Washington sentinel. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1856, 1855-11-01

cation Of the Congress of 1854, in the repeal
Of the Missouri Compromise.
The relative expediency Of free and slave
labor in Kansas, with reference to the influence
of either upon production, upon the morals
and general interests of the Territory-what
effect the adoption of either may have upon
the progress Of settlement, upon the advance
ment in the value Of property, and to what ex.
tent it would increase or diminish her repre-
sentaion in the councils of the nation, it is not
my province to discuss. These are questions
which are all committed by your organic law to
your legitimate voters, who are thus supposed
equal to the responsibilities which it imposes.
In the repeal of the law of 1920, and the or
ganization of Nebraska and Kansas free from
the restriction which il imposed, Congress only
asserted the right of the people to form their
own government according to the will of the
majority right which lies at the basis of all
our institutions and which we cannot take ex.
ception to, without calling in question the very
principle which has given us all our distinc.
ton as nation, all our superiority and great
ness. 1t is the same which built us up from
feeble colonies into wealthy and important
provinces, and which occasioned our resistance
TO British tyranny, and led to the establish,
ment of American nationality. By virtue of
that principle it is, that the States of the Union
and the confederacy everywhere exhibit laws
framed upon principles of equality and justice,
and administered by tribunals characterized
by intelligence and virtue that the produc-
tive energies of the nation have produced such
fruits IN agriculture, manufactures, and CON-
merce; that the works Of American invention
are sought, for their admitted superiority, by
the most enlightened nations of Europe that
we have empire stretching from ocean to
ocean, with thousands Of miles of easy inter
communication; and that the ships engaged in
our commerce traverse the waters of every sea-
All these, and more than have space to emu
merate, are the wonderful results Of the prin-
ciple of popular sovereignty as displayed in our
government and institutions, and whose success
full working cannot be denied without the asser-
ton that the experiment of Republic is
failure.
| am not ignorant of the peculiar state of
things exhibited by your Territory in the effort
to carry out the law of your organization in
the establishment of local government. Not
content with the impartial fairness with which
the subject Of slavery is disposed Of by that
law, we have seen attempts to take undue adj
vantage over the well disposed citizen who emf
CRATES of his own free will and choice, for the
purpose of bona fde settlement by bands of
men, sent out in numbers and with means ade-
quate to the exigency by combinations in the
North for the purpose of anticipating the &C
ton of the legitimate settlers of the country,
and thus fixing by fraud, the character of
your institutions when applying for admission
as State. We have seen, under the feeling
naturally excited by such proceeding, coun.
teractlng movement on the part of the South,
from Missouri, and the dispute seems ready to
hurct forth ipfo ba e
interests at stake are even held by the excited
and excitable portion of the community
throughout the States, but which are fortunate
ly everywhere limited in number, to be of that
Importance which will justify disunion But
while there is no imaginable contingency which
can render expedient the disruption of the
Union, there is nothing in the case of Kansas
which can justify even resort to violence 1t
is not the determination of few thousands of
men, whatever their political complexion, and
no matter whether from Massachusetts or Mis-
souri,, which can fix permanently the character
OF the institutions of State. They may do
so for the moment, but it can be permanently
done only by the interests Of the population,
as determined by climate and soil, and the
relative productiveness of free and slave labor
This haste to be foremost in the race is there
fore doubtless of less Importance than excited
passion may persuade us It is. Certainly in any
event, Disunion is never to be thought of as
remedy. The very fact that for every imagined
grievance Disunion is held up as a threat, is
sufficient to illustrate the desperation of that
remedy. The enormity of the proposition is
sufficient to stamp its own fallacy, while its
positive inethcacy cannot fail to stIike the
commonest intellect. Contemplate for
moment the consequences of that remedy!
Suppose that in consequence Of the impossibility
OF settling to our mutual satisfaction the vexed
question of slavery, the Union should separate
into two great organizations, without natural
boundaries. BY this arrangement the subject
of slavery south Of the dividing line forever
passes from the control of the North, while the
South IS left to feel the full force Of its evils
entirely within her own limits. But how long
could two such organizations, with constitu.
tons SO opposite, maintain peaceful relations
IN such close contiguity? In the antagonsm
of feeling which would naturally exist, mutual
encroachment upon each others rights would
soon occur. A border brol in two contiguous
States would thus by sympathy and a common
interest, draw to their assistance other States
on both sides of the line, till the two powers
should be engaged in war; which in respect
OF the bad passions which it would evoke, and
the frightful atrocities to which it would lead,
may scarcely find a parallel in history.
In the progress Of such war-which it can
hardly be supposed would be of brief duration,
but which would doubtless be prolonged until
one party or the other should be entirely wasted
in the conhict-the clear perception of human
rights, would grow confused; with the suspeu-
sion of the pursuits Of peace, their value would
be forgotten the very idea Of republic
would fade out; and people, mentally as
well as morally degraded, would soon offer
their willing necks for the yoke Of some military
chieftain, who alike regardless of the enslaver
and the enslaved, will seize the occasion for the
permanent establishment Of his authority, and
rule them with rod Of iron. Thus, instead Of
the condition Of the slave, we shall
become slaves ourselves. That this is no idle
picture, we may learn from the case Of Athens
and Sparta, both members Of common con.
federacy, when, after the civil strife Of the
Peloponesian war, the former passed under the
kingly rule Of Philip Of Macedon, and from
that of the States of the Achaean league, which
fourishing only while united, in an evil hour
listened to the voice Of internal jealousy, and