Daily Richmond times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1849-1850, 1850-01-15
THE SOUTHERN QUESTION.


The propositions, submitted to the House of
Delegates on Saturday, by the special committee
on that part of the Governors Message which re-
slated to the Wimot Proviso and kindred subjects.
demand the most serious consideration not only of
the General Assembly, but of the people for whom
the Assembly is about to act As the most efficient
instrument of eliciting public opinion, it seems to
US to behove the press especially to speak out
with frankness upon these matters, that vitality
concern the welfare of our whole country.
The committee recommend first, reaffirmation
of the resolutions twice heretofore adopted, and.
secondly, the appointment of nineteen delegates
to Southern Convention to be held at Nasty lille
Tennessee, in June next.
With regard to the first of these recommends
tions, it may be well TO remind our readers
that when the resolutions, proposed to be re-
affirmed, were introduced in the House of Dele
gates at the session of 1889, by committee Of
which the present Governor was Chairman, we
thought it our duty to oppose their adoption, and
based our objections chiefly on the view that it
was nexpedient for the South to anticipate viola
tons of its ri ghts, and to threaten what course ii
would adopt, in case of their preparation We
expressed, especially the apprehension that mas
much as the resolutions pledged the State to ire
slstance, in the event of the passage of the Will
mot Proviso or other justly obnoxious measures by
Congress, and yet provided that, in that event.
another Legislature should meet to determine athe
mode and measure Of redress" the declaration of re-
sistance would fail to command credence in the
North, and would be regarded as mere threat
not inten ded to be carried into execution, rather
than as solemn admoniton designed to preserve
the harmony of the Union. Our views of South
ern policy did not accord with those ola majority
in the Legislature, and the resolutions were adopt.
ed. The example thus set by Virginia has since
been followed by the Legislatures of most of tn
other Southern States, and the question is whe.
Their Virginia shall repeat her former decara-
lions
In determining this question, it seems to US i'm
possible that there can be serious hesitation
Those who opposed the resolutions in the first in
stance, will, Of course, be prepared to reiterat'
them now; and those who opposed them at first
because they disliked the apprehended appearance
of making threat, whilst they fully assented
the principles asserted must perceive the impor
lance Of impartng solemnity to our declarations
by supporting them with unanimty. On the mail
point, that Virginiais in reality prepared to stand by
her sister States of the South in resisting offensive
legislation on the subject of slavery, even at the
hazard of sacrificing the Union itself, glorious a.
it il in its "reminiscences and inestimable in it's
benefits, we are persuaded there can be no differ
ence of opinion. The Wilmot Proviso, abolition
of slavery in the District of Columbia, and inter-
terence by the Federal Government with the free
transfer of slave property between the Southern
States, are all regarded by the people of Virginia
and tn, whole South, as but parts of the shaft
whose poisoned head fanaticsm would bury in oul
vitals. There are too many evidences before us
10 be discredited, that the institution of slavery
as it exists in the StdteS, is the ultimate object O.
assault. We know, full we'll, that the Wilmo
Proviso would only prohibit slavery in Territories
which slavery can never be expected to enter, anc
that the continuance of slavery in the remaining
half the " Ten Miles Square is, in itself, ofsma
practical consequence in comparison with the value
ofthe Union. But the South feels that the appre
'hended measures are sheer violations of the con-
stitu,ional compact and that if they be acquiesced
in, she will enjoy no security for the future. If
there has been difference of opinion as TO the ex-
pediency of declaring the purpose of resistance in
advance, we believe there is none whatever to
the purpose itself. On this subject, however much
politicians may have perverted it to unworthy pur-
poses, there has been no distinction of partie.
amongst the people. Let the assurance, then, be
given TO Northern Senators and Represe natives
in Congress, not in tones of menace or recrmi.
nation, but in the firm language of admonition
that Virginia, with the other Southern States,
will regard the passage of the measures in ques-
ton as tantamount TO dissolution of the Confe.
deracy.
We concur in the proprety of the Legislature's
now repeating this warning, not because we real
" apprehend that the occasion will shortly arise
for its application, but because we indulge the
hope that it may tend to postpone that occasion
forever, by persuadng the Northern majority in
Congress to desist from efforts to enact obnoxious
Jaws. And should the stand, unitedly taken by
the Southern States fail to impress that majority
with the sincerity OF Southern resolution, it would
powerfully strengthen the hands of the President
in applying his negative (as we doubt not he
willy to measures which, if sanctioned by his ap-
prevail, would unquestionably be fatal to the Union.
We defer any comment upon the scheme of
Southern Convention to another occasion
Mr.. STOVALL
Mr.. Stovail's demonstration against the South
em Convention, OH Saturday, evidently startled his
Democratic fellow-members exceedingly. Mr..
Harvie's establishment knew no hnnnds and il i'm