Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1861-05-21


soon proved unpropitious to the continuance OF
slave labor, whilst the converse was the case al
| the South. Under tie unrestricted free inter.
course between the two sections, the Northern
States consulted their own interest by selling
their slaves to the South, and prohibiting slavery
within their limits. The South were willing pur-
chasers of property suitable to their wants. and
paid the price OF the acquisition without harbor.
/ ing suspicion that their quiet possession was
| to be disturbed by those who were inhibited
not only by want of Constitutional authority,
but by good faith as venders, from disquieting a
title emanating from themselves
| AS soon, however, as the Northern States that
prohibited African slavery within their limits
had reached a number sufficient to give their re-
presentation controlling voice in the Congress,
a persistent and organized system of hostile
| measures against the rights of the owners of
| slaves in the Southern States was inaugurated
| and gradually extended. continuous series
of measures was devised and prosecuted for the
purpose Of rendering insecure the tennre of prop
erty in slaves fanatical organizations, supplied
with money by voluntary subscriptions, were as.
| siduousy engaged in exciting amongst the slaves
| spirit of discomfort and revolt; means were
| furnished for their escape from their owners,
| and agents secretly employed to entice them to
abscond; the constitutional provision for their
rendition to their owners was first evaded, then
openly denounced IS avioiation of conscientious
obligation and religious Guty; men were taught
| that it was merit to eluGe, diSObey, and viO-
lently oppose the execution of the laws enacted
| to secure the performance of the promise con-
| tanned in the constitutional compact; owners of
| slaves were mobbed and even murdered in open
| day, solely for applying to 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 providing for the punish
| ment by ruinous fines ard long continued i'm
| prsOnment in jails and penitentlaries, OF citi-
| zens of the Southern States who should dare to
ask aid of the officers of the law for the recovery
of their property. Emboldened by success, the
theatre Of agitation and aggression against the
clearly expressed constitutional rights of the
Southern States was transferred to the Congress ;
Senators and Representatives were sent to the
common COUNCILS of the nation, whose chief title
to this distinction consisted in the display OF
| spirit of ultra fanaticiSm, and whose business
was, not ssto promote the general welfare or en-
| sure domestic tranquility" but to awaken the
| bitterest hatred against the citizens of sister
States by violent denunciation OF their instltu-
| tions; the transaction of public affairs was I'M
| peded by repeated efforts to uSurp powers not
delegated by the Constitution, for the purpose
of impairing the security of property in slaves
and reducing those States which held slaves to
a condition of inferiority. Finally, great par
| ty was organized for the purpose OF obtaining
| the administration OF the Government, with the
| avowed object Of using its power for the total
exclusion Of the slave States from all particlpa-
| ton in the benefits Of the public domain, acqulr
| ed by all the States in common, whether by Con-
quest or purchase OF surrounding them entirely
| by States in which slavery should be prohibited ;
| of thus rendering the property In slaves so lnse-
cure as to be comparatively worthless, and there
| by annihilating in effect property worth thou
| sands of millions of dollars. This party, thus
organized, succeeded, in the month OF ovember
| tb.,a Of ifs candidate
| idency of the United States.
| In the meantime, under the mild and genial
climate OF the Southern States, and the 1ncreaS-
ing care and attention tor the well being and
comfort of the Iaboring class, dictated alike by
interest and humanity, the African slaves mad
augmented i'll number from about 600 900, at the
date of the adoption of the constitutional COM
/ pact. to upwards of 4 700, 900. In moral and
social condition they had been elevated from bru-
tai Savages into doclle, Intelligent and civilized
agricultural laborers, and supplied not only with
bodily comforts, but With careful religious IN
| struction. Under the supervision OF superior
race, their labor had been directed as not only
| to allow gradual and marked amelioration OF
| their own condition, but to convert hundreds OF
| thou sands of square miles OF the wilderness IN
| to cultivated lands, covered with prosperous
people; towns and cities had sprung into exist
ence, and had rapidly Increased IN wealth. ana
population under the social system OF the South ;
| the white population of the Southern slavehold-
| ing States had augmented from about ,25O, OOO
| at the date of the adoption of the Constitution,
| to more than $500 900 in 1860, and the produc-
tiOns of the South in cotton, rice, sugar ana TO-
! bacco for the full development and continuance
| of which the labor of African slavery was and is
| Indispensable. had swollen to an amount which
formed nearly three-fourths of the exports OF the
whole United States, and had become SO aDso-
lutely necessary to the wants of civilized man.
With interests of such overwhelming magnl-
| tude imperied, the people OF the Sou,hern
| States were driven by the conduct OF Inc North
to the adoption of some course of action to avert
| the danger with which they were openly menaced
With this view the Legislatures of the several
States invited the people to select delegates TO
conventions, to be held for the purpose OF deter
mining for themselves what measures were pest
adapted to meet SO alarming Crisis IN their MS
tory. a
Here it may be proper to observe that from a
period as early as 1868 there had existed in all
of the States Of the Union party. almost unin-
terruptedly in the majority, based upon the creeo
that each state was in the last resort, the sole
Judge, as well of its wrongs as OF Inc inoue anu
measure of redress. Indeed, 1T is OBVIOUS, that
under the law of nations, this principle Is an ak
iom. as applied to the relations OF Independent
sovereign States such as those which had united
themselves under the constitutional compact
The Democratic party fthe Unlted otateS re-
peated in its successful canvass III iooo, tne ue
| claration made in numerous previous poltlcal
contests. that it would .staithfully abide Dy and
uphold the principles laid down IN the Kentucky
and Virginia resolutions of 1898, and in the re-
port of Mr. Madison to the Virginia Legislature
| in 1899; and that it adopts those principles as
| constituting one of the main foundations OF us
| political creed.''
The principles thus emphatically announced
embrace that to which have already adverted,
| the right of each State to Judge OF, and redress
| the wrongs of which it complains. THESE prln-
ciples were maintained by overwhelming MAORI
ties of the people of all the States Of the Union
at different elections, especially in the electlons
of Mr.. Jefferson in 1893, MT. Madison IN loo9,
| and Mr.. Pierce in 1867. ;,
| In the exercise of right so ancient, so we'll
established and SO necessary for self
| the neope of the Confederate States in their
| Conventions determined that the wrongs which
| tbev had suffered and the evils with which they
were menaced. required that they should revoke
| the oe,eoation OF powers to the Fednral Govern
ment which they had ratified in their several
Conventions. They consequently passed ordi-
nances resuming all their rights as sovereign and
| indenendemt States, and dissolved their connec-
| ton with other States OF the Union.
| Having done this they proceeded to form a
new compact among themselves, by new articles
| of confederation, which have been also ratified
| bv the Conventions OF the sereral States with an
! annroach TO unanimity far exceeding that OF the
| convant;ons which adopted the Constitution OF
1877 They have organized their new govern
| ment in all its departments the functions OF the
Executive Legislative, and judicial Magistrates
| are nerformed in accordance with the will or the
people as displayed, not merely IN cheerful ac-
/ ;sonea hnt in the enthusiastic support of