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Stephen A. Douglas by Allen Johnson

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It was in behalf of Young America again, that Douglas gave free rein
to his vision of national destiny. Disclaiming any immediate wish for
tropical expansion in the direction of either Mexico or Central
America, he yet contended that no man could foresee the limits of the
Republic. "You may make as many treaties as you please to fetter the
limits of this giant Republic, and she will burst them all from her,
and her course will be onward to a limit which I will not venture to
prescribe." Why, then, pledge our faith never to annex any more of
Mexico or any portion of Central America?[404]

For this characteristic Chauvinism Douglas paid the inevitable
penalty. Clayton promptly ridiculed this attitude. "He is fond of
boasting ... that we are a _giant_ Republic; and the Senator himself
is said to be a 'little giant;' yes, sir, quite a _giant_, and
everything that he talks about in these latter days is gigantic. He
has become so magnificent of late, that he cannot consent to enter
into a partnership on equal terms with any nation on earth--not he! He
must have the exclusive right in himself and our noble selves!"[405]

It was inevitable, too, that Douglas should provoke resentment on his
own side of the chamber. Cass was piqued by his slurs upon Old Fogyism
and by his trenchant criticism of the policy of reasserting the Monroe
Doctrine. Badger spoke for the other side of the house, when he
declared that Douglas spoke "with a disregard to justice and fairness
which I have seldom seen him exhibit." It is lamentably true that
Douglas exhibited his least admirable qualities on such occasions.
Hatred for Great Britain was bred in his bones. Possibly it was part
of his inheritance from that grandfather who had fought the Britishers
in the wars of the Revolution. Possibly, too, he had heard as a boy,
in his native Vermont village, tales of British perfidy in the recent
war of 1812. At all events, he was utterly incapable of anything but
bitter animosity toward Great Britain. This unreasoning prejudice
blinded his judgment in matters of diplomacy, and vitiated his
utterances on questions of foreign policy.

Replying to Clayton, he said contemptuously, "I do not sympathize with
that feeling which the Senator expressed yesterday, that it was a pity
to have a difference with a nation so friendly to us as England. Sir,
I do not see the evidence of her friendship. It is not in the nature
of things that she can be our friend. It is impossible that she can
love us. I do not blame her for not loving us. Sir, we have wounded
her vanity and humbled her pride. She can never forgive us."[406]

And when Senator Butler rebuked him for this animosity, reminding him
that England was after all our mother country, to whom we were under
deeper obligations than to any other, Douglas retorted, "She is and
ever has been a cruel and unnatural mother." Yes, he remembered the
illustrious names of Hampden, Sidney, and others; but he remembered
also that "the same England which gave them birth, and should have
felt a mother's pride and love in their virtues and services,
persecuted her noble sons to the dungeon and the scaffold." "He speaks
in terms of delight and gratitude of the copious and refreshing
streams which English literature and science are pouring into our
country and diffusing throughout the land. Is he not aware that nearly
every English book circulated and read in this country contains
lurking and insidious slanders and libels upon the character of our
people and the institutions and policy of our Government?"[407]

For Europe in general, Douglas had hardly more reverence. With a
positiveness which in such matters is sure proof of provincialism, he
said, "Europe is antiquated, decrepit, tottering on the verge of
dissolution. When you visit her, the objects which enlist your highest
admiration are the relics of past greatness; the broken columns
erected to departed power. It is one vast graveyard, where you find
here a tomb indicating the burial of the arts; there a monument
marking the spot where liberty expired; another to the memory of a
great man, whose place has never been filled. The choicest products of
her classic soil consist in relics, which remain as sad memorials of
departed glory and fallen greatness! They bring up the memories of
the dead, but inspire no hope for the living! Here everything is
fresh, blooming, expanding and advancing."[408]

And yet, soon after Congress adjourned, he set out to visit this vast
graveyard. It was even announced that he proposed to spend five or six
months in studying the different governments of Europe. Doubtless he
regarded this study as of negative value chiefly. From the observation
of relics of departed grandeur, a live American would derive many a
valuable lesson. His immediate destination was the country against
which he had but just thundered. Small wonder if a cordial welcome did
not await him. His admiring biographer records with pride that he was
not presented to Queen Victoria, though the opportunity was
afforded.[409] It appears that this stalwart Democrat would not so far
demean himself as to adopt the conventional court dress for the
occasion. He would not stoop even to adopt the compromise costume of
Ambassador Buchanan, and add to the plain dress of an American
citizen, a short sword which would distinguish him from the court
lackeys.

At St. Petersburg, his objections to court dress were more
sympathetically received. Count Nesselrode, who found this
uncompromising American possessed of redeeming qualities, put himself
to no little trouble to arrange an interview with the Czar. Douglas
was finally put under the escort of Baron Stoeckle, who was a member
of the Russian embassy at Washington, and conducted to the field where
the Czar was reviewing the army. Mounted upon a charger of huge
dimensions, the diminutive Douglas was brought into the presence of
the Czar of all the Russias.[410] It is said that Douglas was the only
American who witnessed these manoeuvres; but Douglas afterward
confessed, with a laugh at his own expense, that the most conspicuous
feature of the occasion for him was the ominous evolutions of his
horse's ears, for he was too short of limb and too inexperienced a
horseman to derive any satisfaction from the military pageant.[411]

We are assured by his devoted biographer, Sheahan, that Douglas
personally examined _all_ the public institutions of the capital
during his two weeks' stay in St. Petersburg; and that he sought a
thorough knowledge of the manners, laws, and government of that city
and the Empire.[412] No doubt, with his nimble perception he saw much
in this brief sojourn, for Russia had always interested him greatly,
and he had read its history with more than wonted care.[413] He was
not content to follow merely the beaten track in central and western
Europe; but he visited also the Southeast where rumors of war were
abroad. From St. Petersburg, he passed by carriage through the
interior to the Crimea and to Sebastopol, soon to be the storm centre
of war. In the marts of Syria and Asia Minor, he witnessed the contact
of Orient and Occident. In the Balkan peninsula he caught fugitive
glimpses of the rule of the unspeakable Turk.[414]

No man with the quick apperceptive powers of Douglas could remain
wholly untouched by the sights and sounds that crowd upon even the
careless traveler in the East; yet such experiences are not formative
in the character of a man of forty. Douglas was still Douglas, still
American, still Western to the core, when he set foot on native soil
in late October. He was not a larger man either morally or
intellectually; but he had acquired a fund of information which made
him a readier, and possibly a wiser, man. And then, too, he was
refreshed in body and mind. More than ever he was bold, alert,
persistent, and resourceful. In his compact, massive frame, were
stored indomitable pluck and energy; and in his heart the spirit of
ambition stirred mightily.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 370: The speech is given in part by Sheahan, Douglas, pp.
171 ff; and at greater length by Flint, Douglas, App., pp. 3 ff.]

[Footnote 371: Sheahan, Douglas, p. 186; Flint, Douglas, App., p. 30.]

[Footnote 372: _Globe,_31 Cong., 2 Sess., Debate of February 21 and
22, 1851.]

[Footnote 373: _Globe_, 31 Cong., 2 Sess., App., p. 312.]

[Footnote 374: _Globe_, 32 Cong., 1 Sess., App., p. 1120.]

[Footnote 375: MS. Letter dated December 30, 1851.]

[Footnote 376: Mann, Life of Horace Mann, pp. 351, 358, 362.]

[Footnote 377: Senator Foote introduced the subject December 2, 1851,
by a resolution pronouncing the compromise measures a "definite
adjustment and settlement."]

[Footnote 378: Rhodes, History of the United States, 1, p. 230.]

[Footnote 379: _Globe_, 32 Cong., 1 Sess., App., p. 68.]

[Footnote 380: _Globe_, 32 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 63. About this time he
wrote to a friend, "I shall act on the rule of giving the offices to
those who fight the battles."]

[Footnote 381: Mann, Life of Horace Mann, p. 354.]

[Footnote 382: _Globe_, 32 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 70.]

[Footnote 383: _Globe,_32 Cong., 1 Sess., pp. 70-71.]

[Footnote 384: See speech by Breckinridge of Kentucky in _Globe_, 32
Cong., 1 Sess., App., pp. 299 ff.]

[Footnote 385: Pike, First Blows of the Civil War, p. 115.]

[Footnote 386: Statement by Richardson of Illinois in reply to J.C.
Breckinridge of Kentucky, March 3, 1852. _Globe_, 32 Cong., 1 Sess.,
App., p. 302.]

[Footnote 387: "What with his Irish Organs, his Democratic reviews and
an armful of other strings, each industriously pulled, he makes a
formidable show." Pike, First Blows of the Civil War, p. 115.]

[Footnote 388: MS. Letter, February 25, 1852.]

[Footnote 389: Pike, First Blows of the Civil War, p. 118.]

[Footnote 390: Burke-Pierce Correspondence, printed in _American
Historical Review_, X, pp. 110 ff. See also Stanwood, History of the
Presidency, p. 248, and Rhodes, History of the United States, I, pp.
251-252.]

[Footnote 391: Proceedings of Democratic National Convention of 1852.]

[Footnote 392: See Rhodes, History of the United States, I, pp.
424-425.]

[Footnote 393: To attribute to Douglas, from this time on, as many
writers have done, a purpose to pander to the South, is not only to
discredit his political foresight, but to misunderstand his position
in the Northwest and to ignore his reiterated assertions.]

[Footnote 394: Richmond _Enquirer_, quoted in Illinois _Register_,
August 3, 1852.]

[Footnote 395: Illinois _State Register_, December 23, 1852.]

[Footnote 396: Washington _Union_, November 30, 1852. On a joint
ballot of the legislature Douglas received 75 out of 95 votes. See
Illinois _State Register_, January 5, 1853.]

[Footnote 397: Illinois _State Register_, December 23, 1852.]

[Footnote 398: Smith, Parties and Slavery, pp. 88-93.]

[Footnote 399: MacDonald, Select Documents of the History of the
United States, No. 77.]

[Footnote 400: _Globe_, 32 Cong., 2 Sess., App., p. 170.]

[Footnote 401: Douglas declined to serve on the Senate Committee on
Foreign Affairs, because he was opposed to the policy of the majority,
so he afterward intimated. _Globe_, 32 Cong., 2 Sess., App., p. 268.]

[Footnote 402: _Globe_, 32 Cong., 2 Sess., App., p. 173.]

[Footnote 403: _Globe_, 32 Cong., Special Sess., p. 261.]

[Footnote 404: _Ibid._, p. 262.]

[Footnote 405: _Globe_, 32 Cong., Special Sess., p. 276.]

[Footnote 406: _Ibid._, p. 262.]

[Footnote 407: _Globe_, 32 Cong., Special Sess., p. 275.]

[Footnote 408: _Globe_, 32 Cong., Special Sess., p. 273.]

[Footnote 409: Sheahan, Douglas, pp. 443-444.]

[Footnote 410: Sheahan, Douglas, pp. 444-445.]

[Footnote 411: Major McConnell in the Transactions of the Illinois
Historical Society, IV, p. 48; Linder, Early Bench and Bar of
Illinois, pp. 80-82.]

[Footnote 412: Sheahan, Douglas, p. 444.]

[Footnote 413: Conversation with Judge R.M. Douglas.]

[Footnote 414: Washington _Union_, and Illinois _State Register_, May
26 and November 6, 1853.]




CHAPTER XI

THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT


With the occupation of Oregon and of the gold fields of California,
American colonization lost temporarily its conservative character.
That heel-and-toe process, which had hitherto marked the occupation of
the Mississippi Valley, seemed too slow and tame; the pace had
lengthened and quickened. Consequently there was a great
waste--No-man's-land--between the western boundary of Iowa, Missouri
and Arkansas, and the scattered communities on the Pacific slope. It
was a waste broken only by the presence of the Mormons in Utah, of
nomadic tribes of Indians on the plains, and of tribes of more settled
habits on the eastern border. In many cases these lands had been given
to Indian tribes in perpetuity, to compensate for the loss of their
original habitat in some of the Eastern States. With strange lack of
foresight, the national government had erected a barrier to its own
development.

As early as 1844, Douglas had proposed a territorial government for
the region of which the Platte, or Nebraska, was the central
stream.[415] The chief trail to Oregon traversed these prairies and
plains. If the United States meant to assert and maintain its title to
Oregon, some sort of government was needed to protect emigrants, and
to supply a military basis for such forces as should be required to
hold the disputed country. Though the Secretary of War indorsed this
view,[416] Congress was not disposed to anticipate the occupation of
the prairies. Nebraska became almost a hobby with Douglas. He
introduced a second bill in 1848,[417] and a third in 1852,[418] all
designed to prepare the way for settled government.

The last of these was unique. Its provisions were designed, no doubt,
to meet the unusual conditions presented by the overland emigration to
California. Military protection for the emigrant, a telegraph line,
and an overland mail were among the ostensible objects. The military
force was to be a volunteer corps, which would construct military
posts and at the same time provide for its own maintenance by tilling
the soil. At the end of three years these military farmers were each
to receive 640 acres along the route, and thus form a sort of military
colony.[419] Douglas pressed the measure with great warmth; but
Southerners doubted the advisability of "encouraging new swarms to
leave the old hives," not wishing to foster an expansion in which they
could not share,[420] nor forgetting that this was free soil by the
terms of the Missouri Compromise. All sorts of objections were trumped
up to discredit the bill. Douglas was visibly irritated. "Sir," he
exclaimed, "it looks to me as if the design was to deprive us of
everything like protection in that vast region ... I must remind the
Senate again that the pointing out of these objections, and the
suggesting of these large expenditures show us that we are to expect
no protection at all; they evince direct, open hostility to that
section of the country."[421]

It was the fate of the Nebraska country to be bound up more or less
intimately with the agitation in favor of a Pacific railroad. All
sorts of projects were in the air. Asa Whitney had advocated, in
season and out, a railroad from Lake Michigan to some available harbor
on the Pacific. Douglas and his Chicago friends were naturally
interested in this enterprise. Benton, on the other hand, jealous for
the interests of St. Louis, advocated a "National Central Highway"
from that city to San Francisco, with branches to other points. The
South looked forward to a Pacific railroad which should follow a
southern route.[422] A northern or central route would inevitably open
a pathway through the Indian country and force on the settlement and
organization of the territory;[423] the choice of a southern route
would in all likelihood retard the development of Nebraska.

While Congress was shirking its duty toward Nebraska, the Wyandot
Indians, a civilized tribe occupying lands in the fork of the Kansas
and Missouri rivers, repeatedly memorialized Congress to grant them a
territorial government.[424] Dogged perseverance may be an Indian
characteristic, but there is reason to believe that outside
influences were working upon them. Across the border, in Missouri,
they had a staunch friend in ex-Senator Benton, who had reasons of his
own for furthering their petitions. In 1850, the opposition, which had
been steadily making headway against him, succeeded in deposing the
old parliamentarian and electing a Whig as his successor in the
Senate. The _coup d'etat_ was effected largely through the efforts of
an aggressive pro-slavery faction led by Senator David E.
Atchison.[425] It was while his fortunes were waning in Missouri, that
Benton interested himself in the Central Highway and in the Wyandots.
His project, indeed, contemplated grants of land along the route, when
the Indian title should be extinguished.[426] Possibly it was Benton's
purpose to regain his footing in Missouri politics by advocating this
popular measure; possibly, as his opponents hinted, he looked forward
to residing in the new Territory and some day becoming its first
senator; at all events, he came to look upon the territorial
organization of Nebraska as an integral part of his larger railroad
project.

In this wise, Missouri factional quarrels, Indian titles, railroads,
territorial government for Nebraska, and land grants had become
hopelessly tangled, when another bill for the organization of Nebraska
came before Congress in February, 1853.[427] The measure was presented
by Willard P. Hall, a representative from Missouri, belonging to the
Benton faction. His advocacy of the bill in the House throws a flood
of light on the motives actuating both friends and opponents.
Representatives from Texas evinced a poignant concern for the rights
of the poor Indian. Had he not been given these lands as a permanent
home, after being driven from the hunting ground of his fathers? To be
sure, there was a saving clause in the bill which promised to respect
Indian claims, but zeal for the Indian still burned hotly in the
breasts of these Texans. Finally, Hall retorted that Texas had for
years been trying to drive the wild tribes from her borders, so as to
make the northern routes unsafe and thus to force the tide of
emigration through Texas.[428] "Why, everybody is talking about a
railroad to the Pacific. In the name of God, how is the railroad to be
made, if you will never let people live on the lands through which the
road passes?"[429]

In other words, the concern of the Missourians was less for the
unprotected emigrant than for the great central railroad; while the
South cared less for the Indian than for a southern railroad route.
The Nebraska bill passed the House by a vote which suggests the
sectional differences involved in it.[430]

It was most significant that, while a bill to organize the Territory
of Washington passed at once to a third reading in the Senate, the
Nebraska bill hung fire. Douglas made repeated efforts to gain
consideration for it; but the opposition seems to have been motived
here as it was in the House.[431] On the last day of the session, the
Senate entered upon an irregular, desultory debate, without a quorum.
Douglas took an unwilling part. He repeated that the measure was "very
dear to his heart," that it involved "a matter of immense
importance," that the object in view was "to form a line of
territorial governments extending from the Mississippi valley to the
Pacific ocean." The very existence of the Union seemed to him to
depend upon this policy. For eight years he had advocated the
organization of Nebraska; he trusted that the favorable moment had
come.[432] But his trust was misplaced. The Senate refused to consider
the bill, the South voting almost solidly against it, though Atchison,
who had opposed the bill in the earlier part of the session, announced
his conversion,--for the reason that he saw no prospect of a repeal of
the Missouri Compromise. The Territory might as well be organized now
as ten years later.[433]

Disappointed by the inaction of Congress, the Wyandots took matters
into their own hands, and set up a provisional government.[434] Then
ensued a contest between the Missouri factions to name the territorial
delegate,--who was to present the claims of the new government to the
authorities at Washington. On November 7, 1853, Thomas Johnson, the
nominee of the Atchison faction, was elected.[435] In the meantime
Senator Atchison had again changed his mind: he was now opposed to the
organization of Nebraska, unless the Missouri Compromise were
repealed.[436] The motives which prompted this recantation can only be
surmised. Presumably, for some reason, Atchison no longer believed the
Missouri Compromise "irremediable."

The strangely unsettled condition of the great tract whose fate was
pending, is no better illustrated than by a second election which was
held on the upper Missouri. One Hadley D. Johnson, sometime member of
the Iowa legislature, hearing of the proposal of the Wyandots to send
a territorial delegate to Congress, invited his friends in western
Iowa to cross the river and hold an election. They responded by
choosing their enterprising compatriot for their delegate, who
promptly set out for Washington, bearing their mandate. Arriving at
the capital, he found Thomas Johnson already occupying a seat in the
House in the capacity of delegate-elect. Not to be outdone, the Iowa
Johnson somewhat surreptitiously secured his admission to the floor.
Subsequently, "the two Johnsons," as they were styled by the members,
were ousted, the House refusing very properly to recognize either.
Thomas Johnson exhibited some show of temper, but was placated by the
good sense of his rival, who proposed that they should strike for two
Territories instead of one. Why not; was not Nebraska large enough for
both?[437]

Under these circumstances, the question of Nebraska seemed likely to
recur. Certain Southern newspapers were openly demanding the removal
of the slavery restriction in the new Territory.[438] Yet the chairman
of the Senate Committee on Territories, who had just returned from
Europe, seems to have been unaware of the undercurrents whose surface
indications have been pointed out. He wrote confidentially on November
11th:[439] "It [the administration] has difficulties ahead, but it
must meet them boldly and fairly. There is a surplus revenue which
must be disposed of and the tariff reduced to a legitimate revenue
standard. It will not do to allow the surplus to accumulate in the
Treasury and thus create a pecuniary revulsion that would overwhelm
the business arrangements and financial affairs of the country. The
River and Harbor question must be met and decided. Now in my opinion
is the time to put those great interests on a more substantial and
secure basis by a well devised system of Tonnage duties. I do not know
what the administration will do on this question, but I hope they will
have the courage to do what we all feel to be right. The Pacific
railroad will also be a disturbing element. It will never do to
commence making railroads by the federal government under any pretext
of necessity. We can grant alternate sections of land as we did for
the Central Road, but not a dollar from the National Treasury. These
are the main questions and my opinions are foreshadowed as you are
entitled to know them."

In the same letter occurs an interesting personal allusion: "I see
many of the newspapers are holding me up as a candidate for the next
Presidency. I do not wish to occupy that position. I do not think I
will be willing to have my name used. I think such a state of things
will exist that I shall not desire the nomination. Yet I do not intend
to do any act which will deprive me of the control of my own action. I
shall remain entirely non-committal and hold myself at liberty to do
whatever my duty to my principles and my friends may require when the
time for action arrives. Our first duty is to the cause--the fate of
individual politicians is of minor consequence. The party is in a
distracted condition and it requires all our wisdom, prudence and
energy to consolidate its power and perpetuate its principles. Let us
leave the Presidency out of view for at least two years to come."

These are not the words of a man who is plotting a revolution. Had
Nebraska and the Missouri Compromise been uppermost in his thoughts,
he would have referred to the subject, for the letter was written in
strict confidence to friends, from whom he kept no secrets and before
whom he was not wont to pose.

Those better informed, however, believed that Congress would have to
deal with the territorial question in the near future. The Washington
_Union_, commonly regarded as the organ of the administration,
predicted that next to pressing foreign affairs, the Pacific railroad
and the Territories would occupy the attention of the
administration.[440] And before Congress assembled, or had been long in
session, the chairman of the Committee on Territories must have sensed
the situation, for on December 14, 1853, Senator Dodge of Iowa
introduced a bill for the organization of Nebraska, which was identical
with that of the last session.[441] The bill was promptly referred to
the Committee on Territories, and the Nebraska question entered upon
its last phase. Within a week, Douglas's friends of the Illinois State
_Register_ were sufficiently well informed of the thoughts and intents
of his mind to hazard this conjecture: "We believe they [the people of
Nebraska] may be safely left to act for themselves.... The territories
should be admitted to exercise, as nearly as practicable, all the
rights claimed by the States, and to adopt all such political
regulations and institutions as their wisdom may suggest."[442] A New
York correspondent announced on December 30th, that the committee would
soon report a bill for three Territories on the basis of New Mexico and
Utah; that is, without excluding or admitting slavery. "Climate and
nature and the necessary pursuits of the people who are to occupy the
territories," added the writer complacently, "will settle the
question--and these will effectually exclude slavery."[443]

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President Obama teams up with one of Marvel's greatest heroes, reports Alison Flood
Articles published by guardian.co.uk Books

Murder One closing so did we commit this crime?

Barack Obama is teaming up with Spider-Man in a new comic from Marvel, which will see the future president exchanging a fist-bump with Peter Parker's alter ego.

The five-page story takes place in Washington DC on inauguration day, when one of Spidey's oldest enemies, the Chameleon, attempts to stop Obama's swearing-in ceremony. Fortunately, Peter Parker is covering the event as a photographer, and jumps in to save the day.

"Ya hear that, Chameleon? The president-elect here just appointed me ... secretary of shuttin' you up," Spider-Man says as he thwacks the Chameleon in the face. "I hope this doesn't ruin the inauguration for you," he tells Obama, as the Chameleon is led away by security officials. "Honestly, I'm more upset by the Chameleon's shockingly deficient understanding of the electoral process," Obama replies.

Spidey then cedes the limelight to Obama. "This is your day, after all, and I know it wouldn't look good to be seen palling around with me," he says, in a nod to Sarah Palin's comment that the then presidential candidate had been "palling around with terrorists".

The story, written by Zeb Wells and illustrated by Todd Nauck and Frank D'Armata, will appear as a bonus feature in Amazing Spider-Man 583, which goes on sale on 14 January.

"When we heard that president-elect Obama is a collector of Spider-Man comics, we knew that these two historic figures had to meet in our comics' Marvel Universe," said Marvel's editor-in-chief Joe Quesada. "A Spider-Man fan moving into the Oval Office is an event that must be commemorated in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man."

In October, graphic novel biographies of Obama and his then rival John McCain were published by IDW. April will see Michelle Obama appearing in the Female Force comic book series.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Poetry Workshop creature features

For many years my local corner shop displayed a large sign in its window telling local residents to "use us or lose us!" It always looked a rather toothless threat to me. After all, if I didn't use them, what difference would it make to me if they weren't there? And surely a corner shop, one that had been there for years, would have enough customers to survive without recourse to such apocalyptic warning? But it didn't and was soon converted into flats.

This community shop was destroyed not so much by the pressures of the supermarkets or people's commuting patterns, but simply by customer apathy. It's something to think about as crime writers and readers across the world mourn the imminent passing of Maxim Jakubowski's celebrated Charing Cross Road bookshop in London, Murder One.

Apathy is a strange word to connect to a bookstore that thrives on passion. It's noticeable when you walk through the door, when you speak to the friendly, knowledgeable staff, when you look at the shelves and see the vast range of titles on offer. This isn't your regular kind of bookstore: the first time I visited spent a whole lunch break looking up and down, from floor to ceiling from table to table; it was an hour that changed my perception of both crime writing and of bookselling.

Murder One was – and for a few weeks will remain – a shop that took crime seriously. Not in the sense that it intellectualised it, or made unsubstantiated claims for its importance, but in the way that it treated crime writing with the respect it was due. With a genre that has so many off-shoots, branches and sub-genres, it took a shop of Murder One's calibre to show just how diverse, interesting and mentally stimulating crime could be – far more than the guilty pleasure I had, until then, considered it.

Thanks to judicious recommendations, enticing table displays and hours of foraging among the stacks, I discovered writers that I would never have picked up, let alone read. You could always get the latest blockbuster, but delve a little deeper and you'd find books that were not stocked anywhere else, novels that, like the perfect crime, were hidden from public view. The Martin Beck novels by Sjöwall & Wahlöö – probably my favourite sequence of novels in any genre – were introduced to me via Murder One, as were Kem Nunn, Sue Grafton, and Henning Mankell. It's also the staff of Murder One who piqued my interest in the inimitable Fred Vargas, and I can't thank them enough for the introduction.

Inclusive and without snobbery, Murder One amply demonstrated that the best bookshops are places not just of commerce, but of community; places that make feel you belong. It's the kind of store that bibliophiles dream about: well-stocked, well-staffed and shabby enough to lose days browsing within. It's just unfortunate that such shops don't have enough paying customers to keep them afloat, or that these customers visit all too infrequently – something of which I'm certainly guilty.

These kinds of shops are facing a long, bloody battle – and one which, without significant reinforcements, they are likely to lose. As we hear of the travesty of another brilliant independent going down, we'll mourn the loss, wring our hands and damn Amazon and the supermarkets and Waterstone's. Yet perhaps the most important detail we'll probably keep under wraps: the last time we actually spent any money there.

Murder One closing its doors for the final time is undoubtedly a .38 shell for independent bookshops, but whether it's body blow or a warning shot all depends upon us, the consumers. No one, no matter how iconic or established, can exist on fond memories alone: just ask Woolworths. Use these shops now, because it doesn't take a master sleuth to deduce what will happen if we don't.

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