Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1861-05-10

e'o" '"'n as 'ehdors, from dlSquletlnS
title emanating from themselves.
AS soon, however, as the Northern
States that prohibited African slavery
within their limits had reached a number
sufficient to give their representative a
controlling voice in the Congress, persis-
tent and organized system of hostile meas
nres against the rights of the owners of
slaves in the Southern States was inau-
gurated, and gradually extended A con-
tinuous series Of measures WAS devised and
prosecuted for the purpose of rendering
insecure the tenure Of property in slaves
fanat'cal organizations, supplied with money
by voluntary subscriptions, were assidu-
"u>ly engaged in exciting amongst the
slaves spirit Of discomfort and revolt
means wrre furnished for their escape
from their overs, and agents secretly en-.
PloYed to entice them to abscond; the
constitutional provision for their rendition
10 their owners was first evadcd, then
openly denounced as violation of con-
scientious obligation and religious duty
men were taught it was a merit to elude,
dISobey and violently oppose the execution
Of the laws enacted to secure the perfor-
nance of the promise contained in the
constitutional comp act; owners of slaves
were mobted. ond even murdered in opep
day, solely for applying to magistrate for
the arrest of fugitive slave; the dog mas
of these voluntary organizations soon OBJ
tanned control of the legislatures of many
of the Northern States, and laws were
passed providing for the punishment by
rulnous fines and long continued imp,ison-
ment in Jaiis and penltrntiaries, Of citizens Of
t:e Southern States who should dare 10
ask aid of the officers Of the law for the
recovery of their property.
Emboldened by success, the ,l,reatre of
agitation and aggression against the clearly
expressed constitutional rights of the Sootl,-
ern States was transferred to the Congress:
Senators and Representatives were sent to
The Common Councils of the nation, whose
chief title to this distinction consisted in
the display of spirit of ultra fanaticism,
and whose business was, not "to promote
The general welfare or ensure domestic
tranquility" but to awaken the bilt.rest
hatred against the citizens of sister Statess
hy violent Remuneration of their institutions.
the tranaction of public affairs was imped-
ed by repeated efforts to usurp powers not
delegated by the Constitution, for the pur-
pose Of imparing the security of property
in slaves, and reducing those States which
held slaves to a condition OF inferiority.
Finally great party was organized for
the purpose of obtaining the administration
of using its power for the total exclusion
of the slave States from all participation in
the benefits Of the public domain, acquired
by all the States in common, whether by
conquest or purchase; or surrounding them
entirely ty states in which slavery should
be prohibited; Of thus rendering the prop
eriy in slaves so insecure as to be compar.
ativelo worthless, and thereby anpihiIatipg
in effect property worth thousands of mil
lions of dollars. fhis party. thus organized.
succeeded in the month of November last
in the election of it's candidate for tho
Presidenc: of the United States.
In the meantime, under the mild and
genial climate of the Southern States. and,
the increasing care and attention for the
well-being and comfort of the laboring
class, dictated alike by interest and human
ity, the African slaves had augmented in
number, from about 100000, at the date of
the adoption of the constitutional compact,
to upwards Of 100000. In moral and
social condition they have been elevated
from brutal savages into docile. intelligent
and civilized agricultural aborers. and sup
piled not only with bodily comforts, but
with careful religious instruction.
Ender the sapervisions Of a superior race,
their labor had been so directed as moi only
10 allow a gradual and marked amelioration
6f9ileir own condition, but to convert hun
dfeds Of THOUSANDS Of square miles Of the
wil1srness into cultivated lands, covered
with .prospsfous people; towns and cit.
les had sprung into existence, and had rap.
idly increased in wealth and population
under the social system Of the South the
white population Of the Southern slaves
holding States had augmented from about
100000 ut the date Of the adoption Of
the Constitution, to moro than s,5O0,oo0
in 1860, and the productions Of the South
| in cotton, rice, sugar and tobacco, for the
development and contiduapce Of which the
labor Of American slaves was, and is, in6is.
pensable, had swollen to an amount which
formed nearly three fonrths Of the exports
Of the whole United States, and become