The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-08-19
which Che measure could be defended in good NOR.

when tue measure could be defended IN good NOR
ais for u would have resulted simply in transfer
ring the slaves Of Missouri into the other savehold
ing States Of the Union But if the presence of sla-
very were hurtful to Missouri what moral right
could she claim to transfer to sister States an nsti
Triton which she deemed injurious to herself? The
slave would derive benefit from mere change
Of habitation; the State wonld relieve herself from
The supposed disadvantages of slavery only by shift
ing them off upon other States--a selfish process
condemned by honor and all good morals, and for
hidden by the comfy of nations. Thus, as neither
the slave nor the public at large could derive add
vantage from the mere forbiddng of saveholding in
Missouri, the other measure of emancipation was
the only one that could be resorted to in good faith
or defended even upon abolitionist principles.
This emancipation must needs, of course, be i'm
mediate or prospective and it little changes the es-
senal nature of the question which of the two al
ternatives are resorted to. The choice between a
law at once eInancipating the present generation of
slaycs and law prospectvely emancpating the sue
ceedlng unborn generation, was with the Missouri
ans simply choice between accepting themselves
the consequences Of their own act, or turning over
the consequences to be endured by their children
except TO time the proposition to turn loose upon
society one hundred and ten thousand free negroes
bebg essentially the same
In whichever of the two forms proposed it is
plain that the question presents very formidable
proposition. Of the two forms, that of immediate
emancipation is the only honest one, for it is cow
ardly to impose upon infant generation conse-
III 4 -
Missouri, the emancipationsts chose, as matter
Of course, the timid proposition of prospective
emancipation and were beaten Overwhelmingly
even upon that. a ..
We repeat that it is a very formidable PROPOSE
ton, that of turning loose upon society one hundred
aud ten Thousand free negroes whether Immediately
twenty years hence and yet this is the practical
form in which the question of abolition must always
arise in slayeholding community; though it is the
precise form in which the amateur aboitonists of
non-saveholding States always fail to consider it.
The slaves Of Missouri, at low estimation are
worth fifty millions of dollars; and grave as may be
a proposition to conhscate to reimburse this
enormous value in the hands Of the living or
| coming generation, it sinks into insignifcance
infict society with vast dsproportion of free
negroes. A tier of counties in slave State,
cultivated by free laborers, may present strik-
ing contrast with another tier cultivated by
slave Africans and the population of the former
may be very averse to the system of labor prevail
ing in the latter on abstract principles but when
the question is presented to this population whether
they will burden the Slate with the value of the
slaves, and whether the negroes, held in
subordination and confined for the most part to
agricultural pursuits, shall be turned loose upon
the State to where they please, to infest their
own counties OF free white labor and to compete
with the white man the farm, in the workshop and
in the thousand and occupations of the towns and
they very apt to uote that the negroes shall
continue to be held in subsection, that the people Of
the State shall not be taxed for the millions of pur.
chase money which their emancipation would cost
and that it is better that they should remain under
the dominion of masters than allowed to compete
at every turn with free white men in all the de
partments Of honorable labor
There those who conclude that, because the
proportion Of actual shareholders in the communities
Of slaveholdng States is very small, the number O
latent abolitonists in the communities mus
needs be very large and that it is always very easy
matter to array the non-saveholding majority agains
the slayehoding minority The recent vote in Mis-
souri, is practical refutaton of this widespread
Authorization. Where the number of slaves in State
is large the continuance of the institution is ques
ton between classes, but great social question
Which there is, Of necessity, absolute identity o
sentiment aud Of interest among all classes. 1t il
not impossible that slavery may, IN the progress 0
Tine become extinct in some Of the border southern
States but this can only be when the number of tn,
slaves shall diminish to avery small proportion Of TIT
aggregate population, when the aversion of thu
white man, poor as well rich TO association will
the negro on footing OF equality, shall have van
| ished with the lapse of time
i --------
| SUPPORTING MEASURES AND DFNOUNCING MEN
CARRYING WATER ON BOTH SHOULDERS. a.
Adherence TO party is not proven or established
| by the supper. Of measures alone. Tho New Yorl