Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1857-03-12
The Law of Reaction.

1t has long since been observed that any
violent commotion; whe ther in nature or
among men, is followed by a period of re-
pose, by reaction. 1t is a wise ordination
of Providence, in order to preserve per-
petual equilibrium among opposite or con-
tending forces, so that the harmonious op-
erations of Nature shall not be permanently
disturbed and her intimate and benefcent
designs thwarted Thus the physical tor
nsdo and the earthquake are e1ch succeeded
by repose. Revolutions among men give
place to periods of peace and prosperity
Financial crises produce a healthy and na-
tural state in the commercial world. The
same general law holds good in relation to
political measures and party exci,ements.
Extreme measures and intense party vio-
lence are heralds of reactionary conditions
of the public mind, proceeding sometimes
20 the opposite extremity; poiitical and So
cial vibrations in the great machinery of So
cial existence In all cases, the greater
the excitement and the more intense the
party measure, the greater the reaction, the
more decided and antithetical the rebound
This great law of nature and of mind, as
well as of politics and social condition, par
ty leaders, when in the flush of victory es-
pecially, are apt to lose sight of. Power
renders them oblivious Of principle, of the
rights and feelings of the minority. Being
thus left free to act out their natures, and
thinking that arbitrary laws and rigid meas
ures will forever crush their opponents and
render their own power permanent, they o.
verleap the bounds of justice, and what they
expected to perpetuate, they destroy.
In nothing, of late, have the practical
operations of this law Of reaction been more
plainly visible than in the Kansas slavery
excitements; and in nnthi ng have the per-
niciouS effects of extreme measures and
fanatical doctrines been more strongly il
lustrated. A few hot-headed, crazy men,
whose questionable zeal entirely outstripped
their kno Wedge, undertook to force slavery
into Kansas at any and every hazard.-
These men, some of them at least, there
is reason to believe, were not really citi-
zens of Kansas. They were Missourians
who went over into the Territory, and BY
unjustifiable acts obtained seats in its Leg
islature, where, regarding only their own
views and their own projects, they enac-
ted laws in order to force slavery into the
Territory that were a disgrace to the civili-
za,ion Uf the age; laws so outrageous that
the Yrofessed friends Of the Kansas bill were
compelled to denounce them in Congress
By virtue of these arbitrary, despoiic laws
and corresponding measures, various out
RACES were committed upon men who had
just as good right to their opinions, and
TO settle in the Territory, as the authors of
these vile and obnoxio1s enactmentS. To
such an extent die these violent. reprehen-
sible and high handed measures go, that the
navIg gttion of the Missouri river, public
highway, was interrupted, and men were
not permitted TO pursue their business on it.
to 60 themselves or take their goods across
the country, solely on account of their pO-
litical opinions, solely because they were
Free State nenI No doubt these Free
Safe msn, when the snar commenced and
ll-feelings has been engendered, were
themselves guilty Of outrases But these
did not justify or pallate the infamy of the
original laws and kindred measures, the d.
rect causes Of all the difficulties.
Thousands of the best men in Missouri,
shareholders and others, were dsga<ted at
the political violence and practical brutali-
ties, enacted by the self-styled champions
of the South. They denounced them as vi
olations not only OF the Const tuition of the
United States, but 1t the original bill of
rights and of the inalienable rights and priv
ilegps of American citizens, NO matter to
what party they might belong or what po-
litcal or socIsl opinions they might hold. Is
it any wonder, therefore, that these extra
judicial and proscriptive measures should
follow the general law to which We have re
ferred, and produce in the end a wide spread
and deep-seated reaction in the very quarter
where they were attempted to be carried
out! Could any man with even a modicum
of general information, ordinary sagacity
and slight knowledge of human nature,
have anticipated any other result
In Que respect, however. we confess we
have beeu disappointed. The reaction has
come before We expected it would and has
a shape very few dreamed of. The rebound
already has been greater than We expected
1t is neither more OF less than the PROPOSE
ion to make Missouri Free State by the
emancipation of its eighty thousand slarss,
What support the proposition will receive
W within the borders of the State, it is of
course, st this early day impossible to know.
The fact that it has been boldly announced
in the Legislature, and is sustained by the
St. Louis Democrat, Colonel Benton's organ,
is sufficiently startling and affords evidence
tina, the scheme receives degree OF favor
which we could hOrdly have supposed, a few
months ago, such project could receive in
any saveholding State. The 81. Louis
Democrat, which warmly supported Mr..
Buchanan for President, and which is one
of the largest and mos, ably conducted pa
pers in Missouri, thus refers to the subject:
Viewing the question as subject OF State
policy, we will venture to say that it is the
grandest ever propounaec ID the people. IfI
il were affirmed in constitutional conven-
lon, and thoroughly carried out without any
violation OF vested rights, Missouri, in few
years subsequent TO its consummation, would
oe the foremost State ON the American con-
tinent. Population would flow in from all
sides were the barrier of negro slavery once
removed, and in place 0! $4,000 slaves, We
should have 500 600 white men, which, in
addition to the population we would have at
that time. would give US at once an aggre-
gate OF two millions.
Some additional light is cast upon the
question as to what extent the scheme