New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-02-24
fllibusters.

The telegraph informed US some days since Of the
passage, in the Missouri Legislature, Of a resO!u-
tim on the subject of the emancipation of the
slaves in that State. That resolution, as reported
in the st. Louis papers, was in the Dg terms;
"Ubereas Circumstances hsve rendered il necessary
and is due to the constituent body Of our felowc
zens of the STATE Ct Missouri that the Legislature of
TIE S ate should give uneqlivocal expression Of
opinion in regard to the subject of the emsncp alton
! OF sves in the Ststel
I" Be therefore reso'red BIZ the General assembly
i, Of the State of Missouri That the emancipation of
the ssves held property in this State, would be not
| ONLY impractcabe, but that any movement having
such an object in view would be nexpedent impoliti,
III wise snd unjust, and should in the opinion OF this
Gene al Assembly, be discountenanced by the people
of the Sac.
Tn tbe Sera,., motion to lay this resolution on
the table was lost-p..ys %, yeas 6. A motion to
SUSPEND the rules 70 ALLOW it to be read a second
time was then carried, 20 to 4, wnen the resolution
was adopted-yeas a. rays 4. me names OIL 'ne
f ur Senators who had the courage a''d sagacty to
record their names in the negative wee Messrs.
Blow, Rupnels, Holmes and Stevenson. pfee OF
the four belonged to the st. Louis delegation.
The resolution having come down to the House.
it was opposed 10 an able speech by Mr. Brown of
ST. Louis. He took the ground that the emancipa
ton of her slaves would be me st dec ded benefit
to the State Of Missouri. This speech drew large
audience, ard we are glad to Learn from The MIS-
sou,i Democrat that full report Of i; is to be pub
lished. A series of resolutions on the same sub
il ct had been introduced nto the House some time
before, but had been got rid of By being laid the
table. An attempt was made to dispose Of this in
the same way, but it failed, ~ TO 81. The House
was then brought to vote on the resolution, when
it was carried l07 yeas to II nays the II nays be-
ing members of the s.. Louis delegation. A Mr.
Niece, from Putnam County, on the nOrihern
border OF the State, asked to be excused from vot
ing but this being refused, he prefaced b vote by
shot speech, in which he stated his belief that
majority Of bis constituents were opposed to Slavery
and in favor Of emancipation; but as they had not
Instructed BIN on the question, and as he was him
self of diff rent way of thinking he should vote
for The resolution. 1t would seem that the entire
st. Luis delegation, in both Houses, with the ex-
ceptcn of two, voted in the negative representing,
as The Missouri Democrat boasts, constituency of
l40, eco freemen.
That such resolution introduced into the Legis-
lsture of Siavehoding State should have enc )un-
tered any opposition, that members should have
been found, who not only dared to vote against it,
but to place that opposition on the avowed ground
of hostility to Slavery is most notable circuu.
stan,e. A circumstance even more notable is the
tenor of the preambe and resolution as introduced
ard adopted, in such striking contras. to anything
which, within the last twenty years, has emsns.ed
from any Scuibern legislative body in relation TO
this ,ubject. II la, not been by resolutions ex
prested in moderate and decent terms such terms
as "iDprac'icable, inexpedent, iWpotc and un-
just" that the idea Of emancipation has hitherto
betn net. That i. TO treat the emancipation ques-
ton ike any other political question; whereas
hitherto no Southern Legislature has been able to
touch the subject without being throw into per-
feet psro1ysm Of save-driving rage and fury.
The term emancipation has beeo altogether
too well sounding to be employed in relation to the
slavts. Insurrectiop, blood, murder, robbery all
summed up in abolition that wori so horribly
significant to ssveboIdpg ears-these are the sort
Of tuphusms which slaveholdiDg Legislatures have
beer accustomed to employ in reference 70 the ques
ton Of emancipation. So far from merely dec arng
tDdI any MO'tutpl to"dru IItciDg VIC siafcs oukut
to be discoun tenanced," they have denounced
the parties concerned therein, or suspected TO be
concerned therein, as consprators aud ncend.aries,
to be pursued, hunted, and destroyed without mer-
cy, aid 10 matter by what means, like so many
poisonous reptiles. Not c'nfning themselves t.
their own territory or Their own c.zens, more than
one Southern legislature has set price upon the
heads Of supposed leaders In the emancipation
movement resident in other states. To nip the sub
jet If Slave emancipation in the bud, a series Of
tyrsInica ard unconstitutional laws has been
enacted in which free dom Of the press, freedom Of
speech and even freedom of opinion have been
totally disregsrdeJ. 1t is at this moment quite as
safe to safate republicanism in Russia, or free
dem Of religious MON Of Rome, as ii is TO sd-
vocate free labor in the greater part Of the slave
holding States.
Itil, however. in the very nature Of things that
such tyranny shQaM produce reaction. In Ms.