The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1858-09-22
The Inevitable struggle.

/
The following remarks are from the
Alexandria Reyillie, free soil paper pub
lished in slave State--Missouri; the re-
marks are addres sed to the friends Of
slavery:
"That changeless destiny that guides
the car of progress over the ruins Of en-
pires; that shapes the motives and actions
of nations as well as men; is bringing
| about a contest between the system of
| compulsory service, aud labor directed by
profit and reward. 1t is plain to see that
this contest will not be mere skirmish-
a marching up the hill. and then down
again-but battle that will result in
victory complete. On one side is arrayed
the lettering system of slavery, on the 9TH
er the mighty energy of those principles
that have made the American people a
great and prosperous democracy. The
first bring to its aid forces that are undis-
ciplined, unreliable and treacherous; the
second comes to the field armed with the
progressive spirit of the age in which we
live. In its train follow the loom and
anvil, the buzz of machinery, and the
wAirl of commerce. 1.-THE first conquers,
land will depreciate, the majority OF the
people will remain poor, and the almost
unbounded wealth Of this great State lie
concealed among its hills and beneath its
valleys. If the second is victorious, then
the miners pick shall be heard among the
mountains, the song of the husbandman
shall ring through every valley, and labor,
properly directed, shall bring its own re-
ward. sta
There is no motive power as strong as
that of interest-no controlling principle
so fixed in immutability as that of toll.
Yet against these two unalterable facts
your institution wages perpetual warfare.
1t aims continued blows at the very hearts
of both; and not content with this, seeks
to destroy itself In this republic, labor
must be respected, and free service held
as honorable. It is the spirit of our
country-the characteristic of our people.
The men who are seeking homes in our
State are not ashamed to work, but they
want a free soil to cultivate, free State
in which to build their homes. They
will not run off your slaves, nor steal your
property; they come from land where
law is respected, but where laws are also
changed by the will of the people. They
will settle down quietly beside you, and |
let in the light of progress on every hand.
They and you will reap rich reward,
but your institution will die, for free labor
cannot be co-existent with slavery. They !
are antagonistic -antipodes that
can never meet.
You may brand these men as traitors,
fanatics, dc.--you may load their princi-
pies with all the weight of infamy that
the force ofprejudice can raise, but time
will show that you are mistaken. They
are the opponents Of an active, living
principle. They are free men, living by
free labor. You oppose them with the
system Of slavery, and thus arises the
ssue before you. Will you meet it in
spirit of free manliness-witha desire to
know the right and to do it--with y pure
oallot-box? Will you endeayor to rise
above the influences of an early education
of party trammels, and decide this
question like free men? You NAV help
he cause Of progress. You may place
your State much in advance Of your sister
State. You NAV erect (as it by maggie
Villages, teening with busy
ife, and vocal with the sounds of energy
md activity within your pleasant valleys.
OH may open your lands to the incom-
ng of wealth and prosperity. You may
20 great, prosperous and happy. ***
GU have abundance of wealth looking
'ut of your hill-sides and up from your
You want capitrl, enterprise,
nd the proper facilities to bring it forth.
There are talismanic words within your
,eeping that shall cause these hidden rich
$ to see the light. They are, ''no slave
y" Will you speak them in the next
There is plain inevitable issue
'efore you. How will you meet it in
$50?