Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861, 1856-10-24


to grant me that right Of every free
man or not. l believe that l have
bad quite as good an opportunity as
he has to form an opinion on the ques-
tons now 10 be- settled. And when
"Alumnus" talks Of "driving me out"
for sentiments once held by these
great men, ! cannot help thinking that
he is becoming rather fanatical.
For the Information Of "Alumnus"
l will state that he has put himself to
unnecessary trouble in bIazoning this
matter before the public. The whole
subject belongs exclusively to the ju-
risdic,ion OF the Trustees Of the Uni.
versity. They are men Of integrity
and influence. and have at heat the
best interests OF the University. -
There is no difficulty in bringing this.
or any other question relating to the
Faculty or students before Them
"Alumnus" has also made another
mistake. in supposing that the Facul.
~ take upon themselves to influence
the political opinions Of the students.
The students como to college, gener-
ally. with their party politics already
fixed; and IL is exceedingly rare
for them to change while here. IL
has. however. been often remarked
that a very violent partixan at college
is pretty sure TO turn over" before
he has left college long. have been
connected with our University. as stu
dent and Professor. for six years. a,d
and am free to say that l know no in
stitulion. North or South. from which
partisan politics and sectarian religion
are so entirely excluded. And yet
we are too often attacked by the big
cts Of both. For my own part. do
MT know the politics OF more than
one 10 hundred OF the students. ex
cept as might infer their politics
from knowledge Of the politics Of
their fathers. And they would
not have known my own prediec.
lions in the present contest. had mol
one Of their number asked me which
Of the candidates preferred.
But, IL "Alumnus" would under
stand the state Of things here correct.
", he had better make visit to the
University. lie would find each
member Of the Faculty busy teaching
in his own department, whether OF sci
ence or literature; and that party pol
tiles Is one Of the branches which We
leave the student to study at some
otEer place and time. If "Alumnus'
does conclude to- visit US. there is an
other matter TO which | might direc
his attention The two societies here
to the one or the other OF which all tho
students belong. have each very
good library. and in those libraries are
to be found the complete works" o
many OF our great statesmen. Now
for fear that the minds Of the students
may be poisoned" by reading some
Of these sianch old patriots. would !
be well for "Alumnus" to exert him
self, through the Legislature or other
wise, to "drive" them out Of the Ii
braries? 1t is true the works Of Cal
houn are in the same ease with those
Of Jefferson, but from appearances lh'
Virginian seems to be read pretty Of
ten, while the South Carolinian main
tains a posture Of "masterly inactiv
ity." When i was student in col
lege. few years ago, the young pol
iticians used to debate ia the Halls
Of The Societies the same question
which the old politicians were debatin,
in the Halls Of Congress. The sid,
which opposed Slavery in the abstract
generally had the books in their favor
and the records Of the Societies viii
show, they had quite often "the hes
Of the argument" So that wheI
Col. Fremont said that he was "op
posed TO Slavery in the abstract. ant
upon "principle. sustained aud mad
habitual by long-settIed "convictions,
he but uttered the sentiments Of four
ffihs Of the best Southern patriot
from the Revolution down to the pres
ent day: and | may add, Of the ma
jorty Of the people among whom wa
born and educated. OF my neigh
bors. friends and kindred. nearly on
half have left the State since l was oil,
enough 10 remember. MANY Is th
time ] have stood by the loaded emf
grant wagon. and given tho par.inI
hand to those whose face | was ncvc
to look upon again. They were 90
ing TO seek homes In the free West
knowing, as they did. that free M,
slave labor could not both exist an'
prosper In the same community.
Ifany one thinks that | speak with
out knowledge, let him refer to III,
las, census. H. will there End that Il
1880 there were fif,y.cight thousan,
native North CaroIinians living In tn
free States Of the West Thirly-,hrc,
thousand In Indiana alone. Their
were. at the time. one hundred m,
eighty thousand vir .inians living Il
the Free States. Now. II these PEG
ple were so much h love with tho 'in
slitution," why did they not remain
where they could enjoy It's blessings
II Is not however, my object TO at
tack the institution Of Slavery. Blu
even the most jealous defender Of III,
patriarchal institution cannot shut hi
eyes against few prominent facts
One Is, that In nearly all the Slav,
States there Is a deficiency Of labor.
Since the abolition of the African slav.
trade there Is no source for obtaining
a supply. except from the natural In
crease. For this reason. among 9th
ers. gentleman Of South Carolina
Ia an article published In Debow's Re
view for August. 1856. advocates 1
dissolution Of the Union in order tina
the African slave trade may be reyiv
ed: From North Carolina and Vir
GINA nearly the entire increase Of III.
slave population during the last TWEEN,
~ years, has been sent of to the new
States Of the South West. In my boy
hood l lived on one Of the great thor
oughfares OF travel. (ncar Lock,
Bridge on the Yadkin River, and hav,
~