Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1863-09-03


ulacy and nationality OF slavery. In truth,
all parties were opposed to il; and at no
period since the destruction of the Missou-
ri Compromise. in 1854. could majority
of the people Of any section have been
brought to agree to permanent and per-
petual settlement of all present future
Territories between slave and free States.
The great founder of the Democratic par
ty himself had deprecated it. Jefferson
said:
"a geographical line coinciding with
marked principle. and conceived an held
up to the angry passions Of men. will new
er be obliterated; but every new irritation
will mark it deeper and Deeper
am opposed to such a line. not only
principal but the present state Of on par
ties and opinions, it 10 sutterly impractia-
pie.
But if we were willing to compromise.
would the rebel leaders and rulers be will
ling to d, so? Let the President and
Vice President Of .he rebel Government
speak for themselves. jeff. Davis said
before the Mississippi Legislature last
December:
AFTER what has happened during the
las two years my only wonder is that
we consented to live for so long time in
association with such miscreants. the
Northern people and have loved SO much
Government U. S. Government rot
ten to the core. Were it ever to be pro-
posed again to enter into union with such
people. l would no more consent to itthan
/ would trust myself in den of thieves"
Alexander Ii. Stephens, in speech at
Raleigh, N. g., uttered words to the same
effect
And what was the compromise announ-
ced by the heads Of the rebel government,
and echoed by the rebel press? Lately
one of the Richmond papers. in jearing
response to proposed overture OF COM
promise said-compromise was out of
the question; that Lee. Johnston
and Beauregard would possibly con-
descend to receive peace commissioners
and written authoritative recognition Of
southern independence. but in doing so
would doubtless guard against offense to
their olfactories by averting their heads
from disgusting presence. and holding
their noses; that they might possibly con-
descend to this humility in compliment to
the Illinois Legislature and its plenipoten-
tiaries, but surely nothing more"
have intimated, gentlemen, that this re-
bellion is gratui,ous and unprovoked. l
now affirm il, and proceed to prove
it. Louisiana, a slave territory. stretch
ing from the Mississippi to the Pacific,
EN- bracing the area of vast empire. was
required in our infancy. at cost Of fifteen
millions of dollars. when we were hardly
able to pay anything. and added to the
area Of slavery. Florida, too. an exten-
sive territory. but at acquired at
a cost Of five millions of dollars, was also
added to the area Of slavery. And in
fact. all the territories we have purchased
have been slave territories, adding at first
so much to the extent of slave territory
within eur jurisdiction, and actual slavery
has spread all over theEl, upward even
beyond the limit of its climatic ability per-
manently to sustain itself. Moreover,
slavery has penetrated several OF the prov
inces won by our arms. from Mexico,
including Arizonia. and thus extended II
self into free territory.
The Missouri Compromise was abolish
ed that slavery nigh. compete with free
dom North of 36 deg. 80 min., in an ex-
tensive region whence it had been banished,
by law, for more than twenty years.
The Republicans, succeeding tothe con-
troll of the 36th Congress. in 1859, upon
the issue Of interdicting slavery by law of
Congress. in all the territories, studiously
avoided doing SO. or in any way interfer-
ing with it during that eventful Congress.
The Fugitive Slave Act, which had been
signed by Washington in 1889, had been
amended at the discretion of Southern
Senators and Representatives in 1850.
The Dred Scott decision had been pro-
nounced in 1854, which according TO south
ern Interpretation. forever removed all leg
islative barriers to the spread of slavery
into tie territories.
The South had, in the main, controlled
the action of the Government. its offices
and hoaors. throughout a period of seven
ty years from the date Of its formation.
The sugar of the South had been favor
ed by protecting duties to give it advan-
tage in the markets. The cotton as well as
sugar culture of the South had grown and
prospered beyond the most sanguine sntici-
pations. and the slave holders of the South
who had become rich and luxurious. arro-
CANT and supercilious in their vain glory
and impatience Of restraint, conspired to
overthrow the Government.
Without provocation for rebellion,
what. now, is the object of the rebellion?
Visions Of power and place-visions too
grand and vast for ordinary conception,
were the inspiration and incitement. The
establishment OF limited and bedizened
aristocracy. founded on wealth, and recog-
nized by law. was one object. The per-.
petnation and extension OF African slave
ry as an element Of social excellence and
political power was another. e.a.s iaaa
The erection of Jealous oligarchy. ig-
noring and degrading the many, and sup.
plying Office, honors and emoluments to
the few, was another.
Not only was the South. from the Della
ware to the Rio Grande. to be appropria-
ted by the Southern Confederacy. bur Mex
leo and Central America also. were to be
absorbed by it. Cuba. too. was to be ac
quired and held as the key to the Gulf OF
Mexico. which was to become closed sea.
occupiable only at the pleasure of the
Confederate Government.
The Mississippi river the natural high