St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1860-03-15

over the face Of the whole world is
there to be found one representative
OF our country who is not an apUlorist
Of the extension of Slavery. 1t is in
America that these things have hap
prncd. In the nineteenth century,
the era of the worlds greatest pro-
gIrss. and while all nations but our
selves have been either abridging or
altogether sup2rcssing commerce in
men at the very moment when the
Russian scrf is Cmancipatcd, and the
Georgian captive, the Nubian prisoner,
and the Abyssinian savage, are lifted
up to freedom by the successor of Mo-
manned. The world, prcpossesscd in
our behalf by our early devotion to
the rights Of human nature, as no ma.
ton ever before engaged its respect
and sympathies, asks, in wonder and
amazcment, what all this dcmoraliza-
ton means? 1t has an excuse better
than the world can imagine, better
than we are generally conscious OF
ourselves, virtuous excuse. We
have loved not freedom so much less,
but the Union of our country so much
more. We have been made to believe,
from time to time, that in crisis,
both of these precious institutions
could not be saved together, and there
fore we have, from time to time sur
rendered safeguards of freedom to
propitiate the loyalty of capital and
stay s hands 2m ae a siRts q 9Ss sas TO-
however, ought not to be q mystery
to ourselves. Prescience, indeed, is
not given to statesmen; but we are
without excuse when we fail to APP
prchcnd the logic of current events.
Let parties, or the Government, choose
or do what they may, the people of
the United States do not prefer the
wealth of the few to the liberty of the
many, capital to labor, African slaves
to white frcemen, in the national Ter
r;torics and in future States. That
question has never been distinctly
recognized or acted Oh by them. The
Republican party embodies the popu-
lar protest and reaction against pol
icy which has been fastened upon the
ration by surprise, and which its rea-
son and conscience, concurring with
the reason and conscience of mankind,
condemn. The choice of the nation is
now between the Democratic party
and the Republican party. Its princi-
pies and policy are, therefore, justly
and even necessarily examined l
know of only one policy which it has
adopted or avowcd, namely: the saw
ing of the Territories of the United
States, il possible, by constitutional
aud lawful means, from being homes
for Slavery and Polygamy. Who.
that considers where this nation ex-
lists, of what races it is composed, in
what age of the world it acts its part
On the public stage, and what are its
predominant institutions, customs,
habits and sentiments, doubts that
the Republican party can and will,
if unwavcringly faithful to that
policy, and just and loyal in all beside,
carry it into triumphal success! To
doubt is to be uncertain whether civ
iization can improve or Christianity
save mankind. lmay, perhaps, infer,
from the necessity of the case, that
it will, in all courts and places, stand
by the freedom of speech and of the
press, and the constitutional rights OF
treemen everywhere /; that it will ia,
vor the speedy Improvement of the
public domain by homestead laws,
and will encourage mining, manufac
lures, and internal commerce, will
necdful connections between the At
lantic and Pacific States-tor all these
arc important interests of Freedom
For all the rest, the national cmcrgcn-
cics, not individual influences, must
determine, as society goes on, the pol
icy, and character Of the Republican
party. Already bearing its part in
legislation and in treaties, it feels the
necessity of being practical in its care
Of the national health and life, while
it leaves metaphysical speculation to
those whose duty it is to cultivate the
cnnobling science of political philoso-
ply. But in the midst of these sub
jects, or, rather, before fully reaching
them, the Republican party encoun.
tcrs unexpectedly, a new and potcn-
tlal issue-one prior, and therefore
paramount to all others, one of nation
al life and death. just as if so much
lad not been already conceded nay,
just as if nothing at all had ever been
conceded, to the interest of capital in
vested in men, we hear menaces of
Disunion, louder, more distinct, more
emphatic than ever, with the condition
annexed, that they shall be executed
the moment that Republican Admin
istration, though constitutionally elect
cd, shall assume the Government. !
do not certainly know that the people
are prepared to call such an Admins.
tration to power. l know only, that
through succession of floods which
never greatly excite, and GIBBS which
never entirely discourage me, the vol
ume of Repub!icanism rises continual
ly higher and higher. They are prob,
ably wise, whose apprehcnsions ad-
monish them that it is already strong
enough for effect. Hitherto the Re-
publican party has been content with
one sel!-interrogatory-how many
votes it can cast? These threats Ell
force anothcr-has it determination
enough to cast them? This latter
question touches its spirit and pride.
! am quite sure, however, that, as it
has hitherto practiced self-dcnal' in so
many other forms, it will in this emcr-
Gcncy lay aside all impotence of tenn
per, together with all ambition, and
will consider these extraordinary de.
carnations seriously, and with a just
moderation. 1t would be a waste OF
words to demonstrate that they are
unconstitutional, and equally idle to
show that the responsibility for dis
union attempted or effected must rest
not with those who, in the the exer-
else of Constitutional authority, main
tain the Government. but with those
who unconsttutionally engage in the
mad work Of subvcrting it. What
are the excuses for these menaces !?
They resolve themselves into this,
that the Republican party in the