New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-06-27
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Ten years ago the United States presented
to the world the spectacle of a republic in
which the fundamental principle of republic
canism was only half acknowledged. One Sec
ton of the country was ruled by an aristoc-
racy of the most Odious kind, under which in
dividual liberty was almost unknown, and men,
women, and children were bought and sold,
flogged, chained, branded, and bred for the
market like cattle where the preacher was
not allowed to preach the sanctity of mar
riage, and it was a crime to teach the poor to
read. Freedom of speech under that tyrannOus
regime was pestilent heTesy. The press was
muzled more securely than the press of France.
Law or no law, paper which taught in the
language of the Declaration of Independence
that "all men are born equal could not be
sent through the mails. A man who read THE
TRIBUNE must do so in peril of his life. A
citizen who believed that the despOtism under
which he lived was cruel, and shameful, and
hostile to the spirit of American institutions,
must hold his tongue, or face social ostracism
and bodily danger. Even the courts were en-
shaved and advocates silenced by the iron
tyranny which bound the South as abso-
lutely as Russia a century ago was
bound to the throne of the Gar.
Under its blighting influence manufac-
lures were banished from nearly half the
Union; wasteful systems of agriculture ex-
hausted the land; and five or six millions of
people, white and black, were kept in degrad-
ing ignorance and poverty that few lords of
the soil might be supported in precarious
luxury.
Such was the condition of the Slave States.
Even the Free States were free in name rather
than reality. 1t was Slavery which for a long
term of years had owned the Federal Govern
ment and made laws for the whole nation.
The terrorism of Slavery was felt even in
Northern States where to be the friend of liberty
was counted a reproach, and the SLAYER was per-
mitted to hunt his victims through our streets
and imprisOn them in our jails. America,
which professed to be the home of the OPP
pressed, was the paradise of the oppressor. Of
all great civilized nations she alone made a
| traffic in human flesh She was an evil exam
pie to all the world, and a by-word in the
lips of foreigners who, without the sanctions of
representative government and written cOnsti-
tutions, enjoyed in many respects more genu-
inc freedom than we did.
Only ten years ago, and what a change to-
day! Slavery is gone like a nightmare. The
four millions of freed people, entering upon
their new life without the reaction which
might have been anticipated after such sud
den liberation, are fast becoming useful and
reputable citizens. Commerce and domes-
tic industry are reviying. The scars of
war are already nearly obliterated. For
the new South q future of unex-
ampled prosperity is dawning, In which ma
terial improvements are keeping pace with the
growth of education and general intelligence.
The degraded lower class which was the
curse of the Slave States is disappearing.
Free speech, free press, and equal rights
are now the privileges of all parts of the
country alike. For the first time in our his
tory the States are really united. For the
first time we can really offer ourselves 10 the
world as an example of free government, and
encourage the Liberals Of Europe with the