The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-06-13
WASHINGTON THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1850

fixes this matter. There is the State of Texas
running from the Gulf of Mexico to the AGA deg
of north latitude, and slavery covering the whole
of it, There is the State of Missouri, the whole
of 1t north of $50 30, and slavery covering the
whole of that State. Now it is not worth while
20 shut our eyes to these facts 1t is not worth
while hug to ourselves the delusion that we are
passing upon matter that is Of little or no moment
Whatever may be the consequence whatever NAV
be the results it is best to lock these facts in the
face.
The honorable Senator from Iowa IMr Dodvel
the other day took occasion to say that he had no
confidence in the sincerity of gentlemen who ex
pressed any fears as TO slavery going into the
| Territories. | would ask that honorable Senator
il he places any confidence in the declarations
of Southern gentlemen who tell us that il will 90
| there2 Does be believe tie s;ne4-i,-- sc a. =
orable Senator from Mississippi IMr. Dayisl when
he tells US that the country about the Gia is one
that Is calculated for slave labor and to which it
can go2 Does he believe the sincerity of the hon.
orabie Senator from Virginia MIR Masonl when
he tells US that in the mountain countries of bese
Territories slave labor is worth from four 10 six
thsnsand dollars year, and that without restric-
tions, 1t will go into these Territories7 Or is
\ TINT deception! Is that pretencel Now, when
| honorable Senators from slave States get up here
and tell us that this is constitutional right
which they claim, and intend to exercise, and
that 1t is one immensely valuable TO them how
idle is it for us to pretend that it is matter Of
comparative indifference and insignifcance, and
one about which We need not trouble ourselves
| at all
Sir, it is The question Do not talk to me about
banks and tariffs and protection TO iron, or any
OF these matters as being the question of the day
and pass by this great question, which is to fix
the character of the government and population
OF this immense territory forever, as one of in
| difference and insignifcance and of no practical
utility. To my mind, these others are questions
which sink into insignifcance You may make a
tariff IN lS42, repeal it in 1916 alter it again in
| 1880. You may make aud 'unmake banks You
nsey en- any system regulating any of these
quessaOns. ney are the mere questions of the
day, and may pass away this year and present
themselves anew next year in new phases But
settle this question once, and no mans sagacty
can foresee the time when the consequences of the
decision which we now make will cease to affect
the interests of the millions that are to occupy
this country throughout oil the stages of its ex-
istence. No, sir, the imagination shriuks from
the attempt of conceiving the immensely of the
interests that are at stake upon the result to
which We may come in the deliberations in which
we are now engaged. i undertake to say that it is
question compared with which there has never
engaged the attention of an American assemblage
one so important, since the question whether we
were to be free or slaves was agtated in the Con-
tinental Congress ! say, that since that time
never has there been one Of so much moment, of
so much consequence. And it is libel upon the
intelligence of the citizens of the free States to
tell them that it is matter Of indifference, that
1t is a matter of no consequence, that it is mat
ter of no moment
Sir, If there be one single object about which
more than any other the minds of the People of
the free States have been epgrossed, it is this
one. Go through the history take the catalogue,
and you will find that some of the Legislatures
of the free States have passed resolutions in favor
Of protection, and others against 1t some for
revenue tariff, and others for protective tariff
but upon this great question, whether freedom or
slavery shall mark the whole of the new Terrific
ries, they speak but one voice. There is no
Democrat, there is no Wing, upon this subject
All the party divisions are lost in the considera-
ton of its urgency. They speak but one senti-
ment; they give utterance to but one language
they entertain but one opinion ON this subject;
ond that N, that IL 10 the .boundeu dutv Of this
which the Constitution went into operation in
$780, 1t is that the principles which have mark
ed and distinguished the legislation of the coun-
try from that time down to the present shall be
maintained and that we shall not be driven by
any considerations from standing up to the line
of constitutional duty, which has been marked
by our brothers, and adhered to from their day
down to the present
Sir, | undertake to ssy--snd 1 think know
something of the state of public opinion in the
Northeastern States-that all that ] have said is
but q poor faint and feeble delineation of the
feeling which reigns paramount In the breasts Of
that people. ! say that they are willing to compro-
I,o,;a and o1o hut ~
may make high or low tariff, a bank or a sub
treasury, anything that relates to our mere purses
and the people of those States will compromise,
and compromise literally, as they have done In
days that are past but when you come TO ask
them to do violence to their own convictions of
duty, which impress themselves upon their hearts
you will find that they are not made Of that stuff
that can compromise on such subject They are
willing to give now, as they ever have given, and
as they always will give, anything and everything
that can rightfully be claimed under the Federal
Constitution. ] undertake to say that, If there
has been doctrine that has been taught by South
statesmen, in days that have passed, upon this
subject of human slavery, il was that il was local
State institution, with which the Federal Govern
msnt had nothing TO do. And when gentlemen
stand here and talk about property in slaves as
il 1t were property that was recognised by this
Constitution or by the law Of civilized society
property, can turn to their own courts, their own
statesmen, their own judges and read them from
the first period of their history down to the pres
ent time, assertions made in Congress, and pro-
nounced upon their benches, that this very article
Of property-slavery-is one dependent for its
existence entirely upon local law, and that 1t has
none Of the general characteristics Of property in
the sense in which we use the term. Why, in
the same way contractor for the labor of convicts
in our penitentiaries--an there are such persons
recognised In States where penitentiaries exist
might just as well come forward and claim that
the General Government should extend it's consti.
iutions protection over that property, outside Of
the jurisdiction where Aey are recognised as that
| gentlemen should come forward and csim that
slave labor, dependent for its existence upon the
local jurisdiction where it is, should be protected
| outside that jurisdiction No sirl III gentlemen
want compromises, the Constitution has made one,
and TO the Constitution let us adhere; that is,
keep your slaves in your own States There, we
neither pretend nor claim to have right to inter-
fere. There, the Constitution Is supreme. But
when you undertake TO 60 outside Of your States,
and carry species of property, dependent for Its
existence on the local jurisdiction Of the State
where IL exists outside Of these States you ask o!
us too much, and more than you ever asked before
This question is full of cmbarrassments, practi-
cally. Ii the Constitution Of the United States
carries slavery into the Territories what sort OF
slavery does II carry Does il carry Virginia
slavery or Delaware slavery Does It carry the
slavery Of Kentucky, or Of some other States
Does II carry slavery which may be abolished
by emancipation Or does it carry a slavery
which cannot be abolished by emancipation unless
the Legislature consent2
Considerations Of this sort might be multiplied
indefinitely to show the absurdity ofsuch propo-
stion as this But will not pursue them now.
have only risen to say that look upon this cues.
: ton, as said in the beginning, as one Of trans
cendent Importance, and that feel myself bound
ri by every consideration TO resist now and forever