Slavery Question in Oregon. 199 If Northern representatives had been equally faithful to the interests of their constituents, there would have been little or no aggression of slavery. This may not mean that the North- ern p'^ople were especially lacking in the virtue of fidelity, but that no great wrong solidified them. As Governor Sew^ard said, in a speech at Cleveland, Ohio, October 26th, 1848 : "There are two antagonistic elements of society in America, freedom and slavery. Freedom is in harmony with our system of government, and with the spirit of the age, and is therefore passive and quiescent. Slavery is in conflict with that system, with justice, and with humanity, and is therefore organized, defensive, active and perpetually aggressive." This aggres- sive and solid front of slavery, claiming and receiving ex- emption from interference by the passive and quiescent free portion of the Union, gave to the slave-holding interest a vast political advantage, with the result that the national adminis- tration was either neutral or apologetic as to slavery from the organization of the Federal Government until the election o-*^ Lincoln in 1860, a period of seventy-two years. During all this time it was increasing in power and arrogance until the climax was reached in the Dred Scott decision, which declared that the negro had no rights which a white man was bound to respect, and that property in slaves was on a par with otlK?r classes of property and entitled to the protection of law in all the national territories. But such an accumulation of political power, such a tremendous departure from the Declar- ation of Independence, could not have been accomplished without the aid of Northern politicians and the acquiescence of their constituents, for the political potentiality of the free to the slave States was as two to one. Th*^ cause of such subserviency on the part of the powerful North, was no secret; everybody knew it; everybody said it; many ihere were to apologize for or defend it, a few to deplore and denounce it. Mr. Seward, in the speech before quot'^d from, said: "One of these parties, the party of slavery, re- gards disunion as among the means of defense, and not always the last to be employed. The other maintains the union of
