Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1860-02-24


press, by fair rule Of Judgment, whe7
hey suppose that the demand and sup.
DIV regulate each other. They can scar.
eely be made to believe, upon ihe strong,
est assurance, that this Is not 50. But
old Brown found thai it was not. And
so viii every one who eanvasses closely.
There Is not one man in hundred. If
there be one in thousand, at the North.
who viii give any serious eountenanes
10 the foray at Harper's Ferry. And
there is not one in a hundred of the De.
structive abolitionists, who win pay one
cent TO carry forward any such enter
prise. There is most undeniable want
Of heart in the whole thing. Il is chiefly
political, and bruited about 10 increase the
capital for presdent-making, and Office.
seeking in general. There may be a
few simple men who believe in this ridi-
culous clamor. It is barely possible
Brown and his party may be Of this
number! But shall they therefore be
held insane, and irresponsible for treason
and murder? All sober and conscien-
tious men cannot fail TO perceive at once
/ the absurdity of such conclusion
Brown himself was too sincere, and too
proud, to ask for any such construction
in his favor. This might possibly be re-
garded as one Of his decisions, If any
well-defned decisions were shown to
exist in his mind. But this is clearly
not the fact.
/" At the North, too, all who regret the
existence of slavery in the country-and
it is rot to be disguished that the num-
Der probably exceeds a moiety Of the
Northern, or Free tate population-all
such persons, with few exceptions Of such
as may have been at the South long
enough to observe something Of the con-
dition Of slaves there in regard TO physi-
cal comfort, came naturally enough to
the conclusion, that there is great want
of moral and religious culture among
them as a class. And there is naturally
enough associated with this belief and
expectation that their social condition
would probably be very much improved,
at once, by becoming free. And after
having arrived at this conclusion, it Is
natural enough to adopt what seems but
q necessary corrollary, that the slaves
will hail with delight the first offer of
freedom.
But Brown confessed to a sad dis
appointment in this particular, and We
think any one who had fairly Instituted
comparison between the black popula-
ton in the Free States and the slaves.
with reference to physical comfort and
social advantages would come to the
inevitable conclusion, that it was impossi-
BILE not to give the preference to slavcs.
The advantages Of the blacks in the
cities and towns al the Sonth may, no
doubt, be very considerable over those
upon the plantations, and in the more ru-
raj districts. And the comparison Is
more naturally made between the slaves
in the towns and cities, The free blacks at
the North, than between the whole slave
population, and the free blacks at the
; North; because those who make this
comparison at the North more commonly
, obtain their knowledge Of the condition
f of slaves from staying for longer or short.
er periods in the Southern towns and
cities.
E But after making all proper allow.
ances upon this score, it will be impossi.
i bic for any fairminded man, who has ex
amined tAe subject fairly, to convince
e himself that the slaves could for many
generations, if ever, be SO well provided
: for, or SO happy in state Of freedom, Al
a they now are. This results necessarily
n from the superior capacity Of the whites
;, and the fact that, in the present relation
e Of society at the South, the black receives
more than an equivalent for his labor, II
= the wisdom, forecast, and calculations 0
g his white owner. Il may not seem so t
d Northern man, and especially if b.
8. has simbibed the slang cant Of the da,
e to any great extent. But il is, in fact
just as certain, and just as obvious, as i
70 is that children obtain more than al
> equivalent for their labor in. protection
,e of their parents, or that the operatives il
It u cotton mill, are really more benefte
in than injured BY being employed at sue
ID prices only as give them comlortabl
le subsistence, and al the same time max
a. their employers wealthy. just as If
Y man must be better off than his employ
le er, in order to be benefited by the en-