The national Republican., 1860-12-27

! Tor us, that there exist causes for the alleged
distress at the South, which lie far deeper thar
the tariff; causes inwrougbt into the very fabric
and texture of Southern society causes created
! by the natural course of events in q country
where large quantities of fresh, fertile, untitled
and cheap land are constantly in the market
We must say, too, that we do attribute not a
little Of the depression which South Carolina,
in particular, sustains, to the political excite
nlent which prevails there. Peaceful men do
not like to remain in land Of discord. Men
attached to the Union, and accustomed to re-
gard it as the fruitful source of blessing and
benefit, consecrated by time, and endeared by
the remembrance of common suffering, com.
mon toll, and common danger, are ready to re-.
move from land, even though it be the land
of their birth, where harsh and ungrateful
sounds of disunion perpetually invade their
ears.
The question now is, will South Carolina
nullity? will South Carolina stand up and say,
because the manufacturing States would not
abandon the protection of their vital interests !;
because, conceding much, they would not sur.
render ALI because they would offer no obla.
tion, SO precious as their very existence, in sac.
rlhce to new theory; because they believe
that the distress of my people is attributable in
great part to other causes than to the protec.
ton OF their industry, | WILL DISSOLVE THE
CNIoN!" Arnold once exclaimed, when irri.
tated by the acts of the Continental Congress,
L" / will pull down their temple of Liberty about
their ears!' Will South Carolina initiate his
ominous example?
We would hope for better things; but we
confess we greatly fear the worst. We believe
that it is high time that the mind of the public
should be prepared for serious attempt to
break up and destroy the Union. And we re.
gard notification as precisely the worst way in
which the attempt could be made as a way
more certainly leading to the issue of war
civil and servile war-than any other. The
issue OF the contest, none can doubt.
If our feeble voice might be heard in South
Carolina, we would, in the name of the people
OF the West, implore them to forbear. Laying
aside everything like taunt and bitterness, we
would entreat them to remember the DAYS of
old, when the people Of this great Confedcracy
were united as one man. Let them wait for the
future. Let them try the effect of the revised
tariff. Let them examine more carefully the
causes of their distress, if indeed they suffer.
And when they become thoroughly convinced
that their fathers and orr fathers erred in their
efforts to establish and consolidate the Union;
that those were vain efforts to change the
principles Of repulsion, which the very nature
Of things has planted between the North and
the South, into principles of attraction and CO.
hrsion when they are fully satisfied, BY the
clearest reasons and most certain facts, that
the great experiment has resulted in nothing
but ruin to the South, and unnatural prosperi.
ty to other sections-in the binding OF the liv.
ing to the dead-then let them cut asunder
the cord which binds them to their brethren
but, in the name of our fathers, and in the
name OF Heaven, not till then.
There is a view of this subject to which we
feel reluctant to advert but which deserves Sc.
rious attention. What course ought to be taken
in regard to South Carolina, should she raise
her hand against the Union Should she
pass a nullifying law, ought ovGernment to
yield everything without struggle, and with
draw its custom.house, its courts, and its off.
GERS, from her territory2 We think otherwise
State is no more at liberty to recede from a
contract, than an individual. If an individual
refuse to comply with the terms of his con.
tract, he must be compelled by force Under
our Constitution, the Supreme Court is appoint
ed the arbiter between the State and the Gen.
eral Government. But South Carolina rejects
the jurisdiction Of the Supreme Court She
claims to construe the Constitution for herself.
If she may, the other States may. If she find
there warrant for notification, the others
may find as ample warrant for nulifying her
notification. If she maintain her act BY force
the others may, nay, must subdue force by
force. For South Carolina cannot be permit.
ted to withdraw in peace. To permit it, would
be to break up the Union, not into two or three
contederacies, but into as many separate, indie.
pendent, hostile Governments, as there are
States. To permit it, would be treachery to
ourselves and to the world. To permit it,
would be to bequeath to our children an inner.
itance of intestine discords and civil wars, and
to extinguish the last and brightest hope of the
friends of freedom.
For us in the West, we are firmly attached
to the Union. Its broad shield sheltered our
infancy. Its wise policy quickened and pro.
tected our growth. Its noble institutions sus.
tain and advance the vigor of our maturer years.
Besides this, most of US are connected in blood
with the dweers on the other side of the noun
tains, and are thus bound to the Union by ties
OF affection, as well as by the bonds of interest.
In the language of one of our most gifted wri.
tcrs, Every link Of the golden, and, we hope,
perpetual chain Of the Union will be grasped
as hrmly by the citizens of the West as of the
Atlantic. We fater ourselves that we have had
uncommon chances to note the scale of the
Western thermometer, in this respect. We have
everywhere seen and felt spirit, which has
given us the assurance Of conviction, that the
PP''ai''y VI 'hat ueIhaSogue "ouiu be Diasteu,
and would wither forever, who should for a
moment manifest the remotest incipient wish
to touch the chain of this Union with an unhal.
lowed hand" "N Nhatever attempt
may be made to disafect, ALLEVIATE, or sever one
section of this great Union from the rest may
God avert the omen that attempt will not com.
mence with us. They may reproach us with
being rough, unframed, and backwoodsmen
but, as people, we are strong for the Union,
aud the whole Union. Every true son of the
West will join in the hottest aspirations, esto
pepet"a! May it last as long as the sun and
moon endured" C.
Fun is occasionally made about the not very
uncommon name of Smith. But, anciently,