Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1854-02-14


terious Providence who will in his own good
time break the shaclles oflthe slave, and give
to him civil rights and social privileges from
which he is now excluded, and which he some
day or other may possess. You must wait for
that day. 1t is not to be done by any act Of
ours. You turn him loose and deny him these
privileges and you make him the veriest beast
that lives, having no interest in your laws and
caring not for the consequences of their viola
ton. Feeling that he is not protected, he
tramples the laws beneath his feet He goes
forth by night to steal and rob, without any re-
straint either moral or divine. He is prompt
ed alone by his own lawless passions, and re.
strained by no moral influence. This is the
position which he must necessarily occupy; this
is the position which he occupies in the States
where he is free; and he must occupy it so long
as his physical organization disqualihes him for
an equality with those who are organized diff
ferently from HIMSELF .e-6
But, sir, the senator would free the slaves;
and for what? What would be the conse-
quence, not only to the people among whom
they would be free, bur to the north2 The
| settlement of this Territory would be but poor
consideration for the immense loss which the
north would sustain by the emancipation of the
slave. Expel slavery from the south, and you
at once sound the death-knell to the great
slave institution has been of more value to the
north than any tariff ever could have been. 1t
has protected you to an extent that all tariff
laws never could have done. Sir, it has given
to you the greatest market ever opened to any
people on the face Of the earth. You sell to
the slave States nm immense amount OF the
fabrics which you send abroad; furnishing for
the blacks Of the south clothing, boots and
shoes, and all the coarser goods which are used
by them. You sell these articles without the
payment Of any duty, and without any restraint,
so far as the right to sell is concerned. The
south purchases these goods and sends in return
the raw material out of which to manufacture
them. This is the result Of the hated institu-
ton which the gentleman is SO anxious to eA
trpate from the face of the earth. Yes, sir,
when slavery is expeled, it viii sound the death
knell of your manufacturing institutions. The
effect would sweep over the land like the sirocco
Of the desert, and your manufacturing institu
tons would wither and die beneath its consum-
ing fires, and your people would wander about
homeless in the streets, instead Of finding the
employment they now do in your factories
This would be the inevitable consequence,
which nothing could prevent. You are Deepen.
dent upon this very slave-holding population.
Without them you would scarcely exist at all
with them you are everything that you are in .
commercial and manufacturing point of view.
They have made you what you are. Slavery
involves the interest Of all the people who thus
protect and foster you
do not mean to elaborate this proposition
]. barely throw it out for those who think proper
to consider it, to show them that, instead of
being an evil to the north, it is. one Of the
greatest blessings ever conferred upon the
north. IF anybody has right to complain Of
slavery, il is we who are encountered by it.
You who have nothing to do with it, are ex-
empt from the evils, il evils exist at all, which
flow from the institution; and you have none of
the responsibility Of the STAKEHOLDER. You
have no sort of restraint, and no sort Of incon-
yenience, imposed by it. We are the people
who are responsible for the institution, and for
our conduct towards the slave. You have no
thing to do with it. GU have interfered in a
time of excitement with that which did not con-
Germ you Many of you, / know, have seen
your error; and, had you taken moment for
reflection, you would doubtless have avoided
that error, and have paused in your mad ca.
reer-S Instead of throwing restraints upon the
slave-holding States Ia relation to the settlement
Of the Territory, you would have opened the
door to the settlement of this land, which is
the common property Of all the people of this
Union. III y es, sir, you have stood in the way Of
the settlement Of this Territory but now,
with generous magnanimity which here &C.
knowledge upon the floor Of the Senate, the
people Of the north come forward and say to
the people of the south, this was an act wrong
in itself, and now we propose to rectify it. Sir
if there was any compact made BY The Missouri
compromise act, it was made between the
south and the north; and will anybody say
that both parties cannot annul it? 1.-THE peo-
pie of the north and south are wiling to annul
it, if here upon this great national theatre Of
our common country, when we have met in
solemn conclave, we declare that that which
we have placed as a restraint upon a portion of
the people Of the Unit ed States shall now be
annulled, where is the criminality of the act
Is it violation of that compact, a criminal
violation of it, as the senator from Ohio has de.
clarcd, if that law is repealed?
Look at those who propose it. Who are
they The honorable senator from Illinois,
Mr.. DouGLAs,l representing great State,
where no slaves exist the senator from Iowa,
Mr.. DoDGE, q representative of another great
free State Here are two senators, coming from
northern States where there is no slavery, and
making this proposition to the people Of the
south. They propose it through their com nit.
tee. They say to us that they will annul this
act, they will remove it from the starute book
it ought not to exist, and we will strike it out
forever. Do the people of the north suppose
that we, when this proposition is made, will
fold our arms and turn o deaf ear to the pro-
position9 Surely, II we agreed with the north
to make the compact, we may agree to annul
it. five agreed to the existence Of the com
pact, we may agree that it shall no longer be
binding. We agree to the proposition were
ceive it in the spirit in which it is rendered
the spirit Of justice, the spirit of magnanimity,
the spirit which lies at the foundation of the act
Of 1850, that Of striking away all congressional
restrictions in relation to the settlement Of the
territories by the people of the States. We re-
ceve it in that spirit and we return our CRATE
full Acknowledgements for this noble act Of JUS
tice. These are the feelings which prompt US.
Those who rave about the institution of slavery
may have their own peculiar views to answer,
in the pretended attempt which they impnte to.
us to get up an excitement about the subject Of
slavery. We have made no such attempt. We
have done no act which should have produced
excitement. Butgentlemen get up here on this