It is America's symbol."
"You do not like Douglas, do you, Reverdy?" I asked, as we turned away.
"Yes, I like him, I have always supported him--but somehow I feel that
he is not good enough. I don't know what else to call it. You know, I
don't like slavery; at the same time I don't know what to do with it.
Sometimes I think Douglas' plan is all right, again I am not sure. All
the time I feel that there is not enough sympathy in his nature for
these poor negroes. I confess that at times I am for letting the
territories manage it for themselves; and at other times I am for
keeping it out of the territories by law. All the while I like Douglas'
plan for the West. He has done wonderful work for the country. I wish I
could make myself clearer, but I can't. I saw slavery in the South and
know what it is. I am a good deal like Clay. He had slaves but disliked
the institution. I have never had any slaves and I dislike it as much.
Yet the question is what to do. If you keep it where it is you simply
lay a siege about it. Great suffering will come in that way to the
negroes of course. It is a kind of strangulation, selfish and small. On
the other hand, if you give it breathing space what will become of the
country? I know Douglas' argument that it cannot exist in the North. But
suppose you have it all over the South, that's pretty big.
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