The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1857-01-01


.Aeetings will be published free Of charge.
Notice of the meetings Of Charitable Insti-
tutions, and Political and public meetings gen.
orally. half the usual rates Of advertising.
SOphfstry i'm high places.
6ophistry in a stump speech, or in news
paper article lie something to be expected, and
may be overlooked Even Senator may
sometimes indulge in soFhisms and fallacies,
but when no less an official than the President
of these United States, i'll solemn State pa
per, document which is to become part of
the History Of the Land, is guilty Of gross, and
demagoguical sophistry, it is more than one
can endure patiently. All Presidents Mess
ages are pubic property, and the patriotic and
independent American, hear ilv dislikes to par
ticipate in the ownership of any article In that
line, which is not &c simon pure systematic
as the popular song goes. Although he is
perfectly willing to tolerate differences Of opin-
ion in ma tiers Of public policy and expects to
do so, as well in State papers as in stump
speeches, yet he is decidedly aveIse to the in
PRODUCTION into the former, Of any un.andid
and sophistical dissertations, or pettfogging
harrangues.
Distasteful as it is, it has become necessary
Of late to endure them. The harrangue lately
issued to the world and purporting to be the
Message Of Franklin Pierce, President Of
the United States, is full of them. 1t is nec-
essary to concede that there was palliation in
the fact that Mr. Pierce WIS placed in diff
cult and trying position. He found that he
had raised storm Of disapprobation and in
dignation, by his reckless acts, and il was nat
ural for him to desire to avert it. 1t was a
vain desire and the attempt which followed it,
. fruitless one. Nevertheless, the attempt was
made with " hat issue the country has SEEM
We have an arrogant, impudent, stump speech,
on subject with regard to which, Official ST.
lenee would have been creditable, nay even el-
oquent
In his Message the President propouncs the
following question: "Is il the fact that The
peculiar domestic institutions OF the Southern
States possess relatively 80 much Of vigor that
wheresoever an avenue 10 freely open to all the
world, they will penetrate to the exclusion Of
those Of the Northern States?" The President
is endeavoing to justify the repeal of the Mis-
souri, Compromise, and intends to say in this
question and long strain Of similar stuff, that
there was no harm in the repeal, because free
dom, or as he says, the institutions Of the
Northern States" are more vigorous than those
Of the Southern States, and where they are
left in free competitor, the latter cannot stand
against the former. BY means Of this the
President attempts to aliay the storm which he
and the party which supports him have raised.
He perhaps imagines tina! he has driven the
Republicans into the dilemma Of admitting the
correctness Of his policy, or else'confesslng
that the free institutions Of the North are less
vigorous and active than the institutions Of
the South, and unable to cope with them in
occupying the new Territories.
But in all this he is guilty Of downright,
palpable sophistry, which is susceptible Of
complete overthrow by mere glance at the
history of the country. We presume that the
most violent propaganda Of Slavery, will not
doubt the statistics which show that the free
institutions Of the North are more vigorous in
acquiring commercial power and prosperity,
in developing all the resources Of the soil, in
q word that the free States are immeasurably
In advance Of the Slave States, in all that con-
stitutes national greatness and power. No in
telligent reader will require that we should ad-
duce single line Of proof to establish this
fact. Every Census shows this--eyery array
Of statistics whereby any comparison is in.
stituted between the two sections. Neverthe-
less Slavery las been able to extend itself, and
that too into territory just as much adapted to
free labor as to slave labor. For the purposes
Of that " field Of competition" which the Pres
ideht talks about, Missouri for ought we can
see, was just as fairly situated as any territory
could be. The climate and soil were just as
well suited for free as slave labor, and it was
contiguous to both free and slave territory
Yet Missouri became . slave State. With
this example before Cs, il the Presidents
grounds are true, the inquiry which he propos-
20 and which we qnote above would be answer
eG in the affirmative. But nobody will say
that Slavery is more vigorous than freedom,
aud there must consequently be . wrong as
sumption somewhere.
The capacity Of free or slave Institutions to
develope greatne, Is, to create wealth and pow
er, to build railroads, dig canals, construct
bridges and so forth, depends upon 'srelative
vigor,' while their capacity to extend, the tne
TO the exclusion Of other, does not depend up-
on this. Where slavery is not excluded, the
Shareholder is free to take his slaves, and
when but one STAKEHOLDER goes with his slaves
into new territory, slavery is establishes, and
BY the lava Of the country protected. And
then we must remember that into any territory
from which slavery is not excluded, and which
il in any degree adapted to slave labor, many
slaveholders viii 60 for political or other pur-
pos.s, and innumerable other inducements OPP
Grating upon them. We must also remember
that whenever there is danger u slavery be-
comirg established in any territory, the free
laborer will be deferred from emigrating to it.
He shuns slavery as he would the plague. All
these circumstances operate in favor Of the
establishment Of slavery In any such territory,
and when once it is established, although it may
exist only to very limited extent, il is difficult