The Council Bluffs nonpareil., 1860-09-15

eorpeft. :.
alton took place. Then were disclosed >
new public necessity, nex object and ne.
principle. A separation and removal OF
arissocratic cheeks and interests iron the
mechanism of our Republican institutions.
The needed reform did not fail, because
jefferson and George Clinton, with their as
sociases brssed all resistance, the Repnbii-
can party defended, aud the people sus-
| tanned them.
/ Again the departure did not occur In Is
/ u. Then was discovered a farther neces-
sisy. bringing into vieu farther object,
and introducing yet another new and noble
principle Of action The necessity, VIM
dication of national rights; the object. free
dom of intercourse with mankind the prin-
| ciple, the defense Of our homes and our
honor. The war Of 1872 was success
because Clay, Calhoun and Tompkins did
not shrink from the trial, and the Republic
can party approved and the people sustained
them.
In 1920. however, the nation had uncon-
sc ousiy reached and entered a new stage In
its successful career, namely that OF expan-
sion. BY purchases from France and Spain
ii had extended its borders. from the ST.
Mary's southwark around the peninsula OF
Florida, and from the Mississippi to the
Rocky Mountains, an expansion to be after
ward indefinitely continued. We all know
the advantages Of expansion. They are
augmented wealth and population. But we
all know equally we'll, if We will only reflect,
that no new advantage is ever gained in na-
tional more than in individual life, without
exposure to some new danger. What, then,
is the danger which attends expansion? IL
is nothing less, it can be nothing less than
an increase Of the strain upon the bonds OF
the Union. The time had come to organize
government finally in the newly acquired
territory of Louisiana, on principles that
should be applied thereafter in all cases OF
further expansion. This necessity brought
into slaring light a new object, namely,
since the only existing cause of mutual alien
alton among the States was slavery, which
was already carefully circumseFibed BY the
ordinav Q, of 1887, tha, anomalous inssitu-
ton must now be further circumscribed by
extending the ordinance 10 cover the new
States TO be established in the Louisiana
purchase. To this end 4 new and humane
iapuise naturally moved the country, name
IL. the freedom of human labor.
Bat eithough Statesmen qualified for the
crisis arpea.ed, no party stood forth to
support them with constanes, ana the
country, after Il temporary glow et Tree
soil excitement, subsiied iGto cold int.'iter-
ence-and so n compromise was made when
divided the newly acquired domain between
free labor and capital in slaves, between
freedom and slavery, memorable COM
promise. which. after trial of only thirty
four years, proved to be effective only IN its
concessions to slavery. while its greater
guarantees of freedom were found unavail-
ing and worthless. History says that the
compromise Of 1920 was necessary to save
the Union from disruption. do not dis
pute history, nor debate the settled moral
questions of the past. ! only lament it was
necessary if indeed 1t was so. History tells
that the course then adopted was wise. |
do not confrovert it. | only mourn the oc
eprTence Of even one case, most certainly
the only one that ever did happen, in which
the way of wisdom has failed to be also the
way Of plensantness, and the path Of peace.
Ii was in 1920, therefore, that tho national
deviation began. We have continued ever
since. the divergent course so inconsst emily
entered, until at last we have reached n
point, where, amid confusion, bewilderment
and mutual rccrimina,ions, il seems alike
impossible to go forward or to return. We
have added territory after territory, and re-
gion after region with the customary bold
ness of feeb'y resisted conquerors, not
merely ncgleetlug 10 keep slavery out of our
new pos, ssions. but actually removing all
the barriers against it which we found stand
ing at the time of conquest. In doing this
We have dehed the moral opinions Of man
kind, overturned the laws and systems of
our fathers. and dishonored their memories
by declaring that the uneqnalled and glori.
Gus Constitution which they gave Us. carries
with il, ns it attends our eagles. not free
dom and personal rights to the oppressed,
but slavery and a hateful and balefui com
merce in slaves. wherever we win conquest
hv sea or land over the whole habitable
globe.
While we must now, in Difference to his
tory. excuse the first divergence. it is man,
fest that our subsequent persistence in the
same course has been entirely unnecessary
and unius;ifnble. New Brunswick. Nova
Scotia and Canada, what remains Of Mexico.
all the West Indies and Central America.
are doubtless very desirable. but we have
patiently waited for them, and are now likely
to wait until they can be acquired without
receiving slavery with them, or extending
it over them. Nay, all the resistance We
have ever IN t in adding Spa ish American
territories to our Republic, has resulted
from our wilful and perverse purpose Of
snhvastins fraad",n there. to blight the fair
est portion Of the earth, when we found il
free. by extending over it our only
national agency Of desolation. We
NAV doubtless persist still further. We
a a ~ n f1- ct
ance II our ambition daily grows more and
more impossible, nDtil we suypass in extent
and apparent strength, the greatest empires
Of aneicnt or modern times, all the while
charging the area Of African bondage
but after ctr already ample experience.
think DO enc will be bold enough to DENY
that we equally Increase the evils Of dscon-
teut and the dangers Of domestic faction.
WHO Is RESPONSIBLE?
Fellow citizens, while lagngnt the ma.
ttauai divergence have thus described.
DO not confess it to BE- altogether iaexcns-
able. Much less do blame any one or
more of our politicians OF parties. while ex-
empting others. All are. IN different de-
gFces. perhaps, responsible alike, and all
have abundant, If not altogether adequate,
excuses. Deviation once begun without
realizing the immediate presence # danger,
il was easfrr to continue ou than 10 return.
T The country has all the time been growing
Ticheraui more prosperous and popaI0us.
/ II was not unnatural that we should GIsre.
! gard warnings OF what we were assured hy
+ high though interested authorities, ALWAYS
were distant, improbable and even VISION
| ary dangers. Ii cannot be denied that the
| African races among u. are ahject, although
/ their condition, and even their presence
/ here, arc due not TO their will or fauit. but
| to our own, and that they have direc, in
terts, l. the question of slavery. How
natural has il been to assume that the no.
| tive Of those who haze protested against the
extension of slavery, was an unnatural SYM
| patty with the negro, instead Of what il
/ really has been, c ncern for the welfare Of
/ the white man. There are few, indeed, who
I, ever realized that the whole human race
suffers somew bat IN the Affections ard caI-
| amities which befal the humbest and most
dcspised of IL members.