The Mankato free press., 1910-06-03

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or ones way of thinking. is SO largely
dependent upon surrounding conditions
that we must take them into consid-
Grafton in arriving at reasonable con-
clusions. Material considerations are
by no means to be shifted at. Each
one of us must gather together GER
tain amount of property or earning
ability, to supply the necessary food
and shelter for ourselves and those
dependent upon us. Otherwise the wolf
| will come close to the door and the
poor house will stand glowering in
the near distance.
The people of the south were largely
interested in farming on large scale.
They had what we call plantations,
consisting of many acres. They did
not have the machinery we have today
and therefore had to depend largely
upon manual labor in the preparation
OF the ground, in seeding, cultivating
and harvesting their crops and prepay
ing them for the market. 1t was
quite natural for slavery to take a
fast hold under these conditions, and.
when not abused, it was bad only in
principle. The system quickly became
firmly interviewer with economic con-
ditions in the South.
SO, when it was suggested that sla-
very was morally wrong, the south
was offended. Under the existing con.
ditions, the south regarded the system
as generally good for the negro, and
absolutely essential for it. Deprived
of slaves, they thought they saw their
rich plantations growing up in foul
weeds. and going to ruin. and their
source of income cut off, In,fact, thev
thought if slavery should be abolished.
it would amount to cOniscation of
their property; and then the wolf am:
the poor house. They were too proud
to ever think of permitting such thing
to come about. | mean to say, that,
living under these conditions. they
grew to honestly think and believe
that slavery was essential to their ex-
istencc, and that it was. therefore.
right; whereas, if they had lived in
the north, or under different condi-
tions-in II different environment
they would undoubtedly have taken Il
strong stand against slavery, thinking
it to be morally wrong. Let us not,
then, judge the south harshly, but
rather with these considerations in
mind, knowing that they thought Just
as strongly that they were right, as
we thought we were right
The north recognized no property
right in slaves; the south did. The
south. therefore, also concluded that
IT, or any state, had the right to
withdraw. or speaking more harslIy,
secede from the Union The north
thought differently. The difference i'm
opinion was settled by force of arms
war. And this war was the fiercest
that was ever waged
Gardner and Lodge. in their new
history, give concisely the attitude of
the south towards the grave problems
under consideration and at issue. i'm
practically the following language:
During the campaign in which Lin
coin was elected president, the south
declared that if the black republican
candidate should be elected the honor
and safety of the southern states
would require their withdrawal from
the Union"
In 1910, the party which was OPP
posed to slavery, under the name of
the liberty party, cast only 1000 votes.
In 1860, though under different name
it elected the preident South Caro-
lima took the lead in the secession
movement, and her proceedings were
largely typical of the other seeding
states. Her legislature was in session
the day before the election, and re-
manned until after the election. When
the news of Lincoln's election came.
there were cheers-not for Lincoln
but for Southern Confederacy The
federal officers in the state reigned. A
state convention was called, and on
December 20, it unanimously adopted
AN ordinance repeating the ordinance
of South Carolina of 1888. bv which
the Federal Constitution was adopted,
and dissolvng the union now subsist-
ing between South Carolina and the
other states, under the name of the
United States of America After pas
sing the ordinance, a declaration of
the causes which justify the secession
of South Carolina, was adopted "This
declaration asserted that the Union
being a compact in which there was
no Common Arbiter in cases of dis
pute, and the states Of the north hay
ing, iii the Judgment Of South Carroll
ma failed to keep their part of the
agreement, she was left free to with
draw from the compact at will" Eff
teen states the declaration -contin-
ued, "had for years past, deliberately
refused to fulfill their constitutional
obligations by passing laws which pre-
vented the rendition of fugitive slaves,
and by placing every obstacle in the
way of the enjoyment by the south of