The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1860-03-29
TERMS. ..sl25 PER AMNUnI.

United States. And 50 the Compromise
cf 1850 was pronounced a fnll, final, ab-
solute, and comprehensive settlement Of
all existing and all possible disputes cen
eerning Slavery under the Federal an.
thority The two great parties, fearful
for the Union, struck hands in making
aud presenting this. as an adjustment,
never afterward to be opened, disturbed,
or even questioned, aud the people nc.
eepted ii by majorities unknowu before.
The new President, chosen over an illus
trious rival, unequiyocal.y on the gronnd
of greater ability, even if not uere reiia-
bic purpose to maintain the new treaty
inviolate, made haste to justify this ex-
pectatiou when Congress assembled lie
said:
When the grave sh,.ll have closed nTer AL
who are now enaeayoring 10 meet the obliga-
tions Of duty, the year 1850 viii be required
Ito rs period flied with anxiety and apprc-
hcnsion A successful war has Just terD,inA-
ted peace brought with it q great aagmenta-
tion of territory Disturbing questions arosa
bearing upon the domestic institutions Of
portion Of the Con ederaey, ana inYolriny the
withstandinr differences Of opinion and sSu-
timent. in relation to details ard specific pro-
visions, the acauiescence OF distinguished cit
liens, whose devotion TO the Union can never
be doubted, has given renewed vigor to oar
institutions. and restored sense Of security
and rcpose 10 the public mind throughout the
Confederacy. That this repuSe is 10 suiier no
shock during my Official term, If hare .hs
power 10 avert t. those who placed mo hers
may be assured"
Hardly, however, had these inspiring
sounds died awav, throughout re;issurcd
and delighted land, before the national
repose was shocked aggia-shocked, IT,
deed, as it had never before been, aud
smitten this tia.e BY blow from the very
I hand that had just released the chords OF
/ The national harp from their uttcranee Of
THAT exalted symphony Of peace. Kansas
and Nebraska, the long devoted reServa-
tion Of labor aud Freedom, saved in the
agony Of natioaa! fear in 1929, and saved
again in the panic Of 1850, were now to
/ be opened by Congress, that the never
ending course Of seed time and harvest
might begin. Tie slave capitalists Of
! Missouri, from their own weIlassure2
homes on the eastern banks Of their noble
/ river, luoked down upon and coveted tho
fertile prairjes of Kansas; while sudden
terror ran through ali the capital States,
when they saw a seeming certainty that
at last Z new Labor State would be built
on their western border inevitably fraught,
as they said, with near or remote Hba.i.
| iion of Slavery.
/ What could be done? Congress could
hardly be expected to intervene directly
! for their safety SO soon after the COM
promise OF 1850. The labor hive of the
Free States was distant, the way new, IN
kuowo, and not without perils. Missouri
was near and watchlul, and held the keys
of tire gates Of Kansas She might seize
the new and sailing Territory by sur
prise, if Only Congress would remove the
barrier established in 1920 The con.
icc; re gas favorable. Clay ard Web
stcr, the distinguished citizens whose un.
questionable devotion to the Union was
manifested by their acquicscence in the
compromise Of 1850, had gone down al
ready into their honored graves. The la,
Dor States had dismissed many Of their
representatives horc for TOO great fidelity
to freedom, aud too great distrust OK ths
efficacy Of that new bond of peace, and
had replaced them with partzans who
were only timid, but not unwilling
The Democratic President and Con,
gress hesitated, but not long. They re-
yised the last great compromise, and found,
with delighted surprise that it was so far
from cJnfruling the law Of freedom of
1920 that. on the other hand, it exactly
provided .or the ahrogation of that sener-
ated statue, nav, that the compromise
itself ac uaIl5 killed the spirit Of the Mia
souri, law, aud deyoived on Congress the
duty of removing the lifeless letter from
the national code. The deed vas done.
The new enactment bot only repealed the
Missouri prohibition of slavery, Uut il pro.
nounced the people Of Kansas and Ne.
braska perfectly free to establish freedom
or slavery, and pledged Congress to ad.
NIT them in due time as States, either of
capital or of labor, into the Union The
misrepresentation of The capital States,
in an hour of strange bewilderment, con-
CURED; and the Wing party instantly
went down, never to rise again. Demo-
Gratis seeded, and stood aloof; the couu-
try was confounded F; and, amid the per-
plexitics OF the hour, Republican party
was seen gathering itself together with
much easnestness, but with little show Of
organization, TO rescue, ii II were not now
too late, the cause of Freedom and Labor,
50 unexpectedly and grievously imperiIled
in the Territories of the United States.
I will M. linrnr n,a,. thn snnnnl ThnL