The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1859-09-03

IT, c. naln ~ 1885,
Ma~ Yoslf# sasury u Publishing -
AddtD y ~ - blicsn National COMMITTEES.
prints4 IL NcHopa -Ey6 - sseks -, ssys :
4 III 1rrusf - !ltboSats "a Z shS declasation
IF pIIi2piplee. v "a 81 ths fpnse nsion which
Ipouf seed M - III 1858 "a il u dsStgned
chhl - u ont II krou0d II : timely open.
1ng To- ppa1 Tvsa1 se - - Bates
iare bspeessDssd y The C6lbittee, 1x0f the
number being slave States.
The tone Of the document 10 serious, moder-
Ste. and national. Il recegnixes the line OF
Distinction which has been drawn BY events,
placing 10 contrast, the opposing political ele.
ments Of Freedom and Slavery. That this y
the ground On which the country will vOtes
has long been manifest. The Development Of
opinion ID The South has Seen assOaishiOgly
rapid, sahssisasing, and anooapronising during
the last few months, on the master topic which
fofnishss the key note 20 struggle, which we
have no besitation 10 .pronouncing the most
sigDi6csnt and pregnant in which the poPsiar
masses Of any country ever engaged. i Any
party with national PRINCIPLES and aims could
have been brought 10 stand % middle ground
six months ago, the extraordinary vigof and ap-
parent unanimity with which the single issue OF
reopening the Africsn slave trade has been
pressed, would have driven it back, and forced
upon it the declaration that there il no longer
any middle ground on which reasonable, en-
lightened, and patriotic men, can stand The
issue IL not within the Constitutions - On
the Constitution. Weighty as are the ques-
tons which have heretofore divided the coun.
try, effectng its policy of finance, commerce,
general economy, improvement and foreign res
lations, these are now all swept aside, and there
remains but the single, bold, uDcomplicated
issue, Of dragging out from its secret lurking
places in the shadows Of the African and Cuba
coasts, and restoring to honor upon the high
seas, the most atrOcious traffic the sun ever
shown upon-the traffic in human beings 1t
is among the moral phenomena Of the age, that
such q question should be entertained elsewher
than on the deck of pirate, and by the worst
outlaws Of civilization II j. the last clinching
testimony to the degrading influences Of negro
slavery on the mind Of race itself naturally
noble, capable Of the highest culture, and Of the
greatest deeds.
At the same time we blackened the page of
our history with this announce ment, We ought
to claim exemption for all Southern men who
oppose the measure, and deepen the brand of
shame on its Northern advocates, who hsve not
the excuse Of pecuniary interest, or long tamili-
arty with the institution. to justify their posi-
ton. II slavery itself is sectional the
morality that defends it is not, BY any means
as will quickly appear If the constitutional brand
Of piracy be removed from the African trade
The Shipping merchants Of New York and Boston
would monop0lize that branch Of commerce as
they do the carriage of cotton and dry goods.
We are sometimes tempted TO query whether,
after all. this may not be, in the inscrutabe de-
crees Of the Divine economy, which estimates
"a thousand years but as q single day" the in
evitable solution to the problem that battles al
our wisdom, and grows more unmanageable
With each succeeding year. History is full Of
similar lessOns-Of one race, after ages Of in
feriority and subsection, rising into dominance,
and in its turn giving way to another or minglng
in its current, and flowing on with the increase
Of vollme. But il il be SO, We no less
by present necesstlties and ohga-
tons with which it is our duty to struggle ; |
for in this consists the grand whole OF our /
history.
1t is unavoidable that the higher moral senti- |
ment of our age and country should AIRY itself |
against the atrocious scheme Of reviving and
legalizing the African slave trade. At this /
stage, the Republican party presents itself as the
only political organization that has tie ability TO
resist the formidable alliance Of power interest,
and ambition which stand as the champion OF X
that measure. 1t has the advantage OF occupy 4
ing ground entirely consistent with the con-
and Of advancing no other ideas
than those which were entertained in common /
by the eminent men who framed that instru- +
nent At the same time, il puts forth no /
new political doctrines of State encrOach-
nent, or sectional prescription. It does not
propose to interfere with slavery in the States or
20 put any new construction on the terms OF the
Federal compact