The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1854-07-12

nusa =
K ansas .s iniquity'' as he styles the act for
,rganzing these Territories, many we'll studied
fourishes; but either through neg
lect or obtuseness, we have never seen from
him any substantial reasons why he opposes the
measure for organizing these Territories. 1t is
the simplest and the commonest thing in the
world, to denounce the institution of slavery
to paint its evils and its horrors; and to describe
in language, all but inspired, the blessings to
resut from its total abolition Philanthropists,
religious and secular-patrots in the halls Of
Congress and on the stump-edtors with and
without pay-half starved itinerant lecturers
and riotous Priess-Bloomer women and fana-
tcal blacks-Yankee Peddlers & English Tories
old men and young boys-are doing it every
day Denunciation is not argument no more than
rhetoric is logic. 1t is easy to confound the
moral turpi,ude of slavery abstractly considered,
with its existence in iegalized form, guaran
teed by solemn compact, as to evade the plain
sense and justice of,he principles ofthe Nebraska
Act, by rhetorical appeals to the passions and pre-.
judices of the human heart We do not deny that
the ir s,isnion of slavery is morally wrong. The
proposition is admitted 1t is also admitted to
be right and praise worthy to urge the abolition
of slavery But there is right and a wrong
way to 90 about it. 1t is denied that Congress,
or the non-slave holding States have any power
over it, any more than Congress or these States
have power over other domestic regulations, in
neighborng States or the Territories of the
government The general government was
instituted as an agent Of convenience to the
states, receiving such powers, and such only
as were necessary to carry on its functions and
such as the states were willing to part with
without deprvng them of their sovereignty. A
system of written law was soemnly agreed upon
for their government. The whole tenor of thi:
| law goes to show, that it was never designed
that the general government should exercise
| control over the domestic institutions ant
regulations Of the states-n short over the insti.
tuition Of sla very. If this power was not g vel
to the government, it fellows that it was reserved
to the states. If reserved to the states, tht
| states nave Tic pp"c. " Coii'i ~ anu Wv
general government has nothing 10 do with il
This ground we hold to be sound and tenable
and as the Territories belonging to the govern
ment have been acquired by mutual sacrifice
on par, of the states and by the common bloo
and treasure fthe land their benefits should b
equally free to all and no discriminating legisla
ton should favor one class in the country, I
the prejudice of another This is all that tn
dem mocra,ic party contends for; it is all that tn
law organizing Nebraska and Kansas conten
e plates That democrats, who have been properl
r educated in the principles of the Democrat
e party, should oppose so sound and saluiary
d principle is beyond comprehension. Th
I wings should do it, especially since they ha'
b abandoned their old party platform and unite
n themselves in a solemn covenant of marriag
IS with the hydra headed monster Abolitionism,
e by no means strange or unnatural, unexpecte
Is or un whiggish.
Of y The Hon. Geo. w. Jones, B Fitzpatr
he and MIR. Letcher will accept our thanks for la
Congressional documents