The State guard., 1848-06-20
NO. 25.

| tude, nor will it's adoption give freedom to a single being who is now placed therein. The same numbers will be spread over greater territory; and so far as compress sion, with less abundance of the necessa- ries of life, is an evil, so far will that evil be mitigated by transporting slaves to new country, and giving them larger 1 space to occupy.
 say this in the event of the extension of slavery over any new acquisition. But can it go there This may well be doubt ed. All the descriptions which reach us of the condition of the Californias and of New Mexico, to the acquisition of which our efforts seem at present directed, unite in representing those countries as agricul- turol regions, similar in tiiuir prvductn to our Middle States, and generally unfit for the production of the great staples, which can alone render slave labor valuable. If we are not grossly deceiyed-and it is diff 1 ficult 10 conceive how we can be-the in- habitants of those regions, whether they depend upon their ploughs or their herds, cannot be shareholders. Involuntary la Dor, requiring the investment of large capital, can only be profitable when en- ployed in the productions of few favored articles, confined by nature to special dis tricts, and paying larger returns than tho usual agricultural products spread over more considerable portions of the earth. In an able letter of Mir. Buchanan upon this subject, not long since given to the public, he presents similar considerations with great force. Neither," says this distinguished writer, the soil, the climate, nor the productions of California south of 36' 3O', nor indeed of any portion of it, north or south, is adapted to slave labor; and besides, every facility would there be afforded for the slave to escape from his master. Such property would be entirely insecure in any part of California It is morally impossible, therefore, that ma jority of the emigrants to that portion of the territory south of 36a 30i, which will be chiefly composed of our citizens, will ever re.establish slavery within'its Him. its.
 In regard to New Mexico, east of tho Rio sGrande, the question has already been settled by the admission of Texas in- to the Union.
 "Should we acquire territory beyond the Rio Grande and cast of the Rocky Mountains, it is still more impossible that a majority of the people would consent to re-establish slavery. They are them selves colored population, aud among them the negro does not belong socially to a degraded race."
 1 In this last remark Mr. Walker fully concides in his letter written in lS44, up- on the annexation of Texas, and which everywhere produced so favorable an i'm
 pression upon the public mind, as to have conduced very materially to the accom-
 plishment of that great measure, " Be- ! yond the del Norte," says Mir. Walker,
 slavery will not pass; not only because
 it is forbidden by law, but because the cooroed race there preponderates in the
 ratio of ten to one over the whites; and holding, as they do, the Government and most of the offices in their possession, they will not permit the cnsavement of any portion of the colored race, which
 makes and executes the laws of the coun-
 try"
 The question, it will therefore be seen
 on examination, does not regard the exclu-
 sion of slavery from territory where it
 now exists, but q prohibition against its in-
 troduction where it does not exist, and
 where, from the feelings of the inhabit-
 ants and the laws of nature, it Sis morally
 impossible" as Mir. Buchanan says, that
 it can ever re-esablish itself.
 It argues well for the permanance of
 our Confederation, that during more than
 half century which has elapsed since the
 establishment of this Government, many serious questions, and some of the highest
 importance, have agitated the public Il mind, and more than once threatened the
 gravest consequences, but that they have
 all in succession passed away, leaving our
 institutions unscathed, and our country ad-
 vancing in numbers, power, and wealth,
 and in all the other elements of national prosperity, with rapidity unknown ;n ancient or modern days. In times of DO. litical excitement, when difficult and dcl- icate questions present themselves for so- lution, there is one ark of safety for us ;- and that is. an honest appeal to the filnda-
 mental principles of our Union, and a , stern determination to abide their dictates. This course of proceeding has carried us in safety through many a trouble. and l
 trust will carry us safely through many more, should many more be destined to
 assail us. The Wilmot Proviso seeks to take from its legitimate tribunal ques. ton of domestic policy, having no relation to the Union, as such, and to transfer it to another created by the people for a spe- cial purpose, and foreign to the subject matter involved in this issue. By going back to our true principles, we go back to , the road of peace and safety. Leave to I the people, who will be affected by this ! question, to adjust it upon their own re- f sponsibility, and in their own manner, and , we shall render another tribute to the orig inal principles of our Government, and . l furnish another guarantee for its per.