Weekly flag of the Union. (Jackson, Miss.) 185?-18??, 1856-01-16

the representatives. in both Houses Of Go
zee gress, to deprive the Southern States Of Z
i'd supposed benefit of the provisions Of the
ID authorizing the organization Of the State
IL Missouri.
cir But the good sense Of the people, and Il
ial vital force of the Constitution, triumpht
ly over sectional prejudice, and the polite
be errors of the day, and the State of Texas r.
n turned to the Union as she was with soci
es institutions which her people had chosen fl
y. themselves, and with express agreement }
ly the re-annexing act, that she should be SUI
ly ceptible of subdivision into a plurality {
It. States
IS What advantages the interests of til
le Southern States. as such, gained by this
t. we're far inferior in results, as they unfolde
g IN the progress Of time, to those which spran
i from previous concessions made by the South
If To every thoughtful friend of the Union
y to the true lovers of their country-to al
n who longed and labored for the full success
e of this great experiment of Republican in
d situations, it was cause Of graduation tina
g such an opportunity had occurred to ilustrat,
our advancing power on this continent, and tt
S furnish to the world additional assurance o.
: the strength and stability of the Constitution
: Who would wish to see Florida still Euro.
| pean colony Who would rejoice Ito see
Fexas as a lone star, instead of one in the
. galaxy OF States? Who does not incalcu-
J lably appreciate the benefits of the acquisi-
ton of Louisiana And yet narrow views
and sectional purposes would inevitably have
excluded them from the Union.
But another struggle on the same point en-
sued when our victorious armies returned from
Mexico and it devoved upon Congress to pro-
VIDE Tor the territories acquired by the treaty
OF Guadalupe Hidalgo. The great relations
OF the subject had become distinct and clear
to the perception Of the public mind, which
appreciated the evils Of sectional controversy
upon the question Of the admission of new
States. In that crisis intense solicitude per-
vaded the nation. But the patriotic impulses
CT the popular heart, guided by the admonito
ry advice of the Father of his Country, rose
superior to all the difficulties of the incorpo.
ration OF new empire into the Union. In
| the counsels OF Congress there was manifested
extreme antagonism of opinion and action be-
tween some representatives who sought by the |
abusive and unconstitutional employment of
the legitimate powers of the Government to
interfere III the condition of the inchoate State,
and to impose their own social theories upon
the latter; and other representatives who re-
PEELED the lpterposition of the General Gov
eminent IN this respect, and maintained the
self-constituting rights Of States.
In truth, tbs thing attempted was, .i41 form
alone, action OF the Genera.L Government,
while in reality, i Vas the cndeavor by abuse
ct leglslatlZe>p power, to force the ideas of in
ternal policy, entertained in particular States,
upon allied independent States. Once more
4he constitution and Union triumphed signal
y. The new Territories were organized with
out restrictions on the disputed point, and we're
thus left to judge in that particular for them
selves; and the sense of constitutional faith
proved vigorous enough in Congress not only
to accomplish this primary object, but also the
incidental and hardly less important one, of
so amending the provisions of the statute for
the extraordition of fugitives from service, as
to place that public duty under the safeguard
of the General Government, and thus relieved
from obstacles raised up by the legislation OF
some of the States.
Vain declarations, regarding the provisions
of law for the extradition of fugitiyes from
service, with occasional episodes of frantic ef-
fort te-ohstrssta their execution by riot and
murder, continued for brief time to agitate
certain localities. But the true principle of '
leaving each State and Territory to regulate
their own laws of labor, and according to its
own sense of right and expedency, had acqui-
red that hold of the public judgment to such
a degree that by common consent, it was OBJ
served in the organization of the Territory Of :
Washington.
When, uore recently, it became requisite to n
organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kan e
'as, it was the natural and legitiment, if not a
he inevitable consequence Of previous events
md legislation, that the same great and sound
principle which had already been applied to t,
Utah and New Mexico, should be applied to 81
hem-that they should stand exempt from the p
restrictions proposed in the act relative to the il
State of Missouri. cl
These restrictions were, in the estimation of
many thoughtful men, null from the beginning, Fl
unauthorized by the constitution, contrary to
he treaty stipulations for the cesson of Lou
siana, and inconsistent with the equality Of the b.
states. n,
They have been stripped of all moral au- "
hority, by persistent efforts to procure their Ia
Indirect repeal through contradictory enact -
nents. They had been practically abrogated -
y the legislation attending the organization of =
jtah, New Mexico and Washington If any u u
itality remained in them, it would have been 4
AIKEN away, III effect, by the new territorial
cts, in the form originally proposed to the n,
'enate at the first session of the last Congress. :
was manly and ingenious, as well as patri- - -
tic and Just, to Go this directly and plainly, y
nd thus relieve the statute book of an act, oi
rhich might be of possible future benefit; and
he measure Of its repeal was the final con- W
and complete recognition OF the
rinciple, that no portion of the United States
hall undertake, through assumption of the III
overs of the General Government, to dictate re
le social institutions of any other portion. "
The scope and effect of the language Of re- so
cal were not left in doubt. 1t was declared,
l terms, to be 'fhe true intent and meaning
{ this act not to legislate slavery into any VI
erritory or State nor to exclude it therefrom,
ut to leave the people thereof perfectly free :,
form and regulate their domestic institutions q
their own way, subject only to the constitu- ~
on of the United States. OF
TINS measure ceuss sot ID aa....2 .arsn -
S merits alone. It was attacked with vio- =
nee on the false and delusive pretext that it "
instituted a breach of faith. Never was OBJ
ction more utterly destitute of substantial ..
Istifcation. When, before, was it imagined e.
: sensible men, that regulative or declara-
We statute, whether enacted ten or forty years y
70. is irrepealable-that an act of Congress WI
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