St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1860-12-20

Ispeak as 4 lifelong conservative man
when I ny that We Of the North have con-
ceded and compromised until the bulwarks
Of our liberty and we'll nigh undermined
and this the fairest superstruoture Of
Mans ingenuity and patriotism, has be-
come exposed to ruin and desolation. We
say no moro compromises, unless they shall
fully repair this breach, aud guarantee the
perpetuity of our institutions upon the ba.
sis of FREEDOM, as adopted and recognised
by Washington, Jefferson, aud the Fathers
Of the Republic. -.-- ''- ',->.
SECESSION PrAcEABLY' on OTHERWISE.
Our Constitution is infinitely more than
= compact, aud State cannot withdraw
from the confederacy at pleasure. I ap-
prehend that the Constitution can be 80
amended by convention and subsequent
vote by all the States, as to permit one or
or number Of the members Of the Union
to dissolve the ties which bind us tocgth.
or. Whether this can be accomplished
without war must greatly depend upon the
spirits Of the seeding States. 10 separate
in constitutional way will require con-
vention, time, patience, prudence, and
meanwhile due obedience to the 'tpowers
that be-" and the laws Of the land and it
is greatly to be feared that those who flip
PANTY talk of immediate secession, will
Blind " rush upon their own destruction,
and involve the country in difficulties by
interfering with the due execution of the
laws. If we were to recognize the right
of State to withdraw at pleasure, OHIO,
extending as she may DO in short time
from the Eastern to the Western borderof
the Northern confederacy, might for some
slight and insufficient cause dissolve the
Union. In such an event, the Union
without any velition of its rulers or people
would be cut in! twain, and I could not Wis
it the graves Of my ancestors but by per-
mission of q Government to which was a
stranger. The position is perfectly un-
tenable and preposterous. 80"
We believe that the conservative South
ern States can still the storm if they will.
That they can by appeals to the patriotic
impulses Of the land, crush the traitors
and agitators together with the foul spirit
of instruction which they heve raised
And that if they fail in the discharge Of
this duty, they will give such evidence of
sympathy with aggression and wrong, as
leaves to the North but single remedy.
We cannot become parties to a compro-
mise which would disgrace US in the eyes
of the civilized world and ourselves. We
will not hold by coercion people whose
love of constitutional liberty and the Union
have become historical. What then re-
mains? would kindly say to the border
slave States that if separation is inevita-
bic, the disaster is attributable to slavery
alone, and that in order to the permanent
establishment Of domestic peace we must
be rid of the Institution, and that if any
of the Slave States wish to remain with
the Northern Confederacy, they must at
least place this fruitful source of strife in
the way of extinction. And this clause
I would insert in any Constitutional
amendment which mis- ht be passed by the
Convention and submitted to the people
I believe that Missouri and Delaware
would Immediately adopt the general Eman-
cipation Act, which relieved Pennsylvania
and many of the older States from the in
cubus Of Slavery, and that at short inter
walls these would be followed by Maryland,
Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkan-
sas, Virginia, &c., &c. Nor could the
Southern coDfedcrscy complain of this, as
the statesmen of that section fully recog-
nize the right Of single States to secede
upon compliance with the above terms
1t would be our duty to admit them.
Any such amendment must of course
provide for the free and uninterrupted nav
igation Of the Mississippi, Chesapeake
Bay, &c., and the question Of Boundary,
division Of Government property, border
police, national Indebtedness, &C., would
have to be regulated by specially appoin-
ted commission.
TIE EFFECT UPON THE NORTH AND
SOUTH.
First, A fearful commercial crisis, in
which all would be sufferers, and the
South utterly Frustrated.
Second, You and I should witness
with indescribable regret tho erasure of
half score Of cherished stars from the
banner Of our confederacy and should no
longer be recognized as American citizens
in that full and comprehensive meaning Of
the term, which has heretofore challenged
the admiration of the civilized world.
Third, We should be in constant dan
ger of border warfare with the Southern
confederacy. which might terminate in a
general conflict. But having voluntarily
If not violently seeded, and organized a
separate and Independent government, we
should then "hold them as we did the rest
of mankind, enemies in war, in peace