The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1861-12-25
The Second Epistle of Philos the Phllanthropist
10 the Potter Countians.

tie I wrote to you touching the propriety
and duty of petitioniug Congress to strike
at the root of the Southern rebellion by
taking measures for the eradication OF
Slavery. It has been said to me since,
Gin neighboring State that emancipa-
tou would be an act of manifest lnjus-
tce to the Southern people. Let us see
if 1t would
In considering this point, it will be
quite proper, in the Grst place, to deter
mine who are meant by ''the southern
people" The slaves are NOT meant-t!at
is certain. No one would pretend such
thing. Fully one third Of the human
inhabitants of the Slave States are slaves,
it is true but then so far from their be-
ing considered the southern people, it is
hardly considered that they are people at
ali. Besides, even If this Were not so,
few would take the ground that it would
be unjust to the slaves to be released
from their bondage Some would de-
nounce it as uncalled for, and impolltic,
and unsafe, aud all that sort of thing j;
bnt that the slaves would suffer injustice
by being freed, no man not plnched IN
an argument would pretend. The injns.
tice supposed to be suffered would un-
quest;onably be accounted as on the side
Of those who hold the slaves in bondage
But are the southern people slave hold
ers? "Of course they are is the re-
Spouse from scores and hundreds | af-
firm, however, that theyare not, any more
than the northern people are rum-sellers.
Slaves are certainly held there, and intox-
icatlng drinks are certainly sold here, as
also there but the few-not the people
do the selling here and the holding there.
According TO the census, the slave
States contain about L millions of in
habitants, of whom about 4 millions are
slaves, and about 8 millions are free per-
sons Of these s million free persons,
about three hundred thousand, or three
tenths of one million, are slave holders
equal to in so, or at the most | in 26.
The numerical proportion, then, which
the three different classes of the southern
population bear to each other, is about
IT non slave. holders, 3 slave holders, and
40 slaves! OF the whole free population
of the South, not more than | in 26 holds
even one slave Look at this Twenty
five persons who do not hold slaves for
every one person that does and yet the
holders of slaves are habitually spoken of
as being ''the southern people :" Out
upon such representation The slave
holders of the South are not the southern
people, any more than the nobility of
England are the English people They
manifestly are the rulers, the oppressors,
the tyrants of the southern people, white
as we'll as black but as to their being
''the people, they are not
The political and governmental power
of the several slave States, is all Cor near
" alb in the hands of the few slave hold
ers residing in those States. The masses
of the people have little or nothing to do
with political and governmental matters
beyond voting the slave holders into office
Indeed, very great many of the voters
(if not the most of them) are incapable
of reading the names on the ballots which
they deposit And why is this SIM
ply because where slavery is, common
schools are not, and the masses are of
course uneducated They also are mostly
poor, and likely to continue SO, it being
a hard case to compete with slave lauor.
And being obliged to work, they are re
garded by the slave holders as little bet
ter than slaves, "white niggers," ''poor
white trash" and like expressions, are
freely applied to them, excepting, per-
h; ps, when their votes are wanted Now
would it be an act of injnstice to these
poor degraded non slave holders, to set
the slaves free, iuaugurate system of
free labor establish schools, and give the
poor whites Glance to rise in the So
cal scale? Certainly not-manlfesty not.
But even admitting that the slave hold
ing olgarchv of the South arc really "the
people" of the South, would there really
be any injustice in setting free their hu-
man chattels? 1t is morally certain that
nineteen twentieths Of the slave holders
(if not ninety nine hundredtEs of them)
are rebels against the government-ope n
avowed, active, determined rebels Those
few Of them who are not so, Ga precious
few indeed there are of them,) would
probably jump at the chance to be paid
for their slaves; aud Uncle Sam can well
afford them a reasonable compensation
As for the bulk Of the slave holders, they
are endeavoring, by force of arms, to sub
vert the best government; in the world !;
the war which they have begun is to cost
thousands of lives, and many millions of
treasure and what less do such miscre-
ants deserve than to have not merely
their slaves taken from them, but also
their t'tacJut property con6scatcd to help
pay expenses, and in the end to have
u i I