The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1865-03-27

iueit 10 the country. ana tnirty years
ago that spirit became predoninanss : in
most OF the older States Of the South
The southern slaveholders aped the man.
ners and the tone and imbibed the spiri,
Of the arstocrs,ic classes of Europe. They
even boasted on the floor of Congress tina,
the slav.holders constituted superior
class in this country and claimed that
they were the untitled nobility of the
lsud, nobility they asserted as real and
genuine as that Of monarchic Europe,
whose titles we're not enrolled on parch.
ment but were visible in broad plantations
stocked with negro dependents. With
such class ruling the South and infu-
encing the country, politics became rro-
fession aud The doctrines OF aristocracv
prevailed in their State politics and the
principles Of Safe Sovereignty were in.
sisted on as fundamental to the Cops,i,u.
tion ofshc Union. The principles Of real
d mocracy and R publicanism were
secuted; the eqrahty of mankind, the
rights Of man, the rule of the ntjofi,y
were ignored or con,t mned The national
Government, tic CBnsfitution and the
Union were constantly disparayed By this
aristocraey Of siAveholding politicians.
The common people OF the South were
"while trash, in their view inferior 10 the
negro slaves, and their contempt for the
people of the North found expression in
sueh1on,emptueus phrases as "Mud Sills,'
"Greasy Mechanics aud "Small- isted
Fs,mers." Aod az years rolled on and Il 9
population OF the Nyrth increased aid
expanded Till it became evident that the
f despiscd classes would rule the ct untry
by the force of numbers, the con-
tempt of the rule of the majority beigi t.
eDed into dread. and the opposition into
intense hostility.
The politicians of the South devoted
their reflections aud their efforts to undei
mine the Union, to turn the hearts of Il
people away from it.to convert their de-
votion and 1--we into jealousy ard fear
They set the State above the Union and
demandtd for Stale institutions and Safe
authorities allegiance paramount to that
which was rendered to the National Gov
ernment. And this feeling and this prn-
ciple was proclaimed and fostered with
such diligence and persistency that il ", 9
finally engrsfted iuto the platform Of he
dominant political party of the courtry
BnL State Sovereignty alone would OF
answer The purpose OF The aspiring lesd-
ers of the S1utb, who were looking for
ward TO ulterlor movements. A thorou, b.
going sectional feeling and sy. tenaiic e.
ganiz l,ion was required and it was grad
ually effected, while in the meantime the
people were fsuiliarazsd to the idea OF
disuuion and accustomed to obey tie voice
of their ea6er.. The contest for dis
union was scluaiiy commenced in Kan
sas, aud though the result was not as ia
vnral lie as The leaders anticipated, hey
managed to make up their lack BY hang
ing john Brown and defeating Stephen
A. Douglas By which time their lans
were fully rire. aud the occasion and cir
camstances all seemed highly favorable to
mike their strike for Independ nee and
for Empire.
Their plan was an olgarchy--an
empire founded on the corner stone ot
human slavery, in which the blacks were
to work, aud the hite tra,h t. Fl .ht
for heir masters Tdey counted on an
easy conquest Of their independence, and
expected Io train their arulies for uuivef
sal conquest in he acquisition of Mexico
and Cuba That they expected no seri-:
Gus resistance from the North, is evident,
from all that was said aud done By their
leaders a, the time, anl we have here at
hand briei extract from a speech ofJef
~ We, uCitSStCu os ASASfSuccup AaoUdno,
In 1861, which expresses in bIief the uni
verssl idea OF the rebel chiefs at the period
OF the outbreak of the rebellion. Aud
here in the words Vt their chosen leader
is the programme OF these traitor guerrilla
cut thtoais:
Your border States will gladly come
into the Southern Confederacy within
sixty days. as We will be your only friends
England will recognize US, and a glorious
future is before Us. The grass will grow
in the Nor,hern cities, where the pave.
ments have been worn by ,h tread Of
commerce We will carry the war where
it is easy to advance, where food for the
sword and torch asait the armies in the
deBseIy populated cities.''
Inspired BY spirit Of mad ambition
these Southern leaders sought to escape
from the "iule of the majority" to over.
throw the only free government on earth.