The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1904-07-07

: land confiding in their strength an
, Jour patience they boldly announce,
land inaugurated the policy OF the in
definite extension of their "peculia
institution"
| Once embarked upon this fatal en-
| Iterprise they left nothing undon
(which could contribute to the catas
Itrophe upon which they were rushing
THE whig party had gone to ruin II
lllS52 on account of the impossibilit,
of combining the scattered elements
lof opposition TO the party Of pro-slav'
lery aggression; but they themselves
furnished the weapon which was L
Idefeat them. In May, 1854, after sew
leral months of passionate debate, t.
(which the country listened with fever
lish interest. congress passed the bill
Iorganizing the territories of Kansas
land Nebraska, emitting the restrictions
Iof the Missouri compromise which ex-
cluded slavery from them, This ac-
ton at once precipitated the floating
Ianti- slavery sentiment of the country
A mighty cry of resolute indignation
arose from one end OF the land to the
other. The hallow truce. founded upon
the legitimate compromises which had
been observed in good faith by one
side and ruthlessly violated by the
other. was at an end. Men began to
search their consciences instead Of the
arguments of political expediency. A
discussion of the right and wrong of
slavery became general; the light was
let in, fatal to darkness. A system
which degraded men, dishonored wo-
men, deprived little children OF the
sacred solace Of home, was doomed
from the hour 1t passed into the arena
|of free debate. And even IL we shut
our eyes to the moral aspects of that
heartless system. and confined our
selves to the examination Of its econ
|omic merits, 1t was found to be waste
full and inefficient. The Americans are
lat once the most sentimental and the
most practical Of peoples--and when
they see that an institution is morally
revolving. and, besides, does not pay,
its fate is sealed.
The Lincoln Douglas Contest.
= l have no right to detain
Npu at this hour in recounting the
Nstory of those memorable days. Two
incidents of the long battle win never
be forgotten. One was the physical
and political contest for the possession
of Kansas, carried on with desperate
courage and recklessness of conse-
quences by the pro-slavery party on
the one side, and, on 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 Sharpe's rifles. With
words that ring even now when we
read them, like the clashing Of swords
the slave state men claimed Kansas
replied in the words of the prophet
before Herod, II is unlawful for you
to have her. And when the talking
sharpened to the physical cllnch, the
praying men fought with the same
ferocity as the men who cursed. In
the field of political discussion the
most dramatic incident of the fight
was the debate between Lincoln and
Douglas. Not many of you saw that
battle of the strong, where each of
the gladiators had an adversary worthy
of his steel, where the audiences were
equally divided, where the combatants
were fairly matched in debating skill
and address, and where the superiority
of Lincoln was not so much personal
as 1t was In the overwhelming strength
of his position. He was fighting for
freedom and could say so; Douglas
was fighting for slavery and could not
avow it. The result of the contest is
now seen to have been inevitable
Douglas was reelected to the senate,
but had gained also the resentful sus-
piston of the south, which two years
later disowned him and defeated his
lifelong ambition. Lincoln became at
once the foremost republican of the
west and a little later the greatest po-
litical figure of the century.
Tribute to Lincoln.
If there is one thing more than an
other in which we republicans are en-
titled to a legitimate pride 1t is that
Lincoln was our first president; that
we believed in him, Loyalty supported
him while he lived, and that we have
never lost the right to call ourselves
his followers. There is not prin-
ciple avowed by the republican party
today which is out of harmony with
his teachings or inconsistent with his
character. We do not object to our
opponents quoting him, praising him
even claiming him as their own. If
it is not sincere, 1t is still laudable
tribute to acknowledged excellence.
II 1t is genuine, 1t is still better, for
even a Nebraska populist who reads
his Lincoln is in the way Of salvation.
But only those who believe in human
rights and are willing to make sacri-
fees to defend them; who believe in
the nation and its benehcent power;
who believe in the American system
Of protection championed by a long
line of our greatest and best, running
back from Mckinley to Washington
and, as Senator Dolliver so truthfully
said, ito the original sources of Amer
lean common sense;" only those who
believe in equal justice to labor and
to capital; in honest money and the
right to earn it, have any title to
name themselves by the name of Lin
coin, or to claim a moral kinship with
that august and venerated spirit. II
admit it would be little less than