Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1859-07-08
WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP.

-
ASESsArrox-The Hon. Alex'rH Stephens,
of Georgia, recently delivered speech at Au- |
gusta, Ga, on the occasion of taking farewell |
of the constituency he has 90 long REPRESENTED 4
Independent Of the fact that his oratorical eff.
forts never fail to be remarkably replete with
pungent thought, the result of his clear head
and long experience in public affairs, the point
of this speech causes it 30 be more commented
upon by the Northern opposition press than
any other political argument Of the times.
That point is as follows. Viz He advocates
tho extension Of the dominion Of the United
States southwark, and the acquisition Of Cuba
at prepitious moment, that moro slave States
may be admitted into the Union
He virtualIy declares IL TO be the duty or
the South to leave the Confederacy whenever
admission into the Union shall be refused to o
Southern Territory applying, on account Of its
adoption OF African slavery as part Of its
domestic system. lie also urges that before
We obtain more territory in the South, the
supply of slave labor should be increased above
and beyond the capacity of tho original slave
holding States Of the Confederacy to do that
thing. Else, according to Mr.. ST. no slave
States will result from the acquisition of more
territory on the South. He justiics that posi-
ton by arguing that slavery is the normal
condition Of the black, and is to him q bless
ing-a great improvement of his condition
without it. Though he does not mention the
African slave trade, co nOn,ine, there can be
no installing the fact that his remarks in this
connection amount to a virtual endorsement of
the propriety Of re-opening that commerce, as
policy oil humanity, of commercial advan-
tage, and Of vital Importance to the South's
status of equality with the North In the Union.
His is the most important conversion to the
slave trade theory; insomuch rs he wields
great influence throughout the South, with
conservative men as we'll as ultraists
We have watched the development Of South
ern popular sentiment on the subject with
great interest, and know well that he is the
first gentleman who has taken ground in favor
of rc-opening the African slave trade, whose
opinion on the subject is calculated to have
great weight throughout tho South Never
theless, il is impossible that the subject matter
can become a live issue at the South for years
| to come. Ii by any lucky chance Abolitionism
| should cease to grow, and grow and grow as of
late at the North, all idea Of re-opening that
commerce will DO abandoned at the South,
| where its inception was simply to devise a
means of better resisting the sure tendency of
the growth Of Abolitionism throughout the
non-slaveholding States upon the future pros
poets of the South as eo-egual section of the
| Union.
Mr.. Stephens by the by. states tie truth
in saying that the institution Of African slavery
Is at this moment on q much frmer basis in all
quarters of the country than when he first en-
tered Congress. 1t was then fashionable for
southern public men even, to apologizefor, if not
to deprecate it, Now no man of any party can
approach any southern constituency for their
favor with the slightest prospect of success
who processes doubt as to the propriety of the
system or lack Of interest in its preservation
intact; while throughout the North there are
hundreds Of thousands Of voters who hold TO
all the views upon the slavery question msin-
tanned by the most ultra ut the South II there
is danger in all this it arises from the sense of
their own increasing insecurity which aboli-
tionism has gradually forced upon the southern
popular mind .