The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1860-02-16

people of the whole country have ex-
pressed their belief that STEPHEN A.
DOUGLAS proffered the repeal of the Mis-
souri, Compromise for the purpose of Sc
curing Southern support at the Cincin-
natl Convention, and we confess our full
belief that the slave code for the States,
which he has the present session advoca-
ted, was intended for no other purpose
than to make his peace with the oligar-
chy, whom he has offended L seems
to us, that the whole tenor of his political
acts justifes the Republican party, and
many democrats, in their charge of such
an intent.
But our neighbor, very inconsistency,
finds fault with us for charging upon Mr..
DOUGLAS the difficulties which resulted
from the repeal of the Missouri Compro
mise, and which have had their sequel
in the Harper's Ferry raid. He says:
4" If man dashes himself to pieces over a
precipice, is God to be called murderer for es-
tablishing the law of gravity Are lawmakers
to be held responsible for the suffering of those
who, for disobedience, become the objects of
the laws penalties Our only serious answer
to such an argument, is, to ask of those who
employ it, to consider its logical consequences.
By such an argument, God could be proved the
greatest monsteri in creation-the author Of all
crime and misery
Very true, Mr.. HEDGES, and yet in
the face of this, you and your party have
been constantly bringing such argu-
merts and such logic to bear upon Re-
publicanism. Even our assertion as to
Mr.. DOUGLASS responsibility for the diff
ficulties of which he complains, was call
ed forth by his charge that Republicans
were responsible for JOHN BRowN's raid.
But what was his proof? Did he charge
that any Republican had advised such
acts Did he charge any active compile
ity of the party with BRowN? By no
means. He charged the responsibility
because Republicans are Anti-slavery
in sentiment-because they uphold Anti
slavery principles. They have done this
in no strange or unconstitutional manner
they, in fact, only reiterate the doc
trines of the trainers of the Constitution.
And yet while legitimately, peaceably,
constitutionally advocating such princi-
Piles, they are to be charged with all the
violence which haters of slavery may
commit. Why not hold WASHINGTON
and JEFFERSON and MADISON equally re-
sponsible Why not charge FRANKL1N
and HENRY and PAINE, and those other
noble defenders of popular rights and
republican government with the blood of
the French Revolution of '9S? Why
not, as you say, Mr.. HEDGES, as justly
charge God with murder for establishing
the law Of gravity, because it permits
mans destruction Why is not this as
reasonable as for STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS,
for the Democratic party, for you, to
charge Republicans with JOHN BRowN's
acts because they persistently inculcate
the truths Of the Declaration of indie
pendence, and the principles of liberty :?
Your argument condemns your leader,
your party, and yourself.
But to our mind, your argument does
not affect the position we took two weeks
since. 1t seems to us that the excite
ment, the ill-feelings, the war and the
bloodshed that the country has seen dur
ing the past six years, can be SO plainly
traced to the repeal of the Missouri
Compromise = and the motive which
prompted STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS to take
that unnecessary step, and to consum-
mate that uncalled-for act, was SO clearly
political and selfish one-that no
one can candidly assume that our posi-
ton was unwarranted or unjust. We be-
lieve that the candid judgment of the
great mass of the people of the country
WAS az Tue liIllc, anu Is now, tudl tIle re-
peal of the Missouri compact was con-
summarized by Mr.. DOUGLAS, in the inter
est of his great ambition, and that that
act was wrong. and has proved the Pan
dora's box, from whence has come all
the difficulties so affecting us. We mi ght
quote columns of testimony to this effect,
as we'll from the South as from the North
We think the motive is apparent, and SC
far as acts can prove a motive, the sell
fshness which prompted Mr.. DOUGLAS
has been proven. We do not grant, then,
that while acknowledging the above quo
ted argument of the Civilian, that it re
fleets upon us in attributing, as we did,
to STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS, more than tc
any other man in the country, the diff
culties which that Senator, in his late
speech, with so much effrontery, charged
upon the Republican party.
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