Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1848-08-09

j. result as it might? AS 10 the cosI5rse which
: has been intmated, rather than spronosed
: of engrafiing such restrictiens upon anv
treaty of acquisition, persuade myself !,
, would find but little favor in any section of
this country. Such an arrangement would
render Mexico party, havingsa a right to
interfere in our internal iasaitutions in
questions left by the constitution ofthe State
governments, and would infiict a serious
blow upon our fundamehtaR principles
Few indeed, | trust, there arg among us,
who would thus grant to8a foreign power
therightto inquire into 7rhe constitution and
conduct az the sovereign Stataegd this Un-
ion; and if there are any, am not among
them, and never shall be. TO the people
ofthis country, under God, now and here
after, are its destinies committed: and we
want no foreign power to inte'rogate US,
treaty in hand, and to say, Why have you
done this, or why have you left that un.
done? Our own dignity and tho principles
of national independence unite to repel
such proposition.
But there is another important consde.
ration, which ought not to be lost sight OF,
in the investigation Of this subject. The
| question that presents itself is not ques-
ton of the increase, but Of slavery. Wheth-
Ell its sphere be stationary or progressive,
lis amount will be the same. The rejection
Of this restriction will not add one to the
class of sergitude, nor will its adoption give
freedom to single being who is now plac-
ed therein. The same numbers will be
spread over greater territory and so far as
compression, with less abundance of the
necessares of life, is an evil, so far will
that evil be mitigated by transporting slaves
to a new territory, and giving them larger
space to occupy.
say this in the event Of the extension
OF slavery over any new acquisition. But
can it go there? This may we'll be doubled.
All the descriptions which reach Us of the
condition of the CALIFORNIA; and of New
Mexico, to the acquisition OF which our ef-
forts seem at present directed, unite in
representing those countries as agricultur-
al regions, similar in their productions to
the productions of the middle States, and
generally unfit for the production Of those
great staples, which can alone render slave
labor valuable. If we are not grossly de-
ceived and it is difficult to conceive how
we can be-the inhabitants of those regions,
whether they depend upon their plough or
herds, cannot be slave holders. Involun
tary labor, requiring the investment oflarge
capital, can only be profitable when EN-
ployed in the production of a few favored
articles confined by nature to q few spe
cial districts, and paying larger returns
than the usual agricultural products spread
over more considerable portions Of the
earth.
In the able letter of Mr.. Buch anan upon
this subject, not long since given to the
public, he presents a similar consideration
with great force. "Nenher," says the dis
tinguished writer. ''the soil, the climate, mol
the productions of California north Of 3G
deg. 30min., nor indeed any portion of it,
north Or south, is adapted to slave labor;
and besides every facility would be there
afforded for the slave TO escape from his
} master. Such property would be entirely
insecure in any part of California. 1t is
morally impossible, therefore, that a ma
jority of the emigrants to that portion ol
the territory south of 3G deg. 80 min.
which will be chiefly composed Of our eti
zens, will ever re-es.ablsh slavery within
its limits.
, ''In regrrd to New Mexico, east of the
, Rio Grande, the question has already beer
settled by the admission of Texas into the
Union.
''should we acquire territory bey yonc
} the Rio Grande and east of the Rocky
: Mountains, it is still more impossible tha
majority of the people would consent te
eestablish slavery. They are themselves
cc.ored population, and among them the
: negro does not belong socially to degrad
: ed race"
> With this last remark Mr.. Walker fully
: comedies in his letter written in 1874, up
on the annexation of Texas, and which ev
cry where produced so favorable an i'm
: preston upon the public mind, as to have
: conduced very materially to the accom-
plishment of that great measure. 'Beyone
: the Del Mort says Mr.. Walker, nslavery
. will not pass; not only because it is for
: bidden by law, but because the colore(
e race there predominates in the ratio of tel
: to one over the whites, and holding, as they
: do, the government and most of the Office
g in their possession, they will not permit th'
S enslavement of any portion Of the coloret
f race, which makes and executes the law
] of the country"
= The question, it will therefore be seen
e on examination, does not regard the exclu
l sion of slavery from region where it nov
exists, but prohibition against its intro
e duction where it does not exist, and where
n from the feelings of the inhabitants an
r the laws Of nature, it is 'morally impossi
:; ble,7 as Mr.. Buchanan says, ''that it ca.
. ever re-establish itself'
d 1t argues we'll for the pernanence O
our confederation that daring more than ;
: half a century which has elapsed since tn
d establishment of this government, man,
y serious questions and some of the highes
Importance, have agitated the public min
f and more than once threatened the graves
g consequences; but that that they have al
: in succession passed away, leaving our in
d stitutions unscathed, and. our country ad
r vancing in numbers, power and wealth, AN
f in all the other elements of national pros
d perity, with rapidity unknown in ancien
: or modern days. In times Of political ex
citement, when difficult and delicate eues
d tions present themselves for solution tber
. is one ark of safety for us; and that is al