocated the election Of Henry Clay to the
! Presidency. For the purposes'of the cam.
paign, Greeley published and circulated
throughout the United States,u series of po
litical Tracts, entitled "Junius Tracts" the
iIth number Of which is on the subject of
"Folitical AbolitiOnism" There is much
good and wholesome reading in this Tract,
peculiarly appropriate to the present times.
Greeley, when he published these Tracts,
was supporting a national platform and
national statesman. We shall take occa.
sion, weekly, for sometime to come, TO take
extracts from Greeley's Tract on "Political
Abolitionism." For the present we content
ourselves with the following: .'
The slave States never surrendered the
care, nor transferred the responsibility of
slavery, either to the General Government,
or to the free States, or to any parties what
ever. How, then, can the General Govern.
ment, or the free States, or any of their
parts or agencies, be responsible for that
which they not only never had in charge !
but expressly stipulated not to assume!-I
The responsibility of their engagement may
be brought home with great force from the
other side, nor is it possible to escape from
1t. More than this:--There is an opth of
allegiance, always implied in the use of n
political power in the State, and in many
actually administered to voters and public
officers, to support the Constitution of the
United States. Put these obligations to.
gether, and they present q formidable obsta-
Gle to the conscience of man, who thinks
OF stepping over or tries TO get round them.
| If, as American citizens, we have no re.
sponsibiity in the serfdom of Russia, of
Austria, or of Turkey, and il it would be
improper for us to interfere with it PoLIrI.
cALLv, much more as parties to the public
and solemn compact of this Union, are we
bound to repeat its federative engagements.
THE PROPER GROUND OF ABOLITION
! AS un enterprise of humanity and benevo.
lence, employing MORAL means only, in dis
tinction from political agencies, abolition is
q proper mission FROM any quarter To any
quarter. Such has ever been the high ground
taken by the Society Of Friends, AS A BODY.
They have protested against slavery before
the world, and done what they could, by
precept and example, bv speech and tn,
press, and by various modes of social aud
moral intiue, ce, tor its extinction In this
work, they have not only en- tolerated,
but respected They have wirld,'d sic .dy,
progressive, and effective intarnce Puciia
in their principles aud practice, they have
been admitted iato the heart Of SlavehUiding
communities, ii bear their testimony
/ While such was the character OF the gen.
eral antI.sIavery feeling md operations OF
the Tree States d: this u ion, their voice was
heard, and their influence WINS ealuturv -
, Thousands in tre slave States joined with
tn, N, und siaveholdrr- themselves wee
open to argument and conviction, while
moral means and pacific measures were
alone employed But the moment when
POLITICAL abolition rushed into the field, on
the SOIL OF the free States, with the severe
denunciuton and The use of the ba hot box,
all the good influence Of the anti slavery
phnlanx was not only ut an end, but retro
grade movement in the cause of emancipa
ton, in the slave States, commenced, and
it is yet moral problem in the aspect o.
society in that quarter, as to how many years
or. how many ages, 1t may take to recover
the ground that has been lost.
POLITICAL ABOLITION IS FORCE.
We know thut this is not comm only
thought OF, and would perhaps ut first be
questioned. But Ii vote ut the polls is the
original and fundamental power of American
political society, and implies force in the
end, il necessary. The first attitude, there.
fore, or first position Of this political power
is that OF INcIPIENT force. tAlMs TO COM
PEI the accomplishment of its designs by
the power of the State, which are force in
abeyunce. There is no political power III
existence, which is not fortified by force, in
uutydHCe Ut I'LL dCtudi use, UT LHdL COuiu
stand one day without It. Such, precisely
Is the position assumed by political abolition
in the tree States.
AND 1T is AN AG GREssIvE MOVEMENT.
This results from the political structure
of the Union, before considered. Slavery,
in any Of these States occupies the same
position, politically, in relation To the other
States. which the institutions and laws Of
the European nations do to the United
States. Suppose, then, that party should
start up in this country, and 60 to the polls,
uugmenting their forces every year with thu
dec Jared object o: putting down any one or
more of the Institutions of European pow
er. because, in their view, that institution is
bad one, oppressive and destructive Of hu.
man liberty. There are many such insiitu
tions in Europe. Would it not be regarded
as an AGGRESSIVE movement! And if there
: were any chance or apprehension of success.
would it be matter ot surprise, if the mena
ced power should put itself on the defensive :
Would it be strange, if that power should
take measures to anticipate the movement,
and commence aggressive operations, in re-
taliation! The crusade OF the first party
might be very benevolent one; but as u
poIticBl movement il would he AGGRESSIVE