The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1860-01-28

rithQore scruDaioxH faifleeG N4f Eve sdtl =
Semi h and such u sit til n r1 toy y coun-
4els the RepdbEc, the ts&pody and <isputed
aDow Of Congsess OR IL rub % car q fail 70
DE cfprted in some n1nncr Satis ctOry n Oppos-
ing dAilnants. 1sst - long o. p1stics, on one
side Or the cther seek BY every means 10 assert
extreme claims, irrespective of equally cxtrcmc
claims in others; nothing remains but TO fight
the queafien gut in each TERRITORY, or, what Is
worse, 81 h,ht u out over tie ruins Of the Re-
public, Or, what u worst Of nh, break mp the
Union and fight II out afterwards As d South.
man, Ideplored, and atill dcpiofe, the repeal
Of the Missouri compromise, - great political
error, prc-cininently injurious TO the South. As
an American citizen dcplorc the fcarfully UNI
due Importance which the control BY Congress
over slavery in tho territories has been made to
assume in our national politics. AA
1t must he borne in mind that the present as
pcct Of parties in this country il very far from
revealing the real state DC public opinion upon
any new and exciting question which may sud-
denly arise. We have seen two great national
partics--thc old Wing and tho American--com-
plely disorganizcd within few years. The
enormous mass Of voters who acted with ono or
other Of those parties--and the greater part Of
whom are now acting with tho Republican or
the Democratic party--arc far from being COM
predicted with certainty what course they will
take ii matters come 10 the worst Moreover
there are very few States in the Union, in which
there il such unity Of sentiment, ~ to ensure
even decided and constan. majority upon either
side Of the most important political questions;
and nothing il more common in mary OF the
States than sudden and great revolutions in
opinion. Even with perfect certainty that cv-
cry slave State will resist with arms any inter
ference with its security as connected with Its
slaves; these are topics connected with the time
and manner Of that resistance which might easily
terminate very fatally, and topics connected with
slavery itself fthc slave trade for example) on
which the most determined difference Of opinion
has manifested ITSELF While s,ch considerations
ought 70 warn the most upright and sagacious
public men of the great danger they are in Of
being deceived by party clamor, and ought to
ferrify suchas are INSCRIPTIONS; they teach us
that, after all, the heart Of the nation may be
sound, and that it only needs to be convinced
gifts peril, that it may by one mighty outburst
of patriotic enthusiasm, crush every party that
has trihcl with its convictions, and overwhelin
every public man that has betrayed it.
Concerning the political relations Of slavery
under the Federal Constitution, and the rights
and duties Of the Slave States in the Union, it
is perfectly immaterisl whether the Institution
Of negro slavery, as il exists in this country, il
good or bad; and all Congressional discussion
On that point il prevalent az il i ordinarily
empty. We live under written Constitution,
and have, for more than seventy years, been ex-
ponn,ling it. commenting upon it, and applying it
constantly to the business Of life. There may
be topics, and they not unmportant, upon which
one generation has differed from another, one
party from another, one class Of statesmen,
judges, and lawyers from another, as to the true
sense of the Constitution, and the true weight
to which Interpretation oft are cntitleal, wheth
er those interpretations are made by one other
Departments Of the Governments Nodoubt, Of
late years, the tendency Of opinion has been to
attribute far more sacredness, to judicial inter-
than the founders of the Republic al
lowed; and therefore We witness such fierce de-
bates as 20 the true sense of the bred Scott de-
cision. With all possible yeneration for the
Federal Constitution, We are not 10 forget that
it was made for Us, and not We for it ; and, with
all loyalty both towards the national and our
State Governments, let US remember that the
highest of all loyalty il to society ITSELF which is
above every form It can possibly put on. Under
all forms of society, the all-preyading questions
are political questions; questions which never
can be permanently settled in free governments,
except through representative bodies, and then
in accordance with the public conscience. Tie
question Of slavery a. 1t relates to the nation,
falls under these general considerations IN Il re-
manner. Thus, iii the first place, slay-
cry was almost universal, and the slave States
the immense majority, at the formation ON the
Federal Constitution; now the slave State are
in the minority, their whole population is mi
nority, both of States and people Il steadily be-
becoming relatively weaker In the second place
there has occurred prodigious change IN the
value of slaves and Of the prodact Of their labor,
az well as in the state of public opinion Of the
subject of slavery itself At the formation Of
the Federal Consultation, there was no particular
zeal for its extension and its perpctuity in any
section. But az present, the great majority in
most Of the slave States, zeal9usly desire both
tho extension and perpetuity of slavery, and the
almost unanimous population of them all regard
il rs 50 completely involved in tho very fabric
of society, that no intercourse with it from with
out can be endured; while the great mass OF The
people of the North consider the institution pos
lively evil, and an immense party amongst them
i organized on the conviction that the interests
II the free States and OF the white race are icap
,rded by the claims of the slave States, and
heir alleged control Of the Federal Government |
q the interests Of slaverythe repression il not
ne total extinction of which is what the South /
Understands them rs seeking. Now, looking at |
he matter in this light and rejecting all pretexts
ne solitary condition which can satisfy the /
Worth, Is that the South should claim nothing
iader the Constitution, which the Constitution |
airiv interpreted. did not always secure 10 her.
Ind the solitary condition which can satisfy the
tai necessities OF every slave State il. that the
shall be 80 interpreted, and the gov
fnnent 80 administered, that il shall enjoy the
anne peace, security and equality ofrights il the
mon, which it would enjoy were it n free State
hat seems to me clear at present is that no
nf fh.ea f tlsa
ct occurred as TO Justify either party in proceed
AZ to such extrcmities as would be Unsuitable II
had occurred. And IL is equally clear that
ne apprchensions OF an impending violation OF
nc rights 81 either party, cannot justify any ir-
eguiar, much less any extreme proceedings, any
irther than may be necessary and effectual to
revent that impending violation. Moreover
ne highest and most enduring interests OF nil pa
es eonspire with their sacred obligations, bind
x them 70 act with mutual justice, good faith,
M forbaarance. But suppose the dominant psrty
' the NORTH 70 have already violated beyond en-
urance the solitary coalition with which the
iiety Of the South allows her to be satisfied:
ven then, it is the furthest possible from being
'stc that the secession OF a portion of the slave
sates, or the disruption of the Union OH the
ave line, y Necessary, a wise, or even an al
'wable alternative. 1t is true the States ara
,vereisn States. But il il also true that the
ation--the American peoples people. Great
atoms cannot suddenly disappear, like cloud
insects; nor DO powerful nationalities fade N
day, Ike the flower Of the grass. 1t took the
oman Empire thousand years to die; and the
ebrew nationality has survived through all the
assibles ortune OIL four thousand wears. s
70 reRd nation in twain i far more terri
e procedure than for nation 10 recover ITSELF
an internal struggle. Nothing can be more
'Ftain, than that slavery cannot lie perpet,,sted
this contincntb by means of the ren.liny Of this
alton. With single nationality like ours. in
rnal struggles, no matter how often they NAV
cur, can never BIO greatly protracted, and can
ever fatally arrest the progress Of society, But
precisely such a case as ours, the permanent
nding OF the nation is catastrophe--thc pro. |
'ess OF which promises nothing 50 assurcdly al
ie mutual dissolution OF both the parts. and
e end OF which can produce nothing more Ger
iny than the total defeat of the ayowed object
Us pefpetratioa. The firm determination ofl
.ery portion OF The Union ID maintain it, rishtsl
thin the onion, under every extremity woull
,on put an end to all necessity for any portion
u 70 elect between terrible means Of deinr.I
y y is the holding In reserve or tilt. idea M
Ilatnw tina Natton IL Il IL. -