The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1862-12-12
VOL. 6. NO. 10

think, cannot be perfectly cured, and it woul
be worse in both cases after the separati on
: the sections than before. The foreign slav
) trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would b
ultimately revived without restriction in on
: section, while fugitive slaves, now only parti
, ally surrendered, would not be surrendered a
, all by the other. Physically speaking, we can
, not separate; we can't remove our respectiv
sections from each other, nor build an impass
be wall between them. A husband and wifi
may be divorced, and go out of the presenc
and beyond the reach of each other, but TIN
different parts of our country cannot do this
They cannot but remain face to face, and inter
course either amicablc or hostile must contin.
ue between them Is it impossible, then, to
make that inte recourse more advantageous OF
more satisfactory after separation than before
Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can
make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully en-
forced between aliens than laws among friends
Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight always,
and when. after much loss on both sides, and
no gain on either, you cease fighting, the iden-
tical old Questions to terms of interc curse are
again upon you.
There Is no line straight or crooked, suitable
Tor national boundary upon which to divide.
Trace through, from East to West, upon the
line between the free and slave country, and
| we shall find little more than rivers easy to be
crossed and populated, or soon to be populated
thickly upon both sides, while nearly all its re.
! remaining length or one-third of its length are
| merely surveyors lines, over which people may
walk back and fortB without any consciousness Of
their presence. No part Of this line can be
made any more difficult to pass by writing it
down on no NOR or roty,anf A .nk.,..
boundary. The fact of separation, if it comes,
gives up, on the part of sectional obligations
upon the seeding section, the fugitive slave clau
ses, along with all other constitutional obligations
upon the section seeded from-while should
expect no treaty stipulation would ever be made
to take its place.
But there is another difficulty. The great
interior region, bounded East by the Alleghe- |
nies, North by the British dominions, West byl
Rocky Mountains, South by the line along
which the culture of cotton and corn meets, |
and which incldNes part of Virginia, part Of
Tennessee, all of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana Mich
gan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, To-
wa, Minnesota, and the territories of Dakotah,
Nebraska, andpart of Colorado, have above ten
nn tS,y Of e Pe1pe s and vii Jwns haye x mans
miles once half as populous as Massachusetts
already is, it would have more than seventy five
millions of people. A glance at the map shows
that, territorial speaking, it is the great body
Of the Republic. The other parts are but mar
ginal borders to it, the magnificent region slop'
ing West from the Rocky Mountains to the Pa
cifc being the deepest and also the richest in
undeveloped resources in the production OF
provisions, grains, grasses, andall which proceed
from them, this great interior region is natu-
rally one of the most important in the world. |
Ascertai n from the statistics the small pro- |
portion of the region which has as yet been
brought into cultivation, and large and rapid |
" increasing amount Of its products, and we
shall be overwhelmed with the magnitude OF
the prospect presented and yet this region has
no sea caost, touches no ocean anywhere. AS
part of one nation, its people now find, and
may forever find, their way to Europe by New
York. to South America and Africa, by New
Orleans, and to Asia by San Francisco. But
separate our common country into two nations, |
as designed by the present rebellion, and every
man of this great interior region is hereby cut
off from some one or more of these outlets, not
perhaps by physical barrier, but by embar-
RAISING onerous trade regulations, and this
is true wherever dividing or boundary line
may be fixed Place it between the now free
and slave country, or place is South OF Ken
lucky, or North of Ohio, and still the truth re-
mains, that none South of it can trade to any
port North of it, and none North of it can
trade to any port or place South of it, except
upon terms dictated by government foreign to
them. lf
The outlets East, West and South are indis-
pensable to the well being of the people inhab'
iting and to inlabt this vest interior region.
Which of the three may be the best is no prop
er question. All are better than either and oil
of right belong to that people and to their sue
cessors forever. True to themselves, they will
not ask where line of separation shall be, but
will vow rather that there shall be no such line.
Nor are the marginal regions less interested in
these communications to and through them to
the great outside world.--They too and each OF
them must have access TO this Egypt OF the
West, without paying toll at the crossing OF a.
ny national boundary. Our national strife
sprung not from our permanent part, not from
the land we inbabit, not from our national
homestead. There is no possible severing OF
this but would multiply, and not mitigate, evils
among u.s. In all its adaptations and aptitudes
1t demands union and abhors separations In
fact, it would ere long force reunion, however
much of blood and treasure the separation might
have cost. Our strife pertains to ourselves, to
passing generations of men, and it cannot with
out convulsion be hushed forever with the pas
sing of one generation. "A
In this view I recommend the adoption OF
the following resolution and articles amend
atory to the Constitution of the United States.
Resolved, BY the Senate and House OF Rep
resentatives of the United States of America,
in Congress assembled, two-thirds Of both Hou-
ses concurring, that the following articles be
IL -. Cev IF