Southern patriot. (Houston, Chickasaw County, Miss.) 18??-18??, 1849-08-08

lcter. also hold, that Congress is 4
but their representative and trustee,
and that in carrying into execution its
powers, it cannot rightlully exercise
any inconsistent with the nature and |
object Of the trust, or with the charac- |
te Of the party who created the trust |
and for whose benefit il was created, |
! finally hold, that instead Of having |
the absolute power over the territories |
Of doing as it please, that Congress
is restrained by all these limitations;
and that its power 10 exclude you from
emigrating with your slaves into them
cannot be maintained without deny.
ing that ours is a government of spe-
ciGc power that is a government oil
which States, and not individuals,
are the constituents, and that Con
gross holds its powers as delegated
and trust powers. Nor can il be
maintained, without assuming that
ours is a consolidated Government
and holds its powers absolutely in
its own sovereign right Of doing as il
pleases.
/ also deny, the truth Of his next
assertion, that it has exercised the
power over the territories, as itpleas-
ed, without being questioned until !
introduced my resolutions. | main
on the contrary, that such power new
or was exercised by Congress, until
! he and his associates passed the Orc
con territorial bill. Thatwas the first
4 bill containing the Wilmot Proyiso,
4 that ever passed, as has been stated
passed solely TO assert the absolute
right Of doing as it ploases. All 9th.
ers, including the ordinance oGl1o7,
were passed as compromises which
waived the question of power as has
been frequently shown. Nor is his
assertion more correct, that the power
never was questioned, until the intro
duction Of my resolutions, II was
questioned from the start, beginning
with the ordinance of 1857, Mr.
|, Madison pronounced that it was 0dop
ted without a shadow Of right. Since
then, it has been acquiesced in not as
Ia right, but as a compromise, unit
the North refused all compromise
and forced the south to stand on it;
rights where it should have stood from
the first.
t. The next assertion, that slavery j.
local in its character that it must be
: enacted by law, and cannot be carrieC
/ an inch beyond the limits Of the STATE
= that enacted it, is equally mmaintan
: able. 1t is clear that in making it
S Inc intended TO affirm, that in these re
{ spocts, property in slaves stands OIL
= very different ground from every olhc
c description of property,
!. | deny the fact, and maintain tina
n there is no distinction between it an,
; other property in that respect |
+ no more requires TO be enacted b
: law, or to express itmore speclticall
/, to have a positive enactment for it
d origin, than property in land or an
t: thing else. The relation OF masto
c and slave was one Of the first an
i most universal forms in which pro
S pcrty existed. 1t is SO ancient tina
II there is no record Of its origin. Iii
a probably more ancient that scpcrat
T. and distinct property in lands, an
d quite as easily defended on abstra'
d principles. So far from being crei
4 ted by positive enactment | know
If mo instance in which it ever was,
to express it NOR accurately, in whic
!. Iii had its origin in acts oflegislature
a. It is always older shan the laws whic
S undertake to regulate it, and such
re the case with slavery as it exists vii
n. us. They were, for the most pan
ie slaves in Africa; they were bong
le as slaves, brought here as slavcs,so
n here as slaves, and held as slaves, Ion
" before any enactment made the
oil slaves | even doubt, whether there
is a single Stae in the South that CIV
of enacted them TO be slaves, There a
hundreds of acts that recognise al
lat regulate them as such, but none' La
it prohcnd, that undertake to crea
ry thcmas slavcs.-Master and slav
of- are constantly regarded as pre-czI
las ting relations.
or Nor is it any more local in
ct character than other property /
Ile laws Of all countries, in reference
Of every thing, including property
ire every kind, are local, and cannot
ne beyond the limits to which
lto authority Of the country extends
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