Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1864-09-16

fellow sufferers in the calamity that il will
bring. What reasons can you give to IN,
nations of the earth to justify ii? The,
will be the calm and deliberate judges il
the case and to what cause, or one over
act, can you point on which to rest tn,
plea OF justification What right has the
North assailed? What interest of the
Sonth has been Invaded? What justice
has been denied, or what claim, founded il
justice and right, has been withheld? Car
any Of you to-day name one governmental
act OF wrong deliberately and purposely
done by the government at Washington, OF
which the South has right to complain
| challenge the answer.
On the other hand, LEI me show the
facts of which wish you to Judge; will
only state facts which are clear and unde-
niable, and which now stand as records
authentic in the history of cur country.
When we of the South demanded the slave
trade, or the importation of Africans fer
the cultivation of our lands, did they not
yield the right Cor twenty years? When
we asked for three-fifths representation
in Congress for cur slaves. was it not
granted? When we demanded the return
of any fugitive from Justice, or the recov-
cry of those persons owing labor or allie
glance, was it not Incorporated in the
Constitution, and again ratified and
strengthened in the Fugitive Slave law OF
| 1850? When we asked that more terri
tory should be added that we might spread
the institution of siarery, have they NOT
yielded TO our demands in giving Louis
lana, Florida and Texas, out of which four
States have been carved, and ample ter.
ritory for four more to be added 10 due
time, if you, by the unwise and impolitic
act, do mol destroy this hope, and perhaps
by it lose all, and have your last slave
wrenched from you by stern military rule.
as South America and Mexico were, or hy
the vindictive d, cree of universal emanci
patton, which may reasonably be expected
TO follow?
But what have we to gain by this proposed
change of our relation to the general gov
trnmeut? We have always had The con-
troll of it, and can yet, if we remain in it,
and are united as we have been. We
have had a majority Of the Presidents
chosen from the South, as we'll as the con-
troll and management OF most of those
chosen from the North We have had
sixty years of Southern Presidents to their
twen:y-four thus controlling the Executive
department. So OF the Judges of the Su-
preme Court, we have had eighteen from
the South, and but eleven from the North |
business has arisen in the free States, vet |
majority Of the Court has always been I
from the South. This we have required I
so as 70 guard against any Interpretation !
of the Constitution nnfavorabe TO US. In
like manner we have been equally watch |
fol 10 guard our interests in the Legisla-
tive branch Of government. In choosing
the presiding Presidents (pro. tenn of the |
Senate, We have had twenty-four to their
eleven. Speakers of the House we have
had twenty-three and they twelve. While |
the majority Of representatives, from their
urpatnr MAMMA tinr ba.a al .bna., f,o,,
the North, yet we have so generally Sc
cured the Speaker. because he, to a great |
extent, shapes and controls the legislation
of the country. aa |
Nor have we had less control in every
other department of the general govern
men. Of Attorney-Genersls we have
had fourteen. while the North have had
but FIVE. OF Foreign Ministers v e .have
had eighty-six, and they bad but fifty -four.
While ihree-fourths of the business which |
demands diplomatic agents abroad is clear
ly from the free States, from their greater |
commercial interest, yet We have had the
principal embassies, so as 20 secure the |
worlds markets for our cotton, tobacco and |
sugar on The best possible terms. We
have had vast majority of the higher
officers OF both army and navy, while
larger proportion of the soldiers and sail
ors were drawn from the North. Equally |
SO OF clerks, auditors and comptrolers fill |
ing the Executive department the record
shows for the last fifty years that of the
three thousand thus employed, We have
had more than two-thirds of the same,
while we have but ethird of the white
population of the republic. Again look at
another item, in which we have a great
and vital interest, that of revenue, or
means of supporting government. From
official documents we learn that fraction
over three-four;lIs Of the revenue collected
for the support of government has uni
formly been raised from the North.
Pause now while you can, and contem-
plate carefully and caDdidly these import
ant items. Leaving out of view for The
present the countless millions of dollars
you mus, expend in war with the North,
with tens of thousands of your sons and
brothers slain in battle, and offered up as