Free Soil Banner, Indianapolis, Marion County, 27 October 1848 — Page 1
EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY W. B. GREER & L. WALLACE.)
H IS THE FREEMAN, WHOM TRUTH MAKES FREE; AND ALL ARE SLAVES BESIDE.”
[PRINTED BY DOUGLASS & ELDER.
VOL. 1.
INDIANAPOLIS, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1848.
NO. 10.
PUBLICATION OFFICE OF THE BANNER IS ON PENNSYLVANIA STREET. Three doors north of Washington Street. From the Utica Democrat. Tlie Van tSiirtui fiiutlieviug Song. They’re rousing, they’re rousing in valley and glen, The noble in soul, and the fearless of heart; At freedom's stern call, to the combat again They rush with a zeal he alone can impart, From wild Madawaska's dark forests of pine, To the far fertile glades where the calm Wabash flows, True sons of their fathers! the People combine, To keep ofl' the chains of their tyrants and toes. They’re gath’ring, they’re gath’ring, on hill-side and plain, They swarm every vale and o’ershadow each river. Each hamlet and dell is made vocal again With the soul-thrilling cry of “Our Country forever!” The Flag of the Free to the breeze is unfurled, Around it they rally to guard its lair fame, And well may the proud sons of freedom he bold In the glory and strength of VAN BUKEN’Sgreat name. Where the noble Ohio in wild beauty sweeps, Where the swift Susquehanna bears onward its waves, And e’en where the Hudson in calm grandeur sleeps. There are thousands of freemen who scorn to be slaves. Arouse then, true hearts! to the battle once more, And Dough Faces quail at youf gallant array! You will conquer again, as you've conquered before, And Hope’s mom will brighten to shadowless day.
Tremendous Outpouring of tiie Free Sellers in New York. The city of New York witnessed on Monday evening, Oct. 9th, the greatest demonstration which it. has known for years. Nowhere in the present canvass lias there been such an immense gathering of true hearted men, devoted to the great cause of human freedom. The New York Tribune says: “Say as you will about b'ree Soil, its principles are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The meeting in the Park last, night, in point of enthusiasm, numbers and respectability, was one of the greatest displays of the season. We have no correct numberometer to guide us in a correct estimate, but we should think the numbers present could not have been less than 15,000. On and around the stand they were crowded thickly to hear the speakers, and away back on the steps of the City Hall thousands clustered, where seeing was easier than hearing. The stand was densely embannered with Hags and paintings of various descriptions. Several portraits of Van Boren were conspicuous among them. Bonfires flamed on each side of the meeting, and when the Fourteenth Ward Free Soil Delegation entered the Park with their banners and torches, the scene was exceedingly grand. A perfect roar ofapplanse went up from the crowd, while every man seemed to have a piece of fireworks in his hands, from which a perfect inverted shower of blazing balls went up from Roman candles. Trees, houses, and everything around seemed crimsoned into a magic glare by the varying colors of the fireworks. John Van Buren, “Prince John,” the pride of the People, the beau ideal of the Barnburners, the indefatigable enemy of Old Hunkerism, was the principal speaker, and he showered his compliments in every direction, particularly on the left hand. Now John is a “broth of a hoy,” when he gets fairly started. His powers of sarcasm are inexhaustible, his energies untiring, his wit as keen as a blade just fresh from Damascus, his lungs like gutta percha, Ids voice pleasing, his manner captivating, his self possession perfect, and his popularity with a crowd unbounded. There’s John Van Buren for you.” The meeting was called to order by John Cochrane, Esq., and was organized by the appointment of Hknry Everson as President, with 108 Vice Presidents and 3G Secretaries. Samuel J. Tilden then made a report of the doings of the Ftica Convention, whichwas received with great enthusi-
asm.
A series of resolutions were read by Mr. Cochrane, endorsing the Buffalo Platform, and advocating principles of reform. John Van Buren was then announced and came forward amid great applause, holding the attention of the audience for nearly an hour, in a speech replete with argument and wit. We take the following extract from the Tribune’s report: He denied that personal revenge wro’t the nomination of his father.— This crisis in the cause of Feedom only caused his re-appenrnnee again on the political stage. He said his father was desirous that his name should not he used in connection with the Presidency, from the Utica to the Buffalo Conventions, preferring the comfortable retirement he at present enjoys, with the best of health. No individual could be less solicitous for the result, and he asked for no man’s vote. He said that much good had already resulted from this agitation at the North, and that Mr. Webster had acknowledged that the Free Democracy arc on the right
track, probably thinking that they had made a mistake in the discovery of the North Star. (Cheers.) He demonstrated the preposterousness of the idea that this strike for Liberty would dissolve the Union, remarking in the language of Col. Benton, that the women and children would prevent such a result! He said that Calhoun himself admitted that the Free Soil party would prove victorious in 1852. He thought there was a general disposition with some to take an early train. Texas was brought into the Union by the recent war, and contrary to the stipulation Polk had made to Messrs. Dix, Tappan, Blair, &c., the thirtyfirst State, we say, shall he free in spite of any such intrigues. (Cheers.) Now is the time to settle this great question. Never had there been an agitation that had caused so great a commotion in so brief a period. He referred to the miserable Northern traitors in the House who had dwindled down to four in number, who had all lost a renomination. (Three groans were given for Birdsall.) He said the constiluents of Mr. B. would soon settle his case. He then gave an account of the enthusiasm for the movement throughout his travels, particularly in New England, where a great majority of the people were aroused for the cause.— He also pointed to the buoyant accounts continually being received from that section of the country which had experienced the great blessings of the Jeffersonian Ordinance—-the States of the North-west. I Le also read a cheering letter from Mr. Giddings, pledging. Ohio and the Reserve by about the same majority which Harrison receiver!. In New York, he said, four-fifths of the “Democratic” party were for Van Buren, and a great portion of the Whig party, with many of the leading Whig orators and statesman—Willis Hall, (loud cheers,) Joseph L. While, &c. &c. [A voice iu the crowd suggested “Where’s Greeley ?” also. To this allusions, Mr. Van Buren, ever ready with a reply on any emergency, remarked : J am sorry to say that that distinguished gentleman, who had declared his unalterable opposition to mere military chieftains, intends to vote for Gen. Taylor, whose only claims for office were founded solely on these grounds, coupled with being i also an extensive slaveholder. This | man claimed to he an advocate of Land Limitation, and made some pretensions to he an Anti-Renter, but still he refused to vote for the Land Limitation, and Anti-Rent candidates. He announced his intention of going with us if he thought we should succeed i without him. (Laughter.) In conclusion, the following letter was read from Willis Hall, which was given as the choice morceau of this immense gathering. Gentlemen : I have received your invitation to address the Ratification Meeting of the Friends of Free Soil, to be held in the Park on Monday afternoon. You are not mistaken in supposing that 1 take .r deep interest in the subject, and would gladly lend my feeble aid, in any way in my power, to
its advancement.
But my voice is too feeble to enable me to he heard in the open air, and my official engagements on Monday afternoon and evening render it impossible to be present with you on this great rally of the Free Democracy. But I cannot forbear a word as to the grossly false charge against us that we are
a sectional party.
Not a member of that party hut hurls hack with indignation the charge of seeking to advance one section of the Union at the expense of another, or any other charge which impugns his patriotic devotion to our common country, and every part of it. The territories were acquired by the blood and treasure of the whole nation, South as well as North; and, therefore, it is said the South should be admitted to an equal participation in all the benefits to be derived from them.— This is unquestionably true. We should enter upon them like a band of brothers, on terms of perfect equality. But if they introduce their slaves, they exclude us, not wo them. Slaves and Free Labor never have and never can exist together. If persons unite to purchase a block of ground, on which to build dwellings for their families, and one insists on erecting a nuisance, which renders it uninhabitable for the rest, he is prohibited by the laws of every nation. By so doing, he in fact ' monopolizes the common property to
himself.
We have as much right to the precious veins of New Mexico, and the golden sands of California* as our brethren of the South; and to them, in all kindness, we say, we will neither do wrong nor suffer wrong; we will he as firm in resisting encroachments upon the just rights secured to them by the Constitution, as we are sternly resolved in asserting our own. That the fact that the soil of New
Mexico was purchased by the common f Congress? What are you doing? For the Inquirer. blood and treasure, gives any one the Supporting “ a mere military man,” j ** tl'o Democratic Party Honest 1 right to hold slaves upon it, is absurdly , who has not had the slightest experi-! Biddrford, Oct. 3, 1848.
false. New York was redeemed from ! ence in civil office, hut whose whole
the domination of England by the common blood and treasure; hut does that give any one a right to hold slaves here ?—to drive three-fourths of our most valuable population from their fields and their work shops, and darken our land with the curse of Slavery ?— Every State has a right to say what shall he property within its own jurisdiction. The United States have the same power to resist the introduction of Slavery in the one case as in the
Other.
The Missouri Compromise is totally inapplicable. That restricted Slavery in what had been the Territory of Louisiana, where Slavery had been estab-
lished.
We seek to prevent the extension of Slavery to territory where it has never existed. The friends of Free Soil seek no sectional advantages 1 —violate no law —infringe no obligation which rests Upon them as American citizens ready to “do or die” in defence of their common country. Please accept my thanks for the flattering terms of your invitation, ami he assured of my hearty co-operation in the great cause in which you are en-
gaged.
With highest respect, your obedient servant. WILLIS HAL],. New York, Oct. 7, 1848. To John Cocurant, and others, Com-
mittee.
A rtlii i’or for the Tayloritien. The most amusing thing going just now, is the stolid simplicity with which the 'Taylor men try to pour contempt on the true Whigs who refused to abandon the party and join the great “ National Taylor Club.” Perfectly delightful is the assurance, the infinite self-complacency with which they walk up to you and exclaim, “Oh, going to vote lor Van Buren, hey! Don't you
cut a ridiculous figure?”
How are we to account for so extraordinary a phenomenon? Simply, we suppose, on the grouncl that when a man is mad he imagines all the rest of the world to he crazy. It was our intention when we began this article, to advise them to look into a glass. But we forbear; because seeing their own features so distorted, it is possible that like the old woman in the nursery tale, they might exclaim “surely this cannot
life has been spent in border forays.—j ,, The ^ of ,he . people composing Are you the men to launch anathemas 1 ^ Party—are, and ever have been,
at those Whigs, who true to their old
honest. The interest of ihe country is ihe interest of ihe people, therefore the people seek the good of the country. Bat the great difficulty is, that the body of the people composing ihe two old parties look only to their party leaders for directions how to vote. All the information they have to guide them is, what they get out of the party papers, because they read nothing else. 'The question then comes up, are the party leaders honest ? Let all who wish to be right, and to ar t understand•ng'y. j 1,st take the trouble to examine
for themselves.
Firsi, then, it is a settled question that the people composing all parties, at the North, are opposed to the extension ol slavery into territory now free. This position is proved by the fact, that the hireling politicians dare not, any ol them, openly defend the extension of slavery, but each claims for his candidate that he is in favor of free territory, and of the Wilmot Proviso. SecondlHi it is also a fact that the candidate in nomination by the Democratic party has committed himself as opposed to the Wilmot, Proviso, and in favor of extending slavery into territory now tree, and mostly uninhabited. Thirdly, The Eastern Argus, Saco Democrat, and all the other Democratic presses in this Stale seek to conceal the real position of their candidate, and lead the people into the support of a
measure they abhor.
ibis 1 know will he denied : and 1
we not gain, at least, the River and i ;\ sk no °ne to take my word for it, nor «■ » P n .x . . . ^ • tilO won nt mnn • hut
principles, have determined once more to throw their votes for a sagacious statesman, all whose days have been spent in the civil service of the Republic? Further. Did you not say that the war with Mexico was wicked, inhuman, outrageous? What are you doing now? Supporting for the chief office in the nation, the chief instrument in that war. Are you the men to accuse us for adhering to our principles in voting for a man who, had he been in power, would have prevented that
war!
Still further, Did you not say, that resistance to the slave-power was one of the cardinal principles of the Whigs? 'That the Whig party was the great Anti-Slavery party of tho Union? What are you doing now? Supporting as your standard bearer an old slave--holder from the extreme South, who was buying slaves at the very moment of his nomination, who has distinctly assured his friends that “the South ought never to sanction the provisions of the Wilmot Proviso,” and who, the Southern' Whigs aver, is with the South and for the South, and will he the faithful guardian of its interests. Are you the men to censure us for taking as our leader a man who honestly and openly avows himself the advocate of that great principle which you, by enlisting under the black flag, have so unequivo-
cally abandoned?
Nay more. Under Van Buren shall
Harbor bill? And are we not left free by the Bufialo Platform to contend, if we choose,'for a Protective Tariff? But in what Whig doctrine has Taylor avowed his belief? Has he told you, that he believed in the Internal Improvement system, or in the necessity of a Protective Tariff? Not a word of it. And are you the men to accuse us for throwing our votes for a man who has avowed his adhesion to several Whig doctrines for which we have always strenuously contended, while the man whom you support has avowed no prin-
ciples at alb?
Let us tell you in conclusion, that before you can convince the community that it is we and not you who are cutting “ the ridiculous figure,” you
the word of any man; hut look at the following among many things, and then decide for themselves, whoever the
readers of this may lx*.
Gen. Cass says in his Nicholson letter, his last declaration of sentiment, that the “ evil of slavery will be mitigated by transporting staves to a new country, and giving them a larger space
to occupy.'' 1
In the same letter he says that the Wilmot Proviso, if passed, “would weaken the union of the States, and sow the
seed of future discord.''
Again he says, “Ido not see. in the constitution any grant of the requisite power to Congress'’'’ to pass the Wilmot
Proviso.
Again he says, “I am opposed to the
willhavetoappear in some other dress exerclse jurisdiction by Con-
bc I,” and straightway proceed to in- lhan , tlie spotted skin of the clown in ovcr m matler i und “that the
sist that by some magic in the mirror, llie Circus.—-Portland Inquirer.
another face had been presented
in-
stead of their own. However, at the risk ol losing our labor in attempting impossibilities, we should like to make trial of convincing them, that when
Cost of Mail Transportation. The following exhibits the annual cost of mail transportation, and the annual receipts of postages, for the year
they taunt the whigs with supporting! preceding July 1, 1847, as we learn an old democrat, it is quite possible from an official source, viz :
that they themselves are “ cutting the ridiculous figure.” We do not now speak of the original Taylor men, who bolted long before the nomination, and were determined that Taylor should he the candidate at all events; but of those Whigs who resisted his nomination to the last. The bare possibility of his nomination, made them irate. They were not going to stand such nonsense, not they. So hostile were they to it, that in this city they would not allow a Taylor man to go to Augusta. They were pretty much of the opionion of the Jonesboro Tennessee Whig, that Taylor was a perfectly ridiculous can-
didate.
Yet in one week after the nomination they made hut one wry face and swallowed him, “ war, blood, thunder,” and all. A pretty set of people, truly, to “ run” conscience whigs for supporting Martin Van Buren. Now look at the matter a little further. Did you not say that one of the cardinal principles of the Whig party was resistance to executive usurpation? Did you not say so when Jackson was nominated? Did you not then assert that ol all men, a military leader was the most likely to he dogmatical, imperious, arbitrary? The most likely to make his own will an arbiter in the affairs of the nation? What are you doing now? Supporting not merely a military chieftain, hut achieftain whom you laud for that very iron firmness, which in Jackson you looked upon with so much alarm. Are you precisely the
States.
Maine, N. Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ma ryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida,
Ohio,
Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin,
Iowa,
Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana,
Texas,
Dist. of Columbia,
Cost.
#4L9G4 25,560 26,563 107,392
9,187
45’797 229,307 58,930 115,412
7,862
133,751 192,615 172,520 118,157 153,001 45,193 170,295 38,21 1 52,430 102,485 15,045
9,722
49,720
89,581
55,298 136,499 58,451 39,906 41,795 24,102
principle, it involves should be kept out
of the National Legislature.^' Now the Democratic presses all re-
fuse to publish this declaration of sentiment of their own candidate. Not only so, they all say that they are right, and their candidate is right on the Wilmot Proviso. They represent him as so far opposed to slavery, that he might consistently be supported by the old Liberty party. But were Gen. Cass’s true position, and the present position of the Democratic party as well known to the people, as these professions of theirs, 1 should have no fears but that Van Buren would carry the State by
ten thousand majority.
Let every man consider these things, and decide for himself, whether the leaders of the Democratic party are honest, or whether they seek the election of Cass for the sake of the spoils
of office.
Revenue. $59,440
40,680 34,338
218,201
26,833
£4,157 494,757
39,285
252,176
8,789 81,656
92,292
31,379
50,385
55,859
10 883 lHE WH0I - E number oe Vetoes.— 158’s69 The veto power, says the Virginia Re corder, has been exercised twenty-five times since the formation of the govern-
38,491 43,384 52,359 26,703 9,495 4 1,506
53,6321 37,987'
49,602 33,773 9,569 j 68,523
ment.
By George Washington, James Madison, - - James Monroe, - - Andrew Jackson, - John Tyler, - - - James K. Polk, - -
2 6 1 9 4 3
Total, 25 The whole number of acts passed
g’^gjand approved since the origin of the 179 ! 39l ^ government, is about 7,000, which will
From the above it will he seen that nm ^ e ^80 acts to one veto,
all the New England States largely
overpay. New York yields more than double the expenses of mail transportation. But justlook at the slave States! Only one of them, Louisiana, overpays (nearly $27,000;) Virginia comes short
men, to scorn those whigs who, still $i 00,000; North Carolina $141,000; true to their old principles, have deter- South Carolina $68,000; Georgia $97,mined to cast their votes/or a civilian 000; Alabama $87,000. New Jersey, whose administration uas eminently pa- Ohio, Wisconsin and Iowa are the only :
free Slates in the list that do not pay.
Fond of Kissing.—Human nature was strongly exhibited a few days.since, says the Philadelphia Times, by a young girl in the city prison, who climbed up a rope sixteen feet to a grated window, for the sake of kissing an
utter stranger.
Again. Did you not, with that grand old leader Henry Clay, whom with remorseless arms the men who rep-
—N. Y. Herald.
03”:It is not my purpose to accept
resented you at Philadelphia hurled into of a whig nomination on a whig plat-
the depths of the sea, deprecate on many other accounts the accession of a war chief to the executive power? Did you not denounce Gen. Jackson as a military man, notwithstanding he had been a Judge of the Superior Court of his own State, and successively a Representative and Senator in
form or upon any platform hut that which is based upon my own repeated declarations. Z. Taylor. 03” Will General Taylor vote the Taylor and Fillmore Ticket, or the Taylor and Butler ticket? That is the
question.
The nomination of Gen. Taylor was made in the Chinese museum, and the late Whig, party have been engaged ever since in an excruciating attempt to screw up their feet (Chinese fashion) sufficiently small to stand on the Philadelphia platform. 03” One of the Free Soil Electors in Virginia, J. W. Steffy, Esq., is harranguing smartly in favor of Van Buren and Adams, and denouncing his former allies and their Baltimore nominee for the Presidency.
What the South thinks of the Free Soil Movement.—The Mobile Daily Herald and Tribune, a well-con-ducted paper, whose editor cannot hut have a deep conviction of the evil of slavery, very well remarks: “We do not see how a party could possess more elements of popular power in the free States than this. It doubtless has the deepest sympathies of the people on its side. This is so apparent that it paralyzes the more ambitious placemen of the other parties. They see very plainly that, if not now, it will ultimately absorb all other questions in the free States, and that those whe resist is must do so at the sacrifice of their political psospccts. “ Mr. Calhoun declared recently that the party in the Dee Slaes that shall he defeated at the Presidential elecltion will go over in a body to the Barnburners. We have no doubt of this; and, moreover, that the victorious party will do the same thing as soon as the time approaches for the succeeding election. “ As much as we may condemn the Free Soil movement, or the objects of those who gave it birth, it is, as far as the people of the North are concerned, a moral movement. It stands above the common motive of political partisans. It has a hold in the conscientious convictions of the people. The force thus given to it is augmented by a consideration of interest. Slavery, says the Barnburners, is adverse to the interests of labor. It degrades it. The white man cannot be a freeman where it exists. With this combined power, added to the hope of the leaders thal it must be triumphant, it is impossible to calculate what may he its immediate effects, or how far it is about to control the result of the approaching olection.
Two Pictures.
FREE SOIL ; MASSACHUSETTS.
Territory, square miles, - 7,560 Population in 1845, - - 800,000 Products in 1845, - $124,735,264
Production to each person, - . . . Members of Congress, The Scholars in Common Schools, - . -
In Academies, In Colleges,
Pei sons over 20 who cannot read and write,
Slaves,
- 154
10
160,265
16,746 - 769 - 4,448 NONE
SLAVE SOIL ; SOUTH CAROLINA.
- 25,000 600,000 53,086,765 - 88
7
12,520 - 4,326 - 168
Territory, square miles, Population in 1845, Products in 1845, Products to each person, Members of Congress, The scholars in common
schools,
In Academies, In Colleges, White persons over 20 who cannot read or write, - -
Slaves,
Now, fieemcn of “Iowa,” which class of institutions — those accompanying freedom, or those accompanying shiv ■- ry — do you prefer for yourselves ? — Which will you vote to extend into our new territory? Remember, a vote for Cass is a vote to permit extension—a vote for Taylor is not sure against it, and we think it is for it-—vole for Van Buren and you will know that you have done what you could against extending this evil.— The Tribune.
20,61 5 330,000
A New Dish.—A gentleman, whose knowledge of the French was limited to a lew words, and who was ignorant of the meaning even of those, called in at one of our French restaurants a few days since for his dinner. “Vat vill you have, sare?” said the attentive French waiter. “I’ll take some of that—that—what do you call it? same as 1 had yesterday —some French dish or other.” “I do not recollect, sare, vat you did have day before dis.” “Oh ! some fried dish—let's see, a fried fille de chambre—I believe that’s what you call it.” The poor waiter shrugged his shoulders, and put on a look of perfect astonishment, when his customer called for a fried chambermaid! Another Free Son. Paper.—The Lawrence Messenger, heretofore an ably conducted neutral paper, has come out for Van Buren and Adams. There are now live Free Soil papers in Essex county, Mass. 03” A Democratic meeting has been held in Orange Co. N. C. where Van Buren and Adams were endorsed, and filty delegates appointed to nominate electors.
03”Two of Mr. Calhoun’s slaves are said to have been committed to jail, in South Carolina, for an attempt to poison Mrs. Calhoun, by putting oxalic acid in her tea.