The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1859-12-24

] Improvement Of The condition Of the All
- 1soe, andas Rsesideat Of thnt socie,
- presented to tho very frst ConRre
that met under the Constitution which
had helped to frame, memorial upe
this subject, in which after speaking
- psissiples Of liberty and humanit,
u thus Expresses himself:
ssUndef 2hese impressions. they earnes
} " entreat your serious attention 70 q
: subject of slaFery that You will be plea
ed to countonence the restoration Of libel
ty to those unIl1 pen, who, alone !
this land 81 ffaedo pro degraded int
hopeless kond 81 who amidst tn
Genera ioy - founding freemen, ar
eroanipc ID servile subjection,-that yo
yin a5tise means for removing this in
con6istency from the character of th
Il American people,-that you will promot
mercy and Justice towards this distresse,
race, and that you will step to the YER
verge Of tho power vested in you for dis
coursging every-species Of traffic in tn
persons Of our fellow men,"
These were the cherished sentiments o
these great men. And it is to cast tn
foulest opprobrium upon their names, h
charge them with having framed an,
signed Constitution in gross contraven
ton of them.
How comes it then, you ask, that in tn,
lapse of seventy years since those men So
in solemn council in the city Of Pbiladel
phia, aud made their plans ITO secure tn
blessings of liberty" to their country, tn,
dominions of slavery have been extended
it's power strengthened, and the numhel
of slaves increased from less than sever
hundred thousand to more than four mil
lions The common answer to this ques
ton is doubtless the true one. The i'm
mense proftableness of slave labor is the
explanation Of this anomaly. Our gifted
countryman, who has the past week badt
adieu forevermore to Sunnyside, and who
will no more charm and instruct us with
contributions to our literature, many year,
ago portrayed, with admirable keenness,
the national character when he described
our idol as "the almighty dollar" Be.
fore this idol, alas, how many knees are
bent that never bowed to Him who stitch
in the heavens, and out of how many
hearts have all sentiments Of Justice, liber.
ty, humanity, and piety, clean gone for
ever! The labor of slave costs his food
and clothing, and these of the cheapest
kind. No architect, no carpenter is to be
paid for rearing his humble cabin, nor the
cabinet maker for its furniture. The
chef expense for your children Is for their
education, but this is unknown to the
owners of slaves. Laws are enacted to
save it. There are penalties for teaching
children to read. Authors, publishers,
printers, and booksellers have there no
occupation. Those great interests which
exact SO largely of us receive no profit
from them. To cheaper the cost of pro
duction, and leave the largest possible
margin for profit, is the first lesson in the
political economy of slavery. 1t pays not
even a marriage fee, or a marriage license.
The annual earnings of the slaves, at
low estimate, are probably not less than
five hundred millions dollars. Cotton to
the value of more than hundred millions
is annually exported to Europe. One
hundred thousand cotton plantations are
cultivated by slaves. There are planters
in South Carolina who are owners of more
than thousand slaves. Children are
raised in Virginia, and without SO much
as the expenditure of dime for primer,
are sold for two, three, four, five and six
hundred dollars. The last census report
ed one hundred and forty-six thousand,
five hundred and fourteen such children
in Virginia, under ten years of age, more
than half of them girls. The yearly crop
of human beings raised by the State OF
Virginia is valued at ten million dollars.
Here is the horrible explanation of this
horrible anarchy. 1t is question Of dol
lars and cents, in one word, of property,
of productive, valuable property. Behind
this bulwark, churches, ecclesiastical
bodies, benevolent societies, the President
Of the United States, the Supreme Court,
and every politician and penny "a liner in
the interest of the slave power, have taken
shelter, as if by the throne of God. The
alleged rights of property,-of vested |
held to be more than a
for the rights of man, and |
the eternal laws Of God. "No other
right of property" says Justice of the
Supreme Court of the United States, sis
placed by the Constitution upon the same
nigh ground, nor shielded by similar
yuaranty."s
We are thus brought to notice those re-
'ent events which have made these things
ealities to us, and which have startled
he nation and the world, and in view of
which it becomes us to inquire for our
wn lessons Of duty.
First, Was the Fugitive Slave law, in
500, the enactment of which with all it's
humanity and wickedness, and the en-
orcement of it in number of cases, en-
outraged the slave power to further ag-
In 1854 came the repeal of the prohi
ltlon OF slavery in all the territory of the
United States east Of the Rocky mountains {
nd north of $50 so of north latitude, for
he purpose of extending slavery. "a
In December, 1856, came the opinion
Fthe Supreme Court of the United States, ( i
nat the whole action of the government I
ON the Presidency of General Washing t
n to that of Mr.. Polk, prohibiting slave
in various territories, was unconstitu- o
onal and void. =
Nor had the country recovered from a
c shock given by this astounding decis- v
n, before slaves fresh from the coast of I
frica were landed upon our shores, and e
Id in the slave markets d
And now in this year of grace, and on r.
'iday, the I'd day of December, man t.
III advanced in years, son of Revolu- '
mary sires, a protesting Christian from q
rly life and of uniformly good standing e
the church, with marked strength and
rnestness in his religious convictions, I,
IRE resembling the warriors and saints h
the Old Testament than the humble ci
lfessors and martyrs of the New, a b
omwellian Puritan, inspired with senti- Of
'nts of honor, justice and humanity, OF
osa mind had hroodad on ,nap1, ,roas II