St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1859-05-19
UD STEARNS CO., MINNESOTA, THURSDAY MAY l9

Slavery counteracted and bafled by spon.
tancous uprising Of the people in whose
presence or neighborkood such carture was
attempted, whose instincts Of justice and
humanity rcvo}ted q the sight If . man
guilty OF no crime, being hunted and run
down in order that he might be consigned
to eternal Slavery. ->:.' '....+ II
2. We have seen those who thus aided
fugitive to escape fromoa claimant or his
agent arraigned in the Federal Courts, as !
guilty Of a heinous crime, yet less and less
frequently convicted, until, in certain To-
calitles, it has become necessary to pack
or strike the lures until none bat satcll.
:..es Of The Slave Power are left, when con-
viction is effected as matter Of course. =:
3. W. have seen the persons thus con
victed regarded by their fellow citizens,
including their very jailor, not as culprits,
but as noble and beloved martyrs, more
honored in their fetters than the Judge
who tried and sentenced them
4 And, ON the other hand, we have
seen the importation of fresh slaves from
Africa-though piracy by Federal law
carried on with scarcely pretence OF dis
guise, until at last advertisements, res
pansibly and numerously signed, are open
~ published in leading Southern Journals,
Offering $500 per head on landing for one
thousand negro slaves just from Africa,
with reference to bankers and brokers Of
unaoubtcd solvency as indorsers Of the
offer.
S. Meantime, officers and crews Of noto-
rious s?avers, accidentally captured By Uni
ted States vessels under circumstances
that leave no doubt OF their guilt, are ar
raigned by United States officials as for
| piracy; but-the precaution Of packing the
jurics not having been taken in the South
az at the North-eithcr the bills of indict-
ment arc thrown out by Grand Juries, Or
the Petit Jures refuse to convict On the
ciearest misunderstanding that the Fed
cral laws which threaten African Slaycrs
with the penalties Of piracy are unconstitu-
tional.
6. These facts render inevitable col
lision at no distant day between the Fed
cral Judiciary and that Of the States, both
North and coutll--thc Southern State
Courts following the precedent set Ivy Geor-
gia III the case Of the Cherokee Tassels,,
who Was hanged by her in defiance Of a
writ of error granted by the Supreme Court,
but which the State Court refused to obe;,
the Northern State Courts, on the other
hand, initiating that Of Wisconsin,, which;
having pronounced the Fugitive Slave Law
cision to be ovcrruled and subverted by
| the Federal Cat ..}.f
We might multiply and vary these
illustrations; but to what end? Is it not
already clear that the irrepressib|e CON
fiict " affirmed by Gov. Seward is no
rhetorical flourish, no fanatical prophecy,
but sober and present reality? IS it
not plain that we are already in effect two
nations, held together by the ties of ira
dltion and interest, but at heart and in life
| as hostile as the Romans and Carthagini-
ans Of old? When Southern Senator
Gin vino vcritas) has power to paralyze
the Cuba agitation at the North, by sim
! ply owning the truth that he wants Cnha
as new bulwark to Slavery, is it not
plain that the difference between North
ern and Southern Democrats, even; is
serious indeed? H..
| One more suggestion: We have.
great many Northern people, especially in
the great cities, who pride themselves on
their conservatism-on their freedom from
sectional prejudice. They love and fra
ternize with the people Of the South, but
they are not in favor Of Slavery nobody
must accuse them of thdt-still less are
they prepared to favor its extension.-I
Many will remember the vehement elo-
quence with which Mr. Webster, long
after he had undertrkcn the advocacy Of
the Fugitive Slave Law, repelled the i'm
putation that he ever did Or ever would ! !
countenance the Extension of Slavery
His record on that grave issue was clear.
When the repeal of the Missouri compact
was first broached, nearly every prominent
conservative at the North repelled indig-1
nantly the suggestion that he might ac-
[quicsce in that outrage Yet now acqui-
Eesccncch therein is the touchstone of
conservatism <: What next? Is it not
plain that, had no stand been made in
1854, our present conservatives would
have by this time been ready to swallow
the open revival of the African Slave
Trade and cry Peace! Peace!" 7stt*st
@s ,Issthere, indeed, any holding ground
short of open adherence to the Pro Sla-
very or to the ,Anti:S!avery side of this
great controversy p Is there anv ,,r,ha.
bility that it can be ssmoothed over, cod
died up. compromised? . On the contrary,
is not the distance which separates the
antaggonistic parties yisibly widening? Is
it practicable to close it until victory shall
have declared for one party sr the other