The Placer herald., 1861-02-16
The National Crisis-N0 3.


fool has had too much to do with the man.
aeement of affairs. He must stand back for
while, and give place to his betters- give
to men able and willing to speak the truth.
The writer believes, that without egotism,
he can do this. He neither asks or expects
anything from politicians or the people, and
is therefore Independent. To convince,
rather than to please, is his design. The
North and the South have both in times past
played at disunon, until the people at large
became 10 think it mere threat impossible
of execution. 1t was threatened in South
Carolina in 1882. The Nation conceded
the justness Of her complaint, by reducing
gradually the tariff, to the standard she de-
manded, viz: a tax equal to the expenditure
of the government. The South trlked about
it when California was admitted as a State
into the Union! Californians have talked Of
it, when Congress has failed to meet their
hopes on the Pacific Railroad question, which
was foolish. But up to recently, the only
overt acts Of notification have been on the
part of she North, Except South Carolina
in 1922 During war (hat of 1922
waged to establish the rights and interests Of
the commerce of the sea board states, and
to resent injuries to and protect the people
of the west-durng the darkest hours of
that struggle, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Rhode Island, and New Hampshire by their
representatives met in convention at Hart
ford, to concoct plans for thwarting the
powers of the Federal Government, and or
ganizing one section of the country against
the other. Massachusetts was in the lead,
for she for her own purposes had passed
resolutions to raise ten thousand troops, and
million of money to support them.
When Congress passed law authorizing
the enlistment of minors into the army, the
legislatures of Conn and Mass. Immediately
passed acts requiring the judges of those
states to discharge on habeaus corpus all
who enlisted under the provision OF the law
and to punish by fine and Imprisonment all
who engaged in the work tf enlisting them.
There is notification in every legislative act
of the New England AID other free States,
calculated to obstruct the execution of the
laws of Congress relative to the reclaming
of fugitive slaves. And yet not all these
enacments of their statute book form so
dangerous and convincing a fact, to the mind
of the South as the election of Mr.. Lincoln.
Here we approach a position in which both
parties mistake the other,-but nothern mn
are much more blind in their error, than the
majority of the South. 1t is in this-in re-
garding the present position of the sections
as the result of temporary agitation. The
North has been educated in the doctrines of
anti-savery, ever since, our present constitu
ton was framel ,-abolitionism was naked
feature Of the convention that give it birth
the journals of that body show it. For
many years, the sentiment found vent, in
doing away with slavery in the States, of the
North, until it worked the nation up to a
fever heat over the. question of the admission
of the State Of Missouri. The most oura
geous wrong and the dissolution of the
confederacy, was then only prevented, by
adopting compromise, vioative of State
rights d the spirit of the American com
pact. The Missouri restriction was not es
tablished as rule of right towards the
South, the North then as now, had the ma
iority, and the South accepted of the admis
sion of Missouri coupled with that prohibi-
ton Of 36 80 as the nearest approach to
Justice that could then be had
Points of differences were smothered and
a lull followed the storm Of passion. Twen-
ty years passed in comparative quiet. At
length the smouldering bands began to blaze
forth anew. The protestant clergy began to
stir up the Goals. About fifteen years ago
a branch Of these Christians at a general
Conference held in Pennsylvania divided on
this question, the North refusing to COM
mune with and recognize the Methodist slave
holder as true follower of Christ.
Other denominations took the question up:
the theory began to permeate all classes and
grades Of society. II was taught in Sab
bath Schools to children, from the pulpit to
church goers, in the lecture room, and from
the stump. Newspapers to receive support
must advocate t,-no wonder the ambitious
politician adopted it. The public man who
voted in support of constitutional rights of
the opposite section, was scoffed at as cow
ardy doeface, and his chances for position,
as the gift Of people, forever blasted. Party
spirit carried Southern Wings so far as to
rejoice in his downfall The laws of Con-
gress relative to fugitive slaves, were
no longer observed and enforced in
good faith. Then came the cry of "no more
slave territory,-no more slaves uorth of SO:
80 we have-south Of that we'll fight tor"
The fugitive slave law was amended in 1860;
which gave great offence to the North; the
Missouri restriction no longer adhered to as
a compromise by them, was formally repeal,
ed by the law establishing governments for
Kansas and Nebraska in 34,-societies
were organized by them and the emigrants
were furnished with the munitions of war to
prevent slavery finding a lodgment in those
territories. Finally this sentiment gave birth
to the Republican party. and this party. after