Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1847-11-11


Slavery can only exist by positive law; and
therefore, as soon as slave is taken to reside
permanently in free State or Territory, he is
a free man. This is one of lte great princi-
pies Of the common law, recognised by the
courts Of England as we'll as of the United
States. MY whig friend and colleague ( Mr.
Pollock admitted the correctness of this doc
trine in his speech the other day. He correct
ly said: Congress having no power to .eslab-
lish. and at the same time. having enclusire
jurisdiction over the territories it follows thai
slavery can have no legal existence in terri
tory, with or without the action of Congress.
! THE poacer, therefore, to prohibit, is nugato,y
This admission. it seems to me, yields the
main point in the controversy. If the territory
,uiu be free trhen II Is Mnnered, and Congress
has no pc,uer to make Il slace ,cherc is the nc
cessi:y for the adoption q, tie amendment2 If
it should ever become Stale, Congress would
have no Jurisdiction over it after il should be
admitted in the Union. Pennsylvania would
have perfect right TO establish slavery to-mor-
row if she chose TO do it. At the close of the
last session of Congress the venerable gentle
man from Massachusetts Mr.. Adams express
ed views similar to these we entertain He
odiu u6IG dIc III SidFtS Ill OdlllOIHid-
Slavery has been abolished there; and if we
We're TO make peace, and in that peace to ac
qulre California, there could be TO law Of slave
ry established there, unless it was made al ar
ticle fthe treaty ITSELF
No one has said that we are likely to get
more than New Mexico and California; and
most of these provinces are above So degre
80 minutes-the line Of the Missonr compro-
/ l. ~. -
hands, slavery is to be prohib ted All the
southern representatives have offered. this SEES
sion, to extend tha: line to the Pacific ocean,
| and besides. slave labor could not be proftably
employed in either If those places. Neither
sugar, rice, cotton, nor tobacco can be profiia5ly
cultivated there. The truth is, that climate
and soil haze more to do ,cith the erteasion of
slarcry than anything else. No person need
| fear that slaves will be taken from the cotton
and rice fields Of the southern States ar~und
| Cape Horn, or overland, to California Thai
country must be the home Of mara,ime peo-
| pie, and the course of settlement must be from
the seaboard TO the interior.
The amendment is on, of time and
on: Of plaee-is a rider, and has been
a frebrand in our midst. When we
are engaged in foreign war, aud we
should present an undivided front TO
The enemy, this question of slavery
which has always been an exciting e.
ement in our political system, is thrust
forward, to excite sectional jealousies,
| distract our councils, and delay the
! adoption Of the measures recommend
ed by the President for the vigorous
prosecution of the war. The wings
seize hold of it to make political capit-
al. notwithstanding tens of thous-
ands of our people are suffering all the
hardships Of a campaign in foreign
land, at an expense, TOO, Of near two
millions Of dollars a mon,h-here we
are, wasting our time in angry debate
about negroes, whenever war or
peace measure is brought forward. -
All this sor, Of uncaled- for debate has
been occasioned by my colleagues a.
:nendment; and yet he says he asks the
"neautra'ity Of this government upon
the subject of slavery" II that is all
he asks, submit: it to the viltuous and
intelligent mind of this House, and
the country, whetherI have no, shown
that he should not have brought for
ward the amendmtn mt
1t is peace breaker, and has been
seized hold of, as the honorable gem
tlenan from Indiana (Mr. Wick} said
the other day, oy the wings and abo-
Ilitionists, to bring the democratic pal
ty into tribuIaticn, and 10 embarrass
the administration in proper prose-
cution of the war. II will delay, if
not defeat, the passage of this bill in
the Senate; and if a treaty should De
formed as it directs, it is we'll known
that it cannot be ratified, for i, takes
two-:hirds of the Senators present TO
do it; and thus the war will be pro-
longed for years to come. This a.
mendmen: has produced so much ex-
citement and irritation among MEM
bers, that they seem to fer ct that it is
our solemn duty to cooperate with the
President in Bringing this war TO a
speedy and successful termination at
the earliest practicable moment.
Finally, it is not only an abstraction,
which cannot possibly effect either the
character or the interests of the people
!of the northern States, but NAV do
great harm in creating geographical
division Of parties. When that kind
of division takes place, this Union is
gone, and with it the protection to
persons and property which il affords.