The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-09-27
Is the Abolition Of Slavery 1.-THE Best we
oan get ?''


course by setting up the pretext of its being 'the
best We get"--fcw indeed having the eifron-
terry to assert that the South receives ALL or even
the greater portion Of that to which she is en-
titled under it. Now--although the task might
seem superfiuous, and almost an insult to the
common sense Of the Southern people--wc will
yet, in very few words, strip away the sophis-
try under which they seek to shield themselves
from the just Indignation of the Southern people,
and show that Mr.. WEBSTER uttered the naked
what the South gained, and that is-Nothing -
1t is a well established rule Of evidence, that
the strongest kind Of testimony is that which
comes from an interested party, when it tells
against himself Passing by, therefore, (for the
presently the earlier declarations, the arguments
and statements of fact made by many Of these
same Southern gentlemen--who cannot alter
facts, with the same facility that they change
their votes and their posiiion--we call upon the
stand the Boston Journal, which thus rejoices
over the present triumph which Abolition has
gained, and the inevitable future ones that must
follow, right speedily. That print says:
sWe can look lcith pleasure to The admission of
California as free State, and to the abolition Of
the odious slare trade in the District Of Columbia,
as l,Uo important strides iOWards universal free
DOM. The former set at rest the Southern doc
trine of the Abalance Of power" which Mr.. Cal
houn insisted was the only remaining safeguard
of the institution Of slavery. No,r, and hence
forth, the North will have majority in both
branches of Congress. The latter strikes bloac
at The existence of slarery under the auspices Of
The General Gorerame,u, achich piH, zee doubt
aot be to0,Ued By the ddOption Of jud ci0us sys-
tenn of emancipation In the District. We do moi
hesitate To say that, these ltco points gained more
has been done for the cause Of freedom, al this ses-
sion of Congress, Than at any prerious session
since The early gears Of our Republic"
Well might the people of Boston---thc cradle
Of Aboliton--ire one hundred guns in honor
of such a contamination; and glory in tri-
umph such as that compact would be, if not
speedily expunged from the statute book, and
spurned by the Southern people as a substitute
for settlement.
Can these two grounds Of graduation be de-
nieds Is not California, with coast on the Pa
cific equal to that of nine Of the Atlantic
States, Free-soi every of it, under this set
Element? Was it the "best we could get,' to
be excluded forever from that vast domain, by
the incorporation of the Wilmot Proviso, word
for word into the unconstitutional constitution of
that "State"-and the solemn sanction of Con-
gress to that unjust and unconstitutional excu-
sion? Who can have the effrontery to deny
that to submit passively to such exclusion would
not, in the words of the Boston print, be san
important stride towards universal freedom
the black! Well may true Southern hearts
thrill to the truthful exposition Of the evils to
spring from that outrage, embodied in the pro-
test Of the tenSouthern Senators-two passages
only of which we will subjoin r8cs
sWe dissent from this bill, and solemnly
against passage, because N sanctioning meas
ures so contrary to former presidents, to Obv-
Gus policy, to the spirit and intent Of the Con-
stitution of the United States, for the purpose
of ercluding the sldreholiing STATES from the
territory ths 10 be erected into State, This gou-
ernnaeM in effect declares that the exclusion of
Slavery from The territory Of The United States is
an ogest so high and important as to justify a
disregard moi only Of all The principles Of sound
policy, bat also of The Constitution itself
forever protest, as it is destructive to the safety
and liberties of those whose rights have been
committed to our care, fatal to the peace and
equality of the States which we represent, and
must lead, IF persisted IN, TO The dissolution of
that Contederacy in which the slaveholding States
have never sought more than equality, and in
which they will not be content to remain with
less" sel
The names attached to that protest, are suf-
ficient guarantees of the soundness of the opin-
ions and the doctrines it contains, if the over
powering weight Of the truths themselves, and
of facts gross, open, papable, needed con6rma-
-tion. aA
We forbear speaking, in this connection, of
the partition of Texas--the sale of the territory
that should have constituted slave States to
Free-soil-and other injuries as fagrant--but
we pass over to the last browning outrage-the
assumption by Congress Of the right to abolish
slavery in the District of Columbia to be
followed by judicious system of emancipation
in the District" what sane man can doubt!
The steps towards that end have been so
rapid and 50 bold, that we may say that the
@judcious system" has already been put in
operation, for this Congress has assumed juris-
diction orer the subject and solemnly declared
the right of this Government to abolish slavery
here, actually making it duty under certain
circumstances. bt
To prove this we quote the chief clause in
the bill:
SECTION ]. Be it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the United States
of America, in Congress assembled, That from
and after the first day of January next, in the
year eighteen hundred and fifty-on it shall not
be lawful to bring into the District of Columbia,
any slave whatever, for the purpose OF being
sold, or for the purpose of being placed in depot,
to be subsequently transferred to any other
State or place, to be sold as merchandise And
if any slave shall be brought into the said Dis
trict by its owner, or by the authority or consent