Democratic banner., 1849-07-02
The Address OF Southern Members OF
ongres to their Constituents.
Continued from, fourth Poge.)

Little, in truth, would Do left to be done
after we have been excluded from all the
territories, including those to be hereafter
acquired, after slavery is abolished in this
District and in the numerous places dis
persed all over the South, where Congress
has the exclusive right Of legislation, and
after the other measures proposed are con-
vumAted. Every outpost and barrier would
be carried, snd nothing would be left but to
finish the work of abolition at pleasure in
the States themselves. This District, and
ell places over which Congress has excn-
sive power Of Legislation, would be asylums
for fugitive slaves, where, as soon as they
placed their feet, they would become, &C.
cording TO the doctrines of the North, free /;
unless there should be some positive enact
meats to prevent it.
= Under such a state of things the proba-
bility is, that emancipation would speedily
follow, without any final act to abolish
slavery. The depressing effects Of such
measures on the white race at the South,
and they would create in the black Of a
speedy emancipation, would produce a state
of feeling inconsistent with the much longer
continuance Of, the existing relations be-
tween the two. But be that as it may, it is
certain, If emancipation did not follow, as a
matter of course, the final act in the States
would not be long delayed. The want Of
constitutional power would oppose a feeble
resistance. The great body of the North is
united against u peculiar institution
Many believe it to be sinful, and the resi-
due, with uncomfortable exceptions, believe
It to be wrong. Such being the case, it
would indicate q very superficial knowl-
edge of human nature, to think that, after
aiming at abolition systematically for so
many years, and pursuing it with such I'M
scrupnlous disregard of law and constitu-I
ton, the fanatics who have led the way and
forced the great body of the North to follow
them, would, when the finishing stroke only
remained to be given, voluntarily suspend
1t, or permit any constitutional sCsuples or
considerations Of Justice to arrest it. To
these may be added an aggression,s though
not yet commenced, long meditated and
lists call the internal slave trade, meaning
thereby the transfer of~slaves from one State
to another, from whatever motive done, or
however effected. Their object would
seem to be to render them worthless by
crowding them together where they are,
and thus hasten the work Of emancipation.
There lie reason for believing that it will
soon follow those now in progress, unless,
indeed, some decisive step should be taken
in the mean time to arrest the whole.
The question then is, will the measures
Of aggression proposed in the House be a.
dopted?
They may not, and probably will not be
this session. But when they take into con-
sideration thatthere is a majority now in ia
vor of one of them, and a strong minority
10 favor of the others, as far as the sense Of
the House has been taken that there will
be in all probability a considerable increase
in the next Congress of those in favor Of
them, and that it will be largely increased
in the next succeeding Congress under the
census to be taken next year, it amounts to
a certainty that they will be adopted, unless
some decisive measure is taken in advance
t%oprevent it.
But, If even these conclusions should
prove erroneous-iffanaticism and the love
of power should, contrary to their nature,
for once respect constitutional barriers, or
If the calculations Of policy should retard
the adoption of these measures, or even de-
feat them altogether, there would be still
left one certain way to accomplish their
object, If the determination avowed by the
North to ~monopolize all the territories, to
the exclusion Of the South, should be car
ried into effect. That of itself would, at no
distant day, sdd to the North a sufficient
number Of States to give her three.fourths
Of the whole when, under the color of an
amendment of the constitution, she would
emancipate our slaves, however opposed it
might be to its true intent.
Thus under every aspect, the result is
certain, If not promptly and decidedly met.
How it is to be met, it is for you to decide.
Such, then, being the case, it won d be
to insult you to suppose you could hesitate.
To dessroy the existing relation between the
free and ssrvile races at the South would
lead to consequences unparalleled in histo.
~. They cannot be separated, and cannot
live together in peace or harmony, or TO
their mutual advantage, except in their
present relation. Under any other, wretch
edness, and misery, and dssolation, would
~overspresd the whole South. The example
fthe British West Indies, as blighting as