Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1848-08-15
THE RICHMOND ENQUIRER.

I pledges. In his hot zeal 10 convict US, single
| passage in Gen. Cass' letter is rudely torn from
It's conlexl; the whole oil The sentence even is mol
| given; meaning, The exact reverse ol wha' me
words will bear as We shall! presently show, IS
| given 10 il; and, TO accomplish that object, this
single passage thus misinlerpreted, is relied upon,
although il is conlradicied bY he spirit aid Tenor
1 OF The whole letter, and by almost every passage
which precedes and follows II; while our con-
struc!un makes the letter perfectly clear and con-
sis.enl and easily 10 be comprchrnded through.
| out. Admitting the correctness OF The Times
in,erpre alton OF that passage e. e. that regulate
Internal concerns, means annlnilate slavery Is il
not more natural, more reasonable, 10 consider The
resi- oil The letter as containing Gen. Cas- true
meaning, and this passage an accidental incon.
| sisfency than 10 consider this single passage as
containing his uue meaning, aud The whole OF
| the res, OF the letter as Inconsistencies
II should always be recollected that the Mich
olson letter was written 10 discuss the power OF
Congress 10 exclude Slavery in The Territories,
and 10 show that Congress possesses no such
power; il does not directly touch upon the pow
ers OF Territorial Legislature over slavery,
| That question had never been discussed AMI had
10. fairly arisen until the publication Of The Ala
bama and Virginia Resolutions. Until then, Inc
letter was regarded as entirely satisfactory 10
The South and neither the Times nor any otner
Wing Press, although they assaulted the npttres
with which il was written, as being bid lcf inc
Presidency, ever found fault with the letter IL
self
| Let US now return 10 The passage upon when
| The Times lays SO much stress in all It's articles
| on this sutecr, and which il has so strangely mis-
interpreted To quote the Times: He says ex-
plicilIy that Congress should limit itself 10 he
creation OF proper governments ior new countries,
acquired or seued-'LEAvING IN THE MEAN TIME
| (BEFoRE THEIR EVENTUAL ADMISSION INTO THE
| UN.os) TO THE PEOPLE INHAHlTIS6 THEM, TO RE-
/ GvLaTg THEIR INTERNAL CONCERNS IN THEIR own
WAY, and that THEY ARE JUST As CAPABLE OF DO
ING so AS THE PEOPLE OF THE STATES. Admit,
| iol The sake OF argument that "regalae their in
ternal concerns" means exclude slavery" The
"people Of he Territories and the Territorial
| Governments are not idenical-they are not enc
and the same. In the late Compromise Bill,
! Inc General Government appoints tn members
| oil The Territorial Governments OF New Mexico
and California. The people OF those Territories
| have not even voice r their selection. Those
governments arc responsible, not 10 the reople OF
I New Mexico and California, but 10 Congress,
and Congress possesses veto upon all their avs.
| Ale those governments Then Identical with the
people Of those Territories? The purase "in the
mean time refers 10 The period which intervenes
between he formation Of Territorial Govern
| meni and he Getual GGgtssi1H o! territory as
SAFE, (ersatual admission, in the words OF Gen.
Cass,) and not The application jor admission, or
| the time OF the formation of Constitution pTepa.
| ratofy 10 admission. Now il is perfectly noo-
raus that, "in The mean lime, !" between the Tor
malion oil Territorial Governments Tor The Ter
rofics, and their actual admission as States,
the PEOPLE OF the Territories never act eX-
cepI al the precise moment when they assemble
10 form State Constitution, preparatory 10 their
admission as States "rhey are just as capable
OF doing 50 as The people of The States" 10 be
sure they areas well when they number only
len or twenty thousand inhabitants as when they
| reach the requisite constitutional number l0r ap.
plication :or admission as States; but, 'under The
Constitution" they cannot exercise This po@er
until their political independence is about TO be
recognized by their admission into the Union"
| We mink the only iair, PLAIN and proper con
sIucion OF The phrase, lin the mean Tine leav-
ing 10 The people OF the territories TO regulate sa
very for themselves is, that, in their mere Terri
| torla condition, they possess only the legislature
! power Of regulating il-(not OF abolishing il. As
Mr.. Giles very iorcibly observed in the Demo.
cratic Association, they could not "regulaie" that
which does rot exis,.)-,. e., making such police
regulations in relation 10 il as We see IN al me
States-and that they only possess the orere'gn
AMI "desputic" power Of crciading it, when their
| political independence is about 10 be recognised
| By their admission in.o he Union.
The Times boasts of the witnesses, both North
ern and Southern whom it has adduced in sur
pur Of rs ncrp eta ion OF Gen. Cas- meaning.
! Ijc can produce witnesses, both ''.No'tdern md
Southern friends aud foes, who will Tar out
weigh those Of The Times, both in numbers and
lespecsabiiity.
Mr.. Haltsa, of Boston, is reported in the Bos-
! Ton Post a. having delivered speech al Puts
| field, Massachusetts, in which "he denied, as NJ.
4 - thot( IA N
soil, o. was in favor Of The extension OF slavery
any where, or its existence any where; but ne
| fell as every true friend of the Constitution cd,
hat this like other real supposed evils IN com.
! muni,ieS, must be LEFT 10 regulate itself under The
| .ncal laws and the Cun.u.u,ion;-and there NJ
took his stand Tor the rights Of the South, thus
| Identified with The rights OF the Statcs and The
| rights Il ha pe0pie to INSTITUTE government"
Senator Douglass, al New Orleans, as qsotcG
By The Times ,tself, comes exactly mp TO The Vir-
| einia and Alabama Platforms. We Gull from
| The Times extract The following:
"a hold that The control Of Ms subjee belongs en-
tircly ,1uh The S'atc or Territory uhese are The
| Times iIalics) which is called upon 10 determine
nPDH pat system or b0s,sis institutions and Dctciy
shall Ge organised" (These are our italics Is
| he Times STARK bEd2 Whea, pray, is terrific
| ~ called upon 10 determine upon what system
| or basis lis institutions shall be organized save
| Douglass, at New Orleans, places Gen. Cas- ex
aclly on our platform, and he Times, with
kindness not al all unusual, quotes the very pas
| sage 10 which he does il.
We quote f;on communication published i'll
| this paper, a month or ,wo since III The OPT
Mons .. The press are 10 be our guide in this
matter, the BaTnuurner press oil New York have
assailed Gen. Cas- most bitterly Fl coming
exactly up TO h, les; prescribed Is Georgia.
1I,I, Notf
York Glube)-and The Cass press OF New York
as the Times itself, Of Monday, informs Us, have
,een laborins 10 prove that the declared opin-
ions ul Gen. Cas- are no, Inconsistent with the
views OF The late SilaS Wright on Slavery" who
supported a resolution brought forward bv Mr.
Clay IN The Senate en- the lin, January, 1873
Now, what is that resolution, as quoted by the
Times2 Here il 10:
"That il would be injudicious 10 interfere with
slavery in Tie Territories; that such interference
would be a violation OF 'aiih towards those who
had been permitted 10 settle and hold slaves there
and t,ot he iatab,tsnfs rouid be creusirsly cui
I'd 70 dee,fe Tic question wten admdt.d mt t~
Uaion."
Our other witnesses arc The Democratic pres
So. Of Virginia and Of the South generally, with
the exception IL ore o7 two in Georgia Messrs.
Pa,ton, Seldom Caslie, and the Dem acraiic par
~ generally Of Virginia and Of Inc Whole Souri,
Inc friends OF Gen. Cas- from tire South, general
", in Congress; and Nlessts flanagan, and
some other Of Gen Cas,s friends from free STATES
in Congress. Is this testimony enough Tor our
ncighoor, from both sides OF Mascn's and Dix
on'S inc2
Bu! we will DO more than all his; we will
PROVE our construction OF Gen. CASES leter 10
he the only correct one, by regular logical SyI.
insisni, The major premise OF which shall be that
Gen. Cas- holds The power TO prohibit slavery
IN me Territories 10 he a s0vere1gn pO,cer. And
il this premise i disputed, We will prove in no
ways: Isl ne argues Ina, the States have ALSO.
lutte power 10 abolish slavery, by rirtue Of their
@rs,eignty; AMI 2i. in lhs passage quoted BY lhs
Times, he calls he power "Dsspotic Por,r,"
one "unconlrol-i by the Constitution, power
which can anhinilale the relation OF husband and