New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-11-11
INDIANA.
THE CONTEST OVER SLAVERY.

belongs projected. IL Is less anu mWe IMAM
q conventional State history. The author has
contented himself with bold outline sketch of
the remote period during which the territory des-
tined to become the State of Indiana was the
sparsey occupied outlying region through which
Indians coureurs de bois Frencbmen and English
men passed and reTassed. hunting, trading fight
ing and intilru;nC Thcre much picturesque
and romantic history made in that time, and other
writer's have awaited themselves fully of those at
tractive and striking elements Of the primitive
times Mr. Dunn omits no fact of Importance,
and traces the French occupations, the Indian
wars the Revolutionary troubles, and all the sig
nificant events which bore more or less upon the
future with quite sufficient clearness. But the
main purpose OF his work is to set forth the pro-
longed and interesting struggle which resulted In
the emancipation of Indiana from slavery and
this he has done with fulness and lucdity which
render this modest little volume an important con-
tribution to American history.
The origin of the Ordinance Of 1897 receives
here a careful and thorough examination, while
the vcxcd question of its authorship is determined
as conclusvcly as it is ever likely to be. Thomas
Benton claimed the authorship for Jefferson;
Daniel Webster maintained that it belonged TO
Nathan Dane Of Massachusetts, Mr.. Dunn makes
it clear that Webster justified in his assertion,
but that at the same time the Ordinance was not
otherwise than technically the work OF any one
man; jefferson and others contributed to IT. IL
was, in fact, like nearly all important measures,
the product Of many minds, and it also repre-
sentcd many compromises and concessions MI
Dunn says: " On the whole conclude that so
far any one be called the author OF
the Ordinance of 1877 Nathan Dane was its author
He drafted it, superintendent its passage intro
duced the slavery amendment, and manifested
nc into Nv writ of onaQ a
it to his friend Rufus King In after life it was
his chief pride. He is the only man who claimed
authorship over his own signature and he repeat
eddy made the claim from three days after its pass
age 10 the time OF his death" These eOnsidera-
tons are sufficient to settle the. question to all
practical intents much more important prob
lem is involved in the question how the Ordinance
came to be passed at all for it could not have be-
come law without the consent of the slave States
and though it prohibited sla very in the Northwest
Territory, it received the votes of the savehOld-
ers representatives Nathan Dane himself did
not expect that the sixth or anti-slavery section
would get through, and one was more sur
prsed and perplexed than he when it was agreed
TO-
The rational presumption must have been that
whether rightly or wrongly the slave States must
have believed that they were really strengthening
Inc " pccUUaf institution by NOJHg IOc ti'lS
measure but contemporary explanations of the
fact were so conflicting as to show that most OBJ
servers failed to possess the significance Of the
event 1t is therefore, the more desirable that a
careful examination of all the contributory innu-
onccS should be made with the aid Of modern
lights, and Mr. Dunn has solved the riddle in so
probable way that all students Of this cOuntry's
history viii be interested in his conclusions, which
we quote at some length:
The most interesting question in connection
with thc Ordnance i, what We're the motives
That caused the unanimous consent of Southern
members TO the apparent exclusion OF slavery,
and the consent of Northern MT mbers to the
division OF the western territory coded from that
unccded. and the reduction OF the amount of
population necessary for adm. sion of a State:
That the proposal OF the Ohio Company induced
immediate action is evident but there is moth
ing TO indicate that the company or DIR. Cutler
undertook 10 dictate as TO governmental feat
uIcs. If Cutler had made the slavery clause a
sine qua non of his purchase, as has been argued,
ii would have been presented in the printed re-
port, and Cutler would more probably have
manned in Ncv-York to urge its adoption, than
have gone 10 Philadelphia on a pleasure trip, as
he did The single unanmity with which the
Ordinance passed SHOWS that every one was
satisfied; bHt why \ statement of Colonel
t:nysol gives key TO one side, Personally,
Giayson lad no objection 10 Ia, clause for he
the most pronounced aAti-SlaVcry Southern
man in Congress He had favored Kings PESO
luton when II applied 10 the entire western
country, and Oh May l, 1888, wrote TO Madison
concerning it: / expect seven States may be
found liberal enough to adopt it, lie was an
active advocate Of the Ordinance lie wrote
TO Monroe on August 8, 1881 urging him to
use his influence 70 have it ratified by Virginia.
Nothing was done at that session of the Viz
glnia Legislature, and at the next Grayson stood
FOR membership, was elected. and member
OF the committee which reported the bill con-
Timing the Ordinance Apparently, then, h. was
IN situation to know why members voted as
they did, and he said i'll his letter to Monroe
Of August 8: The clause respecting slavery
nv f,a ATf ltnaps
purpose of preventing tobacco and indigo from
being made on the northwest side of the Ohio,
as well as Tor several other political reasons
these other reasons, so far as he reveals them,
he gives by setting forth the project of the Ohio
Company, concluding thus: From the great
number OF inhabitants in the Eastern States,
and in the Jerseys, / should not be surprised
TO see them in very few years extend them
selves by additional purchases quite to the
Mississippi, and thereby form complete barrier
for our State at the same time greatly vabdat-
ing the lands the Virginia side OF the Ohio"
That the culture of indigo and tobacco should
have had anything &c, do with the Ordinance
Of 1887 may strike the reader vcrging on
absurdity, but the connection is close and logi-
cal, and it is a political reason, as Grayson said
Indigo had been cultivated north of the Ohio
since the middle of the eighteenth century, and
proftably, too, though it produced only two
cuttings year. The tobacco of the French
settlements was considered as we have seen,
equal TO the best product of Virginia. These
crops, like all Others whose preparation for mar
ket requires attention during the entire year,
gave the most profitable employment to slave
labor, and it supposed that free labor could
not compete with slave labor in their produc-
ton In addition TO this, the unhealthfulneSs
of indigo culture and preparation considered
sufficient to, prevent free labor from engaging
in il at all. The Southern members reasoned
that they were gaining three advantages: /.
The monopoly of the most profitable branches of
was still unceded e. Protection Of their western
territory from the Indians subject to British
influence, by the settlement of the country north
Of them 3. The speedy settlement of their west
ern territory by people of political sentiments
similar to their own. This last is corollary
Of the other two. IL their side OF the Ohio
was protected from Indians. it would be most
desirable to settlers. If slavery were excluded
north of the Ohio, all who des red TO hold slaves
must settle south Of it. II the most profitable
branches of agriculture could be followed only
by slave labor, all shrewd agriculturists would