The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1859-11-29

assenblagc cf few noisy " Democratic
Convention. in the Southern States. a.,
the adoption Of pompous manifestoes
Whether In the uiUu or out of it. III
dangers arising from Slavery, while
maintains Its present form, will continue
What then can be done What is practi
cable 1t seems to Us clear that the Soutl
should at least begin to amcliorate Slavery
if hot provide for lis abolition. Indeed
ameIioratlon is preparatory step to th'
final extinction of the system, while it il
absolutely necessary to its peaceful exis
tence. The South should make SLAYER,
what It's advocates claim it TO be, viz
patrlarchal institution. The slave should
be bound to his home, not by the vigilance
of bloodhounds and oyerseers, but by con
cesslons Of privileges and rights whcl
have hitherto been withheld from him
The Southern Legislatures should occupy
their time, not in fruitless disputa,ion upon
Federal politics, but in dcvis;ng humane
measures Of reform in their slave codes
Every slave State, perhaps, with the ex-
ceptlon Of Deleware, permits Shareholders
10 separate families at their pleasure. Not
one of them recognises the relation of hus-
band and wife among slaves Parents and
children, even babes and mothers, are per
United to be separated at the caprice or the
convenience of any heartless tyrant 1t is
IN vain to say that these things never hap
pen. The law permits them, and no cam
did .Southernor will deny that they occur
frequently. Many eminent Southerners,
and among them Senator Toombs, have
acknowledged that this glaring enormity
should be forbidden by law.
Another great evil Of Slavery which
calls for immediate remedy is the denial
of the God given right Of mental and NOR.
al Improvement The South must not for
get that the Saviour held the possessor of
one talent to the same rigid accountability
for It's improvement as the owner of ten
1t is therefore no apology for the laws
against education TO say that the blacks are
an inferior race.
Admit it, and yet we have tho authority
Of scripture for saying that the superior
race, though with ten-fold higher endow-
ments is held to 10 more rigid accounta-
billty for their Improvement than the infe-
rior for its lower order of intellect. But
if the inferior is held responsible by the
Almighty for the cultivation of his intel
lectual and spiritual gifts, and if he is to
be punished for permitting them to be dor
mant, what is to become of the cruel ty-
rants who compel him to state of perpet-
ual degradation
If God is Just, and the Bible be true,
fearful must be the retribution which will
be visited upon those who. not content with
enslaving the body, would also put out the
light of the soul.
Here then is another great reform need
cd. 1t is demanded alike by justice and
expediency.
a third reform should consist in guar.
antying to slaves the right of holding prop.
erty, which in their spare hours they may
accumulate. This regulation would stim.
ulate thrift and industry, and give the
slave a permanent interest in the peace anC
order of society 1t would in some sense
make him a conservative.
Ii these rights and privileges were Sc
cured to the slave population by wei
digested code Of laws; and if no man were
permitted to buy, or sell, or emigrate witt
slaves, without taking whole families, th'
effect Of such humane regulation could 10
fail to tighten the yoke Of Slavery, and pre-
dispose the negroes to wait with patience
for deliverancc from bondage by peaceful
emancipation. The danger Of insurrectiol
is in exact proportion to the severity o
Slavery, and will be lessencd with ever,
sincere effort to alleviate and reform th'
system. 1t is true, that to reform Slavery
and elevate the condition OF the slave, vii
be gradually to undermine the system, ant
prepare for its extinction but the enden
cy to emancipation will be peaceful, an'
with the consent of the masters To Gle
vate the condition Of the slave, and rails
him nearer to that of his master, is to brin
them into closer sympathy. Reformator
measures will have an equally humanizin
effect upon masters and slaves, and incln
the former to deal justly. Emancipatio
will come and it is for the Southern pee
pie to say whether they will prepare for
by wise and Christian efforts to civilize tn
slaves, or stubbornly wait until wars G
revolutions shall give bloody solution
the problem.
These reforms can be effected withor
expense or danger, and the only danger
in Withholding them. Will not the wis
: and good men Of the South avail themselv,
of the present unhappy state of the publ
mind to propose these healing measures
The free discussions on Slavery in the Vi
ginia Legislature in 1882 were caused |
the insurreetion Of the preceding Angus
!. and We are inclined TO hope that the simil'
state Of agitation and alarm which now e:
| lists will cause another outbreak Of ind
, pendent thought, and that it will lead
practical results.
. GEORGE WASHINGTON IN Favor OF %