The Democratic pioneer. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1845-1853, 1849-02-02


withs'anding. Ia fact they never have
TO any con.iderable extent been en-
forced, except one setuon, hereafter
and are now, as it were a
dead letterupon our statute book. Since
they are th,is obsolete, aud to many Of our
ci'ze"s, odi"as, and believing that It
w"uld comport with justice and add to
the peace aud harmony of the community,
| recommend the repeal Of both these
acts. But It upon due consideration you
shall bt Of the ophiun that tho interests
Of he State forbid snGh fall repeal, mus,
then the more especially press upon your
consideration the repeal uf,he fourth sec
ton of the act of lSo7, and this, from
full conviction that the on Iy operation of
that section is, to preveE: public and
private Justice. This is the section which
prohibits the testimony Of black or mulat.
to persons in any conse, civil or criminal
where either party is white person.
Ia a State where slavery exists, there
may be some pretence of reason why the
enslaved race should be prohibited from
testifying in controversies between those
who enslave them, But in State whose
'it"tion decla res all equally free and
where all are cnt.led to the SAME protet.
ton of life, liberty and property, and
where all have the same personal, though
not the same political rights it seems alb.
snrd that the competency of witness
should he tested, or the tr;,th excluded
from otir courts Of Justice by the color OF
the skin. The oppression aud injustice
to the colored people are not the only rea
sons which call for the repeal Of this sec
tion. but ii may be urged al measure Of
justice to the white population as well as
to the State itsslf. Instances are not IN
frequent where white men have been de-
prived of their rights by is operation
aud examples are not wanting where the
murderer has escaped punishment because
the commission of the crime could be pro-
we'd by the testimony Of colored persons
only.
Aterse as | ain in The admiration OF
State affairs to any 'terferente in those
matters which seem more Appropriated
to belong to the general government, yet
there are occasions when from Tie inter
est involved, it lie proper for State to
make known it's opinions upon questions
Of national policy. The United States
alone present to the world the spectacle
of thirty independent sovereisns united
Under onR gsner.i government, with
constitution so framed That neither can in
terfere with the rights of the other, nor
can the general government interfere
with the reserved rights Of the several
States.
The benefits of this Union are incalcu
liable, and its preservation Of inestima BILE
value. Those who seem lightly to regard
il tanhot have duly nonsidefed the con-
SEQUENCES of its dissolution. The Union
dissolved, and there is an end Of the con
trolling influence OF a General Govern
ment. The national conititution ceases
to operate. Instead ofa great and pow
erful nation, these United States would
become thirty separate republics control
ed by separate ond conflicting Interests.
New confederacies might he fortified aid
might not. The fatal consequences are
too thahB and too feafIui TO be c,ntem
plated with Indifference by any friend of
freedom or humanity. II has been said
by an eminent citizen. that, 'those divis
ions which arise from different views of
pel,cy are in their transi.
tofy. Bat those which are founded upon
geographical divisions, adverse interests
Of soil, climate and modes Of domestic
life, are more permanent, and therefore.
perhaps more dangerous While we
should adhete to ohr own rights with de
termiDed frmness, yet to do Justice and
to guard against any canse Of defectiou,
we should regard the rights of onr sister
States with like interest and equal anx-
ety with which we would protect our
own.
No one subject at present more gener
ally or justly agitates the public mind than
}oes that of the extension ofsIayeFy. Ii is |
one of fearful import as the division is one
,f geographical lines and adverse interests
IF soil and climate So far as the State |
# Ohio is concerned there appears TO be
but little difference of opinion on this
'ubject. Although our people differ upoa
Questions of state or national p"licy, vet
,poh this one subject all or nearly all are
agreed, that slavery ought not to be ex-
ended. This unity Of feeling has been
heretofore manifested by legislative ac-
ion.
Upon one occasion when one Of the
.reat political parties into which the
,sate is divided, was in the asceadenoy,
al. nj