Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1858-07-08
Patriotic Seuiime ia.

plan for the settlement of the Kansas diff
Guilty.
We hear, Mr.. President, q great des
about this section and that section and
mans allegiance to one section and
another section. Within certain limit
and scope, this language is allowable
enough; but, sir. take my case. What i:
the position Of my State | know, in the
sort Of political geography which has been
made OF our country, 10 spite OF It's ma
tural geography, the extremes of North and
South have swallowed up all the States; but
what propriety is there in this? Is there
not great Western section, geographically
as we'll az Northern and Southern section
In my country we call ourselves Western
uen. Geographically we have that position
in this Union. You have an extreme TO the
North with its peculiar employments snd its
peculiar opinions. A different state things
exists at the extreme South. You are both
upon the ocean; but where are We? We are
in the Crest West-we are the Great West.
Though not equal at this time, 10 point OF
population, to either the Northern or the
Southern section, We are destined 10 be more
in population, than both of them put togeth-
et-destined to have more of the surplus Of
the products Of the earth 10 our hands than
all the rest Of the United States; occupying
the most fertile region OF the world 10 sll
that is necessary for the subsistence and
comfort of msnkind and, in the language Of
that famous French writer, Do Tocquesil!e,
occupying a region the finest and the most
| glorious that the Almighty ever made for the
| habitation of man. This is our country IN
! tie West. We touch no ocean; we are inte-
rior. We lie in no connection with tho
! North; We are far from the South.
/ What peculiar interest does this geOgraph.
ical position OF ours give u? North and
South may occasionally have their passions
! excited TO think that one or the other would
| be better IF in the case Of dissolution. We
! know that we have seen some symptoms Of
| it, uuhsppiIy for US all. We have heard the
expression of such sentiments. These are
the sentiments Of extremes, far separated,
With different institutions, and, to some ex-
tent, dffereot interests, leading occasionally
to hsrshness Of feeling on either side. When
tariff is refused, perhaps Northern men
think they would be better off without the
| Union. The South has occasionally thought
you know, that she would be better of with.
ont you. All these opinions may be honest,
but all these vsriapces Of sentiment lead to
one deplurable effect--the breaking Of our
great Union, the destruction of the mightiest
| hopes of man, the destruction of tho mightiest
hopes that all mankind might derive from
our example of public liberty and public
prosperity.
| For the resaons | have mentioned, North
or South NAV be occasionally of opinion that
their interests would DO benefited by a sep
aration-opinions honestly, 1t may be patrl'
o,cally, entertained; but what must ever
lastingIy be the sentiment of that great
Western region of country to which | have
alluded Their interest, if may call it so,
their peculiar interest, is the Uoion. There
never can be a time when any one of US in
! that section can think it is our interest thst
this Union should be destroyed. / ask gen.
tlemen here coming from the region of which
speak, how many men are there that you
have found in that region who countenance
for moment the idsa OF disunioni They
are all of one mind-instinctiyely of one
mind. Instinctively they understand their
interest; and that is the great pervading mo-
tive of mankind, on which alone durable re-
lations can be established. What is your in-
tcrest, you of the Vest | have painted
your condition feebly and your productions.
What are you to do? Are your products to
rot upon your hands, and to be the cause Of
pestilencs among you! No, but it must be
so, unless you can find vent for them some
where. Where are you to gt' II dismem-
berment Of the Uuion takes place between
the North and South, you ere opposed to
that, forever opposed to it, because it is to
take away from you one Of the meaus Of &C.
cess TO the ocean and to the world, and to
the msrts of the world, for the sale Of your
productions. If there was q division be-
tween the North and South, the lest, might
be precluded entirely either from going to the
markets Of New York or going 10 New Or
leans, without being subject to tolls and ta1e';
and could that be borne? Il would be
mighty hurdea for them to bear 1t is their
interest to avoid that burden 1t is their in
terest, their peculiar interest, and must ever
remain 80, to keep the Union together, 10
order that they may have that mighty scope
OF freq trade which they now enjoy. They
will always have more TO sell than any other
equal humble Of people on the face Of the
earth. They have more than would glut
New Orleans, more than would gut New
York if i. could all be poured there. We
want all these accesses. In our very posi-;
ton there is a local, natural, destined
patriotism, so far as the Uuion is concerned.
We must be found in it.
Cor prosperity | may say if not cur exis.
teuce as an agricultural people, depends on
the preservation Of the Union, and all the
means for xportation and for commerce that
both the Northern aud Southern sections al
ford We must 60 through both sections In
order TO find markets abroad for those pro-
ducts which are not TO be consumed 10 our
own country. We are enlisted and bound by
an everlasting and perpetual bond of inter.
es, to stand by and protect the Union for tho
sake of the commerce. and for the sake Of the
freedom of trade which it, and it alone secures
to US. This is our peculiar interest. The
North may have its; the South its; this is ours.
You of this region ought to cohrder your
selves as bound by this interest, If possible,
to superior care aud vigilance over its preser-
walton. We having this interest always to
guide Us, an instructive as wull as q judicious
guide, standing between these two extremes,
ought to take care that justice be done by
one extremity to the other. We have no 10
terest, gentlemen of the North and South,
that is not yours, sc far as mere union goe.;
but We have an interest beyond that We have
msterial, peculiar interest in the preser-
vatIon Of the Union Of these States, for the
b. H. l..