Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1854-06-30

same COMMITTEE on Territories which only
ten days before had affirmed the sancity Of
the Missouri Compromise, and declared
the end Of agitation iu the following expli-
cit and unmistakable language
"Your committee do not feel themselves
called upon to enter into discussion of
these controverted questions. They involve
the same grave issues which produced the
agitation, the sectional strife, and the fear
ful struggle Of 1850. As Congress deemed
it wise and prudent to refrain from deci-
ding the matter in controversy then, either
by affirming or repeating the Mexican
laws, or by an act declaratory By it to
slave property in the territories, SO your
committee are not prepared now to recon-
mend a departure from the course pursued
upon that memorable occasion, either by
affirming or repealing the 9Th section Of
the Missouri act, or by any act declaratory
of the meaning Of the Constitution in re-.
spect to the legal points Of dispute"
The abrosation has been effected in pu.-
suance Of the demand Of the administration
itself, ard by means Of its influence in
Congress.
10 the House Of Representatives, that
body which is more Immediately response
bic to the people, the contest was more
equal than in the Senate though it is due
to justice and candor to state that it could
not have been carried in either House,
without the votes of Representatives from
the free States. The minority resisted the
attempt to arrest discussion upon the grave
question, through struggle of longer d.
ration than any other known to Congress
sional history Some attempt Was nade
to stigma;ize that minority as fac,ionis,s;
get We fearlessly declare that throug ghout
the contest they resorted solely to the
powers secured to them by the laws and
the rules Of the House, and the passage
Of the measure through the House was
effected only through subversion of its
rules by the majority, and the exercise Of
power unprecedented in the annals Of
Congressional legislation. Tie deed is
done. Iii done with clear proclamation
by the Administration and by Congress,
that the principle which it contains extends
not only to Kansas and Nebraska, but to
all the other territories now belonging to
the United States, and to all which may
hereafter be acquired. 1t has been done
unnecessarily and wantonly, because there
was no pressure for the organization Of
government. in Kansas and Nebraska,
neither of which territories contained one
lawful inhatitant who was citizen of the
United States, and because there was no;
only no danger of disunion apprehended,
but even no popular agitation of the ques-
tior Of slavery. BY this reckless measure
the free States have lost all the guarantees
for freedom in the territories contained in
the former compromises, while all the
States, both slave and free, have lost al!
the guarantees Of harmony ard union
which these compromises afforded. L;
seems plain to Us that, fatal as the measure
is in these aspects, it is only cover for
broader propagandism Of slavery in the
future. The object Of the Administration,
and Of many who represent the slave
States, was, VIC believe, to prepare the way
for annexing Cuba at whatever cost, and
like annexation Of half dozen of the
States of Mexico, to be admitted also as
slave States. These acquisitions are to be
made peaceably, if they can be purchased
at the cos. of hundreds Of millions. If
they can not be made peacefully, then at
the cost Of war with Mexico, and war with
Spain, with England, and with France,
and at the cost Of an alliance with Russia,
scarcely less repugnant. Unmistakeable
indications appear also Of purpose to an
mex the eastern part Of st. Domingo, and
so to subiugate the whole Island, restoring
it to the dominion Of slavery. And this
is to be followed up by an alliance with
Brazil, and the extension of slavery in the
valley of the Amazon.
1t is for you to judge whether, when
slavery shall have made these additions to
the United States, it will not demand
unconditional submission on the part of
the free States; and failing in that demand,
attempt withdrawal of the slave States,
and the organization of separate empire
in the central region of the continent.
From an act so unjus, and wrongful in
itself, and frausht with consequences SO
fearful, VIC appeal to the people. We ap-
pealin no sectional spirit-we appeal equal |
ly to the North and to the South; to the |
free States and to the s!areholding States
themselves. 1t is no time for exsggcra.
ticn or for passion; ard We therefore speak
calmly of the past, and warn you in sober
seriousness of the future.
1t would not become us, nor is it neccs-
sary to suggest the measures which ought
to be adopted in this great exiseney. For
ourselves, we are ready to do all that shall
be in our power to restore the Missouri
Compromise, and to execute such further