New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1872-10-24
From the Washington Republican.
MIR. GrPeley'S Record.

&c Having seen in several papers the stat
ment that Horace Greeley was one Of II
Is early pioneers in the anti-slavery cause. an
II well knowing, as L do, that no greater m
e take was ever made, and fearing that tn
y may have a tendency to mislead some.
would ask the favor of little space in vo,
> highly valuable paper to say a few word
about the matter. Being myself one of III
: old guards " who enlisted in this cause il
I 1870 and helped in my feeble way To lich
the battle for the equal rights of all mel
before the law" can truly say that in tina
snip L know all the ropes" and know
: whereof l affirm. can't now Give lust tn,
date when VIM. Lloyd Garrison commence,
E the discussion of the subject of slavery. o.
when he was dragged through the streets o
Boston with rope around his neck, but il
was some time previous to 1860. BY his elo
quence and zeal he gathered quite compan,
OF followers in New England, but he tool
the ground that the Constitution was wrecked
by prO-slavery, a covenant with death and
an agreement with hell" and that it was
wrong to take any political action undcrit. In
1870 the Liberty party was formed. under
the leadership of Genit Smith and others,
having their stronghold in Central New
OK. This party took the directly opposite
ground that the Constitution was a clean
antl-slavery paper, and would, were its princi-
pies carried out, abolish slavery upon every
loot OF American soil where it existed.
They cast their first vote for President on
the dlstinctively anti-slavery ground in 1910,
but a handful to be sure. but they were the
seed votes OF humanity" | believe that
1t IS universally conceded fact that all the
early pioneers in the anti-slavery movement
belonged to one or another of these oryani-
cations. Will some gentleman Of the press
VINO CLAIMS this honor for ii. G.. please rise
| and explain to which of these he BELONGED.
either then or afterward? At that time he
was publishing
THE LOG CABIN,
which strongly advocated the election of
Gen. Harrison to the Presidency.
Soon after he started the Yjibuge. which
was dlstlnctlvely Wing paper, nothing
more, nothing less. Time passed ON. and in
lS42, or early in l843, the Liberty party
nominated James e. Bimey for President.
thus early in the field, with some of the best
talent that the nation afforded, every mem
per constituted himself committee of one to
,apof IN Whatever capacity he was fitted for.
by speaking, writing, or scattering broadcast
over the land printed documents, to try and
MAKE tne people see, as they already saw,
that II this nation did not very soon DESTROY
slavery it would very soon make the attemnt
at least, as it has since done. to overthrow
the Government. In 1874 the Wings nomi
mated Henry Clay and the Democratic party
nominated James X. Polk for the Presidency.
low stands Horace Greeley's anti-slayery
record at this time:
Every energy of his nature was directed to
the election of Henry Clay, the man whom
every anti-slavery man in the nation re-
gardea, ana justly so, as more fearlully re-
sponslble than any other living man for the |
SiSantic proportions to which slavery had |
altalhed, having in the winter of 1920. when |
the vote was taken upon the admission of
Missouri as slave territory. used all his oroot |
influence to secure its admission with slavery
and when at last the vote was taken in the
llouse-it being tie, and he being Speaker
ne gave his casting vote in its favor, there
by deciding that in place of its DIVING ont in
a lew years, as it most surely would have
done for lack of room, it should have This
vast rich virgin soil to spread itself over:
it became the formidable controlling
power to grapple with, which the anti,
slavery men in after years found it to be. for
thls question rightly settled would have been
a precedent Tor the right settlement of SINH
lar matters i'll after time, Just as by its wrono
decision it became precedent for the wrono
settlement of the same question when annlird
to other territory. Henry Clay was Horace
Greeieys god. He knew nor acknowledged
no higher power above or below. lie wor-
shipped him, he swore by him, and swore
That he should be elected President. and
that, too, regardless whether the means
used were fair or foul
With such zeal and determination had tbc
anti-slavery men played their cause before
the nation that II. Greeley saw that in sey-
eral Oh the states they would hold the bal
ahce OF power between the two great parties,
~ MS suptle craltlness suggested to him
that if by any possible means they could he
seduced u abandon their principlcs and vote
Tor Henry Clay his election was assured. lie
there lore commenced fawninU around them
an using the most seductive kind of tlattery
and palaver to induce them ''iust this once''
TO vote Tor III. Z. to keep out Texas. DURING
the summer OF 1874, Cassius M, CLAY was
sent upon tour through the Northern States
sent If not directly by II. G., with his most
hearty approval and cooperation, to see
what his eloquence and persuasion would ac-
complish IN the matter. Conformity they
labored long and arduously with will and
zeal worthy OF lar better cause, and must
say that for once Horace kept his tcmner
most wonderfully well. Not content with
what he could accomplish with the Tifbune.
he issued series of tracts called
THE "TUNIus TRACTS
which were scattered broadcast over the land
all directed to the double object of breaking
up the little Liberty party and the election
Of Henry Clay. But as the ides of Noyem-
Der drew near, and he found that every Lib.
nrty party man not only stood firm as a rock.
but intended to take at least one voter to the
polls with him, then the righteous soul of
Horace waXed wroth exceedingly. lie
changed his base at once, his good-natured
palaver and tlattery changed to NORWOOD
and gall, and those men who all summer had
been the most noble, generous, and plilan-
[hropic, that the world had ever beheld.
whose only fault was that they were lust a
little mistaken as to the right way of CARVING
out glorious object. for which he was also
most zealously laboring-all at once, by a
single stroke of the great philosophers pen.
they were transformed as if by magic into the
most vile and abject villains that went I'M
hung. Every species Of abuse, as we then
thought, which it was possible to suffer was
'ained upon our devoted heads. 1t was sup-
posed that after the election he would accent
The situation, whatever it might be. and be-
have like half sane man at least: but alas
for the uncertainty of human hopes! The
election came of in due time, and Henry CLAY
was defeated. The Liberty party cast ali
told, between $4,000 and $1,000 votes. In
New \ ok they cast 1856, and it proved