, 1859-04-02
The Policy ofthe South Opposed to tho
Progress OF the Weat.

The o''ey yoa1ess Of tns sept s. r. @eeosea to tho
lFfom the No. Dcmocrat.1
Casting aside oll party antipathies or predilco.
The schemes entertained BY the politicians Of tho
Southern States couaict with the measures ca1-
entated to foster the development of the West.
We should be sorry to accuse one section Of the
country Of benring Ill will towards another, il
irretrngable testimony, placing It beyond doubt,
Is the secret Of this eumity. Such men Is
Toenahs, Hammond, Hunter, and Mason, forsee
the sectional ipsignidcance Of the Gulf and
Southern Atlantic States, in the ose1shadowing
grandeur Of the populated West. Last summer
areprescntatiyc from South Carolina, Mr. Doyce,
In addressing his constituents, expressed his
gratitude to Aeavcn for that barrenness Of soil
and aF7ditJ Of climate which his prejudiees or hia
Ignorance attributed 10 the far Western lati-
tndes~ But the truth is, q most uncompronis-
ing struggle is progressing between the masses
and the planters for the possession Of the uuoc-
cupled territories. The planters are not SO de-
slrona Of seizing them fol, themselves, Is Of ex-
cluding the tide Of settlement from them by
sweeping acts Of Federal power LAND for the
landlcss,' is the taunt which the political aris-
tocfacy Of America cast in the face Of honest in
dustry. The epithet which history applies to q
spcndthraft king, is flung at the working men Of
t, the nation ?, as 2 brand Of opPrqbrinm; Lack
40
cabulary for white slaves, mud. .si!ls, base me-
chanirs, 6c. The contest for the possession Of
the national domain, which listed SO long in the
Roman Republic, and which IS tue key Of its 1n~
teFnal politics, has openly commenced in this
country and here, as well as there, agrarian~
ism, or 8 fair division Of the public domain. has
become the terror Of the pat1ician class aud the
desire Of tue people. All this was well l}ustra-
ted by the proceedings Of the Senate towards
the close Of the Inst session Of Congress. The
Interests and desires Of the people in reference
to the public lands found partial expression IN
the Homestead hill That measure proposed to
endow every citizen, native, uaturalized or n
choate, with 160 acres Of land on the one cono1"
tion that he settled upon it permanently. The
political md social benefits which it would pro-
duce are cognlzant to the slenderest reasoning
powers. From the pur1ieus of our large cities;
the Businesses of the cotton States, where slave
less white men feel the invisible adamaptihe
walls of caste scgregating them from the COM
munity at large: from the exhausted and petty
farms Of the old States, divisions Of the grand
army Of industry would proceed to the prairies
ef the West and found new commonwealths.
But why pursue this train Of thought 1t uu-
folds panorama which represents the ideal
America of our patriot statesmen. One nation
and hundred States-the wildness Of nature
snbduea throughout the whole continent, and
zones q prosperous yeomanry replenlshing the
sAlA HAI4 uu5 cAI5+tA 64AkE tuE AGtuEEs ATE
suits deducihle from the great scheme on Vest
ern policy, Of which the Homestead Bill is the
introduction. Such vision WIS as dstastefn1
to the planters US the newly created world TO the
cneny Of man. They voted ugninst the bill;
but il passed the House, because numbers are
represented in that body. In the Senate they
refused to act upon it, assigning frivolous and
vexatous pretexts, and barbing their speeches
with insult and defiance. The debate that night
furnishes vivid commentary on the nature Of
the antagonistic policies Of the country. The
planters did not content themselves with the
mere ncgation Of the proposition which they re-
fused to consider. They presented counter
which WIS not startling because it
had been promulgated BY their press. Repudi-
ating the Homestead bill as the confscaton Of
the public property for the support Of pauper-
ism, they laid down their u!tinatum for the con-
Of the National Democratic party.
This is nothing less than the establishment Of
slavery by Congress and the Executive in a1f the
Territory which the United States possess, or
may acquire With such an object in view as
The reservation Of all the public lands for the
slow settlement Of the planter and negro. it were
inconsistent to vote free homestcads TO the men
who own nothing but the Goa-glven wealth Of
strength and manhood, and who are instinctirc~
fy hostile to mon0polies and class aggrandize~ |
Ineut. Every political contest, however limited,
is affiliated to this great and pregnant one, and
is Interested in the prosperity Of the
West, aud especially in the prosperity Of this
citv. should ponder On the lesson which it
[cachcs.