Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1857-07-08

OF affairs IN Kansas territory are eltea rs Iacts go
ing to prove that we are far weaker in the Confedera
cy than we have been for many years. In the space
to which we compelled at this time to contne our
self NO cannot reterate tho we'll known arguments in
support of the Kansas-Nebraskn legislation of Con-
gress The render is pointed to the elaborate speeches
of saunch men from almost every Southern State,
and from our own in particular, in which that
ure is set forth in its full Importance We are ut
loss to conjecture by what process of reasonng our
cotemporary arrives at its conclusion that the Kansas
Nebraska Acts are IN evidence Of the muchincrcased
weakness of the South. They gave to the Southern
people the right to 90 with their slave property into
those territories and to the only one of them sup
posed to be suited to snvc-abor, Kansas have
seen that the opportunity has heen embraced by many
and by the people of Missouri especially with great
eagerness and activity Atehson and his gallant fol-
lowers doubtless regarded those Acts in the light Of
boon, md hope yet to realize in them the establish
ment of slave State upontheir western border But
yesterday we had the satisfaction of hearing m elo
quent advocate for Kansas directly commissioned to
represent the Southern interests of that Territory be-
forc the Southern public. he spoke with unaffected
confidence of the success of the Pro-slavery party
there He declared his belief that the strength and
tho wealth. and tho intelligence of Kansas were large
ly pro-slavery, and that it would assuredy become
slave State. lie sad Missouri knew the interests in
volved in the pending struggle and that he could not
realize that sho would the fight until such was
the consummnton. He quoted editorial from
very late number of the leading Free Soil journal of
IL H. - skkol fhoS
test had gone against them He felt certain that the
Convention to frame Constitution would sub
nit that Constitution, for ratification except to the
electors of that Convention Such too is the tone OF
the pro-slavery papers of the Territory. True, Gov.
Walker has endeayored to rule the current otherwise
but be has not been sustained in his ocious intersr
ence by the Administration, is it at all probable
that he will influence the proslavery party in Kansas
to adopt his advice. Even supposing that Kansas
does become Free State, we submit that full and
fairly advertised opportunity has been offered the
South to mako her otherwise. But suppose, on the
other hand, that she knocks for admission into the
Union With pro-slavery Constitution, and who will
then say that the Kansas Act left the Southern peo-
ple as to their rights in the territories precisely where
they were in 1852? We submit then, with "profound
Difference" to the opinion of cotemporary, that
Kansas be wrested from the South it may not be un-
til she shall have been refused admission into the
Union with pro-savery constitution, and until the
Administration, the Democracy and tho South shall
have been vanquished in the halls of Congress upon
tho issue to be made up when her application shall
have boon heard. Then may come the great fight be-
tween the sections md no believe that in that fight
the South will triumph. Who will then say that the
Kansas Act left precisely where we stood in 1857
The last paragraph of the article before us rings
tho changes upon certain words of ours in relation TO
the probable complexion of tho next Federal House
of Representatives. Our cotemporsry may enjoy un-
nterruptedly the rhetoric in which he is here pleased
to indulge We must perorce pass on to other points
of more importance.
The MIRcuRYs 2ND ARTICLE.
Again we give our cotemporary the full credit OF
his first paragraph and glad to observe that ne
docs not anticipate, from any cause the downfall OF
the peculiar institution contrary impression had
been made upon US by the general tenor and tone OF
the Mercury's teachings and warnings; but VIC Por-
ceive our mistake and frankly admit it, Yet the Her
crv still maintains that slavery is weaker in Virginia
and Missouri than ever before and that it must con-
tinue to grow weaker still and furthermore that in
MARYLAND it has sunk so low that she may now well
be called Free State.
Firot as to Maryland We deny that tbore is any
likelihood of her becoming Free State. Whatever
NAV bo tho scarcity of slaves in certain portions OF
her domain, there are no more determined slavehod-
fbop fhoeo hp
more Southern counties and they constitute two thirds
of the political strength Of the State. There arc
planters there who own from 100 to 800 slaves, and
who would peril their al upon the issue of cmancipa-
tion There are host Of lesser shareholders in other
parts of Maryland who true to tho institution. II
her Northern counties have found it e1pedient to part
with their slaves from considerations of pccuniary ad
yantapc, they have not on that account become anti
slnycry in principle Nor can it be doubted if there
are resources yet left undeveloped in those counties
and which may prove suitable to the employment OF
slave labor, that it will again flow back to them and
rcoccupy the ground from which calculations OF loss
and gain have alone driven 1t. If our memory s not
utterly at ault there laws upon the statute book
of Maryland forbiding the ngrcss Of free negroes
from Pennsylvania, and the very last legislature Of
TINT State passed an Act making it unlawful to oman
cipatc slaves, it having been legal previously for
tetator to exercise islibery in his will In the very
last Presidential canvass too, it in Baltimore that
an attempt to open Fremont box was crushed in its
iucipiency by the outraged populaco We therefore
differ with the Jfercurys conclusion that Mary
land is already free State, and believe on the con-
Il,o To akp hcreu
within her borders, would torrent Of indg-
nation on the part Of her pro-slavery population
which would sweep away n opposition and establish
her more firmly than ever in the Southern League.
Next, of Missouri. few facts will suffice most
completely to the Mercurys speculatons as to
slavery in this great State Of the West. They arc
these l. Missouri according to tho Census, has been
steadily increasing her slave population from Its begin
ming down to 1850; and all accounts justify tho bollef
belief that by the census Of 1861 that increase WI"
prove to be 50 per cent greater than ever before Inc
present prices Of negro property in ane
highest prevailing figure, and negro men readily COM
mand $3.50 per annum. 3, At the same time that ne
eroes nre thus valuable in Missouri, it is known tnat
their labor in the cultivation of Hemp, is lighter than
TINT of the slaves in most Of the other Southern
States and as consequence, it is said to be observa-
BILE that they are the most ablebsded negroes of the
South. d. 1t is fact that the shareholders Of Mis-
sour arc as tenacious of the institution tho people
of South Carolina and to show this it is only nsccs-
sary to point to that bold exponent of their cause and
sentiments, known as the "Border RH6fan."
With these facts before his eyes, cannot see why
our cotomporary should speak so despairngly OF
r,l. do nnfpr in