Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1850-03-20
PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY,
BY
WNg. f. DURISGE.
PROPR EFT D K.
Speech of Hon. J. C. Calhoun
: On the Slavery Question.
pELlyERED ~ THE SENATE OF THE u 81
March 4, 1850.

MQTCN ~ 1OOO'
Ih,ve. Senator's, beloved from The fret
II,ai iiic agitation uf t!,e>sHtjecIsof slavery
would, If nol prevented by some timely and
elective measures. eud in disuuion. En-
,enainng this opiuiun, have, on all proper
occasious, endeavored to call The attention
orrhe two grea, parties which divide the
country 10 induce them TO adopt such mea'
sures To prevent so great disaster, hut
wi,hou, success. The agitation has been
permi,teh 10 proceed. with almost no at
Tempt 10 resisl.it, until it has reached pc
riod when il can no longer be disguised or
denied that the Union is in danger. You
have thus had forced upon you the greatest
and the gravest question that eau ever
come under your consideration. How eau
the Union be preverved
To give satisfactory answer TO this
mighty question, il is indispensable to have
an accurate aud thorough knowledge OF
the nature aud the character of the cause
by which the Union isc ndansered. With
ou, such knowledge i, is impossible to pros
nounce with any cer,aiuty, bv what mea-
sure i, can he saved just as il would be
impossible for a physician To pronounce IN
the case of some dangerous disease, with
any certainty, by what remedy the patient
could be saved, without similar knowledge
of The nature and character Of the cause of
The disease. The frs, question. then, pre-
seuted for consideration, in the invesuga-
lion | propose to make. in order tn obtain
such know ledge. is: What is it that has
endangered this Union!
To this question there can he but one
answer; that The immediate cause is the
aIrnos, universal discomfort which pervades
all The States composing the Southern sec
lion of the Unun. This widely extended
discnntenr is not of recent origin. 1T COM
,nenced with the agitation of the slavery
question. aud has been increasing ever
since. The next question. going one sep
further back, is: What has caused this
widely dif'used and almost universal cis.
->cp-ssnl- -,.-,s7s!s; -,'-s-E---
Ii is great mistake to suppose. as snme
have done that it originated with dema-
gupues. who excited The discomfort with
the intention of aiding their personal ai-
Management, or with the disarp"in'cd ambl-
riun of cer,ain politicians, who resnred To
il as the means Of retrieving their fortunes.
On the contrary. all The great political in.
nuences Of the section were arrayed against
excitement, and exerted 10 the utmos: To
keep the people quiet. The srea, mass
of The people Of The South were divided,
as in The other section. into Wings and
Democrats. The leaders and The presses
of both parties in the Snurb were very So
liciluus 10 prevent excitement and 10 pre-
serve qnel; because il was seen that The
effects of the former would necessarily
Tend TO weaken. if not destroy, The poli'i-
cal ties which united them with their res
pec,ive parties in The other section. Those
who know the Strength of party ties will
readily appreciate the iurce which this
cause exerled agitation, aud in favor of
preserving quiet. But. as great as j, was.
j, was not sufficiently so 10 prevent, the {" itie
spread discomfort which HOW pervadcs The
section. No; sume cause, far deeper and
mure powerful than the ane supposed. must
exist, 10 account For discomfort so wide and
deep. The question, then recurS: What
is the cause of this discontentl Ii will he
found in .he belief of the peuple Of the
content itself, ,ha, they cannot remain. as
things now are. consistently with h"nor and
safety, in the Union. The next question
10 be considered is: What has caused this
belief!
One of the causes is. undoubtedly, 10 be
traced to The long. continued agitation of
the slave question on the pan of the North,
and The many aggressinns which they have
made upon the rights of the South during
the time. ] will not enumera,e them al
present. rs il will be done hereafter in its
proper place.
There Is another lying hack OF II, with
which this is intimately connected that
mny be regarded as The great and primary
cause. Il is 10 he found in the facl thai the
equilibrium between tic iwo sectinns in the
Government, as il stood when The COnsii.
iu,ion was raiGcd and the Eovernmenl
Pot in action. has been Destroyed. AT
that time there was nearly perfect equi-
librium between the two, which afforded
ample means to each 10 Holect itself
against the aggression Of thejother; but,
as it now stands. one section has The exclu.
sive power of controlling The Government,
which leaves the other without any ade-
quale means of projecting itself against
ills encreachmenl and oppression. To place
this subject distinctly hefnre YOU, have,
Senators, prepared a brief statistical state
ment. showing The relative weight of The
two sections in the Government uuder the
first census Of 1890 aud the last census Of
1910.
According to the former. ,hdpopularion
Of the Uniled STATES, including Vermont,
Kenlucky and Tennessee, which .hen
were in ntheir%incipient condiu,i Of becom
ing States, but we're not ac,naIl admitted,
amounted 10 929, ,s27 or ibis Number
The Northern s,a,es had l,973s9e. and
the Son,hcrn l 952, ,072, making differ.
ence of only 25;e27 in favor Of lhe former
States. Tie number Of States Jiiucluding
Vermont, kentucky aud Tennessee, wcro