The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1861-01-11
9 Where Shall I GoPo--D Daniel Webster
n ". by A YIRnINfAN. =. -I-


believe in the " irrepressible CONTEST
for half a century after The Union was
formed we enjoyed peace among ourselves
yet Ifear-we; .canuotsremain together
osat present con Fhtutssh Thee chief il
not sole cause of our present troubles is
to be found in the almost illimitable ex-
tent of our territory. Slavery. and slave
labor is, in its nature, concentrative ter
ritorially; freedom and free labor expan-
sive. Thus the balance of power has been
lost. Should the present Union be yet
preserved this danger cannot be avoided
by any scheme which l have yet seen pro-
posed, and so soon MS the present genera
tion shall have passed away their fears
and anxieties will be forgotten, and
race will arise who will repeat the injury.
l fear this Union is doomed nor. If it
cannot be saved, then where shall we 60 =?
viii you permit quiet man, lover of
peace, to throw out a few thoughts on
this subject? Perhaps you may find them
not altogether unworthy of consideration.
Knowing the danger and perceiving its
cause, we are bound as wise and prudent
men to guard against its recurrence in any
future combination which we may form !:
we should also, if it be possible, attempt
such combination as may preserve us
from the unutterable horrors Of a civil,
perhaps servile war.
Should a severance of the Union occur,
it will not be solely into two fragments
Love and hate, identical and opposed in
terests, and geographical position will all
have their way. l believe there will be
five considerations: the Southern Cotton,
the Central Atlantic, the New England,
the Northwestern, and the Pacific Con-
federacies. l am just now only concern
ed about the second, the Central Atlantic.
Let North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky,
Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware unite
their fortunes. Where will Pennsylvania,
New Jersey. and New York GO? Not
with New England, that is certain; not
with the. Northwest - They, will not stand
alone. Commercial interests, business re-
lations, geographical contiguity, the ne
cessity of avoiding border warfare, all will
unite them with the Central States, while
we of the South have security and peace
in such an Union. Standing six to three
in the Senatorial body, no Federal action
can hurt us, and we are not aggressive
Taught by bitter experience these free
States will not desire or attempt to injure
us. Expansion Of either party being i'm
possible, political power cannot turn
against US. Slavery is safe, in its proper
place, among those who choose it, and
who alone are responsible for it.
Such confederacy has security and
peace on its borders. Our Southern por-
ton will be at peace with the Cotton
States, for we are homogeneous people,
and no fugitive slaves willrequire an army
for offence or; defence. Our Northern
border will be at peace with its neighbors
for the same reason. = The Atlantic ocean
gives US safe barreI and the great riv-
ers in tho West yfor3 us the same protec-
ton as in aSop1herp' league.
The tradss6f the Northwest must reach
the osc6n. How? Through us. por-
tiopfby the great Lakes and the New
York routes part by the Pennsylvania
improvements; Maryland reaches the
Ohio by her Baltimore road, and thus puts
a hook into the nose of that anti.slayery
leviathan, Ohio; Virginia will tap the
same river, with her magnificent water
line the Virginia and Tennessee connex
ION between Memphis and Norfolk opens
the lower portion Of the western States te
Europe and the world without the neces
sity of fighting for the mouth Of the Mis-
sissippi, or the delay and danger of thu
Gulf navigation. .s..l--..
The Chesapeake Bay is the noblest har
Dor on the Atlantic coast of the Ameri
can continent; the Northern ports ar,
closed in winter and dangerous at al
times the Southern ports cannot be Wis
tied during the summer; the signs of tn
times indicate the era of enormous ships
and both Northern and Southern harbor
are too shallow to admit them, and tn
Chesapeake alone can receive Great East
erns at all times-no shoals obstruct il
no dangerous rocks or islands warn off th
mariner; God seems to have placed it il
the centre of our coast as the mighty pol
! tai TO the commerce of the world. Thi
region embraces a large portion of tn
coaliields of America; its iron is ineS
haustible and of admirable quality. Tn
salt works of Virginia and OF New Yorl
can supply the wants of the continent.-
/ We contain the prime tobacco lands {
the Union; our hills and mountain
abound with the noblest sites for mani
factures; our agricultural advantages al
equal to those Of any region in the pre-
ent Union, and yet SO diversified as ne
to clash with each othor, No element
prosperity, no essential for safety. no re-
sonable guarantee for peace is wantir
TO us.
To my humble Judgment 1t seems clei
that the interest and the safety of q
these named States are dependent c
} such Union, More particularly are Il
six slaveholding States interested in it,