St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1859-06-30
STEARNS CO., MINNESOTA

A, r. Il. THURSDAY, ! ! 3 D a
which the united forces of the South are
able to give, it has abandoned the defence
Of the North. That it is looked to with
confidence only by the South, and that
the stronghold ofits siren ngth is there
Are we, not, therefore, justified in claim
ing that the Democratic party and the Pro-
slavery party are identical. --
But, let us examine the claims of the
Democracy upon their own showing; let US
seek to do them every justice.
The Democratic party claims to be the
friend of neither the pro-slavery nor the
anti-slavery issues; to be totally Indifferent
to all questions Of morality involved in
the contest; and solicitous only of seeing
the South have fair play. It is not the
South, but the bottleholder of the South,
not the principal, but the second; its duty
is to see the laws of the ring fairly admin
istered, and it has nothing whatever to do
with the causes or the merits of the fight.
Can such party exist? The whole
country his settled Itself into two great
sentiments sentiment for slavery, the
sentiment against it. In 1890 the Penn.
Anti-Slavery Society, Benjamin Franklin,
President, addressed Congress in the fol-
lowing manner: ....
"From the persuasion that equal liber-
ty was originally the portion, and is still
tho birthright of all men; and Influenced
by the strong ties of humanity, AMI the
principles of their institutions, your memo
rialists conceive themselves bound to use
ali justifiable endeavors to loosen the bands
Of Slavery, and promote a general enjoy
ment Of the blessings of freedom. Under
these impressions, they entreat your serious
attention to the subject of slavery; that
you will be pleased to countenance the res
toration Of liberty TO those unhappy men,
who alone, in this land Of freedom, are de-
graded iuto perpetual bondage, and who;
amidst the general joy Of surrounding free
men, are groaning in servile subjection;
that you will devise means for removing
this inconsistency from the character Of
the American people; that you will pro-
mote mercy and justice towards this dis
tressed race, and that you will step to the
very verge OF the power vested in you for
ouraging every species Of traffic in the
persons Of our fellow men" -. ---:...
From that time to this the opposition
to the encroachments of slavery has been
steadily progressing. The growth of the
Sentiment, was, however, at first SLOW
In 1886 Mr.. Franklin Pierce, member of
the House from New Hampshire, said,
'He was unwilling that any imputations
should rest upon the North, in consequence
Of the misguided and tanatical ztal of a
few-comparitively very few-who, how
ever honest might have been their purpo-
ses. he believed had done incalculable mis-
chief, and whose movements, he knew, re-
ceived no more sanction among the great
mass of the people of the North, than they
did at the South" :-
How great has been the spread of the
sentiment since that day may be inferred
froom the fact, that the New England
which Mr. Pierce then partly represented
has not now in the House or Senate of the
United States single member not devoted
to the support of Republican principles;
that the every few Of 1886, have become
in 1859 the dominant party in almost ev-
cry free State of the Union; and that even
the Democracy now acknowledge: in. fear
and trembling, that the next President Of
the United States will be, Republican
How then, in the midst Of conflict so
deep, so wide, SO absorbing; a conflict
reaching from one end of the Union to the
other, and involving fr good or evil our
whole future, Can any great party stand
idly by, and profess indifference. "*
The Democratic party, on their own
showing, must be one Of two things; either
party without a sentiment on this great
issue, andstherefore UNFIT to lead the pub
lie whose ainities must be either with the
right or with the wrong, and who cannot
desire to remain forever in neutral uncer-
tainty. Grit must have formed an iopin-
ion on this question, pro or con, but fears
to- offend either the North or the South by
expressing it; hoping by judicious bubbles
and paltry sophistry to please both sec
tions, and to be upheld by both; a sort of
political colossus, with one foot on free
dom and the other on slavery. v. ,..... Z.
/ Can the foreign born voter, fleeing from
oppression in the old lands Of Europe, hes.
itate in his choice? He came here to-.
share our Liberty--will he take sides with
the Cause Of Bondage? He LETT the old
world to escape the injustice Of a moneyed
aristocracy,-will he aid to build up anoth-
er in the new? He came to find the land
where labor stood on an equality with
wealth; will he assist to make labor synon-
ymous with degradation and lifelong servi.
tude? IGNATIUS DONNELLY.
It has been observed, with much signi-
6cance, that every morning we enter upon
a new day, carrying still an unknown fu-
%,,ro IN ;fa ho,r,,, Hon, .nl