Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-04-23
Fiue Minutes A Day
With Our Presidents
"sowing the windo
BY JAMES MORGAN.

Oe VICE president and
the political heir of Zachary TavIor
Duilced better Than they knew. Tbev
mad found "Old Rough and Ready"
more rough than ready. In,the ami
aDie' facle and respectable time
server VINO took his place they had a
smooth and handy tool.
That was an ignominious era which
opened with the accession of TYLER
and closed with the inauguration of
Lincoln. All through 1t the politicians
yes, and the people, too-were only
preparing the great tragedy of 1861
0. They foolishly thought they were
avertlng II . but no one ever
escaped trouble by running away
from IL.
AS soon as the politicians saw that
the people were afraid of the slavery
question they began to- prey upon tho
popular fear. While the southern
politicians were frightening their
constituents into the false belief that
only by expanding the territory of
slavery and increasing its political
power-n their hands. OF course
could slavery be saved, the northern
politicians spread in the north the
equally fallacious idea hat only by
concessions. compromises and by
keeping still on the subject of slavery
could the Union be saved.
The obvious truth vas that unless
the north resisted at every step, slav-
cry would increase and spread. 1t
was equally true, on the other hand,
that slavery in the south never was
in danger, because even today the
north has not the three-fourths vote
necessary to amend the constitution.
The slave states held the veto power
and the south still holds il.
With the Missouri Compromise in
1920 the slavery question was first
made a football of politics. 1t was
removed from the economic and
moral realm where it belonged and
where. as all enlightened southerners
originally believed, 1t would be event
ually solved by a peaceable, gradual
emancipation.
The pretended settlement in the
Missouri Compromise only aggravat-
ed the problem. To stop the growing
discussion of IL, the Post Office De-
Partment permitted postmasters to
exclude the subject from the mails,
which necessarily increased the agi-
tation by giving the ag~itators n
more grievance to air. Then on
gress denied them the right of petit
ton. which straightway made con-
gress itself a forum for the agitation.
Next came the too enthusiastically
American resort to mobbings and
lynchings. which inevitably increased
the crowds and the tumult.
Following the Mexican War, with
the annexation of more territory to
be dedicated either to freedom or to
slavery, the politicians staged the
last compromise ito ave the Union"
making Uncle Sam a slave catcher.
Federal officials were authorized to
command the people of the north to
Join in bounding down runaway
negroes and to throw into prison any
white man who harbored the hunted
things.
Every enforcement of that fugitive
slave act merely thrust before north
ern eyes a moving picture of slavery
in It's most horrid aspect . . with
officers of the federal government
dragging a fellowman through the
streets in irons. to Danish him from
liberty and deport him into bondage.
AS a logical consequence I UNDER
ground railroad sprang into exist
ence and organized and advertised
better facilities Than ever for the
into Canada.
When Clay and Webster sponsored
and Fillmore signed that fugitive
slave act. the Wing party played It's
last card in the slavery anne. North
ern business interests. the mainstay
of the Wings, were faithful allies of
the southern business In slaves. But
after the fugitive slave act, those
cotton" Wings of the north could
no longer hold in check the ECO
science" Wings and the party vas
split wide open.
This meant that a new party would
have to be started, and naturally 1t
would be an antislavery party, unless
the public mind could be drawn away
from the subject. That was easily
done by raising a furious outcry
against the foreigners. II is a familiar
ruse. Whenever any wrong among
ourselves is in danger OF exposure,
the first thing that its votaries do Is
to attempt to change the subject by
appealing to the primitive prejudice
against strangers.
To distract the northern people
from the slavery question, the losing
Wing politicians took UP with the
American or "Knownothing" party.
Its passwords. its secret oaths and
mummeries and It's cowardly mob
bings of the laborious, unoffending
Irish provided a timely, though hap
PLY a brief, diversion from the real
question. Fears of the slave power
at home were all but lost in fears of
the Pope at Rome for a few years.
In the midst of that mad distrac-
ton the mlSSOuEl compromise NdS
easily repealed by the politicians of
both sections. This left the free soil
of the virgin west wholly unprotected
against slavery for the first time
since 1887. The Supreme Court has
tened to complete forever the work
of destruction by declaring, in Its
| bred Scott decision, that neither
congress nor the states had power to
keep slavery out of any part Of the
country.
From hat Judgment of the court
of last resort there remained no ap-
peal except to the sword. To that
tragic pass the politicians in the
| White House. in congress and on the
| bench-and the people as a whole
| had brought the country at last. Pol,
| tiles utterly had failed to solve the
| problem and that failure made nee
| essary, made. unavoidable a violent
solution OF IT.
The spineless presidents Of that In
glorious period were thoroughly rep
resentative of their generation. ant
they have conveniently served a.
s~capegoats. But why blame lyle
and Polk, Fillmore, Pierce and Blu
chanan for doing the things the.
were chosen to do and for leavini
undone the things they were chosel
to avoid? They are dust. TIL
American people still live. The,
ought to take their share Of tn
blame as a warning against makinl
he same costly mistake some othe
time on some other question.