The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1881-03-31


convictions, and admirable for his
truth and generosity.
1t was during the flerce admins.
tration that the struggle in Kansas
between the free-soil and the pro-slav.
cry parties eliminated. In the bitter
ness of this struggle Mr.. Davis finds
the beginning of the immediate causes
Of the war. He devotes considera-
hle space to Il description Of what he
calls the usurpations of the federal au-
thOritieS. Congress, it will be re-
membered, refused to recognize the del.
egate chosen from Kansas on the
ground that his election by the pro-
slavery party had been procured by
fraud. This part of his work will prob
ably be regarded as among the most
noteworthy in the history, for Mr..
Davis distinctly opposes the favorable
notion of Douglas and many others of
the leading democrats OF that time,
summed up in the doctrine of 'squat-
ter or "popular sovereignty
the people of the territories should
have been free III their political action,
and when they came to form their
state constitutions and ask admission
into the union, they should exercise
their right, and adopt or reject
slavery.
He regards the repeal Of the Missouri
compromise as reopening the question
of slavery in the territories, and as
precipitating q conflict between the
opposing parties. which was encour-
aged by the abolitionists Of the north,
and which finally compelled the south,
in self-defense, to takea decided stand.
He holds the violent abolitionists
largely responsible for the final breach
of peace. for out of their teachings
grew such facts as the John Brown
raid, which greatly intensified the
bitterness between the north and
south, while the collisions between
slave and free labor in Kansas, some
years before, rendered possible by the
repeal Of the Missouri compromise,
had already widened and deepened the
agitation to u dangerous extent. Bring.
ing his history down to the election of
Lincoln, he finds the federal govern
ment in the hands OF II party under
which the southern states could not
live. Lincoln was elected upon plat
form of resistance to slavery extension.
\ party antagonistic to the south, and
believing in the Capitalization of
power i'll the federal government, con-
trolleu the executive department.
Having devoted half of the first
volume to ali exposition of the cause
which led The south to desire IL Separa-
ton from the federal government.
DAVIS proceeds in several chapters
to defend the right Of secession. In
the justification of this right he quotes
largely from Webster, Calhoun.
Douglas, Greeley, Seward, Benton land
Clay. In maintaining that the com.
pact between the states WAS of the
nature Of a confederation, he draws
largely for the basis Of his argument
upon the debates III the constitutional
convention of 1880. and fortiiies HIM
self with extracts from Store: on the
Constitution, Elliott'; Debates, and
Bancroft $ History. lie refers to the
memorable debate Oh the purchase of
louisiana, when Josiah Quincy, Of
Massachusetts, asserted i'll the house
| of representatives that that act yir-
tually dissolved the union. so that the
states were freed from their obi legations
and should orpeaceable or for
chile separation. He gives the history
of the adoption of the tenth amend.
ment to the constitution, by which it
was provided that "the power not
granted to the United States by the
| constitution, nor prohibited by it to
the states. are reserved to the states
respectively or to the people," He vim.
dicates the right of secession as per-
fectly compatible with the constitution
and claims, besides, that the general
government has no rightful power to
prevent it. The question, he main.
t;sins, rests with the people, from
whom all power is derived.
Arriving in the latter part of the
first volume at the period when hos
tllltieS commenced, the narrative
makes rapid progress. How one state
after another followed South Carolina
out Of the union is briefly skctched
The author refers to the northern pro-
tests against coercion, in which con-
nection the nameof Mr.. Greeley figures
prominently. lie maintains that the
south did everything in it's power to
so out Of the union peaceably and
| quietly. The conservative temper of
the southern people, he says. was
shown in the early acts of it's congress
! and in the adoption of it's constitu-
ton. 1t was the desire and endeavor
OF the cOnfederacy to bind and unite
the two countries together in friend
ly ties. He takes friendlier view Of
Lincoln, at the beginning of his admin
istration, than of his confreres in the
federal government. He speaks of
Llncolns inaugural address, and says
that Mr.. Lincoln did not 50 far violate
The traditions Of his country as to de-
fend coercion. While arguing against
the right of the south to secetle, and
Stating that he would use force enough
to protect the United States property,
he did not intimate that an invasion
Of southern soil would be undertaken.
These extracts from Mr.. Lincoln's in.
auSural leu the south to hope that the
separation wOullbc brought about in a
peaceful manner. He pays /. tribute to
til" manly conduct of Mai. Anderson
at Fort Sumter, but condemns the &c.
ton OF our government in undertaking
to supply Forts Sumter and Pickens
with provisions and ammunition as Il
gross breach of faith. lie holds the
position that these forts were coded
in trust to the general government by
the states of South Carolina and Flor.
ida. and that the states had Il right.
when they went out of the union, to
demand restoration Of the property.
On The same ground he jusli.ies the
seizure of other property of the United
States i'll the south, such as its
custom.houses, n:.vy-yartls, etc.
Among the arguments with which
hc supports this theory he cites the
contemporane0us debates on this sub
ject in the senate Of the United States,
and quotes Senator Douglas resolution
ordering the withdrawal of the gar.
risons occupying southern forts. He
accuses Seward and others of bad faitl,
i'll representing that no hostile inten-
ton was involved in the succor whicl,
was sent to the garrisons OF the forts,
whereas the real design was to enable