Report Of The Executive Committee: The Executive Committee O...

That the bucccss which has attended the efforts of tho friends of the slavc, ín this State, during the past yeur, calla upon us for grateful acknowledgments to Alrnighty God, and for continued and persevering efforts to complete that great enterprise in which we have enlisted. In contemplating the present eituation ot the AntUslavery cause among us, one favorable circumstance which presents itself prominently to view, is the union of sentiment that exi9ts among the friends of impartial liberty, in reference to those great measures which must be employed, in order to defend our own rights, and 6ecure the emancipation of the slave. Responsibilities are hud upon us in the doable capacity of citizens, and of moral and religious beings; and iu these respective capacitics, we are under obligation to sustain the great principies of liberty anJjustice, by bestowing our saffrages on those only who will defend and carry out those principies - by using vvhat influence we may po3sess, as member8 of the Church of Je" sus Christ, to procure the purification of all the religious Associations existing among us - by refu9ug to receive into Christian fellowship, those who after duo admoniLion, persist in making property of their fellowmen: - and by spreadmg abroad in commu nity, those facts concerning the moral, political, and financial evils of the slave system, and our ability to remedy these evils, which are calculated to rouso pur fellow citizens to ásense of tho situalion of their country ,and secure their active co-operation in redecming it from its greatcst curse. In the propriety of these method3 of action, it is believed that all in Michigan, who have interest enou&h in the cause of emancipation to prompt to any action whatever, are cordjally united. These several methods of action must go hand in hand. It will be in vain to vote for nntwslavery men for our rulers and at the same time, recognize elave-holders at the tablo of the Lord, as his blameless and unimpeachable fulluwers; and no less absurd will it be to hopa for the extinction ofthis'sumof all villanies,' by epoaking, and priuting,and writing, and pray ing, against it.andat the same time, sustainiiig by our suifrages from year to year, the very laws by which it livea, and governs, and has its being. Moral suasion and politicttl action must be used conjuintly. Both united combine the highest testimony by which man can bear witness against oppreseion. The car af eraancipation must rol] on to its destinalion on these two rails; and whoever attempts to run the car upon one rail exclusively, will either be unable to make any considerable progresa, or he will run off the track, and be ultimately disabled from proceeding. POLITfCAL ACTION. At the time of the Presidential electior. in 1840, the necessity of a separate nominotion of political candidates by the friends of liberty was but partially appreciated, and the consequeoce waB,that a part only of them 8upported this movement. The great majority fondly hoped, that the leading political parties, although pledged to slavery, and compoBed, to a considerable exlent, of slavo. holders themselves, by means of moral suasion, and the with-holding of their votesfrom Northern candidates by the friends of liberty, tnight yet be induced to take that action which the the cause of humanity required, and which they had abundant power to perforra. But that hopo has proved to be vain. The conünued experience of years assuros us, that botb those partios are eo compleUly subjected to 9lave-holding interests and measures, that their reformation can no longer be rationally.expected, Since that eleciion, the proprieiy of some kind of poütical action against slavery, has been feit by all abolitionists who use the elective franchise; and the anli-slavery papers have been unanimous on the duty of with-holdingpolitical support from those who suatain slavery. Thus it is fully conceded, that by a positive or negative vote, the abolitionist who votes, ouüht to use his political influence against slavery; and there is reason to believe, from the result of the elections of the past year, that all the friends of liberty will soon feel it to be Vheir duly and privilege to concéntrate their suffrages on candidates selected ftom their own number, in vvhose integrity and abilily they can have full and undoubted confidence. In this Statfi, the vote for James G. Birnc-y lor President in 1840, was 323; while the number of votes cast for Jabcz S. Fitch for the office of Governor in 1841, was 1214; and for Nathan Power, 1205; being an increase of nearly four fold in one year. Libs erty candidates fur the Legislature and for County offices werc nominaled and voted for in about twclve counties; and it is believ ed that they received generally a larger support than the candidates for State offices. The Liberty organization must be adopted in every town. It is there in reality, that the greal politica! contests of the day are decidod; and no more effeclual or speedy method of securing the attention of the mass of community to the Liberty principies can be devised, than by the few faithful friends in each town presenting its claims at the ballot box, at every town and State electionLiberty speaks then with a voice which will be neither misunderstood nor unheeded. At the last election, the County of Washtenaw gave as rnany Liberty volea for Itep1resentatives, within fifty-six, as the whole State gave in 18 10. In some of the counties the friends of Liberty already possess the balance of political power, and if they remaia firm to their principies, as they undoubtedly will, tha result of this state of things will be most favorable to the cause of equal rights, It may nol be improper to observe, that although abolitlonists, in proportion to the paucity of their numbers, and the feebleness of their influence, have been contemned, slandered, and abused by both the political parties, yet it is believed that our system of political action will soon effect a change in their policy. Indications are alrecdy seen which afford reason for believing, that as soon as the number of Liberty votes shall have becomo so large, that the permanent 6uccess of one or the other party will be affected thereby, that efforts will be made, either covertly or openly to establish a com promise wilh the Liberty party, and thereby make it an ally of one of the slavery parties. Such anevent wouldbe the greatest calamity that cou ld befall the cause of emancipation. Our true policy is to separate ourselves from all connection with any parties, wliose prominent leaders are slaveholders. Our principies must ;be presented to tho hone9t and true hearted working men of the country; and if there is not in telligeoce and virtue enough among thetn to sustain the great doctrine of equal righta by an independent and honorable political course, it will be vain to think of saving our country by abandoning the ery principies on which its salvation de.pends, and by amalgamating ourserves with any combination of men, who include the elaveholders in their ranks, and whose ruling principie of action is subserviency to their diclation. In the thirteen lïee States, the vote for Liberty in 1840 was not far from 7000 - while the aggregate cf votes for the inde pendent Liberty Nominations in the seme States in 1841, was nearly 23,000, being an increase in one year of more than three foldIn several of the States,the increase has been six, eight, and ten fold. The system of Liberty nominationa is advocated by about fifteen antislavery papers in ten of the free i States, while there are several other antj I slavery papers which do not yet approve that course. PETITIONS. Congress has been petitioned during tho past year for that Lrgisktive action, which it has the power to exert,and which it ought to exercise for the benefit of the slave; but the result has been, as jn former yecre, that .ivhile pleading for the rights of others, the sacred rights of the petitioners ihemselves wero openly trodden under foot; and that, ;oo, in many instances, by the vcry Repre 3entativea whom they had assisled lo elect. rhe rule adopted by the House of Representatives, during the Extra Session of Congress jy which that House refused to receive the petitions of their own constituents, save in jertain case9 which they were pleased to ex cept, was a stretch of despotic power well calculated to excite alarm and indignation; and these feeling were not the less certaiu to arise in thebreasts of lhe legs' voters of .Michigan, whcn they considercd that their only Representative, and one, too, sent there by a party which has always been consider od the most favorable to the right of petition was found to concur in that infamous pro ceeding. Since the recent meeting of Con gress, the Ll9t Rule of the House has been readopted, whereby petitions for the aboli tion of Slavery in thn District of Colurabia. have been denied a reception. Other petitions, relating to slavery in different ways, not embraced by that Rule, have been re ceived by the House and referred. The enactment of a Rule abridging the right of petition, by the joint action of both politica! parties, and its conünuance for a series of years, in opposiüon to the wishes and remonstrances of vust numbers of Northern freemen, demónstrales conclusively that littlecan bo hoped from the action of men who obtain power by iheir ottiichnient to parties governedentirely by the interests of sluveholders. If sucli men cannotbe relied upon to defend the cause of liberty, a position which all experience has thus far confirmed, it follows of course that the plan of nominatiog and supporting those'on whom we can depend, is the only consistent and effectual course we can pursue. So far, however, as the right of petition is concerned, it may be hoped, that the multiiude of pelilions, praying for tho rescinding of the Gag Rule, all signed by legal voters, .vh!-.:li have bota fur'.Vfird. J ís thé rrcnibers of Congress from the free Siales,will have a favorable influence upon that body and afford no nsignifïcant indox to the Members who present them, of the State of feeling among their constituents. Petitions have also been forwarded to our State Legislature, from vaiious parts of the State; praying them to enact a law which shall secure lo our colored fellowcitizens, a jury trial in all ca3es where their personal liberty, may be involved; and also to take the necessary legislative áteps to procure such an alteration oí the Constitution as shall confer on ihem equal political privi leges with the white population. The first of these objects has secured the attention of the Legislature so farihat a bilí to secure a jury trial to all persons claimed as fugitive slaves has passed one bnticli, and should it meet with a favorable reception in the other, t will doubtless become a law. CHURCH ACTION. Some, if not all, of the Baptist Associations of tliis State have furmally withdrawn from slaveholders the fellowship ol their churches. Some individual churches of other denominations have taken the same action; and it is certain that the couviction of the propriety and necessity of ihe uhimate adoption of such a rule isfast gaining ground in most of the denominations of the free States. LECTUREUS. Owing to the scarcity of funds, tho Ex. ecutivo Committee have employed an agent lo leclure only a small portion of the time. It ij believed,however.that a consid erable amount of labor has been bestowed in ihis way, in different parts of the State by gentlemen who have volunteered in this service, with lhe most beneficial results. The Committee have reccnlly engaged the services of Mr. Hall of Ohio, during ihe winter, a lecturer, and be has visited parts of ihe Counties of Washienaw, Wayne, Lenawee and Monroe, and every where he has been met by a spirit of inquiry, and a disposition to learn the objectsand measures of the Liberty party, which afTurd no uncertain indication of their disseminalion through all classes of the community. FINANCE. During lhe past year, the receiptaofthesociety have amounted to $198,72, and the expenditures have been $319,17, leaving a balance against the society of $120, 55. Nothing has been received to liquídate the debt of $659, due from the society at the time of the last annual report. The trea8urers report will show the expenditures and receipts in detail. THE PRESS. Agreeably toa vote of the State Society at tho last annual meeting, the Michigan Freeman was removed from Jackson to Ann Arbor, and its publication was resumed under the appellation of the "Sigaa of Liberty." A considerable portion of the old subscribers to the Freeman declined subscnbing for the Signal uf Liberty, and the new paper was obliged to startwitha list of only 500 names. lts patronage, has steadily increasedsince lts commencement,and the subscription list now numbers 900. The paper has been pubhshed during the last year under the pressure of many disadvantages, which it is needless here to enumérate and which have rendered t Ies3 correct in ts exeeution, and less interesting and useful in its contents than it otherwise would have been; but your committee believe that on all occasions, it has faithfully advocaled the principies of impartial liberty,and lias been efficiënt in extending their prevalence through the State. In looking at the agencies which must be employed in the future, it ia obvious, that in the present embanassed state of financial affairs, funds can not be obtained to support lecturers, or for the gratuitous distribution oijfocuments on the subject of emancipation. All experience seems to point to the Press, as the great engine by which slavery is tobe overthrown. it is found, that ahhough no anti-slavery paper fully supports itself, yetthe expense ol diffusing information by weekly papers is rétöraed luto the hands of those who advance it te a greater extent by this than by any other method that can be devised, anc consequently requir es the smallest drafis on the resources of those on whorn the whole enterprise depends. Also the weekly return of anti-slavery intelligence to the fireside of the citizen is admirably calculated to produce a permanent impression upon his mind, and to excite a continued interest in the subject. It is not too much to say, that no intelligent man can be a constant reader of a wel! conducted anti-slavery paper, without an abiding conviction of the great truths of the anti slavery enterprise, and of their ultímate success. For these reasons, your Committee con sider it to be of ihe very highest impor tance, not only that a weekly anti-sla. very paper should be sustained in this State, but that efforts be made that shall secure its circulation in every town and school district. In order to sustain a permanent political organization in the State, there must bea medium of communication: and no paper published out of the State, however excellent if itself, can effectually answer that purpose. Owing to a deficieney of advertising patronage and other reasons, it is be-lieved that no anti slavery paper entireiy sustains itself: and it is not to be supposed that the "Signal" so recently estahlished, with so smali a subscrihtion, should be an exception to the general rule, The Comrniltee have endeavored to ascertainthe amount which will be necessary to defray the expense of the publication of the "Signal" for the ensuing year, over andabove the receipts of the paper - and from the beat information they can obtain, that amount cannot be less than $500 In conclusión, the Committee would remark, that in their opinión, the state of public feeling is such, that the Liberty principies only need lo be universally ktiown to ensure their speedy success. - Recent events have greatly tended toimpair the confidence of the intelligent part of community in the disinlerestedness and patnolism of both the great political parlies. The evils of slavery. in its effect upon the financial and political interestsof the nation are feit in a greater degree than at any precedirig time, and the kuowlcdge of thern is extending wider and wider. - The Providence of God thus far hassmilcd on all the endeavors that have been made to udvance this enterprise, and ncthng is wanting but continued and persevenng efforts on our part to bring it to a happy and glorious consummation.