Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1858-03-17
DIsUN1ON.

IRENE meaSuTe ,ff.sss
No sane man will say that fhe Southern people, who
have endured SO much Of cdntumely and injury for
the sake of the Union, can now be expected to enter
upon its destruction deliberately and upon cold cal
culation of the general advantages that might accrue
to their interests from the change. Wo sssums thsn
that it is absurd to talk Of dsunion, except for some
direct, specific and palpable cause; and our inquiry
is: does any such cause noH e1st' or if not now,
when may it be expected to rise, and in what shape
The Kansas controversy contains the only disunoR
issue now before the county But this controversy
is rapidly nearing its srbreusn and there is every
reason to believe that it will very soon be numbered
with the quarrels Of the past What next?
Is there any other territorial imbrOgo' Of similar
bearng in our prospectivef There is none that oc-
cur, to u, as likely to come up at early day Should
such an one emerge to view, it will probably hs IN
latitude more congenal than that of Kansas to negro
slavery, and 1hsrc, with the Kansas precedent as
bsaeon.ght, the sEuo will be more readily and rlum
phantly decided upon Constitutional grounds. Sena-
tor SEWARD, it is truo announces that NOT another
foot of American soil is to be touched by the Slave
Power. But is Senator SEWARD god, either proph-
eticaly or potentially7 Or is Senator srWARDs die
tu, discourse no never 80 wisely any cause for dis
union : The question needs no reply
What thon? Is slavery TO be abolished IN the DE-
trict of Columbia Or is the slave trade between the
States to be terminated by act Of Congress! or Is
the basis Of representation to be modified to the det-
riment of the just weight Of our section in the gov
erumsnt? Or is the Supreme Court to be thrown in
e
things to pass it will indeed bo time not only to
talk of disuniOn, but promptly to enact it. But who
is to assume in advance that any Of them will oc-
cur7 Or what patriot will dare upon that bara as-
sumption to counsel disunion?
We believe it is not contended in any quarter that
disunion issue is to be generated outside OF the
slavery question. The Tariff and Internal Improve
ment controversies, when at their worst were not 80
regarded by the people of the South and are surely
not likely to be viewed in that light now that their
deformes have been reduced to comparatively come
| ly proportions.
Again then we ask, whore and what is, or is to be,
the disunion ISSUE after Kansas and her affairs shall
have been turned over to Kansas and her sovereignty
There none e1stant do believe there is one
|
present power of the South under tho Constitution,
aided by the sw-and-ordsr men Of tho entire Union
In this belief VIC have the misfortune of differing
with the Charleston Mercury and certain others Of
our Southern cotemporaries. They look only to the
gloomy side of the pcture and will not believe that
the South i, to escape dsgadstio, except in disunion
Indeed they are at this moment maintaining that the
4 .,d G., hou booD fnD0
and won,-won by tho Noith,-and that the South is
now but "ooIquered province" Senator SEWARD
also takes this broad ground, and Senator HAMMOND,
we regret to see admits tito be rue Let US try the
soundness Of the conclusion by one or two obvious
| tests.
First, let US suppose the naked proposition put to
| the common senqe of our Southern plantsrs,-"Do
you feel that you are conquered dependency Of the
anti-slavery power% Aniindignant negative would
at once spring from thrice ten thousand hearts Of
oak. "Meuer, NEVER" would be the instructive re-
sponsc. Ask them why, fand they will say to you !:
care VIC not prosperous and happy' Have we not in
charge the staple that controls tho world? Are not
our resources ins1hausti2 and is not our skill in
l producing far, far ahe&aof all competition Was
our institution of African slavery ever before so val
liable as pow' Was itcYer before so firmly fixed in
the affections Of SouherperI or SO clearly indspsn
| sable to the wants of mankind Are not our wealth
and Importance rising higher and higher each sue
cecding year? Are not the favored of Providence
and the benefactors Of earth Have VIC not already
an extent Of slave territory ga. large as Great Brit
tain, France, Austria, Prussia and Spain" Are We
not told in high places, that We have one hundred
thousand square miles Of territory more than the
North even after giving to the latter Minnesota and
Kansas? And are there not vast tropical domains
that must ultimately b. ours by all the laws Of fitness
and expediency? And you talk to US Of being q
| conquered province" dependency of Northern
fanaticism"-Such would BE- tho language with which
the great mass of Southern planters would meet this
proposition. Without stopping to weigh the bearings
Of Congressional legislation the slavery issues Of
the day. they would repe the hypothesis Of Southern
.ukugation from their standpoint Of conscious invn
cibility alone; And their response would bear with it
at least enough Of the power Of truth, to stamp with
folly the impulsnt boast Of SEWARD, and to rsprovo
the mistaken admissions Of their own to0despondent
the absurdty of the proposition
| in hand will be made quite complete when We con-
slider tho actual condition Of the case between Slavery
and Slavery, tho North and the South, as it at
present stands before Congress. Without adverting
to the fact that the powers Of the government are all
with US, We simply ask the intelligent readers atten
ton to The nature Of the pending Kansas quarrel
Thait directly involves the question of slavery, it is
unnecessary here to show. But how does the queS-
tion come up? We are told that the Lccompton con-
stitution is the work of minority. So say the Abo
admit that it is And yet this constitution, recos-
uzng slavery and establishing it in Kansas 90 far ms
a Constitution can, is received fayorably by the
American Congress and will doubtless be triumph
untly sustained by that body The bare statement is
| enough. Aud the Southern man who, seeing this
will still persist in the assertion that tho South is
conquered province" and only redeem her rights
and institutions by separate nationality, either
courts disunion for itself, else is in slough Of
dcspond from which no cannot behold the manifest
indications Of American Reform.
But it may be asked, "why institute now this en-
auiry after the causes of disunion3' We answer,
because the cry of dsunion is abroad in the South,
and, as Souherner, we desire to know the grounds
therefor We do not wish to see section unneces
sarly distracted upon IN underlined issue. If there
is real for dsunion let 1t be set forth explicitly
Let some point be made which the people can under
stand and feel But if it is only to be urged the
general grounds Of advantage and expediency, and
if the argument for setting up Southern Confedera
nv il 10 turn mainly upou the possibility Of our do