The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-10-25

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The time has come, when 1t behoovss every
Southern man TO consider the best means OF
preserving the Union which he loves, and The
rights and honor which are yet dearer. sixty
wears have passed since the Northern and South
ern States entered into treaty FOR lhe COM
mon defence and general welfare we
;n;naa tbat league as equals: its strictly defined
ro,veTs were TO be equally shared But our
allies at the North have grown strong under the
fosterinc protection of this great treaty, and are
M ionger content with the equalconditions upon
,Db;cb Il was formed They have perverted it
tom It's original character, not only welding
tho Granted powers for sectional and oppressive
nurposes, but assuming every doubtful power
for their exclusive advantage. In this spirit,
they have advanced far in series of measures
which, If unresisted, must end in the overthrow
of our slave institutions. But it cannot be
doubted that free people, still untamed to the
woke of oppression and the stamp of inferiority,
will resist such assaults. The South has at
stake, not merely the fourteen hundred millions
of dollars, the value of her slave property, but
all of honor and of happiness that civilization
and society can give. TO count the means of
resistance, the relative strength of the opponents,
the value of what we must hazard, and the surest
ways of preserving the Union in its original
equality, is the object of this essay. a ,;f3 A
The history of the causes of the present crisis
is the history of ever-growing demands on the
part of the North, and of as constant conces-
sons from the South. A hasty glance at the
past will aid US to divine the future.
Virginia owned an immense territory to the
northwest of the Ohio river, acquired by the
same titles with the soil of the Old Dominion it.
self-the royal grants, her treasure, and her
blood. More than one of her ancient colonial
charters covered this whole domain, and in l77S,
at her own expense, she fitted out an expedition
for its contest. Her gallant son, George Rogers
Clarke, at the head of small but daring band,
penetrated hundreds of miles through savage
and hostile country, expelled the English, sub
dued the Indians and conquered for his mother
State an empire larger than the Austrian. For
the sake of the Union, Virginia gave up this
of the Old Thirteen, and by ian act of grosser
faulty" as Randolph said, "than ever poor old
Lear or the Knight of La Mancha was guilty
Of" she suffered her own citizens to be excluded
from its benefit; for it was then slaveholding
territory, and the ordinance Of 1887, abolishing
slavery there, was passed chiefly by Northern
votes and that, as Mr.. Madison said, "without
the shadow of constitutional authority" 1t was
country well suited for slavery, for even so
late as 1906 We find convention of the inhabi.
tants Of Indiana petitioning for its temporary
introduction, and u committee Of the House of
Representatives reporting through their chair
man, Mr.. Garnett, of Virginia, in favor of their
prayer But while Virginia was guilty of this
suicidal generosity, she annexed one condition
tor her own advantage, that not more than five
States should be formed out Of this territory,
so rs to preserve due balance of political
power in the Union. Yet even this condition
the North has violated, and 22,336 square miles
Of its area, more than the average size OF all the
free States east of the Ohio, have gone to con-
stitute the future State of Minnesota.
This was the first step, and the next was at
the formation OF the present Constitution, when
acontest arose as to the ratio Of representation.
Should the South have as many representatives
III proportion to her population as the North +!
1t was just and right that she should. The
Federal Government had no concern with the
relations between black md whites, the different
classes OF her population. 1t had no right to
inquire whether the negro was slave or free
The slaves were II better population tllan Tho
free negroes and if the latter were to be counted
at their full number in the apportionment of re
presentation, so ought the former. The RICH
could not be refused, because the slaves wrr
naturally or legally unequal to the whites, fo
so arc the free negroes. 1t could not be refuse
because they have no political rights, for neithe
have free negroes, paupers, women, or children
They are an essential part Of the population;
absent, their places must be filled by other Ia
borers, and if they are property as well as popu
laton, it is an additional reason for giving thei
owners the security Of full representation TO
them. But the South, rs usual, yielded to North
ern exorbitance, and agreed that five slaves should
count only as three free negroes. Therefore,
instead Of l05 Representatives in Congress, we
have only 81.
But the free States are not content with this
and now propose to take away twenty-one more
of our Representatives. They say that the right
of representation for three-tifths of our slave
population is sufficient reason for refusing
admissioninto the Union to any new slave State
and Massachusetts has proposed, by solemn
Legislative resolution, to amend the Constitution
so as to deprive of this guaranteed representa-
ton Public meetings and eminent men have APP
proved Of her proposal.
In return for this surrender of her rights, the,
South inserted into the Constitution two stipu-
latoDs in her own favor. The first provided
the States in the ratio of their representation.
According to this provision, we ought now to
pay little more than one third of the taxes we
actually pay, under the present system, over
three-fourths. The amount levied from customs
since the foundation of the Government has
been about loaf millions Of dollars and had
these duties been paid in the ratio which the
Constitution indicates as just and proper, the
South would have paid 442, and the North Cos.
But rs we shall see hereafter, the slave States
have really paid 1913 millions, and the free States
only 2i9. Therefore, the South has gained
nothing by this stipulation in return for her loss
Of representation
The other stipulation in favor of the South
was, that "no person held to service or labor in
one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into
another, shall, in consequence of any law or
regulation therein, be discharged from such SER
vice or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim
of the party to whom such service or labor may
be DUE" This provision rests for is due fulfil
nent, not merely upon the Federal Government,
but, like treaty stipulation between distinct
nations, must be carried into effect by the NUM-
cipa regulations of the parties, and their comfy