The Belmont chronicle, and farmers, mechanics and manufacturers advocate. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1848-1855, 1854-03-10
81 81. q 'ttiIRsVIttB, ONO, psDN, MARCH, 10 1854.

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!. ty In men excluded from the Consultation
not only was there no power granted TO Co
. gress to authorize or enable any man to no
{ another a. property, but an amendment W,
, afterwards ingfafted upon the Constitution
, which especially denied all sdcb power.
The history OF that amendment is wort
!, attention. The State which the Senate,
from virginis 40 ably represent on this foe
was one Of those which Immediately sfter tn
Constitution proposed amendments OF it,
One Of the amendments which she propose
was thisi
"No freeman ought TO be taken, imprison
ed. or deprived Of his freehold, liberties, o
franchises, outlawed, or exiled, or in an
manner deprived OF his life, liberty, or prop
erty, but By the law Of the land"
Did Congress adopt that amendment No
sir; 1t adopted and proposed to the States
very different amendment. 1t was thisi
| "No person = shall be deprived of life
liberty, or property, without due process o
law" ..t..I
Now, sir, in my judgment, this prohibition
was intended az a comprehensive guarsntes
Of personal freedom, and denies absolutely te
Congress the power of legslating for the
establishment or maintenance Of slavery
This amendment of itself, rightly interPret'
snd applied, would be sufficient to prevent
the Introduction Of slaves into any territory
acquired by the United States. At all events
taken in connection with the ordinance, and
with the original provision Of the Constitu.
ton, it shows conclusively the absence Of oil
intention upon the part of the founders Of
the Government to afford any countenance
or protection to slavery outside of State
limits. Departure from the true interprets-
tion of the Constitution has created the ne.
cessity for positive prohibition. -- -.
My general view upon this subject Is simp.
ly this: Slavery is the subsection of one man
to the absolute Disposal of .no.her man by
force. Master and slave, according to the
principles Of the Declaration Of Independence,
and by the law Of nature, are alike men, en-
dowed by their Creator with equal rights.
Sir, Mr.. Pinckney was right, when, in the
Maryland House Of Delegates, he exclam-
ed, "by the eternal principles of justice, no
man in the State has right TO hold his slave
for a single hour" Slavery then exists no.
where by the law of nature. Wherever it
exists at all, it must be through the sanction
and support Of municipal or State legislation.
Upon this state Of things the Constitution
acts. 1t recognizes all men as persons. 1t
ccnfers no power, but, on the contrary, ex-
pressIy denies 10 the Government Of its cre-
alton all power to establish or continue slsv-
cry. Congress has no more power under the
Constitution to make slave than to make
king; NO more power to establish slavery,
than 70 establish the Iuquisition.
At the same time the Constitution confers
no power on Congress, but, on the contrary,
denies all power to interfere with the internal
policy of any State, sanctioned and establish
ed by its own Constitution and its own legis.
lation, in respect to the personal relations OF
its inhabitants. The States under the Con-
stitution, are absolutely free from oil interfer-
ence by Congress in that respect. except,
perhaps, in the case Of war or insurrecton;
and may legislate as they please within the
limitations Of their own constitutions. They
may allow wrongs. But State laws, by which
slavery is allowed and regulated, can operate
only within the limits of the State, and can
have no extra-terrtorial effect.
Sir, could quote The opinions of southern
Judges ad infnitum, in support of the doctrine
that slavery is against natural right, absolute.
ly dependent for existence or continusrce up.
on State legislation. might quote the sc0rn-
full rejection by Randolph OF all aid from the
General Government to the Institution Of
slavery within the States. | might quote the
decision of the celebrated Chancellor Wythe,
of Virginia--overruled Afterwards, know,
sir, in the court Of appeals--that slavery was
60 against Justice, that the presumption of
freedom must be allowed in favor Of every
alleged slave suing for liberty, and that the
onus of proving the contrary rested upon the
master. ..r
think / have shown that the Ordinance
of 1877, and the Constitution Of the United
States, were absolutely in harmony one with
the other; and that If the ordinance had new
or been adopted, the Constitution itself pro-
psrly interpreted, and administered, would
have excluded slavery from all newly-acquir-
ed territory. But, sir, whatever opinion may
be entertained in respect to the interpreta-
ton of the Constitution which defend, one
thing is absolutely indisputable, and that is'
that i, was the original policy of the country
to exclude slavery from all national territory.
, That policy was never departed from until
the year 1880, when Congress accepted tn,
cession, Of what 10 now Tennessee, from
North Carolina. But did the acceptance ol
that cession indicate any purpose Of estab.
lishing geographical line between slavery
and freedoni Why, sir, on the contrary, the
State OF North Carolina, aware that in the
absence OF any stipulation TO the contrary
slavery would be prohibited in the ceded ter
r,ory, IN pursuance Of the established policy
of the Government, introduced into her deed
of cession an express provision, that the anti.
slavery article of the ordinance Of 1851
should not be ssppied to it, 1t may be said
that Congress should have refused to accept
the cession. agree in that opinion. bu'
slavery already existed in the district ss par
of the State Of North Carolina, and it wu'
probably thought unreasonable to deny thu
wish of the State for its continuance. sd
The anna motives decided the action o