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Political Action

Political Action image
Parent Issue
Day
2
Month
March
Year
1842
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The followiug notes of un evenings discuesion at the anniversary at Marshall, rill probably interest our readers, aJthough the facts tnay not be ne n to them. But we all have a desire to know how our neighbors fee], an d wbat are their opinions on sub' jects that interest na. It ia beheved the Bub3tanco oflhe remarks of the -Speakers ie accurately given, although in all cusos nnt. nrpr.ififtlv in thf lnffiinap tlpv uscd.The question being on the adoption of vvo resolutions declariug that political antislavery action ia the plain, proper, and necjsáary course to be pursued by thoso who ivould advance anti-Blavery principies, and hat expërience has provecí it to be 8o , Mr. GunNET, of St. Joseph, made some remarks showing that the queslion of slaíery and anti-slavery was a question of politcal di8CUS8ion atthej.ime the Constitu tion was adopted, and it hnd been discus-sed evér since. Rev. R. Uement, of Hillsdalc, suid it had been a matter of doubt with sorne, whether political acCion ought to be brought lo bear on this subject, it is objected that slaveiy is la inoral evil, and sliould be met by niorul means. Hq adiuiüed tliis; hut h contendtd that it was ulso a polilical question, and one to which political act oa could be properly applied. That the question of slavcry is n political question, could be shotvn by a very brief in vestigation of the 6utject. That is a polittccal question which touches the politi cal mterests of tho nation, and becomes a sub eet of legislation. Tho iniere6ts of elavery and slave labor como up in Cougress connccled in some way with nearly overy important meaaure that is brought forward in Lhat body. This very day Congresa was legislsting on the subject ut the expense of thousands of dollars per day. Again, that raay be properly said to be a political quesliou. which affects the finances of the nation. And does not glavery affect our national financeel 31r B. gave some factsconceruing tho Florida War, showng that it waB commenced aüd carried on for aperiod almosas long oa the war of the Revolución, at añ expense of 40,000,000 dollars.for thesole purpose of catching fugL tiveslaves. Hnd not slavery existed, it is certain ihis w&r would nut have taken place. : Mr. B. contended that whether we made anli-slavery political or not, slavery alvvays would be politicaf. The elaveholders are united in su9tiining the institution, and jt ia their policy not to let either party remain in power for any length of time. They hold the balance of power, and one party or the otlier rises or falls in the BCale ofimportance, ju6t as the South bestow their nüuence, and they are careful not to let either party remain in power long enougb to become permanently established. The VVhigs of the Norlh cannot carry the day against the Democrats and the South united, ncither can the Democrats succeed againat the Whigs and the South, and ihe south permite eacb party alternately to obtaiu power for a ehort time, and thus keeps them both subject to its mandates. Whence it follows thai neither the Whig or Democratie party can remain permanently in the ascendant, withoul removing the power that is over them. But the inquiry israised by some, is anti Blavery a question of sujficient imporlance to be prosecuted pohtically. In reply to this, Mr. B. would ask, whether ther8 could bea quesiion of greater importonce? It involvi ed nothing less than the liberiy of iheentire jNorth. Slave labor and free labor cannot be Fuccessfully carried on by the same couree of legislalion, and it is a maxim at the South that to advance the interests of slave labor, the free labor of the North must be brought i down to h level with t. This object has been pursued by southern Statesmen fora long series of years; - not by violence; - for Ihis would not have answered their pur pose - but by si'ently filling all the olHces of Government witli slaveholders. All queetions of fioance ate subject to the action of the slave power. Mr. B, alluded to the course of the south in reference to the right of petition. We had been gagged six yeare 8uccessively. VVe need poütical action to resist these perpetual and ularming encroachments. Northern members of Congress of either party daré not res6t them, because the Bouth will then join the other party. The only rerwdy ia found in sending men wbq-jkfcfiiot conryecied with these parties, and who will not therefore bovy down to tfofeslave pover. But hoto jihall we act poli tically? VVe can learn ftJpHhe other porties the necessity of thoröugh poüticul organizaron, íVom pnth mastei to President. Politica! macbinery diífers from natural in this respect, that the small wheels propo] and govern the action of the larger. To move the great wheels at Washington, you must begin your politícal actio n with the path-ma6ters and town officers at bome. To elect a Liberty Senator to Congress, there must be a Liberty majority in the Legislature. The organization must be general. Mr. Blank, a colored man, expressed bis graÚfiéátiori inlistening tolhe reniarkd ofthe gentleman who spoke last. He has formerly lived 11 Virginia nnd spoke of the degraded condiíion of the white Ier ! borers of the South. Dr. Portkr, of Detroit siid that a comrnon objection i., that we have depnrted from the principie of moral suasion, and entered tipon poliiical action. The obijeciion aseumes th;ii poliiical Érctfcm te opposed lo moni action. iïe denied that ttiis was the c;i?e. He appealed to the statute book for proof that that volume is filled with poliiical cnactmeuts against irn; morul acts. Are notthefi and robbery and murder and peijnry and sahbath breaking moral evils, and have we not political enacttnenis against them? A large ehare I of our laws relate directly to the suhpiêsj sion of moral evils. The same is true to a considerable extent of our National leg j islalibn. Ho spuke of the favorable effeets of independent political action in securing res peet to the friends of liberiy. Smce he had been in the Siate, he had assisted in organizlngone society in the open air, because no place cyuld be procured to meet in. A ml at the for mi t ion of this society ! in 1836, ihey wcre ahle to obtain the use of a church.for the Cunventien, tobe used in the day time only, the proprietors being apprehensive of a mob, shoutd it be used for finti-slavery purposes in the evening. He helieved a large sharc of the respect now conceded to the frionds of'fiberty, was uttributable lo their independent politica! course. The abolitionists, toa considerable cxtenl, liad feit and acted very much liko the man who went about with hts hat in his hand, begging pardon ofevery body he saw for being in the world! [Laughter] The polnicians of both parlies uclimUy thought thal w;o had 110 business to exist as a political party, and we had well nigh regarded ourselves in the sanie Üght, aud given them reason to think so. Dr. P. said he has generally accounted ;in ultra man on most suljects, but he must 3:iy that he was total ly opposed to Fuch ultra humility. [Immense applause.] ElièrTwïss, a Baptist clergyrnan, cal leil up before the audience some 'reminiscences of anti-misonry. He eonceived that political aclion had been very efficiënt in puiling down musonry. H.ad not po litical action been employed against the instilution, its machinery would have been in perfect operation to day in every villago In Michigan. He was in favor of political anti-slavery action. Mr. Guuney, of St. Joseph, said he considered independent political action to be necessary and expedient. llehadalways viewcd slavery and anti-slavery asa political question, and he should fcel it his duty to act independently on tho subject. In some cases, we have a right to act dircctly upon slavery,especially wherc i exists in a territory over which we have exclusive jurisdicliun. Mr. G. ppoke of the connecliou of the Nörth wilh slaveholding institutions, nnd referrcd to the , fuct ihat morfgagcs on slaves to the ajamount of niillions of dllnrs, are held by residents ín iho city of New York. Mr. Bkooks, of Washtenavv, a colored man, spoke of the injustice of dénying the electivo franchise to the colored population. At the South, white men now put I in those volea which ought to be given by jthose who are now elaves. VVhile the colored chizensof the North who pay taxes and till the soil, and, as freeman, ndd ; to the wealih of this country, are dcpnved of ihis privilege. De. Barnes, of Ann Arbor, alltided to the oppo8tion that we had met with from both political parties. Independent political action was ihe only etTectual course. The promises of the pro-slavery parties could nol be relied upon. We had tried (hem long enough. We had tried the questioning and scattcring sysiem without any good resulta. One party had promised us that if we would just help theni into power, the right of petiiion, at all events, should be preserved inviofnté. And what has been the resuli? Tlie ailoplion of a gag al the extra session, as their first business, and now in the regular session, ihcy have continued, the o!d oneon notion of leading merwbers of that very party. ' Rev. Mr. Wilder, of Marshall, was understood to say, ihat the two fundamental principies on which the anti slavery enterprize is base'd, are, 1. That it is wrong to hold property in man. This principie is paramount lo all olhers. 2. The right of man to hold properiy in man was recog-aized iu the That oí-n.clllullon ffaii l. ...iideri ty ihe VOtei'S of the Uniied States. Convince every vo ter of the trulh of these positipup, and our work is done. If was important to keep distinctly in view what our object really is. It is not the overthrow of the other parties, but the security of thecqual rights of all. But we ueed not be afraid of injming any polilical party that does not do right. The anti-slavery voters possess the balance of power in this Siate, and in the Free States generally. It is the duty of all lo vote, and to vote for good men only. We are responsible for the election óf vil men, and in the anti-slavery ranks are men competent for any legislation. Mr. C. II. Stdaht, of Detroit, alluded to the fact that, at the South, Wealth, vestcd in slaves confers political power. - Wealth alone - mere properiy, sends 25 membere to Congress,and chooses 25electors of President. And by means oCHhe rep resentation of property 'in Ongress the Southobt..ins more than its just amount of !e proceedsof the sale of the public lands i and of the surplus revenue - s much inore : than its just proportion,as the 25 tnembers representing slaves exceed the proper proportion ofrnembers io which the Southern States are entilled by their free populalion. When all the surplus fund3 of ihe i:at on are distributed according to ;h.; Cüri grefsional representaron, it is important that that representation should be made equable and just, só ihat the Norlh will have its full share of the proceeds of the Treasury which it contributes so largely io replenish. To obtain this jusl appoitionment is one substantial reason fur political action. Natuan Power, of O.ikland County, ' mentioned as ooeoliject of politicil action, : the oblainingof a jury trial and the j tive franchise for tho colored popuiation. [Ie also showed that the people of Michigan have a deep interest in the 1 tiuuance of slavery, from the fact,that they ! are bound by the C'nstitution to aid in put lin down an insurrection of the slaves in any Siate in which it may occur. Should an insurrection of the s'aves arise in Geor giaor South Ch rol na, the young men of Michigan might be required to shoulder their musketp, and nid in reducing once more to elavery those who had un unquestionable right to liberty. All the free States would be requiredjif necessary, tocontribute their proportion of militia; nnd the army of the United Staies would be employed for the same purpose. And should the war last as long as that of the Revolution, the free States would have to do a large share of tbc fighting, and pay much tho greatest' share of the expense. These faets demónstrate that the people of Michigan are deeply interested in using all constituiional means for the peedy extinction of slavery. Majok Rexford, of Jackson Count}', was decidedly in favor of political actioo. Dut to make ihat action efiicient, the political organization must be general. For instance, it is considered important by both political parties to be represented at Wash ington by Senators of their own party. - A very few votes in the Senate determine iho fato oí the most important questions. If it be important to the other partics to íend Senators of their own views, it cannot be less eo to ihe Liberty party: and as the Stato Legislature elects the Senators to Congresf, there must-bO a mnjority of uf the Liberty pnrty in ihat body, in order to elect Liberty Senators. Mr. R. demonslrated Ihat every citi- zen is responsible for the existence of slavery in the District of Columbia. Several thousand slaves are held there by virtuo of the laws of the United States. - Should each voter excuse himself, and say he did notenact them, the anomaly would be presented of a luw bolding thousands of immortal beings in slavery, and yei no individual responsible for the existence of ihat law. Such a position was not tenable. There are six slave Belling establish ments licensed in the District at $400 each. Three ilave vessels leave the Dis trictfor the Southern market every fifteen days, and Congress has made lawsregulating the manner of transporting these .slaves. IIow then can ihey cluiin tbat ihey hnvo no juristiiction in the matter? - Tho horrible nature of this traffic was appaienc upon tho taco of it. If it be a crime worthy of death to sceize a nniive African, and hold him as a slave, is it to be deemed no crime toenslave a native born American? That the national legislation was entirely under the control of the slave power, was evident from the measures of each snecesssive session of Congress. fie chai lenged any person to show him a Binglc inslance whcre Northern and Southern interests aad come directly into collision. in which the South had not carried the day. All experience has shown that freedom and slavery are, and from iheir nature, always must be, perfect antagonisms; and one or the otlier must ultimately rule triumplmntly through our whole land. Mr. Dutton, of Washtenaw, spolce of the effect of depending on the leading poIlitical parties to carry out the great principies ofliberty. In the course of his reinarks, he alluded to our own Congression al delegüttón. He asked what "Honest jráko'Lnad done for us? At the JGxira sesyion, óne of his first acts was to vote for the gag. He couid not but ihink, however, that he had done it inadvertently, and that, at the time, he had no intenlion togo aguinSt the right of pëtition, und he had n.'bly defended il since. He knew Mr. Howard, and esteemed him to be an honorable man. It was not to be supposed, fipwèy'er, that he would take any measures ihat would compromit the popularily of the northern Whigs with theirsouihern alhes. He had not opened his mouth oji the subject of slavery in the national disïrict. , And ve find. that he votcd for the Distri bulion Act, inving to the Southern skve States SMjPOO per yeaiyjust to encourigo them lo hold slaves. By that act, each free inhabitant of South Carolina receives 32 cents, per year, while each free inhabilant of Michigan is cut down to 18 cents! There was no necessiiy for divi- ding it in this uncqual way. Why then did not Mr. Howard oppose such an unjust distribuliön? Because t would have off'ended the Souihern Whig slaveholders, and it might have been the means of breaking clown the whole party. Our interests ncver will be properly represcnled at Washington, until ;he people ot this State send men there who are not governed by a party uuder thu domination of slavdiolders. Wh en Mr. Dutton sat down, soine one arose in the back part of the House, and inquired how the gentlemen who spoke last carne to be possessed of so much information about maiters and things, atington? Ho seemed to know all about ihem. Mr. Cleveland, the President, said that he deemed the remarks of Mr. Dutton to be perfectly in ordei, and therefore ho had not iuterrupted hiin. It was the undoubted right of every American citizen, in public convention, to discuss the official acts of public men, and it was perfeclly proper in Mr. Dutton eo to do. - Neverlheless, he hoped that gentleman who might íollow would be careful tospeak of living individuáis, in a manner as Hule excoptionable as possible. Mr. Cleveland having been called upon, made some remarks, (of which we took no notes) in enswer to the objection that we are departihg from tho spirit nnd tenor of the Constitución. Ho read some extracts from the currespondence of George Wnshington, showing his sentimenls on slavery, and demonstrating completely Yhat we are W.ashingtonian abolitionists, inasmuch as we ogree with the Father of our Country in the sentiment, that "thcre is only one proper and effectual modo by which the aboiition of slavery eau be accomplished, and that is by BY LEGISLATl VE AUTHORITY." The JfETKRBoRO CoavkiNtiun was held Jan. 19. It is cstimated tbat about 1,500 were present including about 500 ladies. Gcrrit Sinith was nominated for Governor; but he deciining to accept, Alvnn Stewart was elected in his stend, Mr. Stewart receiving 214 votes and Arthur Tappan 163. C. O. Shepard.of Wyoming was nominated for Licutcnant Gbvernor. The Resolutions were of an advanced, character. Those respecting the Creóle declared "That it will be linie enougb, for ihe íáouth to charge guilt upon those insurgente, nfter she shall have charged a ten thousand fold greaicr guilt on the Héroes of tho American Revolution. Resolved, that the heroism of tho captives on the Creóle, in assuming the control of that piratical brig, is a sublime occasion of thnnks giving to God, and mutual congratulation arnong the frienda of Hu man i tv. An address to the sluves of tho United Sutes was rtad by Gerril Smith and adopted by the Cunvention, and ordered to be published. QJSome of our membera of Congrcsa are eaid to be bard cases, tóorne are also hard drinkers. -Mr. W. C. Johnson ia eaid by some of the papers to uee tho bottle very freely. Mr. Spriggs of Tennesee, lately spewed into his desk, and went to sleep in his chair. Mr Marshall of Ky. has reformed. A Congressional Temperance Society is talked of. 3The authórities of Mobile have published au ordinance, auihorizing the Sheriff to lake charge of all colored men on board the vessels in the Bay, and impriaon liiem, and charge S7 each for his trouble. Nothiug in particular is alledged ngainst the blacks, but the movcment seems to be designed as &n offset to abolitionism. The numbor of blacks r.uw in the Bny u about S5o. The captains are required to give bonds in the Bum of S200 each man,' that they will tako them away. This is the way they serve th freo citizens of other States: and if ueh tbing8 üliali be persisted in, and become general at the South, how long will it bo bsforö 'our glorious Union" will exist c name? The Legislature have ordered the carB to run on the Sa!bath. We know of no good reason for it. We understand r.o mail is carried on that day. All the passengera and freight caa be transported in six days, and thus save a seventh part of the expense. - We can con?eive of no other reason for this legielaii'e act, than a disposition to show theircontempt of the feolings of the religioua porlion of thfrcommuuity. It will doubtless be appreciated by them.