SLAVERY IN MINNESOTA

MR. EDITOR: - It has been my fortune to
spend the last few weeks in your beautiful
City, and as a Republican I have watched with
great interest the pulse of the party, on the
great and absorbing question of Slavery.
On turning to your Constitution I find in
Sec. 2 of Article 1, the following words:
"There shall be neither Slavery not involun-
tary servitude in the State otherwise than in
punishment of crime whereof the party shall
have been duly convicted." And in the face
of this plain provision Slavery has existed
right there in this City, without a complaint,
without a murmur. But within a few days
past a great outrage has been committed, a
black woman has been assisted in procuring
her freedom. How has an outrage been
committed? Have the laws of the State been
violated, and if so, who has done it? Is it
the man who attempts, nay, so far as his own
acts go, makes this a Slave State, contrary to
law, or the man who assists in enforcing the
laws as they exist?
The Slaveholders themselves know that
their chattels cease to be such the moment
they land in our State, they then "have rights
that white men are bound to respect." They
are contraband property, and so far as their
owners are concerned, are confiscated. It is
a game of chance and the chances are against
them. The policy of interference on the part
of individuals may be questioned, but the
right never.
But say these freedom-lovers, "What bus-
iness has any man to interfere, and let the
slave know the law, and its effects? " We
would in reply ask when and by what author-
ity was the mouths of white men padlocked?
Has the time come in Minnesota when you
dare not express you own opinion? The ex-
pediency must be left for men's consciences
to decide for themselves.
The most convincing argument appears to
be put in this manner, Are they not spending
their money freely among you, and benefitting
the whole community? This is the milk in
the coacoa nut; this is the conclusion of the
whole matter. Gold is put in once scale and
liberty in the other. It is a shame, a lasting
disgraces, that thinking, intelligent men are
found using the fallacy, for I will not call it
argument. Supposing they do leave a few
dollars with your landlords, your doctors,
livery men, merchants, and shoemakers.
What of it? Is that to be compared to a
whole lifetime of servitude of this one Eliza?
Tell me not of principle, when you decide so.
Tell me not that you believe "all men are
born free and equal." Your actions give the
lie to your profession.
"A day, an hour, of virtuous liberty,
Is worth a whole eternity of bondage."
There is one question to be answered, and
that is this: Was she entitled to her freedom?
If she was, why this whining and cringing?
We should thank God that there is one more
human being breathing the pure free air of
liberty. He who rejected the occurrence, and
"Bends the supple hinges of the knee, that
thrift may following fawning," is unworthy to be
a freeman, "is unworthy of the blessing of
the brave, is base in kind, and born to be a
slave."
We have even heard some strong, active,
enthusiastic, intelligent, high minded Repub-
licans, talk of lynching those concerned in
procuring the poor woman her freedom.
Shame on such liberty-loving christians.
We have been more disgusted with
the general tone of these doughfaces, than
with the language of the slaveholders them-
selves. They come out like men, and say
they knew your laws before they came here,
and don't ask you for your sympathy. They
know just how far your sympathy goes - to
their pocket, and of course you are not thanked
for it.
Pardon me, Mr. Editor, for occupying so
much of your space, for this subject should be
thoroughly ventilated, and I hope to see you
as an independent journalist do it.
REPUBLICAN.