Daily national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1854, 1854-03-28

ceded 10 NiAvery, anu inc rest irfoVocnpiy uo-
voted to Liberty 1t has always been said that
even this concession was procured by corrup-
ton. 1--WE wanted said John Randolph,
sixteen doughfaces, and we got them we
could have got sixteen more had we wanted
themu Then came the admission OF Texas
This was done not only without constitutional
authority but az think, in opposition to con
stitutional enactment BY this act an immense
tract prepared for Slavery was admitted to the
Union. The lamented Dr. Charming, than
whom truer friend to the Union never lived,
declared in his letters on "The Duty OF the
Free States,o that if ever this were done, the
Northern States were bound at once TO sepa-
rate themselves from the Confederacy Next
came the Compromise of 1850. In this instance
the free States were grossly insulted, ana
nothing could have carried the measure but the
influence of q great statesman, who, by ms
conduct in this case, has left a stain on his
reputation which even his former brilliant SER
vices can never erase. A short time before,
Florida had applied for admission to the Union,
with Constitution riveting Slavery upon her
to the latest time. When q question was made
about receiving State with Slavery 80 irrev-
ocably interviewer into its Constitution, it WAS
Indignantly replied, that with this matter Con-
gress had nothing to do; and that the Union
would be dissolved if the slave character of
the Constitution of a State was made an OBJ
lection to its reception. The next State which
presented itself was California, with free
Constitution. The reception of this State gave
rise to an angry debate of Fix months, and she
was admitted at last by compromise. The
remarkable terms of the compromise were
that California should be admitted into the
Union, and, ION the other hand, that four new
slave States should be formed out Of Texas;
that more stringent and reckless law should
oblige the free States to deliver up fugitive
slaves, and, on the other hand, that the slave
trade which on the high seas is piracy, should
not be carried on in the District of Columbia.
Then came the measure which we are now
considering The territory covered by this bill
IL, in part, the same as was, by the Missouri
Compromise, solemnly consecrated to Freedom
It was 80 considered by Southern men. The
measure was carried by Southern votes 1t
was considered that, in yielding to Slavery the
territory south of 36 deg. 80 min, the North
made great concession for the sake of union.
1t is now proposed to nullify this solemn COM
pact, and devote to Slavery territory out OF
which some fifteen or twenty new States may
eventually be formed. When these States are
organized and added to those formed out Of
bly fixed. The legislation of the nation is for
ever Southern and Southern legislation j. al
ways subservient to the peculiar institution of
the South.
When this has been done, this country, at
home, will present singular spectacle. The
shareholders in the United States are said not
to exceed 800 OO0-call them half q million.
Wehave then halfa million ofmen governing, in
fact, thirty or forty millions. An institution
unknown to the Constitution will be seen an
nullng and subverting the Constitution itself
an institution by which labor is rendered de-
grading and despcablc, legislating for men
who respect themselves the more for earning
their own bread. How long Union Of such
q character can continue, may be easily FORE
seen. The question ceases to be whether black
men arc forever to be slaves, but whether the
sons of the Puritans are to become slaves them
selves
Nor is this all This change in the princi-
pie underlying the Constitution changes our
relations to the whole civilized world The
great question which II henceforth TO sgitate
the nstion = the question of Human Righfs..
II has been tho. nlory az khis ooantry thus far
TO stand forth everywhere in defence Of human
liberty. Il Is the position which We have
taken on this question that has given us our
influence among nations, and taught down.
trodden humanity everywhere to look up to us
for succor. But establish Slavery, not as the ex-
ception, but the rule-make Slavery the law
Of the land, the pivot on which legislation
turns-and we must by necessity ally ourselves
with despotism. We expose ourselves to con-
tempt, even now, by staggering about human
liberty, while pious and benevolent lady is
at this moment immured in dungeon in Rich.
mond for no other crime than that Of teaching
children to read What will it be when such
an act Of oppression is sanctioned by the whole
country
value the Union as much as any man
would cheerfully sacrifice to it everything but
truth and justice and liberty. When | must
surrender these rs the price Of the Union, the
Union becomes at once q thing which abhor.
To form a union for the sake of perpctuating
oppression, is to make myself an oppressor.
This cannot be- for love liberty as much for
my neighbor as for myself To sacrifice nv
liberty for the sake Of union is impossible God
made me free, and cannot be in bondage to
any man. These believe to be the sentiments
Of the free States and therefore it is as friend
OF the Union that protest against this bill
But there is another feature in this bill which
deserves to be considered The consequence Of
its passage must be the destruction Of the In
dian tribes within the Territory which il pro-
poses to establish. These poor red men had
already begun to cultivate land and were ad-
vancing in civilization and Christianity, when,
in defiance OF hundred treaties, they were
savagely torn up by the roots and transplantcd
to their present location, and in the removal
one-third Of their whole number persisted. Ey-
cry guarantee that could bind moral agent
was given them, that they should remain I'M
molestod in their present residence forever.
They are now rapidly improving their condi-
ton. They have schools admirably conduct
ed, churches Of Christ under the care of almost
every Protestant denomination they are intro
ducing manufactures; and, in fact will lose
nothing by comparison with the whites in their
vicinity. Shall these Christian men and women
be again driven away? Shall the most solemn
treaties ever ratified by the Senate Of the Uni
ted States be again violated Shall an act Of
cruelty unparalleled in the history Of civilized
man he perpetrated because the victims Arc