A year ago it would have been difficult to find a man who believed the Missouri Compromise could be disturbed at all. What was thought an impossibility twelve months since is now no longer doubtful. It is only the first step in crime that costs; the descent after it is easy.
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The post above is condensed. From the original, word for word
"A year ago it would have been difficult to find a man who would believe in the possibility of disturbing the Missouri Compromise. [...] How truly is here illustrated the fact that it is only the first step in crime that costs. When that is taken the downward descent is easy."
Between the posts · the narrator, not the paper
February. The bill is on the Senate floor and the count is no longer in doubt. The argument turns to who changed their minds, and when.
The editorial notes that Senator Atchison had himself called repeal impracticable and given it up, before the Administration reversed within a year. "Doughface" was the standing epithet for a Northern man who voted with the South; the Tribune is arguing that the ground of the possible had moved, not just the votes.
Read it in the original — Furman Secession Era Editorials transcription ↗