Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1860-12-14
mr.. Rhetts IDdictnsent.

/ Though the interests of the Souther
/ States are at war with secession, vet wbe
men or communities act from present insan
ty or foregone purposes, the certainty tina
great evils will follow their footsteps is n
proof that they will not pursue. their chose
path Hence, the separation from the Unio
of two or three, or even half dozen, of th
Cotton States is possible event. Shout
the commotion below the Potomac culminat
in secession, to what cause or: causes will it b
attributed t.... e<-~< -
! Among the ablest and boldest leaders i
the contest that now convulses the Gulf State
is the Hon. .1BarnweIl Rhett of Charleston
He was one Of the most confding, as he wa
one of the most trusted, disciples of Mr.. Cal
houn- When he essays to discuss the them
of disarion, he does not merely fnine au,
fame like Keitt, Chestnut, and other sensa
| ton declaimers, but aims to give reasons, de
| duced from philosophy and history, for tn
faith and the purpose that inspire him. HI
has had large and varied experience in public
| affairs ). q gentleman of undoubted honor
and, though a decided partisan; all his word
and acts wear an air Of sincerity, and seem t.
spring. from conscientious convictions. Tht
pronounced Judgment of such man upon the
causes that Justify Southern secession, are
worthy of grave consideration. 7iis ,9zfss
In his recent speech at Columbia, before
the fudgnatess of South Carolina, which we
have already published at length. and made
The theme of some brief comments, Mr.
Rhett sums up the grievances which, in his
opinion, Justify the Southern States in with
drawing from the Union. His statement of al.
legged aggressions of the Free States upon
their slaveholding neighbors is terse but ex-
plict, having the precision and specification
of presentn,ent by a Grand. Jury, stripped
IF It's tc-hnicalities and rerbosity. We sub
join the list. Scan it, and sec how small a
space the election of Lincoln occupies in it
Nay, more, see how little the Nofth had TO
do in originating the measures complained of,
and how few have been the exclusive .privi-
leges resulting to her therefrom. 4f-
|. The first item in Mr.. Rhett's list of
grievances is the Alien and Sedition law of
John Adams. But this measure had no sec
tional aspect beyond the accidental circun,-
stance that the President was then North
ern man. At al events, it was erased from
the statue@book sixty years ago., and has no
bearing upon current events.
IL. The second item is the war of 1872
And this was Northern aggressson Why,
the war was deeiared by Madison, was forced
upon the country by Calhoun, Clay, Grundy,
Cheyes, and other Southern statesmen, and
WAS preemiuently Southern measure.
ILL., The Tariff Of 6, and the act encour-
aging American people shipping to do our
carrying trade Mr.. Rheft is forced to ad-
nit that Mr. Calhoun veted for both of these
laws.that the forllssr was not protective in
its character, but was passed in order to raise
money to pay the war dqbt-and that the lat
ter was intended simply to protect our ship
ping against ruinous European competition
II y Northern manufacturers and mariners de-
rived more benefit from them than Southern,
this arose not from their respective geograph-
ica positions, but because the one dwelt in
Free States and the other in Slave-a fact
which Mr.. Rhett wholly oTcTIooks. aie
w. The Tariffs of 1924 and 1928. These,
were moderately protective in their
character. And why did not the South take
ldvantage of them rs well as the North The
answer has already been given. Its system of
abor, and not its geographical locality, for
oade. But-the South finally overmastered the
North in this conflict, through the process of
Notification, which eliminated in the Com
promise of 1888, and broke down the tariff
policy of 1928. This account, adjusted twen-
y-seven years ago, ought not to be reopeDed
loWs. ~ ..-as.... sa z=va
V. Sustaining the right of petition in the
,NF -
;titutional right, belonging equally to the
South and the North. Maintaining it for the
common good, in a Constitutional mode, is
7ery poor reason for overtbFowing the Con
titution. Though in the case referred to by
Mr.. Rhett the Abolition era) it was excrcis-
ID by Northern citizens more frequently than
oy Southern, yet, as nothing whatever result
ID from it., this affords sorry excuse for dis
'olving the Union. E e'77s
VI. The Mexican war, with its consequent
acquisition Of territory, resulting in the ad-
mission Of California to the Union as Free
State. In presenting this as one of his main
grievances Mr.. Rhett seems strangely to
overlook the pregnant fact that this war was
Lhe legitimate irpit of the anterior annexa-
ion of the slaveholding State OF T'exas to the
Union, with the right to carve out of it Sc
les of other slaveholding States, and that in
organizing the territories purchased from
Mexico at the close of the war of 1846-48,
Congress left them open to competition be-
.ween slave and free labor, f Z
VII. Mr.. Rhett says the South has beea
kicked out, bullied out. and shot out of Kan
as" Though the South has done her full
hare Of the kicking, bullying, and shooting
n that territory, yet admitting RS allega- I
came the soSth within kicking,
bullying, and shooting distance of the North.
n that Territory? Was it not by the wan I
on violation Of compact, made by the South !
orty years ago by virtue of which, in con
ideratioB of Missouri being admitted to the
Union as slave State, Kansas and its sur
'oundings were dedicated to Freedom forev-
II? i
VII. Mr.. Rhett brings forward in the |
grievance, which towers above all the rest, |
nd impels the South to Secession, that the
North has continued to grow and prosper
lntil they have preponderance of States, a
majority in both branches of Congress, and |
the South are in d hopeless and powerless |
minority" True, o Rhett But, who is to
,iame for this? You have had the same op-
to grow that we have. Why, them |
AVE we expanded and prospered, while you
lave dwarfed and pined away? 1t is not,
Mr. Rhett, because we are Northern States !
md you are Southern but because we sFe |
Free States, and you are Slave. And SO, to
improve your comparative condition, You pro-
pose togo out of the Union, and take the
,urse along with youI ' o 7.."'
TX. And hese is the last eouDt in the in
ictment Mr.. Rhett says, "And now they
lave consummated their seherne of tyranny
~ elecling a Black Republican President to
ule you" He does not pretend that Mr..
lincoln is going to 'rule 10 sny other mode
han that prescribed by the Constitution. 1t