The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-02
SOME NEW BOOKS.
The Latest History OF the United states.
SECOND NOTICE,

twelve chapters OF the volume allotted TO
the United States In "The Cambridge
Modern History" planned by the late
Lord Acton and edited by Messrs, A. W.
Ward, O. W. Prothero ard stanley Leathes
(Macmillans) We left the narrative at che
date 1850. when Henry Clay hoped that
he had allayed the antagonlsn between
lie Free State and the slave States by
his comprolnisc MEASURES The events Of
tho following decade form the subject
of the thirteenth chapter Of this work,
which has been cont ributed by DIR. Wood
row Wilson, President of Princeton Uni
vcrsuy. Az ne says, the Object Of the
Compromise OF 1850 was the settlement OF
all urgent questions. IL was agreed by
that Compromise, first, that 10 TeXaa should
be paid $4,000, 900 as Il consideration
FOR her REIMBURSEMENT OF claim upon
portion of New Mexico secondly, .at
California should he admitted IA g State
under u Constitution prohibiting slavery;
thirdly, that New Mexico and Utah should
b. organized as Territories, without any
regulation with regard 10 slavery, their
respective settlers being permitted 10 de-
tcrminc whet her there should br or should
not BIZ property in slaves among them:
fourthly, that the domestic slave trade
should he excluded from the District Of
Coltnbia but bc iIleriered with nowhere
else by Federal law: and. lastly, that the
whole judicial and administrative ma
chinery of the Federal Government should
be put at the disposal Of the Southern slave
holders for the recovery OF Fugitive slaves
found within the free States. Every
measure in the list touched the poltlcs
OF the time al some vital point. 1t II ais"
true that the only thing Of substance that The
Southern leaders seemed to have gained
from the bundle Of snuctmsitS winch made
mp the "Conpromise' was the Fugitive
Slave law, and the profit that would accrue
to them even from that was doubtful. The
Federal Constitution itself directed That
not only fugitives from Justice, but also al
persons "hell TO service or labor III one
State under the laws thereof, escaping into
another." should he taken and rerurhed
and so early as 1913 Congress had enacted
a law intended to secure the return Of both
classes of fugitives. This older law had
proved less and less satisfactory with regard
10 fugitive slaves, ~ anti-slavery sentiment
had grown in the North, and the law Of 1850
Southern leaders for more stringent and
effectuaI statute. IL was soon evident that
the new statute would in its turn encounter
almost insuperable obstacles. When the
execution Of the law was undertaken In the
Northern States mobs frequently attempted,
and sometimes effected, the rescue OF
apprehended fugitives Even men of in
fiuence and position took part in violent
resistance to the execution Of the statute,
and eventually State Courts and even
State Legislatures put every possible imped-
iment in the way Of the laws enforcement.
For a brief time however. 1t seemed pos
sible that the aim of the Compromise meas
urcs of 1850 might be attained.
DR.. Wilson omits 20 mention that not
long after the enactment Of those laws
Eoote, a representative of Union sentiment,
in Mississippi, defeated Quitman and Jeffer-
son Davis, the spokesman of the Secession
element, not only in the election Of Coy
ernor, but In State convention. But for
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise,
which exasperated the free States, and
j ohm Browns raid. which alarmed and
.smssecered tbs claw eweeEs, u 10 by no
means impossible that Clay's compromise
measures might have averted civil war.
or at least postponed II for many years.
There ia reason to believe that the execution
of the Fugitive Slave law would not have
encountered strenuous resistance, and that
John Browns raid would never have taken
place but for the passage OF the Nebraska
BILL and the resultant attempt TO establish
slavery in Kansas From this point Of
view II may he doubted whether stephen
A. Douglas was not the real author Of the
civil war, and, consequently, the worst
enemy that the Southern States have ever
had. DIR. Wilson points out that the South
srn men had never dreamed of demanding
. measure which should repeal the venerable
Missouri Compromise, and open all the
Territories to slavery; and that in 1854,
when the Nebraska bill was introduced.
the political parties wanted nothing so
much as rest and oblivion Of past excite
nents, II that might be compassed. To
the party leaders, however, who hearkened
TO Douglass counsels, 1t seemed best to
use their present potter in both houses Of
Congress to make an end Of compromises,
and to clarity the future by the adoption
OF the simple and consistent principle Of
ssquatter sovereignty" The Nebraska
bill, however, omitted to answer the ques-
ton, at what time the settlers upon new
lands should be permitted to admit or ex-
cllde slavery. While the districts in which
they were setting up homes remained under
Federal law al Territories? Or after all
tho first processes Of settlement had been
completed, and the time had come TO frame
q State Constitution? Practical men at the
North and at the South had had no doubt
rs to the answer. II was obvious that,
when the time for Constitution making
should come, Territory would either be
full OF Shareholders with their slaves. or
full Of freemen. Whoever should possess
che land would make liza laws. It was i'll
evitable, therefore. that there should be
a race for the possession of Kansas, and
almost equally inevitable that the race
would lead to civil war. DR.. Wilson re-
minds us that, within two years, the de-
rnoralizing game for power in Kansas had
been played and won by the settlers from
the free States not. however. before blood
had been shed and Federal troops sent In
to prevent anarchy.
As to James Buchanan. whose election to
che Presidency in 1858 postponed for time
the irrepressible conflict between the North
and the South, DR.. Wilson acknowledges
that there was no ground for the accusa
ton current in the North that the decision
ro,dared NV the Sunreme Court i'm 1887