The Liberty Party In Michigan

Tlio Liberty [Krty in : 1 1 ï State, at iis i bezinning, was composod of those who rere dispowd lo ue their política] power nnd influence for the Abolition of Slavcry. Nrarlv all who were Wi'Iing lo nirtkc tlusa partmount poliilcal object, joilied tlie party at tlint time, or havo un'tcd it lis first Convention was held in August, 1840, and in Novemlpr fiillowipg, t pulled for President, 328 "vo'es. In 1841, it cast for President, :i,63-2 votrs. A falling off of poliliobl interest fullowed. In the State eleolion of 1845, il enst aboiil 3,300 votes ; and at the elrction last full, from a temporary (lefet-tion, ihe want of proper nrrangeineuts, deffctive returns, &c. the nunibrr reportad as polled by tSe Secretary of Sta!e wns Lut 2,886. Accounts from all pnrts of the State, however, represent, generally, not that Liberty men voted for other parlies, bul that large iiuiTibers did not vo!e at all and that mnny volt rs ;ppeared for the firs' fine nt tle polls wr.h Libcit tickitj. Froin kil these cirruinslances, we tbink vo are perfectly safe in saying tlmt there are al least l'our tlmusand voters in tl. e State, or one in fifteen of ilio who'e numlci', who woulij now, on an occisión of genei nl interest, and in support of measures upon wliich they could all agree, make the Abolition of Slavery the parainount politioal qïiestiot). Tlie Liberty men, do, indoed bear but a small propprlion to the wholc number of volers in ihe Stnte. Yet this proportion is larger tlmn it is in any Stnle out of New England. And small os the Libeity party has been, i!s influence, t'uoiigl) lli(! Slate gcnerallv, has been very considerable, lt has tauglit our ptole the existencp, character, and supremacy of the. Slave Power, so thal the words liavc Lecome common in all the newspapers. It bas awakened a strong fdcling of resistance to slaveholding encroachments. It hasexhibited the debasing and slavish spirit of proslavery State politicians. It has vindicated the rights of the coloied man to politica! privileges. It has created a public sentiment which sl.ieids hini in a mensure from kidnappeis abroa I, and villains at homo. It has borne a nob'e lestimony again;t the nexnüon of Texas, and the extensión of slave terrilory ihrougli the infamous war with Mexico. It has disseminnted a vast amount of antishvery truth, which wil] spring up and grow, setting in mution mighty agenoies whenever circumstances sliall lend tl.eir quickenitig power, and .■ooner or laler render the action and legilation of the State entircly antis'avfry. Yet, while it has been, and continúes to be, efficiënt in tliese respect., in other particularsthe land marks of its progress have not yet been erected. During the six years of its e.istence, neither political party, when in power, have sanctioned a single measure for which the Liberty parly have petitioned. On lhe conlrarv, with one or tvvo exceptions, the responre; have been the silliest and basest popular objections, embodiedin the shape of legislative reports, and spread tbrough ihe S:a!e at the public expense, raiher, ns we suppnse, for the purpose of sanctioninopopulai error nnd prejudice, thnn with any view of fairly meeling the just demnnds of tho petilioners. During a singl sossion, no less than 2,500 legnl volers petitioned for the subinitiing of lhe queslion of colored suflïaee to the ion of the people. Thls wns a large number of voters lo apply to ihe Legislatui-e for any single object : yet they nsked in viin. Not one request legislative action has been acceded to : while the Senotor wlio represent the dominant party in Congress has given the weight ol his officia! characterand his personal talents aoainst the only buíwark that has been proposed to stay the further extensión of Slave.-y ; thereby giving the vote of the State, as far as he had' the power, in die 1 opposition to the interests of ireedom, the express resolutions of the Sta'e Legislature, and the undouLted opjn'on of the great mtM of the people of he Stale. The Liberty pari y boing tlms efficiënt and iniluential in some particular, and innperiitive in oihers, t!io inquiry has been ruiscd, whethcr its politioal power nrui nfluonce CEtnnoi be ipadutotell moie dice -:ily upon the legisla'i'in of tlic State and Nalion, wiih'Mit puting in peril the bjects il seelcs, or impairing the cfiicicncy which il nlready possesse-1. TvV') ways liave been propose1', upon wlii'-li wo will niriko sfiino ninarks. Fir. t.by uni rifc witli ei i her of the olher pariies, tliat, as a Siate party, willdireetly avow, advocate, and act out our antislaiery principies. To til is, were it practicable, weshould bu n"st decidedly opposo I. A propnsHion rwore suicichi] 10 tlmcnuso we advocate, c )ulJ scnrcely be irmrle. Let lis lonk at il practica!! y, and we where it vvutild leaJ us. As ibe Wliigs accnint'd the most ontitlavery, wo will SHppoee, wiinl is rx.t ;it all probab'e ;it present, lint a VVhig State Cunveution, liicd of a six or seven vears Impelís mini rity, with tl-e v'c:w of kccuring tli o incorporation of the Lib'M'ty pnrty iuto its rank, sliould mnko a diatinct and unequivocül i.vowal if all our princiiles, and all the party candidales at that eleclion.should doso likewisp. Suppose we üfaould sliould say thnt the Liberty pnrty was no lungrr ncedod - tbould dissolve our orgiinizalioii, umie with them and clect all tbeir eandid.ites- where sliould we be then ? At the succeeding election, wo shou'd be n very small minority of llie Whig pari y. We might be rcadily outmanagod at ihe VVbigcaucuses, the rankosl pro.slavorv men niglit be put in nomination, and the party pursue a dfspicable, teinpori.ing course on antialavery qmstions, or go back openlv to its wallowing in llie proslaverv mire. - The Liberty party would then no toneer eis( ; and the voice of th:it parly, wliich has so long and efUctnally taught to the poople great nntislavery trui lis, would I o hcard no more. In a word, the Liberty party would be gone ; an i Ihe only wuv its princijiles could regain even their (ormer influerice, would b a new political organizition of anlislavery men. In everv liglit in whicli we are ahle to view ihe proposal oí' a direct and absolute ion with eiiher of ihe other pturtie3, ve seecertain eril, and gieut disasler and defent lo our cuuse. Tlio sccond proposition is to support tliose candidatos fur office of eilher, or botli partios whomay beopenly and heartily wiih us on nni'slavery qufettions; and in c.-ss none siich are found, to make anJ support nominal ons of Libcr'y mep, as lias liitherlo been dono, il is aigued tliat i o tbis way tlio balance of power w bicli we bold in our Imnds can be broughl lo bear at once directly upon the election of aiHislavery men : opposing cand ida tes will necessartíy be dríven to define t hei r position on llie pending antilavery que.pns, for or ogninst tliem, and thus nnTslavery questiolM will bicorne tlio prominent politica! issues, and be kopt before the people at cvery election ; b rod of correction will bc held over bot h parties wliich niay be made to descend upon either, bringing political succes?, or disaster and defeat to each candidate according to the course he lakes ; and through the immediate eleclion of real antislavery men, ojr glorious cause can soon be brought to a triumphantconsurnmntion. As this proposilion has bren advocaled by Mr. Beckley and other prominent tlemen, and ns we knovv tiiat man y frionds in the State are seriously deliberating upon if, we are disposed to give it an impartía! examination. On the one hand we must guard ngainst making a blind and servile adherence to party usages, a sufficient reason (br rejecting it ; while on the other we should bo wary and careful about committing ourselves unnecessarily, t3 untried polilicalscliemes, however ihttering they may appear in thooi-y. The real quesiion before us is, wheiher the proposition besafe, practicable, and more efficiënt than our present course. Ifit be, we should adopt it without any reference to the actions or opinions, past or present, of party leaders : if not, t should be rejected at once. In a ipronching the discussion of a quesiion likethis, it is obvious, that anailinnativeor negative answer cannot be properly given, unless aü the features of the adíeme are distinctly brought to view. - A tíigle point aldedor subtrncted, may render t!ie proposal advisable ar ine.xpedient. Keeping ihis in mind, we reir ai' k, 1. Thaf, for ourself, we could not think of supnorting iny candidate of nny party, unless he were most thoroughly and undoubledly antslav,ery. - We sliould Teel mean enough, after a dozen years laborious advocacy of Liberly princo!e, lo be found supporting as a consistent nntislavery candidate a man who woufd give Jiis vote for Gen. Taylor or Henry Clay for the Presidencv, or would use bis political power for filling ttie national offices with slaveholders. No such candidates would answer for us. W e could not vote for any candidate an important office, unless he held to, avmv-ed, and acted on as high an antislavery standard as we have ourself. Supposing tliis to be the case with the rest of the Liberty party, it nppears to us, 2. That the discussion of tho proposition al present is one of abstract principio ratlier tlmn of immediate practiciil use. It seenis to lic ulinost ceitnin, from present appearances, tliat bottl Wbigsond ; !)■ mociMs uill nominale l'rcsidential j tieketa haring tlie nominea for either President or Vice President Slaveholdcr. liso, no candidate fir promimnl office in either party w i 1 J bo nt uil 1 i k o 1 y to takc those liigh nnliclavery positions which could enlille hun toour support. We do not sre how lic could, and relaiu his tnmliiig, while the ivliolc of his party wore jut to the ballot box to viola'e the first principie of aiilisluvery by filliug the hig'iest iiationnl offices with slueliolder?. In tlii:; State, next fall, several liundi'ed candldates wül be put in noniinalioii by the VV'hig and Drmocratic partios. Il' thoso pnrlies, as we have gupjtosed, are just on lbo cve of Presidental Droslavory nomiiiiitions for Slaveholders, iiow many will bc found who wil] avow all the odious principies of Aboütioni in as insis'ed upon by Mr. Beekley ? Alo.t prol)ably nui.c. 3. W'e should be oppoed to the plan Of supporting enndidate-1 of oi her partios, unless they coukl bc generally utiited upon by our fiiend--, and become litomlly as wcll as truly, Libiriij imrty canHidat3 To innlctï socli n nioi e nnnt cffcaual, il should 1 f gone into only by the genernl consent of the Liberty party of the district from which tlio candiilato is to be elccled ; nnd the candidato should be ivgul.irly nomin-ited by the Libeitv party. VVo have no votes that we can á fiord lo lose by scaltiratinn. Ín ouii unión lies oi'ii strkngtii : and if ve do not realize the trutli while we have induence, we s!iall find it out , afteiwards. We must ngre to act together. Tliere is no uther way of doing RiccessAllly a business requiiing the concurrence of many persoiií. If onesays, "1 wül go this way ;" nnd the otliPr siys, "1 will go that," lierc is au end of all concert of action ; nnd tlie comnion object, wliich all desire, is lost by all on account of the aisagivenient of its friends bout the best metliod of obiuining it. We would ay, then, lo [,iberty men, (n lliis malter, do nol be ii histe. Con sider the proposition If it meet your mir.ds generally as a principie of action, and you wish to annojnce to the other pnrtie3 your conclusión to adopt it, d'i so. P?iH be not has. y about putting it mío execntiou. Pre.-ent ciicumstnnces do not cali fornni1 indícate aclion of this kind. Keep together ; preserve, extend and concéntrate your anlislavery influence : be proof to all proslavory templations ; nnd the timo will come when yon can strike a blow that will be feit, and you will havo the satisfaction of seeing tho whole Sta'e regenorated. And now we have one olher tliought lo present, and we wijl c'ose this long article. We hope our friends will not let a discussioii of' this question, or any other, iinpair their confidence in each c t'ier. - In e causo likc ours, such propositions will come up from time to line ; and tlipy must be can i lly met. Weth'nk we know the character of our antishverv men well. We have lived among them almost twenty years. While they are f xtremely radica! in their views, we have great confidence in the soundness of llieir antislavery integrily. There are few traiiors among them. But like all bodies of reformers, they will not bear dictatior. frorn any quarter - Trom any exlernal source, nor f rom each other. We must endeavor all of us to act together as far as we can : but f we cannot be entirely nnïled, we must ngree to differ with our bi-other, without denouncing liim as a proslavery man because he honestly persists in haring antislavery views different from the rest of his brethrin. So long os he labors forthe overihrow of Slavery, kt us regard him as a sincero coadjutor and fellow : for, by working in the common cause, he shows that he is for us, and against the common enemy.