Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1861-08-08
Russell on the Condition and Prospects

Of the Sou1hs
Mr.. Russell writing from Natebez on the
l4.h of June. says: = '1a ii ~
In this part of Mississippi the Secession
ist feeling was not so overpowering at first
as it has been since the majority declared
itself, but the expression of feeling is now
all one way The rage of Southern senti
nent is to me inexplicatle. making every
allowance for Southern exaggerstion. 1t
is sudden. hot aud apparently causeless as
summer lightning From every place
touched at along the Mississippi large
proportion of the population has gone
forth to fight. or is preparing to do so---
The whispers which rise through the storm
are few and feeble. Some there are who
sigh for the peace and happiness they have
seen in England. But they cannot seek
those things; they must look after their
property. Each man maddens his neigh
Dor by desperate resolves. and threats. and
vows. Their faith is in Jefferson Davis
strength. and the necessities and weakness
of France and England. The inhabitants
of the tracts which lie on the banks of the
Mississippi. and on the Island regions
hereabout, ought to be. in the natural or
der of things. people alip ost nomadic,
living by the chase and by a sparse agri-
culture, in the freedom which tempted
their ancestors to leave Europe. But the
Old World has been working for them
All its trials have been theirs; the fruits Of
it's experience, its labors. its research, its
discoveries, are theirs. Steam has enabled
them to turn their rivers into highways,
to open primevsl forests to the light of day
and to man. All these, however. would
have availed them little, had not the de-
mands of manufacture abroad, and the in
creasing luxury and population of the
North West at home, enabled them to find
in these swamps and uplands sources Of
wealth richer and more certain than all the
gold mines of the world. But there must
be gnomes to work these mines. Slavery
was an institution ready to their hands,
In its development there lay every material
means for securing the prosperity which
Manchester opened to them, and in sup
plying their own countrymen with sugar.
The small struggling, deeply mortgaged
proprietors Of the swamp and forest. set
their negroes to work to raise levees. to
cut down trees to plant and sow. As the
negro became valuable by his produce. the
Irish emigrant took his place in the sever
er labors of the plantation. and ditched and
dug and cut into the waste land. Cotton
at ten cents pound gave nugget.in ev-
cry boil. Land could be had for a few
dollars an acre. Negroes were cheap in
proportion. Men who made few thousand
dollars invested them in more negroes and
more land, and borrowed as much again
for the same purpose. They waxed fat
and richAthere seemed no bounds to their
fortune. But threatening voices came
! from the North--the echoes Of the senti-
nc:,.s niss.s Of .hs civilized world reponting of
its evil pierced their ears, and they found
their feet were of clay, and that they were
nodding to their fall in the midst of their
power Ruin inevitable awaited them If
they did not shut out these sounds and
stop the fatal uttesance. The Issue is to
them one. of life and death. Whoever
raises it hereafter, il it be not decided now,
must expect to meet the deadly animosity
which is displayed toward the North. The
success of the South--if it can succeed
mrst lead to complications and results in
ether parts of the world for which neither
it nor Europe is now prepared. Of one
thing there can be no doubt--a slave State
cannot long exist without slave trade.
The poor whites who have won the fight
will demand their share of the spoils.--
The land is abundant. and all that is want.
cd to give them fortunes is supply Of
slaves. They will have that in spite Of theil
masters. unless a stronger power prevent!
the accomplishment Of their wishes.