The Oxford intelligencer. (Oxford, Miss.) 1860-18??, 1861-05-08

L.l..a1 L1A5 ~ o. ssa4 49, 81. ~ ~ I
isthing the manufacturing snd,shippiass classes
Of the North at the expense Of The South, there
has existed, for nearly half century, another
subject Of discord, involving interests Of such
the apprehension in the minds Of many devoted
lovers If the Union, that its permanence was
Impossible. .saIil y y = f9a i.osa.ss (
when fie issversl states delegated ccsrtsle
powers ID the. United States Congress, a large
portion Of the laboring population consisted of
Africap slaves imported into the colonies by the
mother country... In twelve, out Of thirteen
States, negro slavery existed, and the right "a
property In slaves was protected by law, This
.propcrty wss reccgnized in the Constitution,
and provision was made against It's loss by the
escape ef the slave The increase in the num-
Der OF slaves by further importation from Africa
was also secured by a clause forbidding Con-
gress to prohibit the slave trade anterior to a
certain date !, and 10 no clause can there be
found any delegation Of power 10 the Congress
authorizing IL in any manner 10 legislate b the
prejudice, detriment or discouagement Of the
owners Of that species Of property, or excluding
It from the protection of the Government
The climate and soil Of the Northern States
soon proved .unpropitious to the continuance Of
slave labor, while the converse was the ease al
the South. Under tho unrestricted free inter
course between the two sections, the Northern
States consulted their own interest by selling
their slaves 20 the South, and prohibiting slave
ry within their limits. The South were willing
purchasers Of q property suitableto their wants,
and paid the price of the acquisition without
harboring a suspicion that their quiet possession
was to be disturbed by those who were inhibit.
ed, not only by want Of constitutional authority,
but by good faith as venders, from dsquicting
title emanating from themselves. = ss.r
"a As soon, however, as the Northern States that
prohibited African slavery within their limits
had reached a number sufficient to give their
representation a controlling voice in the Con.
gress, persistent and organized system ofbos.
tile measures against the rights Of the owners ol
slaves in the Southern States was inaugurated,
and gradually extended A continuous series
Of measures was devised and prosecuted for thu
purpose Of rendering insecure the tenure ol
property in slaves fanatical organizations, sup.
piled with money by voluntary subscriptions,
were assiduously engaged in exciting amongst
the slaves a spirit of discomfort and revolt;- =
means were furnished for their escape from their
owners, and agents secretly employed TO entice
tieiA to abseond; the constitutional provision
for their rendition to their owners was first eva
ded, then openly denounced as q violation Of
conscientious obligation and religious duty;--
men were taught that it was merit to elude,
dsobey and violently oppose the execution ol
the laws enacted to secure the performance Of
the promise contained in the constitutional com.
pact; owners Of slaves were mobbcd and even
murdered in open day, solely for applying to a
magistrate for the arrest of fugitive slave; the
dogmas of these voluntary organizations soon
obtained control Of the legislatures Of many OF
the Northern States and laws were passed pro-
viding for the punishment by ruinous fines and
long continued Imprisonment in jails and pcni-
tontiaries, of citizens of the Southern States,
who should dare to ask aid Of the officers of the
law for the recovery of their property. Embold-
ened by success, the theater of agitation and
aggression against the clearly expressed consti-
tItional rights of the Southern States was trans
fcrred to the Congress Senators and Rcprescn-
tativcs were sent to the common councils of the
nation, whose chief title to this distinction con.
sisted in the display of spirit of ultra fanati.
cism, and whose business was, not ito promote
the general welfare or ensure domestic tranquil.
ty," but to awaken the bitterest hatred against
the citizens Of sister States by violent denunca.
ton Of their institutions the transaction ol
public affairs was impedcd by repeated efforts to
usurp powers not delegated by the Constitution,
for the purpose of npairing the security of pro.
perty in slaves, and reducing those States which
held slaves to a condition of inferiority. Final
ly, a great party was organized for the purpose
Of obtaining the administration Of the govern.
ment, with the avowed object Of using its power
for the total exclusion Of the slave States from
all participation in the benefits of the public do.
main, acquired BY all the States in common
whether by conquest or purchase; of surround
ing them entirely by States, in which slavery
should be prohibited, Of thus rendering tn,
-, slo sre
ativcly worthless, ard thereby annihilating, il
effect, property worth thousands of millions O
dollars This party, thus organized, succeeded
in the month Of November last, in the election
of its candidate for the Presidency of the Uni
ted States. r...--- s.~-
j.. the meantime, under the mild and fenia
climate of the Southern States, and the ncrcas
ing care and attention for the wcll-being ant
comfort Of the isbcring ciass, Dictated alike b,
interest and humanity, the African slaves hat
augmented in number from about 600,000 a
the date of the adoption of the constitution
compact, to upward of 1000, 900. In moral ant
social condition, they had been elevated from
brutal savages into docilc, intelligent and civil
lied agricultural laborcrs, and supplied not onl,
with bodily comforts, but with careful religious
instruction. Under the supervision of a superi
or race, their labor had been so directed as no
only to allow gradual and marked amelioratior
of their own condition, but to convert hundred
Of thousands Of square miles Of the wilderness
into cultivated lands, covered with prosperous
people; towns and cities had sprung into exist
ence, and had rapidly increased in wealth ans
population under the social system of the South
the white population of the Southern States hat
augmented from about i ,250 900 at the date o
the adoption OF the Constitution, to more thai
s,500,000 in 1860; and the productions Of fh,
South in cotton rice, sugar and tobacco, for IN,
full development and continuance of which tn,
labor OF African slaves was, and is, indispensa
BILE, had swollen to an amount which formed
nearly three fourths Of the exports of the Who'll,
United States, and had become absolutely nee
essary to the wants of civilized man.
With interests OF such overwhelming maeni
tude imperilled the people ofthe Southern State,
were driven by the conduct Of the North to tn,
adoption of some course Of action to avert IN,
danger with which they were openly menaccd
With this view, the Legislatures Of the sesera
States invited the people to select delegates I.
Conventions, to be held for the purpose Of de
termining for themselves what measures -wer,
best adapted to meet so alarming q crisis ii
their history. p s
Here it may be proper to observe that from
period as carly as 1913, there had existed in al
Of the States of the Union a party, almost un
interruptedly in the majority, based upon th'
creed that each State was, in the last resort thl
sole judge as well Of It's wrongs, as Of the mod,
| and measure of ro<Irc~u T-d~-1 -