Rensselaer Gazette, Volume 3, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 December 1859 — "THE IMPENDING CRISIS." [ARTICLE]

"THE IMPENDING CRISIS."

This book, written by Mr. Helper, of North Carolina, and which has received such an extraordinary advertisement at the hands of Southern Fire-eaters in the halls of Congress, will recoil on their heads with speedy and terrible effect. Whether the influence of the book be for good or evil, one thing is certain, namely, that, after the unheard of effort by the Representatives of the slaveholders to prevent this,book from falling into hands of the non-slaveholders of the South, the latter class, if they are made of such stuff as freemen should be made of, will procure it, and read it too, at all hazards and at every cost. It is not the nature of mankind, and especially of American citizens, to tamely submit to the gross insult and outrage of Having a self-constituted aristocracy of slaveholders say to them what books or papers they shall read, and what they shall not. The papers of the South say that all white men who are found with Helper’s book in their possession should be indicted for treason. Many Southern postmasters stop Nothern journals in the United States males, while on their way to Southern subscribers. But two or three week ago the postmaster at Parkersburg, Va., wrote to Horace Greeley that, thereafter, he would burn all copies of the New York Tribune

coming to his office. The Warrentovvn (Va .) Flag having learned that over twenty copied of the New York Tribune are taken at the postoffices of Prince William county, eugge'sted, a few days ago, that those receiving them should not only bo presented before the Grand Jury and fined heavily, but dealt with even more severely. ■ Now, does any sane man for one moment believe that the non-slaveholders of the South will submit, to such a degrading position as receive through the • siv-ycnolder.-, hands, by the slaveholders approbation, ail tile books and pipers '•••,! *!; ■• nr y d'-see road. ; Ii they will tun - sot-m t ■ n kuitiryj, odoim. tyranny of loss

than three hundred and fifty thousand slaveholders, they are more degraded than the slaves themselves, and deserve the scorn and contempt of their black brethren for their lack of manhood and want of nerve to maintain their personal liberty. But we are far from believing that such is the case. We believe that those of the South who desire to see the New York 7\ibune or Helper’s book, or any other paper or book, whether they be for slavery ur against it, whether slaveholders or non-slaveholders, will yet teach the Fire-eaters, in Congress and out, that slavery is not the only interest in the South. When non-slaveholders of theSouth get to reading Helper’s book, as they most assuredly will after what has transpired in Congress—it not being in the power of man to prevent them—they will discover that the South is behind the North in every particular, so far as wealth, prosperity, energy, enterprise, morality and intelligence are concerned; that in the item of land alone its/Value would be more than enhanced ten times. In free New Jersey land averages .“$28,90 per acre; in slave North Carolina it averages only *1,32. Helper proves that the hay crop of the North exceeds the cotton, tobacco, rice, sugar and hay crops of tin 1 South by three millions and a half of dollars yearly. In fact, he demonstrates by figures that every kind of property would be unprece-: dentedly increased in value. When these i facts are made known to the six millions of whites in the South, will they longer submit to the iron rule of a third of a million of slaveholders! We think not. We give below a couple of extracts from ' the book in question, which contain the pas- j ! sages that seem to give the Fire-eaters so ; much anxiety, although we suspect that the tables of statistics give them more uneasiness than anything else in the work. “So it seems that the total number of actual slave-owners, including their entire crew of cringing lickspittles against whom we have to contend, is but three hundred and forty-seven thousand five hundred and twenty five. Against this army for the defense and propagation of slavery, we think it will be an easy matter —independent of the Degrees, who, in nine cases out of ten. would be delighted with an opportunity to cut their masters’ throats, and without accepting of a single recruit from either of the Free States, England, France or Germany—to muster 1 one at least three times as large, and far I more respectable for its utter extinction. | We hope, however,'and belicvej.hat the mat- j ter in dispute may be adjusted without ar- 1 raying these. “""inilt eacn oilier in 1 hostile attitude. We desire peace.not war —•. justice, not blood. Give us-fair-play, secure to us the right of discussion, the freedom of speech, and wo will .settle the difficulty at the ballot-box; not on thg battle-ground—by force of reason, not by force of arms. But j we arc are wedded to one purpose from which 1 no earthly power can ever divorce us. We j are determined to abolish slavery at all haz- ' ards—in defiance of all the opposition, oh whatever nature, which it is possible for the ! slavocrals to bring against us. Of this they | may take due notice, and govern themselves j accordingly.”— Page 1-19. Pretty strong language that, but not near j as strong and offensive as the language of many Southern Congressmen during almost j any session of Congress. Within the pres- j ent month Mr. Millson, of Virginia, said in the hall of our National Representatives, that those who endorsed such sentiments as were in Helper’s book were unfit to live and ought to die! No Democrat jumped up in his seat to rebuke such language, and hurl the insult back in the face of lie who was so mean as to utter it; but, what is still more disgraceful, on the twentieth ballot for Speaker, (the last we have seen at this writing,) this same Millson stood next to Sherman in number of votes. The following is Mr. Helper's plan for abolishing slavery: 1. Thorough organization and independent political action on the part of the nonslaveholding whites of the South. 2. Ineligibility of slaveholders—never another vote to the trafficker in human fleshy 3. No co-operation with slaveholders in politics—no fellowship with them in religion—no affiliation with them in society. 4. No patronage to slaveholding merchants—no guestship in slave-waiting hotels—no fees to slaveholding lawyers—no employment of slaveholding physicians—no audience to slaveholding parsons. 5. No recognition of pro-slavery men, except as ruffians, outlaws, and criminals. 6. Abrupt discontinuance of subscription to pro slavery newspapers. 7. The greatest possible encouragement to free white labor. 8. No more hiring of slaves by n jn-slave-holders.

9. Immediate death to slavery, or if not immediate, unqualified proscription of its advocates during the period of its existence. 10. A tax of sixty dollars on every slaveholder lor each and every negro in his possession at the present time, or at any intermediate time between now nnd the 4th of July, 1863—said money to be applied to the transportation of tho blacks to Liberia, to their colonization i« Central or South America, or to their comfortable settlement within the boundaries of the United States. 11. An additional tax of forty dollars per annum to be levied annually, on every slaveholder for each and every negro found in his possession ufter the 4th of July, 1863—said money to be paid into the hands of the negroes so held in slavery, or, in case of death,, to their next of kin, and to be iised by them at their own option.— Page 155'.

{£y' Bnynrd Taylor says that, when he first visited Humboldt, he sliow-ed him a chameh on.and idler pointing cut hi ; ngular eyes, said, “One peculiarity of tins eat urn is" his now. r o> looking two ways at, the s-j mo tine, lie ran li t me eyi to il uven, while he hi rr m :ins fixed to (lie earth. Pie rt .ire | many clergymen who have the same faculty.