Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1863-07-04
Emancipation in Missouri.


The people of Missouri acting in 3 state
convention. have decreed the abolition Of
slavery in thar state. This was done on the
first day Of the present month; and among
those foremos. in the work were men, Who
s. few years ago. seemed IS far As possible
from being a5olIsioais.s- This decree does
not mske emancipation Immediate, and in
this particular, probably, the sentiment 0t the
people Of 1IIssoGri Is ahead Of the eonvsu-
1o1- TOR, wT1hin the last 5so years, the '.zat-
zeal eulazcfgatisn ls1s tesre have become uc-
uero1s and 51s1snE5ll- The census Of 800
reporusd Il49&I sBlvgs IL Missouri. bGs It i
very 5uuattQl whether the number Is hall
1lah. at Tire present dzas. SscessiouSsln has
been extremely destructive to the Institution
there as we'll Is ia other localities Before
the Rebellion began great ussry shares were
l1ksH tron Missouri ard carried south. Since
the seeessa1u traitors began 10 operate therea
great many slaves lett the state on their own
account; and IN various ways the institution
hzE< cosns to much grief.
Missouri mss the soil, natural resources,
and extent Of territory to become and remain
permanently the empire state of the west;
aud this it would have become, long since. if
slavery had never been introduced there. At
Ehs outset, it became the victim Of the
slavery propagandists, who won their irs4
great victory, in 1920, by securing the il--
miniStraton of Missouri as a slave salss, tne
was a cause of great EMULATION to the s3hHe
power, which was politically ssrerg alene,i.
but it etfectually INSTRUCTED the growth and
prosperity of the State, while, to great eN-
tent it placed the control of affairs in the
hands Of that class Of msl who, while Kan
sas was a territory, Distinguished themselves
as ''border rufians." Its noteworthy circum-
stance that, now, the work Of State emancipa-
ton begins in Missouri, where the propagaud-
lists won their firstimportant triumph, andwhere
the rufianly lawlessness and rage of the slave
power have been made SO notorious. What A
change it is to have the "Blue Lodges sup
planted by emancipation organizations Cir
cumstances have made Kansas the most radi.
cal anti slavery state in the Union, but Mis-
souri, is now likely to become quite as vehe-
ment against slavery. The reign of ''border
ruthanism" in that quarter is over.
The reasons why Missouri should be a free
state are so obvious and strong that it did not
require much reflection to feel their force. 1t
is not very difficult to see that if Missouri had
entered the Union as a free state she would
now have more than double her present pop
ulation, and, perhaps ten times her present
wealth and power. No other state in all the
west is so rich in those natural resources
which can have full development only by
means of free labor, free schools, and general
intelligence. 1t is not likely that majority
of the people of that state have ever been sin
cere devotees Of slavery. Their convictions
have probably always failed to support slave
ry; but wherever the institution has existed
it mas assumed control OF the lawless elements
of society and organized the machinery of ter
ror, and in that way silenced opposition. Ruff
fanism, nourished and increased by its infu-
ence, has become its standing army" and kept
lynch law ready for any man who dared to IA
vor emancipation LII Missouri this machine
ry of terror has been broken down and
swept away by the discontinue of the Sc
cession traitors, and one immediate conse-
quence is that the nti-slavery Sentiment of
the state, freed from the old terror, mani
tests itself in every locality and becomes
everywhere predominant. Doubtless it has
been quickened and strengthened by the
desperate and bloody endeayor of the slave
power to destroy the republic; but it is not
new to the people; and probably a similar
opposition to slavery exists silently in most
of the slave states.
The convention which has decreed the re-
mOval of slavery from Missouri, was elected
two years ago, and, at that time, seemed to be
strongly pro-slavery. The change in it has
been produced by great revolution in the
public sentiment of the State; and this revo-
luton has been spontaneous. The control of
analrs has passed into the hands of better
men than formerly ruled the State. Reason
has supplanted rufianism; regard for the
highest good OF the state has taken the place
OF reckless devotion to the slave power; and
common sense is no longer awed and kept ST.
lent by the violence OF the organized guerrillas
of slavery. There has been no hot contro-
versy to secure this result. Men of all par
ties have worked to secure it, feeling that
their own interests as well as the safety of the
nation required it. The anti-slavery senti-
ment has arisen and spread among the people,
by its own force, silent and sure as the morn
ing light; and it has given death blow to
the only influence in the State that could
cherish anything like fraternity or sympathy
with the "confederacy" of disunion traitors.
Mr.. SEWARD ON THE FOURTH OF JULY
The following letter has been received by
the city authorities of Boston, from Hon.
VIM H. Seward, who in common with the
president and the rest of the cabinet, received
an invitation to be present at the celebra-
ton of the Fourth: -
", DhFAkfAENT OF STATE, }
"AsHINGTeN, June 20, 1864
Gentlemen You are right. Con,; ,
celebration OF independence in Boston y 'iie
the sacred fire alivei in Faneuil Hall Tt aneep
it glimmer and seem to go out in Ricbn,-ts,I
and in New Orleans, it will yet revive ' tbera
aud everywhere else throughout the land S.
cession is dependence-dependenc first ON
faction at home, and afterwards on foreign
powers across the Atlantic Onnose IL NIL