But
Had We Been Arguing The Question Of The Population Of The Planet
Jupiter, Or The Final Possibility Of The
Transmutation of metals,
the matter could not have been handled with less personal feeling.
The Germans, however, spoke the sentiments
Of all the Germans of the
Western States - that is, of all the Protestant Germans, and to them
is confined the political influence held by the German immigrants.
They all regard slavery as an evil, holding on the matter opinions
quite as strong as ours have ever been. And they argue that as
slavery is an evil, it should therefore be abolished at once. Their
opinions are as strong as ours have ever been, and they have not had
our West Indian experience. Any one desiring to understand the
present political position of the States should realize the fact of
the present German influence on political questions. Many say that
the present President was returned by German voters. In one sense
this is true, for he certainly could not have been returned without
them; but for them, or for their assistance, Mr. Breckinridge would
have been President, and this civil war would not have come to pass.
As abolitionists they are much more powerful than the Republicans of
New England, and also more in earnest. In New England the matter is
discussed politically; in the great Western towns, where the Germans
congregate by thousands, they profess to view it philosophically. A
man, as a man, is entitled to freedom. That is their argument, and
it is a very old one.
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