Weekly miners' express. (DuBuque, Iowa) 184?-1849, 1849-04-17
tories themselves, isadmissible only whilst the
necessity for it continues and should be sur.


tories themselves, is udmissble only whilst tn
: necessity for it continues, and should be SUI
rendered the moment that necessity-the jus
tifying cause of it's at an end. 1t is ye
further deduction from these grounds of opin
ion, though in much larger and stronger sense
still--a deduction from the whole scope ant
tenor of our representative system and repre-
sentative duty-that whenever the case shall
arise in the necessity for establishing terrific
! ria government shall be met and resisted by a
, stronger and intenser national necessity for
pretermitting it altogether, that in that case
| tho stronger nee essity must be allowed to pre-
vail, the territorial government be given up
and the young and expectant commonwealth
| instantly taken int the family Of the States
Whenever, in The administration of public uf-
fairs, smaller and larger int crest come into
unavoidable conflict with one another, the
smaller one must i've way. And this is pre-.
cisely the state of affairs before US now. .
We have, on the hand, our national safety to
!. protcct-a duty which, of all others under
Heaven, it is the most imperative upon us faith
! fully and inheXibly to pcriorm VIC have, on
the other hand a territory to provide with Il
government and laws--a duty Of far inferior
interest, to be sure, but not TO bo neglected.
! These arc the respective duties to which we
! are now called; and though they arc often call
, ed: and though they have often arisen under
the same classification, and have often hccn
discharged in the past administration Of the
Government, yet never before, as we all know
and feel, did they enter into and blend so vi
.s!lv and SO indssoubly with one another as
t:.es;; DO now. In :.Hc efforts which VIC have
made to discharge vu:. dat" to the territories,
plans Of government for them have been offer
cd and discussed here which have been proi.
| oocl al, hon,
alarm, which thus far have served only to ar.
ray one great gcograp hlcal division Of the u
hitcd States against another, and to stir up be-
| tween them 4 spirit of ton, animoSity,
and fcud, as utterly inconsistent with the uni.
! ty Of their poltIca! Relationship dangerous
to the continued maintenance Of their CON.
mon interests and common peace.
| In this gloomy con junction Of affairs new
of government for the Territories is presented
u plan Of mediation and of peace. one which
has no connection with any sectional interest
or sectional feeling Of any kind wha1ever;which
stands aside from all that source Of heart burn
ing, jealousy, ana disturbance, and which,
| having no serious constitutional oh jectons to
| encounter, promises, on all these accounts, to
put an mmcdietc and pacific end to most an
cry, harassing, and portentious national dis
putc. These are It's general aspects. AS to
! it's more particul ones: what though it be
new and untricd and awkward-what though
il consolidate into one political community i
vast, unWedy, disconnected and hall -pcopled
| reg ion-what though it dmits to the mmcdi-
ate enjoyment Of all the rights and privileges
Of American citizenship, thousands of foreign
| ors who know nothing about then-what tho
! IT conflicts with our own prcconceived deter
limitations and views upon this ject, or rubs,
peradv venture, against any pre-arrangcd polti
cal calculations and hopes which any of us
may entertain what of all these objections,
and all others that Gun be added to them, ma
king the most Of them and the worst Of them
what arc they all when gathered together
and piled up to their topmost aggregate, Pclion
upon Ossa, but the small dust of the balance
| when weighed against--what it may fairly
hope to accolnplish-the qualification and per
pctual union Of more than twenty millions of
| lruemcn!
Let us remember, sir, that our business l. no
longer the simple and comparatively easy one
Of framing the best possible government for u
territory, considered Independently and apar 1T
from its rcla lions to the Union. Our true bu-
siness, on the contrary is the very opposite of
this it is 10 provide government for the Ter.
ritorics which, being constitutional and suffi-
cicnt for them, shall at the same time, be best
in its primary reference to the peaceful rcla-
| tions, and therein to the universal welfare of
! the States. Our work in this matter is no long.
err limited to the Territories, either in its mo.
tvcs effects. 1t goes, under the force and
pressure Of events to the whole country; it
goes 10 all those vast and unu,tcrablc issues
for good or evil which depend upon maintain.
ing that country just as it now is-one power
full, prosperous, united whole. 1t is, therefore,
cminentIy and above all others, a work with
which no carping, nor fault finding, nor biyot-
cd, nor sectional, nor pettifogging spirit has
anythng to do. 1t is one which nothing less
than the largest PATRIOTISM earnestly loyalty,
wisely operating for the very largest and holt
est ends Of public good can ever adcqua tey or
rightly accomplish. 1t is a work of all for III
of zach part for every part--of the entire
country, and of entire devotion to that country
And whilst we, TO whom it is confidcd, stand
here TO execute it as common brotherhood
for a common good, our ears must be heavy
and our heart hard, beyond the ordinary lot Of
our kind, unless we hear and feel the voice of
our mothcr-land, coming up over all other vol
ces, and calling upon each one Of US, in soft
and thrilling tones, M son, my son, be true
to thy trust-bc true to me- He who al such
in its issues to the country that has honorcd
hinl-hc who, at such 4 moment, is afraid to
!be good man, has already, to say the least of
him, began to be bad one.
If gentlemen, Mr. Chairman, arc still tena
cous of their objections to the plan propo: cd !,
and do not find, in the national difficulties by
which we arc surrounded, persuasvcs enough
to reinquish them, let Us look for moment
to the peculiar structure Of our government,
and see if we cannot derive from that an add.
tional and sufficient persuasive for this pur-
pose That Govcrnment-tou use the language
which was employed by General Washingt ton,
as President Of the Convention that formed it,
to recommend it to the adoption of the people
and the Statcs--that Government was found.
cd in ga spirit Of amity and Of mutual defer.
cnce and concession - 1t is. therefore, in its
nature and origin and history. and throughout
the whole range of its purposes and provisions,
directly opposed to everything that is sectional
separate, or peculiar 1t rejects as its worst
and most fatal enemies all exclusivcncss ana
all ultraism, whether OF opinion or Of action
1t associates with no extremes OF any kind
whatever, and hence not only has the general
policy Of the Government boon renarka bly,
free from tho control Of extreme views, but
whenever particular measure, partating Of
that character, has been fortutously forced
upon it, it has never failed to 60 down, speedi-
ly and certainly. under the moderating and
equalizing spirit of the general system.
If you would maintain such Government
as this in its true and natural vigor, you must