Daily national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1854, 1854-06-15


his Bible more carefully, he would have learned
that, early in the history of our race, god gaee
10 man dominion oper the fish Of the sea, and oper he
towi cfihe AR, and all HE beasts Of HE Jieidp
But, Mr.. Chairman, he never gave man dominion
| over his fellow man. He created as in His own
image and God, and man, and nature, must alb
hor these attempts to degrade that form TO the
| level Of the beasts of the field.
| This practice Of designating men as property,
| by Northern members, goes out TO the coun-
| try, habituates the public mind to an unjust
| appreciation of the dignity OF our race, famil-
iarizes il with sef-degrading expressions, blnnts
the sensibilites of the people, and prepares them,
in some degree, to tolerate the pretended claim
| of shareholders to buy and sell men and women
as property.
| Most heartily do wish that some Ward or
| Pennington, or Douglass, born in Slavery, bred
| in chains, and long held us property, but now,
having burst asunder the letters of physical and
intellectual bondage, might stand forth among the
ablest the most intellectual men of our country
wish that one of them might hold seat here be-
side the men who now revile them and call them
property, that they may yindicate their own man
hood against members who thus insult them.
But perhaps the views of gentlemen ought not
| to be commented on with too much severity.
| For, if reports be true, some of these members
have sold Themselves, at prices, perhaps, below
of some rare conversions to the support of this
measure; some quite as sudden, if not ms mrac-
ulous, as that of st. Paul. But prefer to with
| hold names unAil the vote shall be given, and the
Executive appointment made. These names will
then be published speak Of it at this time, that
Northern members who vote for this bill may I'M
derstand that the eye of the public is upon them.
it is time that this slave trade carried on in
| the bodies Of members Of Congress should be
prohibited.
Why, sir for the first time in the history of our
Government the President has come out through
the columns Of his organ, the Union" of this
city, and advertised for the purchase of members
of Congress refer to an article in that paper
some weeks since, stating in substance, that il
Northern members, by sustaining this bill, in
Cured the displeasure of their constituents the
President would sustain them by Executive FL
vors. This was the substance OF long article,
in which Executive appointments were unblush-
ingly rendered, through the public press, to buy
up Northern doughfaces to purchase the very
men who now designate their fellow men as
"propety.' do not wonder that they entertain
low opinions of mankind, and term their brethren
property" But they should remember that no
colored man ever degraded his race by selling
himself!
Sir feel humbled as an American when
| reflect upon this disgraceful practice, now so
openly followed, of buying up members by the
assurance of Executive favors Without such re-
sort, no man would expect this bill to succeed
1t is moral bribery The guilt is as great, aye
greater, than it would be if both parties were
subjected to punishment under municipal laws.
Standing, as we do in high official stations, no
State or municipal law can punish these
ruptions. We are therefore responsible only to
the people and to God. Theireyes, however, are
upon us, and their judgment cannot be evaded.
Again, Mr.. Chairman, we are told that this
prohibition, of Slavery marks the slaveholding
portion of this Union as lower in their moral
sentiments, and inferior to the people of the free
States in their sense of justice and their duties
to mankind.
Gentlemen of the South must know, the civil
lied world must know, that we do regard slave
holders far beneath the advocates of Freedom,
in their sense of moral obligations Why,
sir, the institution has been discarded from
the free States solely account of its barbarous
character. For the same reason it was repudi-
ated by England, by France, and by nearly all
the civilized world Indeed, the semi-barbarians
OF Tunis, of Egypt, and other Mahometan Gov
ernments have repudiated it, The exercise of
power by one man over another, the logging Of
women, the selling and buying of men, the rear
ing Of slave children for market the shooting Of
slaves, are all revolving to the conscience, cor
rupting to public morals, and degrading to those
who participate in such wickedness. Ii is on
this account that Northern people refuse to as
soeiate with slaveholding communities.
Why, sir look TO your poor whites in the
slaves States. They are almost as ignorant and
degraded as the slaves themselves Look TO your
census, note the number of free white people
there who are unable TO read and write and then
compare their numbers with those of the free
States and say whether Slavery is not most pal
pably demorazing in all its tendencies | would
call the attention of the gentlemen TO cases, Of
iicialy reported, where the stakeholder often in-
herits, and sells as slaves the children of his
brother Often he inherits and sells as slaves
the children of his father. And popular judg-
ment has been i'm great error if men in this city,
almost under the shadow of our Capitol, have not
perpetrated still greater outrages public morals
These crimes all legalized by thelaw Of Slavery,
and no slayeholdng community is protected from
them. They cannot be separated from the institu-
ton while men are base enough TO perpetrate them;
and shall il be said that men who sustain laws
which authorize and encourage such revolving
such barbarous iniquities, are equal in moral
character with those who would extermnate
them, and purify and elevate our race God
forbid Let MS be honest in the expression Of
our views.
To surrender this vast Territory to Slavery
will exclude free men from IL for, | have said
irce iaDorers Dred up Win feelings oil seli-re-
spect, cannot and will not mingle with slaves
For these reasons, il is most obvious that the
character Of the States TO be carved out Of this
Territory will be determined by that of the Gov
eminent now TO be established. If the Territory
be settled by Shareholders the States will ofcourse
be slaveholding States. When admitted as
SUCH they will hold influence in this Govern
ment according to the number of their slaves ;
and the man who goes there with five slaves will
addto the influence ofhis State in the Federal Gov
eminent, much AS four Of our educated and in
tellgent freemen Of the North. The petty despot
who holds in bondage, in ignorance, in brutal
stupidity, one hundred of his fellow beings, will
WELD as much influence sixty-one of our
Northern freemen. Are gentlemen willing thus
TO bring down their constituents to the level Of
slaves Are they elected here by men worthy of
such moral and political degradation II is said,
however, that if the slaves free, they would
increase the apportionment Of Representatives 7;
and the number of members of Congress, from the