Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1904-08-10

TEN winch degraded men,
women, deprived little children OF the
sacred solace OF home, was doomed
from the hour II passed into the arena
of free debate. And ven II We shut
our eyes to the moral aspects OF that
heartless system, and confined our
selves 10 the examination of its eco
nomic merits. 1t was found to be
wasteful and inefficient. The Amer
leans are at once the most sentiment.
al and the most practical of peoples
and when they see that an institu
ton is morally revolving, and. besides
does not pay, its fate is sealed.
Purged at Last.
Yet the most wonderful feature Of
that extraordinary campaign which
then began, and which never ceased
until the land was purged of its dead.
ly sin. was that even in the very
tempest and whirlwind of their pas.
sion" the great leaders of the Repub.
lican party kept their agitation strict
ly within the limits of the constitu'
ton and the law. There was no gen.
eral demand for even an amendment
to the organic instrument. They plead,
ed for the repeal of unjust statutes as
inconsistent with the constitution,
but did not advocate their violation.
only among the more obscure and
ardent members of the party was
there any demand Tor the abolition
o. slavery, but the whole party stood
"he a rock lot the principle that the
dlmnable institution must be content
Sith what ii had already got, and
.4ust not be allowed to pollute anoth-
n inch OF free soil. On this impreg-
nahle ground they made their stand;
and the mass convention which assem-
bled here in 1854. while the vibra-
tons OF the thunder OF the guns and
the shoutings of the birthday of Lib
erty yet fingered in the air, gave a
nucleus and a name to the new party.
destined to a great and beneficent ca
reer Before the moLLn ended, the
anti-slavery men of fee more great
states adopted the name "Rapubli-
can" and under that banner congress
vas carried, and two years later a
national party assembled at Pittsburg
and nominated Fremont and Dayton,
! IL liS w lN" NoA'a vi
ing the north.
Never to be Forgotten.
Who Of US that was living then will
ever forget the ardent enthusiasm of
those days? II was one of those per.
iods. rare in the life of any nation,
when men forget themselves and, in
spite of habit, of interest and of pre-.
JUDGE. follow their consciences wher.
ever they may lead. In the clear,
keen air that was abroad the best
men in the country drew deeper
breaths and d to a moral height
they had not before attained. The
movement was universal. Sumner IN
the east, Seward in New York, Chase
In Ohio, Bates In Missouri, Blair in
Maryland, all sent forth their identi'
cal appeal to the higher motive, and
in Illinois, where the most popular
man in the state boldly and cynical
ly announced, Il don't care whether
slavery is voted up OF voted down.
a voice, new to the nation, replied
There are some of us who do care,
If slavery Is not wrong-nothing is
wrong"-and Abraham Lincoln came
upon the field. not to ieave 1t until
he was triumphant in death.
Kansas an Issue.
have no right to DEAN you at this
hour in recounting the history OF
those memorable days. Two incidents
OF the long battle will never be for
gotten. One was the physical and po'
litical contest for the possession OF
Kansas. carried oil with desperate
courage and recklessness Of conse
/ quences by the pro-slavery party on
the one side, and OF the other by the
: New England farmers whose weapons
of aggression were bible texts and
!; the words of Jefferson, and whose
: arms of defense were Shapes rifles
/, With words that ring even now when
we read them, like the clashing ol
swords, the slave state men claimed
: Kansas as their right and the free
+. state men replied in the words of the
prophet before Herod. ii is not law
: full for you to have her. And when
the talking sharpened TO the physi
, cal clinch, the praying men fought
with the same ferocity as the meI
VIM tuiotus III tuC hSiu VI POiiIiSo
: discussion the most dramatic incident
Of the fight was the debate between
r Lincoln and Douglas. Not many o.
you saw that battle Of the strong
where each of the gladiators had ar
!, adversary worthy of his steel, where
the combatants were fairly matched
in debating skill and address, ant
where the superiority OF Lincoln was
!, not so much personal as 1t was II
/ the overwhelming strength OF his pc
sition. He was fighting for freedom
and could say so; Douglas was fight
, ing for slavery, and could not avov
II. The result Of the COMETS is nov
. 1t. The result of the contests Is nov
} las was reelected to the senate, bu
had gained also the resentful suspic
ion of the south, which two years lat
: er disowned him and defeated hi
lifelong ambition . Lincoln became a
once the foremost Republican Of thu
west and a little later the creates
political figure Of the century.
:. Causes to be PROUD.
II there Is one thing more than an
other in which we Republicans ar
/. entitled to a legitimate pride, 1t Il
D that Lincoln was our first president
: that we believed in him while he lv
ed and that we have never lost tn
I right to call ourselves his followers
Y There is not a principle avowed b,
the Republican party today which
out of harmony with his teachings o
. inconsistent with his character. w
do not object to our opponents quot
/. ing him-even claiming him as thei
own. II It is not sincere, 1t is still
, q laudable tribute to acknowledge
= excellence. II 1t is genuine, 1t is stil
better, for even a Nebraska populis'
t who reads his Lincoln is In the wa
: of salvation. But only those who bt