The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-01-19

ga ron Of equality in the Union" - Gun ii be
true that. after all, il was only Il Southern scare
crow Of rags aod straw, employed by Southern
politicians to frighten the North into conces-
sions and compromises, upon every provocation
and every pretext? And is il so, that Governor
Wise, with a single thrust of his lance, has torn
this imposture into fragments? 1t must be so,
il that which our Charleston contemporary says
Of "tbe shutting tricksters and trimmers Of the
Southern democracy in Congress- be true.
We had supposed that from the South there
would Ike no "shufiing tricksters'' nor trim
mers'' upon this Kansas issue; but we begin to
suspect that they do exist, and have lived aud
fourished upon Northern credulity for the last
bali century. There is ground for this suspi-
cion in the course Of Southern men in Congress
since the opening revolutionary speech of Sena-
tor Douglas upon the Lecompton schedule. The
silence which they have maintained, notwith-
standing the repeated efforts of Mr.. Douglas to
bring them out, has q meaning in it.
1t means that Southern men are re-
serving their fire for the final charge along the
whole line, or that they are disorganized and
resigned to the consequences, or that they have
agreed 90 abandon Kansas. ami adopt some
new programme in behalf of tie extension of
Southern institutions.
! From the intense indignation v hich they have
exhibited concerning the seizure OF the late
Walker expeditionary force in Nicaragua, and
from the remarkable zeal betrayed among
Southern men, in and out Of Congress, in behalf
of his manifest destiny" scheme, one would
suppose that the political leaders of the South
ern democracy had become wholly absorbed In
flibustering, and utterly indifferent as to the
fate of Kansas. We should thus conclude that
the plan of strengthening slavery in the North
west is abandoned, and sthat a new Southern
programme has been adopted, directed exclu-
sively to Southern acquisitions from the Mexi-
can States, Central America and the Gulf Of
Mexico. This view would justify the opinion
that the South will not only submit to the loss
of Kansas, but that they will make no serious
effort in behalf Of the Lecompton constitution.
We apprehend. however, that if the Lecomp-
ton constitution is thrown cut, it will be through
those Southern SHUTTERS and "tricksters' in
~ W OhA ina otO SottusPOld
scheming demagOgues whose Alpha and Omega
are the spoils and plumber of the Presidency.
But We can tell them that if the South backs
down from this Lecompton constitution, the
North, in 1850, will have no need of Southern
SHUTTERS and "tricksters.' II is not SO much
the lose of Kansas that will be disastrous to the
South as the manner Of losing it. Kansas must
be q fran Cfata IN n ehnrt <.,,n Il .1a No..
may but the consistency, the chivalry, the
prestige and the unity of the South are all in
volved in the issue which Southern men have
raised in this matter. They must adhere to
this point of honor; for, from the moment that
they abandon it, Southern rights, Southern
wrath, Southern wrongs and Southern threaten
ings will become the subjects of Northern
laughter and scorn; and Southern influence in
the government will hereafter be measured by
the Northern standard of Southern submission
and good behavior.
The Alabama Legislature, we perceive, has
passed a series Of resolutions making, substan-
TALLY, the Lecompton constitution the test ques-
ton of the Union or O Southern confederacy. If
the Southern men in Congress, of all parties,
can be brought up to this mark, they may
secure the admission Of Kansas under the Lee
compton constitution. But if Northern Presi-
Dental intrigues and spoils and plumber are
allowed to distract and divide the %counsels of
the South, their cause is lost; for they must be
united among themselves before they can expect
or ask assistance from the North. AT the pre-
sent lime the Walker flibustering programme
is mere moonshine. The great living issue with
the South is that Lecompton constitution. They
would have it so; they have it; and now, if they
abandon it, the long war between slavery and
anti-slavery, the South and the North, is ended,
and ended in the complete prostration, humilia.
ton and disgrace of the South.