The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1857-08-21
THE ABOLITlONlSTS ApPLAUDlNG
TIE ADMINISTRATION

TIE ADMINISTRATION.
The following article, from the New York
Evening Post, tells the tale of Walkers
utilization with aboi,ionism, and consequent
disIoyalty to the South. The Republicans
OF the North sustain Walker. Is il not sin
gular that an administration, In pursuing n
conservative policy, and favoring neither sec
ton Of the Union, should meet the hearty
approbation Of revolutionary Republicanisn
and the indignant denunciations OF the South!
Can the Republicans be right and the South.
ern Democracy wrong!
The TURN OF THE TiDE.-We presume
we do not attach too much importance to an
article which we copy to day from the Wash.
ingtOn Union, when we infer from it n deter
mlnation on the part Of the Federal Admins
traiion to sustain Gov. Walker in Kansas and
trent it as n pledge that the people of that
territory shall have an opportunity of passing
upon the Constitution under which they are
to live. IL bears internal evidence of having
been written by authority, and seems to be 50
construed, uniformly by the cognoSemi at
| Washington.
This article, assuming it TO be authorized
bv the government, marks an era in the po-
lticaI history of the country; ii is the first
tribute Of respect 10 The anti slauery sentiment
Of the Northern States that has come tron the
Federal Erecmioe.t .tor The last t'centy gears
After contest conducted with great bitter
ness, and, so far us the North was concerned.
under every imaginable advantage, we have
to day to record the very first act of any fed.
ernl administration wearing an aspect of re-
sstance to the pro.slavery policy of the
Southern oligarchy.
The quetuS which Gen. Jackson gave to
the nulliers in 1892, though u blow to the
same political interest as that which had the
control OF the Government for the last few
years, arose upon altogether n different issue,
and therefore, does not deserve to be regard
ed as an exception. Mr. Buchanan md his
advisers, in the article to which we refer, hare
deliberately sounded retreat from the ground
,chich WaS occupied By the Late administration;
they admit that the circumstances under
which the late Legislative government of Kan.
sas vas imposed upon its people were unpop
ular, and never could command their general
obedience or respect; and in spite of the
threats and denunciatiuus of the Southern
press, they recognize the necessity OF giving
the people of the territory an opportunity of
approving or rejecting the constitution which
n convention elected under that organization
should provide. Such submission to the
popular voice was not provided for, nor even
contemplated, so far as we can discern, by
Congress; no such concession was ever de.
manded by the late administration, who spar
ed neither bribes nor blood to silence the
speech and bind the hands of the free State
settlers, who sought at The baIlot-box and
with the press TO keep slaves out OF the ter
rtory.
But we have had Presidential election in
the country lately, and state o. feeling has
been revealed which Mr.. Buchanan, We begin
to think, has hid the good sense to profit by
lie has discovered, SO we suspect, that the
government Of this country cannot be con
Quoted any longer Under slavery extension
policy; that the nearest approach to it that
our pe0pls will bear is rigorous neutrality,
and Tor that he is steering. To rench it he
will be obliged to take several steps back
The first zoe hare 10 day the pleasure of record.
ing. We hail the omen. May he select for
his motto the words inscribed by the ancients
upon The pillars of Hercules, Plus ultra If
so, lie will be able to do what 10 President
of late years has done (and for an obvious
reason,) he will lay down his office far more
popular and respected than when he assum-
ed it.
But the question which will soon be in
every mans mouth is, will the President have
the courage to meet and brave the assaults
which the policy here indicated is sure to
bring upon him?
Nearly every leading administration journal
is committed against Walkers course, and
most OF them, such as the Charleston Alercu-
ry, the Richmond South, the Washington
States, and the Georgia, Mississippi, aud
Louisiana presses have very generally de-
nounced it in terms which will compel them
hereafter to occupy an attitude of hostility 10
the government and to any party that sus-
tains him. Two State Conventions have ex-
pressed similar opinions, and others may fol-
low their example. Has the President the
iirlnness necessary to stand to his cnlors, and
risk n second ACKNOWLEDGMENT of his party
Ii not, he is ruined. Il he has, the force of
circumstances will give him one of the finest
historical positions occupied by any Presi-
dent.
In either case, whether he is or is not equal
to the emergency, he is at least able to mark
the change of current which has taken place,
and to show the future student of history
when slavery ceased to be protected by the
Federal Government as national and freedom
to be prescribed ms sectional.
Nha