Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1864-09-20

bulCludl dCJ ny VIC IIpoeHt keHoIhhOh' anu
probably cursed and execTaed by posterlty il
all coming time, for the wide and desoatiug
ruin that will lIineytabIy follow this act you now
propose to perpetIate ?
Pause, | eureat you, and consider for 4
moment what reasons you can give that Will even
satisfy Yourselves in calmer moments, what
reasons you can give to your fellow sufferers in
the calamity that it will bring. What reasons
can you give to the nations Of be earth to justify
IL? They will be the calm and Deliberate Judges
io the case and TO what cause, OF one overt act
can YOU point on which 10 rest the plea OF
Justification? ? Mat right has the North
assailed What interest Of the South has been
invaded What Justice has been denied, or
what claim, founded in justice and right has
been withheld? Can any of you Today name
one governmental act Of wrong deliberately and
purposely done by the government at Washing
ton, CT which the South has right 70 complain
challenge the answer.
On the other hand let me show the facts ol
which | wish you to Judge | will only state
ac,s which are clear and undeniable, and which
now stand as records authentic in the history oi
our country When we Of the South demanded
lhe slave trade. or the Importation Of Africans
Tor the cultivation Of our lands, did they Eot
Weld the right for twenty years. When We
asked for three ths represen tation IN Congress
fJr our slaves, was II not granted2 When We
demanded theTc,utnoi any fugitive from justice
or the recovery Of those persons owing labor OF
allegiance, was II not incorporated in the Con
sttion. and again ratified and strengthened in
the Fugitive Slave law Of 1892 When We
asked hat more territory should be added that
we might spread the institution Of slavery, have
they not Welded to our demands in giving
louisiana, Florida and Texas, out Of which
four States have been carved, and ample terri
torv for 6ur more to be added 10 due time, II
YOU. by this uuwise and mpclltlc act, do not
destroy this hope, aud perhaps by It lose all
abd have your last slave wrenched from you by
stern military rule, as South America and
Mexico were or by tho yiudictiye decree oI
universal emancipation, which may reasonably
b. expeeted to follow?
Bat what have we to gain by ihls proposed
change Of our relation to the general govern.
ment2 We have always had the coutrol Of It,
and can vet, II we remain 10 it, and are united
as We have been. We have had majority Of
the Presidents chosen from the South, as well az
the control and management OF most 0l those
chosen from the North We have had sixty
Years Of Southern Presidents 10 their twenty
lOir. thus controlling the Executive department.
s. OF the judges Of the Supreme Court, We have
had eighteen from the South, and but eleven
from the North Although nearly iour-ffths
Of the judicial busiless has arisen IN the free
States. vet majority Of the Court has always
been from the South. This We have required sC
as 70 guard against any Interpretation Of thu
Constitution unlavorable to us. In like manner
we nave been equally Watchiul to guard oui
interests In the Legislative branch oil govern
ment. In choosing the presiding Presldent
nro tem.) Of the Senate, We have had twenty
four TO their eleven. Speakers OF the House ",
have had twenty three ami they twelve. Will,
the msiorty OF representatives, from thei
greater population, have always been from thr
North. yet We have 50 generally secured th
Speaker because he, to great extent, shape
and controls the legislation OF the country.
| Nor have We had less control in every othe
departmenl Of the general government. o
"A tturut., -ufetrra'5 have hau fourteen, whill
the North have had but hye. Of Foreigr
Ministers we have had eighty SIX, and they haC
but hlty.iuur While three-iourths OF th,
business which demands diplomatic agent
abroad is clearly from the free States, from then
greater commercial interest, yet we have haC
the principal emb sses So as TO secure th,
worlds markets for cur cotton, tobacco ans
sugar On the best possible Terms. We have haC
vast majority Of the higher officers OF b0tf
army and navy, while a larger proportion o
the soldiers and sailors were drawn IRON th'
y f,n. Equally 50 OF cerns, auditors anC
onptrolIefs filing the Executive department
the record shows Tor the last fifty Yeas that o
the three thousand tnus employed, We have hat
more than two-thlrds OF tile same, while ",
/ have but one third ol the white population o
| tue republic. Again look at another Item, II
which We have great and vital interest, that 0
revenue, or means OF supporting government
| From official documents We learn that ID Traction
over three iourths oil the revenue collected io
the support Of government has uniformly beeI
raised from the North
Pause now while YOU can, and contemplate
carefully aud candldly these important items
Leaving cut OF view lot the present the counties
millions Of dollars you must expend IN war will
the North, while tens OF thousands OF your son
and brothers slain IN battle, and offered al
as sacrifices upon the altar OF your ambition
and Tor what2 Is 1t lor the overthrow OF TN
American government, established by our com
mon ancestry, cemented and built up by thei
sweat and blood, aud founded on the broa
principles of right, justice and humanity y! An
as such, must declare here, as have ote
done before, and which has been repeated b
the greatest aud wisest OF Statesman ant patriot
in this and other lands, that 1t is the best an
neest government, the most equal IN Its rlghtt
the most Just IN its decisions, the mOst lenenI
Its measures, and the most inspiring in II
principles to elevsto the race of men, that Oh
sun OF heaven ever shonc upon. Now, for yo
to attempt to overthrow such government
his unassailod, is the hight oimadness, folly an
wlcke iness.