The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1861-10-23
The A ppr0a ching Extinction of
Slavery.

The Appr0a ching Extinction Oi
Slavery.
The New York World, conservative and
dispasslonate journal, expresses strong
conviction that the rebellion Of the slave.
holding States will result in the extinction oil
their own peculiar institution not throu.
gh the interference Of the Cover nment with
slaves or slavery. but by the inevitable effect
that the events now transpiring and about
to transpire will have upon the South and
her system Of labor and society.
The article in which the World presents
this view is replete with good sense and
sound logic, and we re- produce it in full.
"Without giving any importance to the
monomsnia of crazy abolitionists," it says,
"it is easy to see that this war foretokens
the downfall of slavery. If we except the
present experiment in Russia, there is hardly
country in Europe in which the abolition
of slavery was brought about by direct gov
ernmental interference On this continent,
| it has been thus abolished in Mexico and
the South American republics but the
chronic and incurable anarchy which pre-
walls in those countriss teaches that the sud.
den emancipation of slaves is not necessarily
followed by other political advantages. The
purpose of this war is to prevent the United
States from falling into the disorganlzcd con-
dition of the Spanish American republics,
were dissati faction witt the result Of an
election is regularly followed by attempts to
overthrow the government. But If the re.
mote and incidental consequence Of the war
shall be the extermination Of slavery. every
pious and humane mind will recognize the
hand of Providence in this result.
The circumstances favorable to the carly
extinction cfslavery in the Southern States
are these
az The entire subversion Of the political
influence of slavery IN our national elections
The general odium with which all pro oslav.
cry politics must be covered by this scoun.
RELY rebellion will hereafter prevent any
southern statesman from acquiring weight
with the country unless his antecedents and
public course clear him from suspicion Of
completely in any attempt to make the ma
tional government an engine either for the
propagation or the protection of slavery
The present race Of southern politicians is
consigned to hopeless infamy Ambitious
young men in that section who are conscious
Of abilities for public life will study to keep
their regulations free from the taint that has
ruined so many political prospects. ghe
talent and ambition Of the South, will be
rescued from their past subseryiency to the
slayeholding oligarchy, and aim to identify
themselves, in national estimation, with the
humane and enlightened views on the sub.
icct Of slavery which were held by WASH
ISGToS, JEFFERSON, MADISON, and the other
fathers Of the republic The bias thus CON-
municated will not, to be sure, be an active
agent in the abolition Of slavery. hut it viii
certainly prevent it from strengthening itself
by any acts of federal legislation, and des.
troy the aggressive propagandism that has
dominated in our politics for the last twenty
years.
"2. The absolute certainty that slavery
will never be extended beyond its present
limits. The Republican party, which has
always disclaimed any attention to interfere
with slavery in the States, has been of opin
ion that its policy Of non extension would
lead to the ultimate overthrow of the institu-
ton. II the Republicans were correct in
this judgment, slavery is already in process
of extinction by the only antidote they ever
proposed to administer.
"3 The destruction Of the Southern mo.
nopoly in the production of cotton. 1t is a
well known historical fact that the public
sentiment Of the South was adverse to the
continuance Of slavery, and the Southern
statesmen looked forward to some process
of gradual emancipation, until the eo.ton
culture began to assume prominence in con-
sequence Of Whitney's $ invention of the cot.
ton gin. The pro-slavery .anaticism of the
South has kept even pace with the prodigi-
ous Development Of this branch Of Southern
industry. Had the agriculture Of that sec
ton been confined to the ordinary crops, laws
for a gradual abolition Of slavery would
doubtless have been enacted in nearly all the
Southern States. One of the most important
res,,ts of This rehellion will he tho ovartbro,,,