Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1861-01-31
POLITICAL DISCUSSION AT WEST
RUTLAND

seInbled in the Town Hall west hutiaid, puf
suant 10 the announcement OF a Political Discus
sion upon the following question 'ReSotced,
hat the South has Just cause T0T Secession by the
following disputants upon tie Affirmative, viz ::
John Cain, Esq, of Rutland Col h. h. Mer
rift of Sudbury and DIR. Thomas j. Ketchumof
Pttsford-and upon the Negative, Horace a l.
len, ESQ, of Rutland, William T. Nichols, Esq.
of Rutland, and David Nicholson, Esq, OF Wal
lingford
At seven o'clock the Housc was called 10 or
der by J. F. Manley, Esq, Of West FINLAND who,
in a few well chosen remarks, announced the OBJ
iect ofthe assembly and the rules of the Discus
sion after which the exercises of the evening
were inaugurdted by beautiful piece 81 music
from the Rutland lornet Band at the cOncu-
sion Of which John Cam, Esq, of Rutland
Opened the bail" on the part OF The Affirmative.
We regret that we have not a full report of his
opening remarks the basis OF which com
parson of the relations OF the South to t4e North
at the present time with those " the American
Colonies TO Great Britain at the commencement
of the Revolutionary struggle aud tue depreca-
ton of the evils of "a fratrcldal civil war The
remarks of the enteman were written out, and
were listened TO with much interest by the audi
tory.
He was followed on the part of the Negative
by Horace Allen, Esq, of Rutland, who observ
ed that the present was the most important
question of the age. The Republics of antiquity
we're grand in their conception, and during their
progress civilization and the arts were ad yanced
as never before, but their career short and
they soon degenerated into anarchy and resulted
in despotism. Such has been the history of all
the Republics OF the Old world, and It has be
come an axiom of the philosophers and pJlIIical
economists of Europe that Republics, at best, are
but brilliant meteors that flash aIhwarL the poll
teal horizon only TO sink 10 speedy and utter
extinction. The question Is whether this threat
mi RI nUF DiO !
able. If so, We may well declare kings aud the
anointed of God" and despotIsm the only legit-
mate form of government. Certain outrages on
the part of the North alleged as the causes
iustlfying the secession Of the Southern States
What arc the declared outr4ges of the North
First. The passage of Personal Liberty bills"
What are Personal Liberty bills Iney are
bills to secure the liberty Of every person under
our government At the first sight il would be
deemed extravagant that his should be thought
a crime under our form of government.
| admit that the Constitution requires the re-
turn OF fugitive slaves. This is ali that can be
said in favor of the fugitive slave law of 1850,
which was drafted by the most cunning partizans
of the South, calculated to exasperate the North
and designed to produce that result. Ii did SO
and the Personal Liberty bills are the natural
issue OF that evaporation. | own thai if the
Personal Liberty bills unconstitutional, then
the enactment Of the fugitive slave law was not
a sufficient reason for their passage but for
some evils the law affords no adequate remedy
Suppose an individual is passing along the street
and IS met by another who offers him a gross
Insult infaned By the outrage he Tits MS hand
and teis the insulter 10 the earth. he Is liable
to he arrested aud punished for the assault but
still the tribunal Of public opinion will hold that
the aggressor received no more than be de
served.
Second. II is alleg ed that the Republican
nd fltaf 49,,
future apply tor admission 10 the conteueracy
shall come free States.
The Republican party plead guilty the
charge, but deny the unconstitutionaity Of the
proyiso. Look back to the legislation Of Con-
grcss 90 the subject. la 1857, the whole of the
great Northwestern Territory was admitted as
Free soII, and it was provided according TO the
ordinance Of admission that all future acqaisi-
uons Of territory should be admitted upon the
principles Of freedom. Who voted for II
TIE united South! recognizing the very theory
advocated by the RepublIcad party at the present
day. In $50 Missouri kr ocked al the door vi
the Union for Observation-Disclosures the famous
Missouri Compromise was established providing
that al. territory North of Latitude SO 50, which
should IN future become part o. the United
States, should be free. VINO voted for TINS
Fourteen out Of tsoeaty-three Southern Senators.
In s47 OREGON applied Tor admission 70 the
Union when Mr. DOuglas moved an amendment
10 tue AT Oh leu cALtN4tNE Inc iuE 10 Lie
Pacific Wig voted for thi, -4H tie .S0uth
among whom were Jei Davis. Dickinson FoOte
Il Mississippi Mason Of Virginia, d well as Mr
Douglas. The euure South were tuen for the
main plank in the N-pubIcau Platform
Mr. Allen then read an extract from a speech
Of julie Douglas. endorsing Jhr Missouri CON
promise aud remarked II ID Republican par
~ NAV b. wrong, b4tIf W err, We err with the
farther, OF Democracy. Al the great Statesmen
OF that creed held the same doctrine. When did
Tins dis 4ppesr from th-Ir platform In 1858
when VI Douglas Introduced b'il for the al
mission Of kan-as and Nebraska repeating the
Missouri tJnprJn5e AMI Squ4tt.r Sever.
eighty wa, born. In I~.6 this was iucorpor
atej INTO the ID, mo ra.Ic latiOrm
The speaker then remarked upon the course
OF Judge DJugl ), expressing his admiration Of
| his IndOmItabie emery and perseverance, ami his
ability a politician but stigmatised has course
upon this qucsJon a. marked by regeneration
and yacrilatlon. SAID he He is a great man
he has opposed with hTmness the mad schemes
OF the hire eaters OF the South. but unfortunately
ike many great politicians, he sometimes plays
upon harp OF a thousand strings
Mr.. Allen then referred to the allegation OF
the partizans OF the South that the Republican
party were responsible for the ,Iyi1 Broacn raid
and declared that they were the only party who
had IN their platform denounced the mad act o.
that misguided individual and his msled com
P4nlons lie went on to remark that some pre-
tend to believe that the Republicans are in favor
OF interfering with the institution of slavery as il
exists within the States, and IN answer 10 the
charge, saId-"We oppose only denial. II /.
tiise ~
The Gentleman then went on to say" They
say we would ruin the nation 10 save the Chici
20 Platform. What is the Chicago Platform
Ii is our theory of the true policy OF the govern
ment Suppose all they say 10 be true. and every
charge valid, still there Is reason for secession
on the part OF he South. unless by il they could
save themselves from the evils they now profes.
to labor under This would not he the case al
the present evils would exist and they would
incur many new ones. while they could in NJ
! possible way be benefited
Mr.. Allen then replied to the remark of Mr.
Cain that six states had already seeded and hi,
| Experimentation they would have done so il
| they had no right. by the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
| pick MIR Cams pocket, would do so if il were
| not night lie then reviewed the course of the
South IN the seizure of the foits-their outrage.
upon northern cltlzenS-dnd even northern wo.
men-and declared that the South was now la
| boring under the worst despotsm in the world
! that OF mob. And went on TO say that were
| George Washington 10 return 10 earth his spirr
clothed IN flesh, and were he to give uterance tC
| thcsame language he did in the early DAYS o.
the Republic, upon South Carolina soil, his sou
would S0Cn he returned TO the abode Of spirits >
III tue conclusion OF Mr. Aliens remarks, he
denounced the New York Herald as being in &
great measure responsible for the present state
| OF affairs, and srgmatlzed Caleb Gushing as an
| unprInclpled demagOgUe. His time having ex
! pred, the chairman, after the performance Of
" Hail Columbia by the band, introduced Col
| H. H. Merritt of Sudbury, who in an amusing
! speech brought forward the Bible argument il
favor OF savery-instancing Abraham, who hC
declared raised 3I8 slaves in his own family,
| and remarked that he was the best of the mai
archs-all of whom he professed were slavehoId
ers. He went on to observe that upon the ad
vent Of Christ nearly half the inhabitants of the
world were in slavery, and Christ commanded
submission and obedience to the laws Of the land
The Apostles did not oppose slavery The Bible
is full of it, from Genesis 10 Revelations" After
which he read extracts from a pamphlet quoting
] L. 4 Il L \ IL