St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1860-01-26

cation OF these doctrines, acting upon
the minds of men maddcncd by the
recollection of wrongs inflicted upon
them in Kansas, because their love of
freedom should lead them to the con
clusion that they should do and dare
as much at home for liberty as those
who had approved them were doing
abroad for slavery? 1t seems to me
most natural, and while deeply de-
plorc and most unqualifiedly condemn,
| cannot wonder at the recent untor-
tunate and bloody occurrence at ilar-
per's Ferry. But while we may not
wonder at VIC must condemn it. 1t
was an act of war against brethren,
and in that q greater crime than the
invaders of Cuba or Nicaragua were
guilty of-relieved to some extent of
its guilt, in the minds of many, of the
fact that the blow was struck for free
dom, and not for slavery. Still it was
a wrong, and as such the deliberate
public opinion of the North as well as
of the South condemns it.
In my opinion, much misapprehen-
sion exists on this subject among our
Southern brethren, and this misappre-
hension renders proper the present al
lusions to it. The mass of them rely
ing upon the statements of the lead
ing men of the South who should know
better, and of prominent men in the
North who do know better, but falsify
for purpose, believed that the SYM
pathy expressed by many of our North
crn men for the leader of that invasion
covers and contains our approval of
his act. This is great and may be-
come dangerous error. While the
great mass of our northern. people ut
terly condemn the act Of John Brown,
they feel and they express admiration
and sympathy for the disinterested
ness Of purpose by which they believe
he was governed and for the unfiinch
; ing courage and calm chccrfulness
with which he met the consequences
of his failure. Many, very many Of
our northern people felt deep sympa
thy for the gallant Crittenden who
died so bravely in Cuba, for an act
they strongly condemned, and the
tears of many of the best and bravest
of our revolutionary sires bedewed
the grave of Andre, who, by their own
judgment, died the death of a spy
his sentence approved by Washington
When passion has passed away and
calm reason resumes its place in the
minds of our Southern brethren they
will fully appreciate our feelings, and
then, if do not mistake them, while
with us they condemn yet pity John
Brown as a misguided but not base
minded men, they will also with us
detest and scorn those men in our
midst who now seek by distorting our
language and classifying our senti.
mcnts to use the passions and prcju'
diccs of our Southern brethren, as a
means to pave their own base way to
power and place.
| cannot concur in the opinion cx-
pressed by some persons that the con
stituted authorities of the States Of the
: Union have discharged their duty
when they looked to and cared for
, their own internal affairs, and that
: they travel out of their Legitimate
sphere when they in any manner con
Germ themselves with the affairs o
our General Government. The sew
cral States, as such, are the constitu
ents of one branch of the Nationa
Congress, and if it be true that the
constituent may and should concern
himself with what is done by his rep
resentatives, it must be true that eacl
State may and should concern herself
in the actions of that General Govern
mcnt, of which her representatives
are a part. If it be true that the
States of our Confcdcracy are inter
cstcd in the administration and pre-
scrvation of that compact, without
which they would be wholly independ-
cnt and rival, perhaps hostile sove-
reignties, instead of one great and
united nation, it must be true that
they may and should concern them
selves with the manner in which those
to whose hands that administration
and preservation are committed, dis
charged their trust.
The passage by Congress of the
measure commonly known as the
Homestead Bill, would, in my opinion,
be productive of much good prevent
ing in a great degree the acquisition
by spectators of large bodies of the
public lands to the injury of the actual
settlers, and by enabling many honest
and industrious poor men, who cannot
now do so, to enroll themselves in the
class of independent farmers, who
are the strength and support of our
country.
The Government price of quarter
section of land, may appear to many
small and insignificant sum, but the
many thousands of farmers of the
West, who have opened farms either
ain the woods or on the prairics "
can more justly appreciate the great
benefits derivable from that small
amount in their work of toll and pri-
walton. l respectfully recommend
that you memoralize Congress for the
passage of such law.
The building of a Railroad to the
Pacific Ocean, is a measure, which, in
my opinion, is demanded by the inter-
est of our whole country. In case of
war with any of the great maritime
powers, the States on the Pacific
would be peculiarly open to attack,
and our Government could afford them
the necessary aid for their defence,
only at great risk and enormous ex-
pcnse. Troops could not be sent to
their assistance through our country
except by the overland route, which
experience has shown to be, for AN ar
my, almost impracticable while if
sent by any other route, they might be
compelled to fight their way to the
States they are sent tv defend. 1t
seems to me to be a bad policy that
would compel us to depend upon other
nations for a right of way to our own
possessions, and our own homes,
when we can have such way within
our own limits. A great central
trunk route with branches at either
end to accommodate all parts of our
| cDIptry lpth unnn tha A flo fio n nd