Memphis Daily Appeal

Disquietude in the Northwest.

From the New York Journal of Commerce, Jan. 27.

There exists in several States in the Northwest—particularly in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin—a condition of things which must soon cause alarm, unless the tendency of public sentiment there receives a sudden check. Not only is there expressed a deep dissatisfaction with the general government but the course of some of the leading newspapers is calculated to fan the embers of discord into a devouring flame. It is already common to see in print such words as "civil war," "revolution," "secret arming of the population," etc., with an occasional suggestion that certain refractory members of the legislative bodies should be arrested, with other recommendations of extreme measures. In fact, the violence of partisan strife is equal to anything which preceded the rupture between the North and South. The Chicago Tribune is in every sense revolutionary. A few days ago, the following menace of another secession was thrown out in the leading columns of that paper.

"We assure them that the ties of the Northwest to New England are not indissoluble; but they are stronger than the bonds which unite us to New York, and, if in the changes and reorganizations that are possible as the consequences of the present revolt, it is necessary for the West to make an election where she will go, she will become an appendage of neither the Middle States nor of the South. She will declare her independence of both, and right here in the heart of the continent, the possessor of the finest soil and the best climate in the hemisphere, with more than ten millions of people, and the prospect of a rapid increase, will organize an empire that will dominate over all other fractions of the republic, and which will have the power to compel the opening of half a dozen routes to tide water upon terms and conditions that we now plead for in vain."

All this because of the terms of Governor Seymour's message, and the fact that the tolls received by New York State on western produce are thought to be excessive. The same journal on the 23d instant, charged that a scheme was on foot in the Legislature of that State, to take the control of the military out of the hands of the governor and vest it in the hands of a board of usurpers, accompanying this assertion with the remark that it may be in the power of the copperheads (Democrats) to light the torch of civil war in Illinois. This is only an illustration of the spirit with which political controversies are being conducted in the Northwestern States, which we give, that direction to the subject and the public forewarned. That editor who, in this critical period, when strong passions are easily excited, will deal so recklessly in fierce vituperation, partisan animosity and embittering sectional jealousy, is either insane or is wholly indifferent to the public weal—strangely blind to the consequences which may ensue.

The Springfield (Ill.) correspondent of the same journal, speaking of the designs of what he is pleased to call the "secession movement" in the Legislature of that State, says:

"Its object is the establishment of a great slaveholding confederacy, to take in as many free and border slave States as possible, and extend its sway over the countries bordering on the gulf of Mexico and the islands of the same. I tell the people of the State of Illinois that, in the event of the recognition of the South, which the leading and controlling Democrats consider un fait accompli, they will have a desperate and perhaps bloody struggle to prevent this State from being attached thereto."

The St. Louis Democrat also discourses about "revolution in Illinois," on account of a proposed amendment of the Constitution, remarking as follows:

"In view of these facts it is plain to be seen that a crisis of no little importance, if the conspirators do not pause in their work, is approaching in the affairs of our sister State of Illinois. Upon governor and people alike will rest a fearful responsibility. The governor is pledged by his oath of office to defend and maintain the Constitution. Such a direct and palpable assault upon its provisions as appears to be in contemplation by its enemies cannot fail to escape his notice and demand his interposition by all the power he possesses."

In Indiana the Legislature is in like manner agitated by partisan debate. Governor Morton professes to have information that secret political organizations in that State are seeking the overthrow of the government, and with numbers sufficient to excite apprehensions on his part, not only in regard to Indiana, but all the Northwestern States. The Indianapolis Sentinel among the most reliable journals in the State, says no sane man can believe such a statement but adds:

"There are credible rumors afloat that the Republicans are organizing secret societies in different parts of the State, and that the members are being furnished with arms. What can be the occasion and what the purpose of such organization? Has the governor made any effort to ascertain the character, numbers and objects of these Republican secret clubs? Is he favoring a policy, the effect of which will be to organize opposing secret clubs throughout the State, to create factions among the people, and which will result in bitter and perhaps sanguinary feuds?

"If the governor and those in authority would exercise their power and influence to protect the citizen in all his constitutional rights, to secure the liberty of the press, the freedom of speech and the purity of the ballot box, there will be no apology or justification for the people organizing in any way for the protection of the rights and privileges guaranteed by the organic law of the State and the nation. But it does excite alarm when arbitrary arrests are made and citizens are dragged from home and imprisoned for political reasons alone, and it is a sufficient cause for those entertaining political sentiments obnoxious to the parties in power to organize, so that they may know each other and secure that protection to themselves which it should be the first duty of the representatives of the government to furnish."

We might quote from papers in Ohio and Wisconsin, to show that in those States also the current of political affairs runs very turbid. The Cincinnati Gazette, for example, under the head, "Traitors in the North," says the present universal toleration has demonstrated the necessity for holding a strong hand over sedition in the North. Enemies in war have no rights, etc. This language is not restricted to those who are real offenders, but is so comprehensive in its application as to include all who are supposed to be heterodox in public faith. As might be expected public feeling is much exasperated; but there are some indications that it is the settled determination of the radical party organs of the Northwest to excite popular frenzy to the point of revolution. In fact, private letters from the West speak of revolution as actually in progress. It is impossible to divine what may be the secret intentions of those who are fomenting discord at home while our armies are abroad in the field, though it is easy to see that, unless wiser counsels prevail, tempered by more moderation, serious mischief may ensue.