National Republican., 1875-05-27
THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY.
CONTINUED from First Page.) }

One Of the expedients of party to scquire inau.
enoe in particular districts Is to misrepresent the
opinions and aims Of. other districts tending to
ALLEVIATE one section Of the country from the other
| and TO sever the bonds which should unite US In
fTaternal affection: Washington, in his Farewell
Address, warned the nation against establishing
| sectional parties, BY which des Kning men would
| endeavor to excite the belief that there was q
real difference Of local interest % and Views: He
| against the jealOusies and heartburnlngs which
| spring from sectional Misrepresentation. He
warned then; In the mos! solemn manner, against
the bsleful effects Of party spirit. He described
the alternate domination Of one faction over
another, sharpened by the spirit Of revenge, as
havingperpetrated the most horrid enormitles-
itself frfghtful despotism, and as leading to q
more permanent and formal despotism. Sooner
or later the chief Of some prevailing faction tprns
this party despotism to his own elevation Cd the
ruins Of public liberty Party spirit agitates the
| community with ill-founded jealous eS and false
| alarms; kindles the animosity OF one section OF
the country against the other, aad foments dis
| cord, riot and insurrection. May that day s)on
dawn upon us when this country shall be rescued
from politicians and the powers Of Government
men who instead Of ''dabblng in political affairs -"
and .deVoting themselves to the advancement OF q
political party shall devote their energies to the
prosperity and Advancement Of the whole nation.
Our country abounds in statesmen who are
table men. such as fear God; men Of truth, hating
| covetouspess, )" who alone should be elevated to
Offices of honor, trust and proht. Their scientific
method OF investigation would enable them to
grapple with and solve the most difficult problems
Of hnance of tarin, Of capital and labor, Of mo-
nOpees OF equal rights, of protection OF life lib.
erty and property at home and abroad. Their
prudence would ena BILE them to discover approach
Ing dsnger threatening the safety Of the Repub.
lie. Their genius would enable them to devise
means to avert the threatened danger. Their
knowledge Of our complicated system of govern
ment would enable them to discover any defect
in its machinery and to remedy the defect. Their
fidelity would secure the highest degree Of care
Their honesty would protect the public Trelsury
from plunder. But this class Of statesmen have
teen in the past gravely told that they were too
For the want Of this class of statesmen In power
our country las suffered the most deplOrable ca
lamities. Ten righteous men in Sodom would
have saved 1t from the rain of birthstone and
Ere from the Lord out Of Heaven" Ten philau-
thropic and patriotic statesmen on the floor OF
Congress would have saved this nation from all
the horrors of civil war. But even i've could not
be found there.
TIE prudent man foresoeth the evil and hideth
himself The prudent salesman fOreseeth the
danger which threatens his country and deviseth
means to avoid them. But you will ask how our
late civil war, with its untold calamities, could
have been avoided. will tell you.
There is in our Government legal or equitable
remedy for every wrong. Show me the wrong,
that the existence Of slavery in this country was
the cause of the civil war. and admitit Slavery
ask y0u If wise statesmen could not have devised
some other method Of removing the evil than In
vOiving the nation in the most disastrous civil
war?
The germ of universal liberty and the germ of
slavery were planted In this country a. the same
time In 1870 the Pilgrim Fathers landed at
Ply mouth, and the same yelr Dutch N In-of-
war entered jamestown with twenty negro slaves
for sale. The wheat and the tares were soWu at
the same time. the tares could not be removed
When did the harvest time arrive? Was It at
the period of the Revolution? At that time
slavery had existed in the colonies for more than
one hundred and nfty years. 1t Was interwOven
with the domestic ha bits the pecuRlary interests
and the legal rights Of the people.
IL hnAh haa Nnssa ~ a1ro1
forced upon the Colonies by the Government Of
England. Instructions were given by one of her
sovereiIns to the Governor OF New York to give
all possible encouragement to the Royal African
Company in England; and to take special care
that the colony have constant and sufficient
supply Of merchantsble negroes at moderate
prices. The slaves increased uad,r the fostering
care Of England with SO great raDidity that as
early as 174l conspiracy was supposed to be
create an insurrection. The supposed plot vas
discovered, and more than thirty conspirat0rs
were tried and executed. Some were hanged,
others executed on the giboet, and others burned
at the stake. This was more than thirty years
before we became Independent States.
Up to the period Of the Declaration of Inde-
pepdence the slave trade had been con :idered as
the lawful commerce Of the country. In the first
Continental Congress, which assembled IN PhilI-
delphia in September, IVA, the Colonies declared
unanimously that they would neither import nor
purchase any slave imported after the first day of
the following December, after which time they
would wholly discontinue the slave trade, AMI
neither be concerned in it themselves nor hire
their vessels nor sell their manufactures to any
person concerned in 1t. The slave trade had
tioBs. Our nstion was the first to declare it pi-
racy in her citizens, and made 1t crime punish
able with death. In 1852 Captain Gordon WAS
tried in New York city, charged with the crime
Of being engaged in the slave trade, found guilty
and executed within the walls of the city prison
When We had achieved our independence We
hE on eur hands the unsOught incumbrance of
slavery. 1t was everywhere regarded as an evil
10 be removed. 1t could never become one Of the
ant inst nj pfRu IN
settled.
There was but little chance for argument as to
the time. Immediately expressed It. There
was but one legal method to accomplish 1t.
THE LAW OF THE LAND
declared the slave property. This property was
taxed the same as other property. 1t was levied
ctuId be feIoniousIy stolen It constituted val.
able consideration in the law Of contracts. 1t
was everywhere regarded as private property.
We had declared by all our constitutions and
laws that private property could only be taken
tOr necessary public purposes, and then only on
the payment OF just compensation therefor. The
power of eminent CONAN exists in every State.
1t exists with equal power and force in the Gov
ernment of the United States. The right of emil
nent domain is the right every Government has
to take private property for public purposes on
paying just compensation therefor.
The United States Government had the right
under their power Of eminent domain to take pos
session of all the slave property in the United
States, and destroy that property By declaring
every slave free upon paying Just compensation
therefor, II IL became necessary 10 create great
public good or prevent great public evil. Uni
VeTsAl liberty was the great public good to be
effected. A tierce and bloody sectional civil war
was the great public evil TO be avoided.
Civil war was impending over us for mora than
twenty years before the war commenced. Every
nation has an undoubted right, either by the
power Of eminent domain at home or by the power
OF her army and navy abroad, to provide for its
own safety and to take due precAution against
distant as well as impending danger. The right
Of preservation is paramount to all other con-
sideratioLs
In the month Of March, 1852, Mr.. Lincoln IN
vited Mr.. Sumner to breakfast, and read to him
the draft Of a special message he had prepared,
recommending compensated emancipation. Mr..
doctrine that the right Of property in the slave
should not be recognized. A bill was introduced
in Congress, entitled IAN act for the release Of
certain persons held to service or labor in the
District of Columbia" This bill was approved
April l6, 1852 The bill provided for the EN- ancI-
patton OF all the slaves In the District Of UoIum-
bia. 1t provided for ful compensation to all loyal
citizens who were deprived by this act Of their
slaves. Three commissioners, one OF which was
Hon. Horatio King, Of this city, were appointed
to investigate the 10y atty Of the owners TO assess
the value Of the slaves and apportion the fund
appropriated. The average value of the slaves
was not to exceed $500. Each slave who wished
TO emigrate to Hayti or Liberia was to receive
one hundred dollars.
The sum Of 81 900 900 was appropriated to COM
pensate the loyal owners, and 800 900 for coloni
zation. On receiving the bill from Congress,
President Lincoln returned a special message,
pies Of compensated emancipation and vOlun-
tary colonization were recognized and specifically
applied in the bill.
In the passage Of this bill 1 had the personal
qualification TO see two grand principles recog-
mixed by Congress, for which l had strenuously
conteDded in my capacity as private American
citizen, in private conversations, In public de-
bates and lectures, in our own and In foreign
lands, 1or more than twenty years. 1t recog-
niZed slavery as an existing fact, and in strict
sccUrGsnce with law and equity provided flor its
removal.
Mr. sumner advocated the bill on the g.ound
that the appropriation might be considered as a
ransom for the slave, rather than compensation
to the master, and that the freedom of the slave
was acquired, not purchased. He said, "Lst this
bill pass, and then will be accomplished the first
triumphs Of freedom. Slavery will be banished
from the National Capital. 1t will give way to
freedom" Even Mr.. Sumner acknowledged
that the first trumphs Of freedom were achieved
through compensated emancipation. But the
acknowledgement Of the justice of this principle
whether as ransom or compensation, came too
late. We were then in the midst Of desolAting
civil war.
If this principle of compensated emancipation
had been adopted by Congress ten years before
| the war, the cost to the nation would have been
only twelve hundred millions, upon the basis Of
fcur million slaves, at the average OF three hun
ned dollars each. During the civil this prop
eTty was destroyed, as a war measure, and the
loss fell upon the private owner, without the
slightest title to compensation. To abolish
slavery by the legal and equitable method would
have cost the nation twelve hundred millions Of
dollars with no loss to the owner and without