, 1864-01-02


forms conspicuous part of the cant of the
radicals in the Border Slayeholding States,
as the saying eThe Union is gone p formed
a like part of the cant of the rebels at the
outset of the rebellion, the one cant saying
being used at present to win men over to
radicalism, just as the other was used for
,merly to win men over to -secessionism. In
short, the saying in hand is a radical bait to
hook conservative gudgeons
The answer which the conservatives have
to make to this saying is very plain. In the
first place, whether slavery is gone or not is
a matter which the people Of the several
States of the Border claim the right to de
termine for themselves without the arbitra-
ry interference of the General Government
and, in the second place, if slavery in these
States is indeed gone, as the saying asserts,
there can be no occasion for the arbitrary
interference of the General Government to
put an end to 1t. Radicalism in general is
usurpation; but radicalism as applied to
slavery in the Border States, if this cant
saying Of the radicals asserts fact, is gra-
tuitous and wanton usurpation Thus the
saying hooks its own cause, leaving the un-
wary radical who uses it in the predicameDt
of the cockney fisherman that jerked his
line out Of the water only to catch the seat
Of his own breeches.
The answer we have here given to this
cant saying is the answer given to it by the
conservatives of Maryland by the eonserva.
tives of Missouri, and by the conservatives
Of Tennessee. 1t is the answer Of the con
seryatives Of all the Border States 1t is
manifestly decisive answer, SO far as prin-
ciple and policy are concerned. We regret
that it is not equally decisive in point of
fact. But it is not, as among other things
the order of the President for the enlist
ment of slaves in Maryland and Missouri
and Tennessee, which we publish in another
column, too plainly Witnesses Against this
order we most earnestly protest. We pro
test against it as an arbitrary aud indefensi-
ble violation not merely of the personal
rights of the citizens of the States in ques-
ton, but Of the rights of these States as
States and the rights of Kentucky Likewise,
inasmuch as the measure, whilst setting at
defiance the laws Of the States in question,
inevitably tends more or less directly and
more or less powerfully. to coerce all the
Border States to abolish slavery whether
they will or not And it is impossible to
doubt that such is the real purpose Of the
order. 1t is true, Kentucky is not at pres
ent included in the terms of this order,
thanks to the prompt and energetic remon-
STRANGE of her noble Chief Magistrate, Gov
Bramette) but she is included in its neces-
sary effect and she may at any time here
after be included in its termso She at all
events cannot escape its necessary Effect
The case Of her sister States Of the Border
is her own case. And she stands with them
in their protest against this unwarrantabe
and dangerous encroachment of the General
Goyernment 1o stta fsr. t,o-.rs
Let US be understood The Border States
claim the right under the Federal Constitu-
tion to dispose of slavery as of every other
domestic interest by their own free and vol
untary action. This is all they have to say
on the subject of their domestic poIity to the
authorities at Washington While support
ing the General Government in its legiti!
mate sphere with a zeal and devotedness un-
surpassed if not unequalled, they simply
claim that their constitutional equality aud
independence as States of the Union shall
be respected in good faith by the General
Government. This is clearly right. They
ask nothing more. Shall they be left un-
disturbed in the exercise of this clear right !?
This is the question which divides the con
seryatives and the radicals in these States
and in the country at large, the conserva-
tives answering %YES," the radicals an
swering f.N0Y The question is not as to
whether this or that Border State shall
abolish slavery, but as to whether the Gene
raj Government shall directly or indirectly
abolish slavery in all the Border States, or
in other words, modify their constitutions to
suit their own notions of propriety Such
is the fundamental issue between the con-
servatives and the radicals, and whenever a
radical says 'Slavery is gomez be means
only that the General Government must be
invoked to expela and extinguish it. The
saying is masked battery, though the mask
is very transparent -Lou. JoarnaL
VIRGINIA Cry MARKEr.- From pri-
vate letter TO Mr. b. r. Stone, of this city,
we get the following as the market prices
ruling in November, in Virginia City, in the
Stinkingwater mines '
Flour, $40 per hundred butter, ST so
per To-; potatoes, 40c. per h.; wood S22 so
per cord whisky, IS to $40 per GAL; brandy,
$18 The prices Of all marketable articles
we're proportionately high, with an upward
tendency
A PURIFYING ACT.-We notice by the
proceedings of the Idaho Legislature that
Mr. Waterbury proposes to introduce "a bill
for an Act to purify elections" The last
election in that Territory would indicatethat
there is plenty Of room for purifcafion.
Some member should introduce a bill having
for its object the purifying of one W. I'll.
Wallace and some more Of that stripe of pol
iticians.a hsfHa au3F le ~ .sad-iaa-LtcI
THE New ROAD wagon has been
keptrrunning across the mountain on the
new road to Grand Ronde, and this week
Messrs. Thomas and Abbott have sent up
sleds to beat down the snow and keep the
road open
| THE COLvILLE ROAD.-The road from
Spokane to Colville is blockaded by snow, SC
! that the mail carrier. on his last trip, was