Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-01-13


Where the citron and olive are fairest Of fruit,
And the voice Of the nightingale never Is mute;
Where the tns Of the earth and the hues Of the sky,
In color though varied, in beauty may VIE
's cline Of the South; 'tis the land Of the sum-
What think you of this description Of the mod
ern Eden. the Elysium. which the President
would have us buy for the weary children Of
AfricS? But what is TO be the cost Of its az
quisitionf Perhaps only few hundred millions.
This presents the dsagreeable and embarrassing
suggestion which Mr. Lincoln has not met, that
We may not have the gold on hand that we can
conveniently spare. But perhaps we can buy
with Treasury notes, and they may be multiplied
as the leaves on the trees, or the sands upon the
sea shore But if John Bull should be the own
er be is not IN temper With us Just now, and may
prove churl enough to say, will keep my land of
orange groves where the nightingales ever sing,
rather than take your Promises 10 pay.
Clay and jackson and W ebster and statesmen
of that class regarded the colonization Of the
groes a work Of such enormous cost, as not to
be undertaken by the Government. even when at
peace, and free of debt but in the midst Of civil
war-trade and commerce dsturbed-our sources
of revenue impaired-with out industry paralized.
and a national debt accumuIating at the rate OF
nearly two millions per day. the wisdom and
fairs, commends it as feasible and desirable.
When we see such stupendors folly united to
most abandoned corruption and wckedness we
not too earnestly strive 70 rescue the Govern
ment from such control.
Emancipation, then, as a war measure is weak
ness and not strength-a burthen and not a sup
port, and can be adopted only as a means of re-
venge TO destroy the South but not TO restore the
Union-and to that aspect Of the question call
your attention.
AS party. the Democracy of the Northwest
have not been sectional, bat have advocated
equality of rights and privileges to all-and thus
far have even conceded that New England and
Pennsylvania might have the revenue policy of
the United States so adjusted rs to give them an
advantage of from twenty to forty per cent. upon
their labr :, more than could be given to our la
Dor. But we are now being so crushed, that If
we and our children are not to become the chew
ers of wood and drawers of water for the capi-
talsts Of New England and Pennsylvania, we
must look TO the interests Of our section; and
for the first time in my life intend to speak as
sectional man.
We are not a manufacturing people, and can
not well become such; our wealth must come
from the cultivation of the soil, and is of those
heavy and bulky articles that require convent
ent market and cheapness OF transportation A
foreign demand will enrich those regions from
which there is convenient and cheap approach to
the ocear, but it can not greatly benefit US: our
corn and wheat, hogs and cattle are so weighty
and bulky that before they reach the sea coast
much of their value is lost in the cost of trans
pOrtation. And this must continue, for railroad
transportation can not become cheap. The ma
lgn policy of the party now in power IN the en-
actment of the tariff of last summer. which in
ordinary times will be prOhibitory and defeat rev.
enue, and which makes us buy at high prices and
sell at low prices. and which will impair our for
eign market has heretofore been partially defeat
ed by the short crops in Europe, causing larger
foreign demand for breadstufs than we have en-
joyed perhaps since l847; yet, with an extraordi-
nary foreign demand for all We have to sell, what
is our condition. Compare the present with
our condition sixteen months since, and we
have the answer. Our hogs were then worth
from four to five dollars per hundred; they are
now worth from two to two dollars and fifty
cents. Our corn and wheat and cattle have fall
len almost in like proportion. And further to the
West / understand the losses are still greater to
that degree that in some localities in Illinois the
useful and valuable article of corn is used as the
cheapest fuel To estimate our losses in Indiana
for this year is difficult; but we may assume upon
pork the following: Upon each 100 pounds 50,
and an average weight of $50 lbs gives a loss of
S5 on each hog. Upon one railroad there have been
shipped 100000 head, and assuming that to be
one tenth of the hogs in the State, the entire
stock for market in the State for this year
is 900 900, and our losses upon pork S5 900 900.
1t is probably safe to assume an equal loss upon
each of the articles of corn, wheat, and other
stock, making the loss to the agricultural inter-
ests of Indiana $40 900, 600. These estimates
not reliable, and are not given as such, but
rather as illustrations. The main fact is that our
losses are enormous. In the reflective mind the
inquiry arises, why is this so? Ii is not for the
want of foreign demand; we have that in an
increased degree; it is not in the scarcity of
money-that is abundant for all the wants of our
trade-but the answer is in the fact that we are
cut off from our Southern market. 1t is a stri
king fact in contrast that the Eastern States, du
ring the las. nine months. have accumulated
more wealth than during the same time at any
period of their history. For the want of the
Southern market, the men Of Indiana lose nearly
one half the rewards of their labor Why that
market is of such value to us, is apparent upon
a moments reflection; the transportation of our
heavy and bulky products upon the rivers is easy
and cheap-iti is the interest of the South mainly
to employ her labor in the production of rice, su-
gar, hemp, tobacco and cOtton-(artcles which
we do not produce)- to depend upon and buy
from us the production OF our lands and labor.
To encourage and stimulate the people of the
South in the production Of their peculiar COM
modities, that they may be large buyers from US,
has been, and so long as "grass grows and water
runs" will be, the true interest of the North
west; and that political party that would destroy
that market is our greatest foe.
Most earnestly, then, do 1 call upon the men
of Indiana to consider what President Lincoln
seems to favor, what Cameron urges, what the
Republican members of Congress, in caucus have
determined upon, ard what bills now pending in
Congress contemplate the freedom of the negroes
in the rebel States-in word. the destruction of
Southern labor, and the ruin for ever of our
rich trade and the value Of our products.
Impelled by false philanthropy, England has
made her rich islands luxuriant waste and will
deraess, the trade of which is worth no more than
one of the jewels in the Queen's crown. Are we
now, who have for ourselves and the generations
yet to come such important interests involv ed, to
consent to such policy towards the great aud fer
tile regions upon the Gulf of Mexicoy
The first and highest interest OF the North
west is i'm the restoration and preservation of the
Union upon the basis of the Constitution-and
the deep devotion of her Democracy to the cause
of the Union is shown by its fidelity in the past
but if the failure and folly and wickedness of the
party in power render union impossible, then
fhe mighty Northwest must take care of her
self and her own interests She must not
allow the arts and the fnesse of New England
to dispon her of her richest commerce and trade
and to render her labor wholly subservient to an
eastern, sectional, and selfish policy Eastern
lust of power, commerce, and gain
know the potent appeal that has been made
to our prejudice, upon the charge that slave labor
is in competition with the free labor of the North
but know also that it is not founded in fact
The cultivation of rice, sugar, cotton, tobacco
and hemp is not in competition with our labor
but in aid and support of it, With the gold
which the Southerner receives for the sale Of hi
crops, he purchases our produces, and thus Sc
cures TO our labor its high rewards. But if We
disturb the institutions, as our fathers approved
them-if we free the negroes of the South, wha
are the consequences upon uss Large number
Of the negroes would seek the North, expecting
to meet peculiar sympathy, and one of two re