Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1850-03-20
PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY
BY
WNg. f. DURTSGE.
PROPR T D K.
Speech of Hon. ]. C. Calhoun,
On the slavery Question.
nrIIyEREp ~ THE SENATE OF THE U. s.,
A5..L 1SS0

Ihaye, Senators, beloved from the hrst'
that lie hgi,a,ion uf t!ie,sEs)rcrs0f slavery.
would, If NOT prevented Ly some timely and
effective measures. cud in disuuion. En-
,er,ainlng this opinion, have, on all proper
occasions, cndeavored TO call The attention
orlhe two great parties which divide The
country 10 induce them 10 adopt such mea,
sures To preven, so great disaster, hut
without success. The agitation has been
permi,ted TO proceed. with altnos' no at
iempt TO resisl.it, until il has reached Pc
riod when il can no longer be disguised or
denied lha, 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 can
The Union be preverved
To give a satisfactory answer to this
mighty question, it is indispensable to have
an accurate aud thorough knowledge Of
The nature and The character of the cause
by which the Union Use ndansered. With
out such knowledge il is impossible to Pro-
nounce " ith any certninty, 6v what mea-
sure i, can he saved Just as il would be
impossible for physician To pronounce IN
the case of some dangerous disease. with
any certainty, 10y what remedy the patient
could be saved, without similar knowledge
of the nalure and character OF The cause uf
The disease. The FIRST question. then, pre-
seu,e,l for consideration, in the investlga-
ton propose to make. in order 10 obtain
such know ledge. is: What is it that has
endangered this Union!
-. ,h ho hut
answer; that The immediate cause is The
alnos, universal discomfort which pervades
all the States comprising the Southern Sec
lion of the Unun. This widely extended
discunteut is not of receul origin. 1T COM
neuced with the agitation of the slavery
question. anl has been increasing ever
since. The next question. going one srep
further back. is: What has caused lIiis
widely diHiused and almost universal dis
,-,rgs,s :x.-->,f 's-s-''-..-7--'
il is great mistake to suppose. as snme
lave doue. that il originated with dema-
yop.es. who excited The discomfort with
the intention of aiding their personal AL
vancemen,, or with the disappointed anibl'
riun of ccrain politicians, who resnr'ed 10
il as the means OF retrieving their fortunes.
On the contrary. all the great political i7-
flueuces Of the section were arrayed against
excitement, and exerrel 10 the utmos: TO
keen the people quiet. The great mass
of The people Of The South were divided,
as in ,be other section. into Wings aud
Democrats. The leaders and the presses
of both parties in the South were very So
and in
serve qniel; because il was seen that The
effects of the former would necessarily
Tend TO weaken. if nol destroy, tho polini-
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 exerlcd agitation, aud in favor ol
preserving quiet. But. as great as it was.
il was not sufficiently so TO preven, the =" ltle
spread disconenI which now pervadcs the
section. M; some cause, far deeper and
more powerful Than the ane supposed. must
exist, TO account For discomfort so wide and
deep. The question, then recurs: What
is The cause of this discomfort! |, will he
found in ,hs belief of the peoPle of the
Southern SIaIes. rs prevalent as the dis
content itself, that they cannot remain. as
things now are. consistently with honor anil
safely, 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 part of the North,
4 ,,,,h; oh hoy q
made upon The rights of the South during
The time. ] will not enumerate them at
resent. ms il will he done hereafter in its
proper place.
There IS another lying back Of il, with
which this is intimately connected, that
may be regarded as The great anu primary
cause. Ii is 10 he found in the fact that HE
equilibrium between tic Two secInns in the
Government. as ii stood when The C0nsti-
tuition was raised and the Government
Dot in action. has been deslroyed. Al,
that time there was nearly a perfect equi-
lbriun between The two, which afforded
ample means to each 10 pto,ect itself
against the aggression Of ,he3other; but,
as il 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 asains,
its encreacbmeul and oppression. To place
this subject distinctly before you, have,
Senators, prepared brief statistical state.
meni. showing The relative weight of the
TWO sections in the Government under the
first census Of 1890 and The last census of
1910. s.
According to the former, tho population
of the Uniled States, including Vermont,
Kenlucky and Tennessee. which then
were in their incipient condiiiu,i of becom
ing States. but we're moi actually admitted.
amounted TO .929, ,S27. or This number
The Northern States had ]. .973,s99. and
the Sonthern 952, or, making differ.
ence of only 25,e27 in favor Of tbe former
States. The number Of States including
Vermont, kentucky aud Tennessee, wess