The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1856-05-23
Hon. A. G. Brown,

u. y. senator from Miss, aud formerly, We
believe, Governor Of that State, about repu-
diation times, sends us, under his frank, u
copy Of his speech delivered in the Senate
of the United States, April IS, 1856, "on
the bill to authorize the people Of the terri
tory of Kansas to form a constitution and
State Government" &c. We have not the
pleasure Of being acquainted with the Hon.
Scuator, but we should be wanting in cour-
tesy did we not express the obligations he
has placed upon us by this attention, and do
something in the way of rcciprocation by
circulating among the people, knowledge
Of his sentiments on various questions now
aSitating the country. Wcdo this the more
cheerfully because the Hon. Senator, by ad-
dressing his favor to the address of the Union,
instead of ourselves personally, seems infer
entially to desire to have his opinions spread
before the public. What we do for the
Governor, must he done by the way Of ex-
tracts.
After expressing the opinion that the Kan
sas Bill did not confer upon the inhabitants
OF the territories any right to exclude or in
any wise to interfere with Slavery, and ex-
pressing satisfaction that the Senator from
Illinois (Nlr. Douglas) has brought forward
this Bill, the Governor touches upon State
equality as follows:
Tho advocates of States rights have al
ways held that the Territories are the COM
mon property of the States; that one State
has the same interest in them as another
and that citizen OF one State has the same
rights TO 20 TO them as citizen ofany 9TH
err State The corollary therefore has been,
that citizen Of any one State has the same
right Us citizen ofany other State to 60
into the Territories and take with him what
ever Is recognised as property in the State
from which he goes. Thus ifa citizen of
Massachusetts, may 20 and take with him n
bale of goods, citizen of Tennessee may 90
and take barrel of whiskey and If a citi-
zen OF New York may go and take horse. n
citizen Of Mississippi may 80 and take n
slave. Ii must be 50, or else the equality
Of the parties is destroyed. Tennessee be-
comes inferior to Massachusetts,, and the
rights Of a Mississipian are inferior to those
of a New Yorker.
The above view Of State equality, though
not such an one as would have been taken
by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison or even
General jackson is the one now in the pre-
dominance in the Democratic party, and
which Northern Democracy will be obliged
to give their assent TO in the Cincinnati
Convention. Mr.. Jefferson said in the Vir-
ginia Convention, IVA, I" The abolition of
domestic Slavery in these colonies when il
was unhappily introduced in their infant
colonies was an object Of desire" and again
in his notes on Virginia, "The whole COM
merce between master and slave is contin-
uai exercise of the most unremitting dcspot-
ism ON the one part and degrading submis-
sion ON the other. With what execration
should the statesmen Be loaded, who. per-
hitting one half Of thecitirens thus to tram
pie ON the rights Of the other, transforms
those into despots and these into enemies, de-
stroys the morals Of the one part, and the an'-
or patris Of the other" Mr. JetFtrson's no
tons would have hardly been considered
othordox by the progressive Mr.. Brown.
Mr. Madison. in the convention that franz
ed the constitution, declared "that he
thought ID wrong to admit into the consti-
tuition the idea that there could be property
in men," Mr.. Brown, on the contrary, ar
gues that men can be as much property Us q
bale Of goods, barrel Of whiskey, 4 An
apt illustration, for Slavery and whiskey
generally 20 together) or horse. Mr. JEFF
feson and Madison belonged to the Dsmoc-
mcy Of the old school. Mr.. Brown is a
bright and shining light in the new. Mr..
Brown docs up the popular sovereignty
doctrine perfectly brOsn in the following;
There seems 10 be certain underlined idca
in the minds Of some men, that the sover-
eighty Of Territory is inherent in the peo-
pie OF a Territory that It came TO them
from ON high; a sort OF political mamma dc
sccnded from Heaven on those children oil
the forest. This doctrine, confess, Is a
little too ethereal for me. don't eompre-
bend il.
A great deal has been said about popular
Sovereignty being the true Democratic doc
true, but Gov, Brown does not comprehend
liz. We do not comprehend what the Gov