The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1864-06-02

:
We have seen-oh, shsnel our national
Judiciary solennIy deciding that slave.
holder may. in free State. seize any person
claimed by him to be his fugitive slave, and
drag him into a slave State. without process
and without trial. subject ,ly to legal re.
.sp 'nsibity should the person thus kidnap
pei ultimately succeed in establishing his
right to freedom. ssa aE
Th Sc and similar, outrages, perpetrated
in the abused name Of the Constitution. have
at length aroi<ei the attention Of the peo-
pie. They inquire at length wherher the
Constitution Of the c,untry was in reality
designed-not to establish Justice and Sc
cure liberty but to establish de<ontism and
secure immunity to oppression' They scru.
tinise the power Of Omgress tn see if indeed
there be among them an authority to create
or continue the condition Of 9lavery2 They
investigate the records of history to ascer-
tain what were the ininnctions laid upon
their posterity BY the acts and the precepts
Of the Fathers Of the country.
We who address you, and orr felow.citi.
zens whom we represent. have been aston
ished by the results of these inquiries. We
find that the construction of the Constitution
which has been imposed upon the people of
the country, is morally Speaking base for
CRY. We find that all power to create Or
Continue Slavery has been carefully with
held from he National legislature. We
And that our fathers have left on record
their solemn censure OF the iniq iitons svs-
tenn. and their sacred pie i,e that it sh,ul 4
not be perpetnated or extended. We find
also and we feel in our bitter experience
that free labor is diShpnorei and its wages
rendered insecure throughout the whole land
by system which ex,cts labr without wa
ges, and degrades the lahorer to the level of
the beast. We are taught also that our own
rights and liberties are en- Ian yered by tie
spirit Of desp,tism -end,n gered by slave
hoNiing. which has 81 fearfiliv Inanifeste1
itself in the denial fthe right Of petition and
oftrial hv jury. and in the desperate attempts
to suppress invest CATION by mob violence.
ny ecclesiastical servilism. bv legislative en- g,
actmenfs and bv party ostracism.
We have, therefore. 'come out from
among" the patrons. the advocates, the apol
ogists of Slavery We have resolved to vote
for no man. and to act with no party not fnl.
ly committed and pledged against this en-
ormous evil and wrong. We avow an eter
nal hostility against despotiSm all Cypress.
ion in everv form. whether manifested in
crushing the black man. or in depressing and
im,overishing the white man.
From the in'nost recessas Of our hearts we
thank Won and the Irish people for your
sympathy with ns in our great strn rg'e,-
You have our sympathy in yours. Ym de.
mand the repeal Of statue which NAL pc
Ireland the political ssal Of En- gland. We
demand the abro.ation Of laws which make
millions the cha'tel property # thousands
You demand the repea,n the Union Statne
because it was carried bv fraud and has been
perpetnated by f'rce We demand the an
rogation Of orr national .chatte]zino
Legislation, because 1t il repaenant alike to
che Gonst'tutlon of our country and to the
code Of Heaven.
You seek to ACCOMPLISH yonr great ohiec,
bv peaceful and legitimate means. We. like
you, appeal to the people. ani put our trust
in Him who holds the hearts OF all men in
His hands. Your triumph, we believe. is
secure and near at hand; ours nav be defer
rcd to somewhat more distant date, but It
will come d
=- We are aware that the energetic and un.
compromising hostility of the Liberator to
everv form Of oppression has drawn mn,
him the bett r hate. AMI SUBJECTED him tn
the calnnn,ous attacks of the p,rfi,ans Of
Slavery IN the country. At "a public meet :.
ing held In New Orleans some three wears
since, he was denounced as "a political rem.
egale entitled t., the execratien of all sober.
upright. and enlightened American citizens
and to be regarded with no feeling hut all.
horene." About the same time he was
stigmatized hy vriter in the state of Miss.
isSippi as that feiestable agita,or, Dariei
OConnell," and as "that unprinciplei Irish
incendiary" More recently the Irish Re.
peal Association Of Baltimore denounced the
speech delivered by the liberator on the 10th
of Nav last as "a base caiamny rainst the
humanity and the purest sense Of human ob-
lig 'tion that are the characteristics of the
Southern people. Even now. unless it has
ben removed since the summer IT ls4o
hangs on the wall Of a slave Dealers Office.
in the District Of Columbia. a filthv car;ca
ture representing Ab,litionists and blacks
together, among whom conspicuous pos;
ton is given tn Daniel O'Connell, as fit
subject for the obscene witticisms of scoun.
drel trafickers in human 4 .sh.
These things were. however, to be expac.
tel from the higated devotees Of Slavery in
the slave States; but it required the eyiden-
ces ofoir senses to convince US that the apol.
ogists for the peculiar institution" who
b've assumed the leadership of the Irish
Repeal Association in this city. would ven.
ture upon any open denunciation Of the il.
lnstri,ns champion of Irish liberty. or dara
to draw an inviduous distinction between
the Irish people AMI their libra.nr. But
the resolution of the meeting held in july
last. which asserted that the declarations of
Mr. O'Connell were 'slanderous of the Am.
erican people," and that it was the dutv NJ