The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1852-07-13

government to make "such improve
ments as are necessary for the COM
mon defence, or for the protection
and facility Of commerce with foreign
nations, OF among the States, such
improvements being ;'s every instance
national and general in their charac.
ter" This covers the whole ground, !,
and justiGes the government in appro-
priating both the public money and
public lands to any local purpose
whatever, because according to this
declaration, all are equally national
and general in their character. This
is certainly not the Democratic doc
trine, or at least of that Democracy
of which Mr.. Jefferson is said to be
the great apostle.
The convention also asserts that
the government of the United States
has not only the right, but is in duty
bound to discriminate between, and
protect certain domestic manufac-
tures, whereby suitable encourage
ment may be assured to American
industry equally to all classes, and
to all portions Of the country All
this is mere verbiage, calculated, and
without doubt, intended to deceive
the South, or at least to give the
Wings of that quarter decent pre-
text for supporting the nominee of
the convention. Every body knows
the Wings apply this phrase of
"American industry" exclusively to
manufacturing establishments. Eve
| rybody knows that when they prate
of american, or domestic industry,
| they do not mean the industry of the
fireside and the hearth, nor the labors
| of agriculturalists; nor least of all,
the products of the individual skill
and industry of the honest mechanic,
| who labors for his own benefit, and
not to enrich the millionaire. They
mean the protection of that species
Of domestic industry which is prose-
"a oy young waheSH ta7 ea ss5ia NJ 3
from home, for the purpose Of ena-
bling our minister to England to sup
port the dignity of the United States,
and exemplify the simplicity of re-
publicanism, by vieing with the luxu.
rions prodigality of the English no.
bility in his entertainments, and Civ
ing them sample Of the benefits de-
rived from the protection of "domes-
tic industry" TO talk of "afording
equal protection to all classes and all
portions of the country" by special
Legislation in behalf of one, is worse
than nonsense. 1t is an insidious at
tempt to impose ON the people of the
South-or, what is most likely the
real object, to give certain portions
of them pretext for being imposed
on, course to which they would not
in all probability have ventured to
resort, had they not justly calculated
on their unlimited credulity, or un.
limited acquiescence.
Last comes the grand ranacea,
which is to heal all Southern wounds
without leaving even the scars, and
give perpetual repose to this "dis-
tracted country" by endorsing the
finality Of the compromise -"the new
Constitution, as it is called by it's adj
mirers. This endorsement consists
in a pledge that the great national
Wing party will maintain the princi.
Piles of the compromise, which be it
remembered, diddled the South out
of its share of the vast territory &C.
quired from Mexico, and established
precedent for Congress to legislate
on the institution Of slavery. But
even this pledge is accompanied by
proviso, that it is only binding Sun
til time and experience shall demon
strate the necessity Of further legis-
lation to guard against the evasion
Of the laaUs on one hand and the
abuse Of their po,cer on the other"
Now what is the English of all
this Does any man in his senses,
except a Southern Whig, believe
that the grea. national Wing party
will attempt a revision of the fugitive
slave law, for the purpose of "guard.
ing against" its evasion ? The plain
obvious meaning Of this provision is
that it reserves the right to alter and
amend that law, in order to ''guard
against the abuse of its powers" -
And what do they consider such an
abuse Simply the power to carry
the law into execution according to
the provisions of the law, which
great portion Of Northern Wings
have denounced as tyrannical, un-
constitutional, and infamous. They
have thus reserved to themselves the
right to alter, amend, or fritter away
tins law at any future period. Yet
this is called endorsing the finality
of the compromise, and proved so en-.
| -