The southern press., 1850-11-01
t,om n, .4vsu.la ca ! B.Dvblil,

SOUTHERN RIeHrs MrErs6 IN OGLErHoEFL -
A large and respectable number of the citizens OF
Oglethorpe convened this day in The Courthouse,
at Lexington for the purpose OF taking some ac-
ton upon the late acts of Congress-upon the con
! tinued aggressious Of the North--the State con-
vention, &c, &c. Upon motion of j. w. Moody,
| esq., DR. w. w. Davenport, was called to the
chair, and upon motion of t. L. X. Harris, esq,
DIR. F. ]. Robinsonsand John A. Bell were re-
quested to act as secretaries.
The chairman have briefly stated the object Of
the meeting, DIR. James W. Price moved the APP
! poln;ment of a committee of five to prepare reso-
Iutions for the action of the meeting whereupon
the chairman appointed DR.. james w, Price, DR..
! J. s. Sims, j. ii. Me Whorter, esq, X. Nj. Flem-
| ing ESQ.,. and Charles S. Meriwether.
The committee of five having now returned, re-
ported through their chairman, DIR. J. w. Price,
| the following preamble and resolutions, which
We're read and laid on the table until after the
speaking was concluded :
Whereas, period has arrived in the political
history of our Government, which demands from
the whole South, a position at once firm and un-
yielding. We ask not the dissolution Of this oNce
glorious and happy Union, nor TO burst asunder
the chords which now binds US together; but 10 ln-
sure our continued connection with 1t, we must re-
ceive assurances that our future rights will be
respected, and our just and constitutional claims
guaranteed TO us and our poserty. 50 Sixty years
have passed since the Northern and Southern
States entered into q treaty for the common de-
fence and general welfare. We Joined that league
with them equals its strictly defined powers
were to he exercised for the equal good of all par
ties, and its benefits and burdens We're to be equally
shared. But our allies at the North have grown
strong under the fostering protection Of this great
treaty, and are no longer content with the equal
conditions upon which it was formed" and gone
on making eXactIon after eXactlon, and having ad-
vanced far in Il series of measures which, if unre-
sisted must eventuate in the overthrow of our
slave institutions.
The history of the causes Of the present crisis
is the history of evergrowng demands on the
part of the North, and of as constant concessions
from the South. Virginia owned an immense
territory northwest of the Ohio river, but for the
" sake of the Union, she gave up this fine country,
larger than all the Southern States " the old l3,
and thus suffered her own citizens 10 be excluded
from its beneft-for t'wns then a slaveholdIns
territory, and the act of 1877 abollshing slavery
there, was passed chiefly by Northern votes, and
as Mr.. Madison said, without the shadow OF
constitutional authority Although Virginia, for
the sake of the general welfare, submitted to an
aggression so great, she, looking to the balance
of power in the Union, annexed on condition,
that not more than five States should be formed
out of this territory" Yet, even this has been
violated by the North, and % 1856 square miles
of its area, more than the average size OF all the
free States east of the Ohio, have gone to const-
tute the future State Of Minnesota"
| "In 1870, the South had many votes IN the
Senate and only eight less in the House. In 1917
| the North had ma ority of two IN the former
body, and twenty-five In the latter. 1t was ac-
| cordingly, on the application Of Missouri in 1879
| 20 for admission into the Union, that the preten-
sion first set up that no new slave State should
| enter the Confederacy. A clause prohibiting sa-
very was inserted in the bill for the admission OF
Missouri" &" and her people determined to remain
without the Union with regularly organized
| government as separate, Independent State, un-
less the Federal Government undertook to subdue
her and convulsed the country by civil war. In
this state Of the question, the South had only to
remain firm, and the North would be forced to
! yield, but as usual, the South was weak enough
TO retreat from her ground, and IN her love for the
! Union she submitted to provision forever pro-
hibitng slavery in all that part Of the territory of
Louisiana Except Missouri itself) which lies
north of 36. 30, the southern boundary OF Virginia
and Kentucky. The South thus lost, without an
equivalent, five-sixths Of what was already slave
territory, purchased by the common treasure. She
retained only 10000 square miles for the emigra-
ton of her own citizens and surrendered 965, 900
to the North yet, even this so-ca!led compromise,
forced upon us by Northern votes, is now spurned
by the free States. They have derived all the
possible benefit from it on this side Of the Rocky
Mountains, and they refuse us the poor advantage
which 1t would secure, Of 2043S3 square miles
out of S67 ,54l on the other side"
Here the battle for power and aggressive mea-
sures against the South commenced; and viewing
| as we do the past and the present wrongs which
| have been sustained by the South, in relation to
your peculiar domestic institutions, we claim as
your right to be heard in your defence, trusting
| the merits of your cause to enig htened and pa
riptic people. Soon after the adoption Of the
Missouri Compromise line by the act of Congress,
| petition after petition poured in upon that body
! from Abolition associations and petticoat polit-
clans, praying the adjustment of slavery within
| the District of Columbia many firm and noble
! spirits were found, who pronounced their recep-
ton vioIative of the Constitution, and much more
their reading, while the warm and enthusiastic de-
bates which thrilled the Halls Of Congress, was
the strongest evidence of the danger of tamperlng
with the subject. The advocates for the abolition
cause continued to increase and press their claims
every session, until the most daring opponent to
their nefarous schemes, shrunk from the contest,
and the Halls of Congress were literally Hooded
with their detestable documents.
The next step in the political drama was the
prohibition of the slave trade in the District of Co
lumbia-then bill to abolish slavery there, and
the continual flooding of the South with lncendlary
pamphlets through the mall an important part of
lhe machinery OF the Government, for the purpose
of exciting to insurrection the slaves of our coun-
try, which would have been considered just
cause of war. And last of all, and which the
South has Just grounds TO complaints, was the
admission of California n State, and grantlngto
Utah and New Mexico territorial forms of govern
ment, containing the essential principles OF the
Wllmot Provlso, by leaving mexican law III iuli
force, by (which the South is forever excluded
from equal participation in territory of 446,63S
square miles, large enough to make eleven States
equal to Ohio. The South paid her share, and as
we shall see, far more than her full share of the
expense Of the Mexican war; OF the gallant vol
unteers who fought her battles, she furnished 49,
GAO, and the North 23,0S4-but little more than
half as many.
The South sent one man out of every 20 OF MILL
ary age-the North only one out Of every 1874
Then, why is i, that this newly acquired territory
is to be alone appropriated to the use of Northern
! adventurers' We ask, if the blood and treasure
OF the South was not expended in obtaining this
golden treasure-to which every part of Gods
creation is admitted and welcomed, except The
poor spurned and down-trodden South-to whom
it most rightfully belongs, while upon the plains
of Mexico, the bones Of many of her noblest
sons are now bleaching. Then, again, we ask,
why we not entitled 10 our equal apportion-
ment OF her s,il, and the golden treasures buried
beneath her sands--except upon the principle,
that might gives right' Not one foot of land do
we possess in that widely extended terri tory, upon
which we dare place our peculiar species of pro
erty. And still, are told the South has all she