Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1838-03-08

wanted on our public works, if they were
needed in a greet emergency, then; might
they be taken oAfjust compensation. But
ifAtherc 20 any one thing clenrer ,iian,
another, Sit is,s that abolition was not
the public use contemplated in the Con-
stitution, They cannot be taken without
Just compensation even for public USE
How eau money be drawn from the
public treasury, except through appropria-
,ion by law? There can he no legal APP
preparation, exccpl to carry into effect some
specific power granted by the Constitution,
or clearly implied as absolutely necessary
to carry into elect some specific grant
There is no specific power to abolish slave
ry, & it being itseli'a high exercise of sub
stantivc power, cannot be implied as abso-
lu.cly necessary TO carry into efcc, any
other power. AS well might VIC pass APP
preparations to pay the people Of this Dis
lrict for their cattle and horses, to give them
the blessed privilege Of running free and
unrestrained over the barren hills and waste
commons around this capitol. AS TO prin-
ciples and power, it is the same.
But it is said, all the States may eman-
cipate, and this Distric, be left without the
means OF changing its condition. This is
certainly any thing but constitutional ar
eumcnt, for ansvUr, that even if this were
10 be tho case, it is the Constitution, and
and will bc so until it is changed by the
proper authorities, There is really no diff
hcnity on this point, as those who choose
can now cinancipatc, by deed or will. In
connection with tho constitution, let us for a
moment examine tho act of ccssion from
Virginia. The proviso declares ''that no
thing herein contained shall DO construed
10 vest Ill the United States any rights of
property IN the soil, or to affect the rights
ol individuals thcrtiH, otherwise than the
same shall, or may be transferred by such
individuals To the United States" Let it
DC understood that this follows immc,liatc-
~ after the clause describing the tract Of
country aud particular extent of territory
coded. l admit the terms are somewhat
cquivocal at first. If the words ..lhc rights
OF individuals therein refer only back to
control the property i'll the soil, then they
were OF no use; for under tine Constitution
alone Congress could not have in,er(crcd
IN the freehold. Ono of The first principles
ot the Magma Charta is. that no freeman
shall he dcscizcd of his free hold without
the Judgment Of his peers, If those words
mere meant only to limit the power OF tho
government over the freehold of Il citizen,
then they arc useless vcrhiage. Those
who inserted them must llavc,ncant some
thing more. When we look at the scnsi-
uvcncss Of Virs inia OH the interesting and
vital subject OF the peculiar property of her
citizens she was about to cedc, we arc led
10 believe that she must have meant in the
words rights Of individuals therein" 9th
cr rights than those OF soil" Connect
this with tho clauses in the Constitution,
and no man can refrain from admitting that
IttI I,.-t ~ Il, Il
which every patriot in a.limicd Government
would refrain from claiming as under the
Constitution.
But. Mr.. Speaker, 1 take higher ground
than this, and contend that, according to the
bill of rights, Of Maryland, and the Consti-
tuition OF Virginia, those States themselves
could not have ceded absolute and unrc-
strained power over private property of any
kind i'll this District. The citizens of this
District had peculiar rights secured in their
property 10y the Constitution of their own
States; and il Virginia and MARYLAND i,ud
attempted 10 ccde absolute power over this
subject, they would have violated the rights
of their own citizens, and would have com
mitted not a legal act, but an act of force
Next to life and liberty. these citizens had.
under the paramount laws of the adioiuiur
States, the rights of property secured in
the most solemn and unqualified manner
AS well might Virginia now divorce from
herself any portion of her frccmcn, and
transfer them bound hand and foot. TO tho
jurisdiction of N. York. as to have thrown
the citizens Of this District, in their rights
to "A peculiar property, upon the unrcstrain
cd ami tender mercy Of this Government.
Again. No State, from the Potomac
to the Mississippi. under its Constitution
as it now stands, has any r.h, to abolish
slavery without the consent of tic indiyid
ual owners. ] assert this upon that great
principle Of EnglisI, liberty, which is in
corporatcd into every Constitution, that no
freeman shall be drprivc, of his properly
but by the judgement Of his peers or the
laws of the land. The constitutions are
the paramount laws of the land, which
'hc acuon of no Government, constituted
under them, can legally subvcrl. States
may do unlawful acts which their citizens
may assent to or acTuiescc in, but this does
not constitute legal authority. Those States
tliat hold slaves as property, Nigh, if thew
icsirc', assemble i'll. their conventions re-
're 'c!itinG the sovereign power Of the com
nunity for the specific ohicc, Of abolishinr
nat property, and the people might choose
i'elr delegates for that alone. But this
would bcarc organization of the Lody polite
'horc the Constitution. And even i'm con- |
;entlon. they would do it under the uIwri, |
en- and organic law that governs all sim
Die consolidated communities, and which |
Exists from the necessity of the case, that
hc majority must govern. This exists only
II consolidated community. when it is |
hrown INTO It's simple and original elements
And even then the minority acquiesccs
more from Il calculation of cxpedicncy than
Hif' II this view be true Of the great prn-
:.ples that regulate even the power of The