The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1854-05-06
trust and dereliction of duty. Terrific

-
/ trust and dereliction of duty. Territofi
sovereignty is Monstrosity born of timidit
and ambition, Matched into existence in IN
hot incubation of 4 presidential canvass, an
, revolving to the very hatchers when fir,
, presented. When first spoken of in III
| Senate in lS4S, it was regarded as nonsense
, The States may divide, sell, do as they pleas
with their Territories. There is a little STUN
speech in the midst of the bill about not leo
|, islating slavery into or out of the Territorie
Why legslate at all then, if the States an:
Territories are but on an equality by this bill
Here is an abdcation Of constitutions
power and duty. object to this shilIy-shall,
nilly-wonty. donty-canty, sty lie of Legislation
| Excessive laughter1
1t is not legislative, it is not parliame MIA
ry, 1t is not manly, it 10 not womanly. NJ
woman would talk that way; there is no shil
ly-shally in a woman. Nothing of the fe.
male gender was ever born Young enough o,
lived long enough to get befogged in such q
quandary as this. Laughter 1t is one
thing or the other with them, and what they
say they stick to-no breaking bargains with
them. But the end of this stump speech is
the best of the whole. Different from good
milk, in which the cream rises to the top, il
here settles to the bottom, and is in these
words, "Leave it 10 the people thereof" that
is to cay, of the States and of the Territories,
to regulate slavery for themselves az they
please, only subject to the Constitution of
the United States. Certainly this 10 a new
subsection for the States. Heretofore they
have been free to regulate slavery for then
selves-admit it or reject it-and that not BY
virtue Of any grant OF power in the Consttu-
ton, but by virtue of an unsurrendered part
Of their old sovereignty. 1t is also new Of
the Territories. Heretofore they have been
held to be wards of Congress, and entitled to
nothing under the Constitution but that
which Congress extended to them. But this
clause is not accidentally here. 1t is to keep
up the dogma ofthe Constitution i'm Terrific
ries, but only there in relation to slavery
and that for its admission. not rrjection.-
Three dogmas now sfflict the land, vdeicet
squat'er sovereignty, nonintcrvention, and
no power in Congress to legisla'e upon slave
ry in Territories; and this bill asserts the
whole three, and beautifully illustrates the
whole three by knocking each on the head
with the other, and trampling each under
foot i'm its turn.
Sir, the bill does deny squntter sovereign.
ty, and it does intervene, and j, does legislate
upon slavery in Territories; and for the
proof Of that see the bill, and see it, as the
lawyers say, passim, that is to say, here and
there and everywhere. Ii is bill Of as
sumptons and contradictions, assuming what
is unfounded. and contradcting what it as
sumes, and balancing every affirmation by
negation. Ii is a see-saw bill, but not the
innocent see-saw which children play on,
which is plank stuck through a fence, but
the up and down game of politicians, played at
the expense OF the peace ard harmony Of the
Union and to the sacrifice Of all business in
Congress. 1t lis an pathological bill. stuff.
ed with mcnstrosities, hobbled with contra
dictions, and Badgercd with a proviso.-I
Laughter
Here Mr. Benton's hour expired, and n
contest ensued Cor the floor. AT length Mr..
Wentworth Obtained aud gave it to Mr.. Ben
ton.
Mr.. Benton resumed, saying Amphibolo-
gv was the point at which was stopped
A mphblology is a cause for the rejection of
bills, not only by Congress. but by The Prcsi-
den. when carried f. A3 JR Rs t f5i tina. cause
and it was less am pathological than this. 1t
was the last night of the last day of his last
and quarter before midnight
Congress had sent him bill to repeal the
Specie Circular and to inaugurate the paper |
money OF thousands of local banks as the cur
rency of the Federal Government. 1t was
an object not to be avowed nor to be done in |
any direct or pnlpablc manner. Pa-aphra-
ses, circumlocution, ambi-dexterity, and am
bigu:fv were necessary to cover up the de- |
sign, and it was piled OH until it was unintel- |
ligibe. The President read it and could
make nothing Of it. He sent to his A ttornsy
General, who was equally puzzled.
He then returned it with a message to the
Senate, refusing to sign the bill for amphi-
biology. He should reject this bill for the |
same cause, il for nothing else. Hard 10 the
fate of party fealty. 1t has to keep up with
the ever-changing measure. Often have
these bills changed, aud under every phase
they had to receive as test Of orthodoxy,
and have more changes to undergo yet, and
continue to be a test under all mutatioas.-I
In the course of his sarcastic remarks upon
sovereignty he said its provisions are bur-
lesque upon sovereignty. 1t gives t. the
people instead of receiving from them an or
ganic act-and what an organic act, one In |
which they are denied every attribute of SOW
ereignty-denied freedom OF elections, denied
freedom of voting, denied choice of their own
law, denied the right of fixing the qualifica-
tons Of the voters, subjected TO q foreign SUI
pervision and comfortable by the Federal
Government, which they have no hand in
electing and only allowed to admit and not
reject slavery. Their sovereignty only en-
tends to the subject Of slavery, and only to
one side Of that, the admitting side, the other
half of the power being held to be denied by
the Constitution which is extended over
them, and which, according to the reading Of
the supporters OF this bill, forbids any law to
be made which will prevent any citizen from
going there with his slaves. This is squat
ter sovereignty, non.intervention, and no
power to legislate in the Territories upon
slavery.
And this is called nrincinle-tha nrinci-