The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1850-02-27
From hs Yicksburg (Miss.) Whig
The California Question.

The Locofocos of the South are still using their ut
most efforts TO manufacture capital against the
Wing party and the Administration out of the APP
plication of California for admission into the Union
They to take il for granted that the slave in
stituton might have been planted in California at
some time between the conclusion of the Mexican
treaty and the "crack of doom;' and coupling this
conclusion with the unwarranted assumption that
the President exercised undue influence in hasten
ing the formation of the present California consti
tution they form a position from which 10 open
their batteries Of fasehood and calumny against
the Administration The question as TO the extent
of the influence of the President in the civil AFFAIR."
of California has been asked by Congress and fully
answered in General Taylors late special mes
sage. From that paper and accompanying docu-
ments it appears, most clearly, that the present
Executive has kept strictly within the line of his
duty in reference to California and that the con.
stitution of that State is the unnfiuenced work
of the people, performed in obedience TO their own
ideas Of their rights and necessities. II is there
fore, not the fault OF the Administration that Cali
forna knocks at the door for admission into the
Union before the South is prepared for that event.
The application might not have been so much too
early if the man who made experiment against
General Taylor for the Presidency, and the Loco
foco Secretary of State under the last adminisra-
tion-men who should be wise in such matters
had not informed most specially and cmphati-
caily that slavery never could, by any means, be
carried to California The Locoioco leaders made
it their particular business TO incucate that doc
trine, and we are bound to suppose that they sue
ceeded, as there not pro-slavery vote cast in
the election Of delegates TO the California conyen-
ton nor slavery voice raised in all the DELHI
erations of that body. It may, however, be unfair
to ascribe this result entirely TO the counsels of
Messrs. Cass, Buchanan, and Walker, while We
have on record such paragraphs the following,
from the message of Mr.. Polk, delivered to Con-
gyess in December, lSsS
.sThe question is believed TO be rather abstract
than practical, whether slavery ever can or would
exist in any portion of the acquired territory, even
if it left To the option OF the slaveholdng States
themselves. From the nature of the climate and
productions, in much the larger portion of it, it is
certain it could never exist; and in the remainder
the probabilities are il would not
There the "natural Willnot provisos' of Buchanan
and Walker are recognised, and we suppose the
.'prepondcrating coored p pulation' insisted on
by General Cass omitted because the argument
was strong enough without it. Farther on in the
same message President Polk asserts the doctrine
that the people of the territories 'possess the
cole and exclusive power OF settling the subject of
slavery so far as they are concerned, whenever
they apply for admission into the Union; and con-
graduates the country npon the probabi ity that
speedy applications of that kind will allay the vex-
atious sectional agitation. He says:
at is fortunate for the peace and harmony of the
Union that this question s in its nature temporary
and can only continue for the brief period which
! will intervene before California and New Mexico
may be admitted as States into the Union From
the tide of population now flowing into them il is
! highly probable that this will soon occur"
These position, held by Locofoco leaders and
their followers bu year ago. may be summed up
as follows: st isimpossible for slavery to be
carried into the newly acquired territories the
/ Wiimot proviso With reference to them is a mere
al stract question, md it is fortunate for the country
that the incentives to emigration thither are so
strong that they vii soon possess population suff
lcient TO apply for admission into the Union with
constitutions in which the slavery question will be
settled beyond the possibility Of cavi or appeal"
The result accoris with these doctrines and posi-
tions-slavcry his not gone TO Caliorna--the Cali
fornians have abpted constitution excluding
slavery, and are asking for admission. All
has turned out exactly rs Mr.. Polk believed and
hoped would be tie Gaze, and still the Locofocos are
not satisfied. TAy change their own doctrines
and policy with rgard to California upon the pres
!, ent Administrator, and abuse il right lustiy for
no better reason hat we can see, than that il occu
pies the ground orahis subject which they had pre-
! pared for their Own occupation--trusting, as they
did, that the Locofco party would still be in power
when the natural and moral causes by which
slavery was to be ultimately excluded from Cali
fcrnia should perorl their work in the pos
sible manner, witbut giving President Cass or
"the party any truble at all about the matter. 1t
was great pity, Prhaps, that these comfortable
anticpatons were disturbed by the result of the last
Presidential election; but we cannot any good
! reason why those wio INDUCED them previous to
that time should NV bctray hypocrisy, inconsist-
ency, and the vilet partisan rancor by abusing
General Taylor becluse he has not stopped the emf
grafton 10 Californi, nor removed na.urnI wilmot
proyisos-which tw, causes, according TO the decla-
ratons Of Locofoco eaders, could not do otherwise
than speedily bring California TO the door Of the
Union with sayey excluding constitution in her
hand