The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1857-12-23


waeed against the humanity of sayages
that gave shelter to the fugitiscs from her
tyranny, = slaye-hunts, Nicely, on a ma
tional scale and at the common expense,
followed next in the march Of events.
Then Texas doomed IN the distance. and
after years Of gradual aproach and covert
advances, was first wrested fFofn Mexico,
Slavery next indissolubly chained to her,
and then, by coup d stot of astonishing
ilnpudence, was added, by a flourish of
John Tyler's pen, in the very article of
bis political dissolution, to "the Area of
Freedom" Next came the war with
Mexico, lying in its pretences, bloody i'll
its conduct, triumphant in its results
for it won vast regions suitable for Slavery
now, and taught the way to win larger
conquests when hor cyer-hungry nav
should crave them. What need to re-
count tho Fus tiye-Slave BILL and the
other " Compromises of 1850? OF to
recite the base repeal Of the Missouri Com
promise. showing the Shareholders regard
for promises to be as sacred as that of
pettifoggor for justice or of deer for an
oath or to point to the plains Of Kansas
red with the blood of her sons and black
encd with the c..nders of her towns, Wills
the President of the United States held
the sword of the nation at her throat to
compel her to submission?
Success, perpetual and trailacerdent,
such as has always waited Oh Slavery in
all her attempts to mould the history of
the country and to compel the course OF
its events to do her bidding, naturally cS-
cites measure of curiosity if not Of adj
miration, in the mind of every observer.
Have the s,ayc-cwners thus gone on
from victory to victory and from,
strength to strength by reason of their
multitude, of their wealth, of their public
services, of their intelligence, Of their wis
dom, of their genius, or of their virtue 2
Success in gigantic crime sometimes i'm
plies strength and energy which compel
a kind of respect from those that hate it
most. The right supremacy of tie power
that thus sways our destiny clearly does
not reside in the overwhelming numbers
of those that beer rule. The entire sun,
Of all who have any direct connection
with Slavery, as owners or hirers, IS less
than THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOU
SANE, hot half as many as the inhabl-
tants Of the single city Of New York -
And yet even this number exaggerates the
numerical force Of the dominant element
in our affairs. TO approximate to tho
true result, it would be fair to strike from
the gross sum those Owning or employing
less than ten Saves in order to arrive at
the number of 81 ve-owners who really
compose the ruling influence Of the ma
ton. This would leave bat a small frac-
| ton over NINETY THOUSAND, men, woffscn,
and children, owning slaves enough to
unite them in q common interest. And
from this should be deducted the women
and minors, actually owning slaves in
their own right, but who have no voice
in public affairs. These taken away, and
the abscntes flying to Europe or the
North from the moral concentrations
and material discomforts inseparable from
Slavery, and not much more than FIFTY
THOUSAND voting men will remain torep-
resent this mighty and al-eontroIling
power "a fact as astounding as it is III
controyertible.
Ol;garchies are nothing new i'll tho his
tory OF the world The government of
tile many by the few is the rule, aud not
the exception, in the politics Of the times
that have been and of those that now
are. But the concentration Of the power
that determines the policy, makes the
laws, ard appoints the ministers Of
mighty nation, in the hands of less than
the fye-hundredth part Of its members, is
aa Improvement Oh the the essence Of tho
elder aristocrac;es; while the usurpation
Of the title Of the Model Republic and OF
the Pattern Democracy, xndcr which We
| offer ourselves to the admiration and i'm
itation Of less happy nations, Is certainly
refinement on their nomenclature.
This prerogative Of power, too, is else
where conceded by the multitude to Their
rulers generally for some especial Illness
real or imaginary, for the office they have
assumed. Some services Of their own or
of their ancestors to the state some supe-
r;oritv, natural or acquired, of parts or
skill, at least some speciality of high eui-
ture and elegant breeding, quick sense
of honor, jealousy of insult to the pub.
lie, an impotence Of personal stain, some
or all Of these qualities, appealing to TIE