The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-06-20
Vol. 4.

Government and the non-slaveholdng States
of the Union on the subject OF the institu-
ton Of slavery. We deem It proper to lay
before you, as briefly as the subject will
permit, the result OF our deliberations aud
councils
In order that your condition may be UNI
derstood, and the conclusions at which we
have arrived be justly appreciated, it is ne
cessary briefly to refer to few past trans
actions
1t is now sixteen years since the institu-
ton OF slavery in the South began to be
agitated in Congress and assailed by our
sister States. Up to that time, the people
Of the northern states seem to have respect
ed tho rights reserved to the southern States
By the Constitution, and tohave acted under
the conviction that the subject of slavery be-
ing beyond the legislation Of Congress, all
agitation with respect to # on the part of Con-
gress was equally iorbiddenby the Constitu-
ton. But, at this time, a portion. of the
people Of the North began to assail in Con-
gress the institution Of slavery, and, to ac-
complish their object Of dragging il into the
vortex of congressional agitation, they CAIN
ed the right Of pettioning Congress upon all
subjects whatsoever. As petition is only
the first step in Legislation, il was clear that
. right TO petition a legislative body must be
limited by its powers Of legislation
No one can have right to ask Of another
to do that which he has no moral or legal
right to do. Nor can any tribunal have the
power to receive and consider any matter
beyond its jurisdiction. The claim therefore
to present petitions to Congress on the sub
jet Of slavery, was considered by the South
ern Representatives generally as an attempt
indirectly to assume jurisdiction over the
subject itself in all parts Of the Union. The
object, without disguise, was the overthrow
of slavery in the States, but our assailants
framed the petitions presented chiefly against
slavery in the District OF Columbia and our
territories, and against what they call the
internal slave trade--that is, the transmits
sion of slaves from one southern State to
another. Conscious of the fatal tendency
Of the agitation OF slavery in Congress to
destroy the peace and stability Of the Union
an effort was made, supported by large
portion Of the northern Representatives, to
suppress it by rule in the House of Repre-
sentatives, which provided that all petitions
on the subject Of slavery should be neither
considered, printed, nor referred. This rule
was assailed By the people Of the northern
States, as violating that clause of the Consti-
tuition which prohibits Congress from passing
laws to prevent the people from peaceably
assembling and pftitioning for redress of
grievances. In December, 1914, this rule
fell before the unanimous voice Of the North;
and thus the unlimited power of introducing
and considering the subject of slavery in
Congress was asserted.
In the meantime, the course of the north
ern people showed clearly that the agitation Of
slaveryin Congress was only one the means
they relied en- to overthrow this institution
throughout the Union. Newspapers were
set up amongst them, and lecturers were
hired to go abroad to excite them against
slavery in the southern States. Organiza-
tons were formed to carry off slaves from
the South and to protect them by violence
from re-capture. Although the Constitution
requires that fugitive slaves, like fugitives
from Justice, should be rendered up by the
States to which they may have fled, the Lee
gislatures Of almost every northern State,
faithless to this treaty stipulation between
the States, passed laws designed and calcu-
lated entirely to defeat this provision Of the
Constitution, without which the Union would
have never existed, and by these laws viz
tually nullined the act of 1894, passed by
Con .ress to aid its enforcement Not con-
tent with the agitation of slavery in political
circles, the northern people forced it also
into the religious associations extending over
the Union, and produced separation Of the
Methodist and Baptist churches.
The result of all these various methods Of
assailing slavery in the southern States,
was, thatit became the grand topic Of interest
and discussion in Congress and out Of Con-
gress, and one of the most important ele-
ments Of politics in the Union. Thus an in
stitution, belonging TO the southern States
exclusively, was wrested from their exclu-
sive control; and, instead Of that protection
which is the great object, Of all governments,
and which the Constitution of the United
States guarantees to all the States AMI their
the northern States, and Con-
gress under their control, combined together
to assail and destroy slavery in the South.
The southern States did nothing to vindi-
cate their rights and arrest this course Of
things. The Mexican war broke out; and,
instead of that patriotic cooperation OF all
sections of the Union, which would have
taken place in the better days Of the Re-
public, to bring il TO a just and honorable
conclusion, in the very first appropriation
bill to carry it on, the North endeavored 70
thrust the subject Of slavery. Throughout
the war, they kept up the agito in; thus
clearly manifesting their determination that
the General Government, in none OF its,
operations, internal or external, shall! be ex-
empted from the introduction Of this dan
gerous subject.
The war closed with honor; and an i'm
mense territory was added to the United
States. Their previous threats were re-
allied; and the non-slaveholding States i'm