Washington sentinel. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1856, 1856-05-10

The President, with the advice and consent
of the Senate @shall have power to appoin,
ambassadors, Judges Of the courts, and other
public officers" +A a'
Suppose all the officers of the government tc
be regularly and systematically selected from
one section of the country which might possess
. preponderatipg power; that every judge, col
lector, and postmaster required for service in
/ the South should be selected from the North
Can any man doubt, sir, that in any Of these
cases the Constitution would be as clearly and
shamelessly violated by such an abuse of power
as it could possibly be by the usurpation of an
authority not granted?
Mr.. President, quite recently, across the At
lantic, in the country from which we derive
most of our ideas of law and liberty, an at
tempt was made by the Queen to appoint to
the House of Lords single peer, with a peer
| age for life. The power of the Crown to appoint
peers, was undoubted the ministry advised the
appointment; and yet opposition was made in
the House Of Lords, and the proposition was
advanced, maintained, and sustained, that, al
though the prerogative Of creatingpeers existed,
the exercise Of it, by the creation Of life peer
mental constitution of the kingdom The
Crown, yielded, and the lords triumphed.
Sir, look at your Declaration of Indepen-
dence. Upon what grounds was it that its i'm
mortal author placed the right of the people Of
this country to assert their independence, and
to declare that for the future they would hold
the people of Great Britain "enemies in war;
in peace friends?' Look at the entire list Of
grievances. There is scarcely one of them
that is the usurpation of an unconstitutional
power; every one of them is the abuse Of an
admitted constitutional power. Upon that
principle your revolution rests; and, sir, it is
not to-day, nor before a body like this, that
those who represent Southern interests are to
he told that the question is whether a particu-
lar power is granted by the terms Of the Con-
stiturion without refe-eAcc 10 its spirl.. al.
feel ut once, sir, that ths instances which
have suggested would be gross abuses, entirely
contrary to that spirit. What, then, is the
principle that underlies that whole compact
for our common government, and which we
should all instinctively feel to have been out
ragged by such abuses? 1t is, sir, the equality
of the free and independent States which that
instrument links together in a common bond Of
Union-entire, absolute, complete, unqualified
equality-equality as sovereigns, equality in
their rights, equality in their duties This was
the spirit that presided over the formation of
the Constitution; this the living spirit that
breatbes through every line Of it; this the OBJ
ject professed by it of forming "a more perfect
union -
g Great were the thoughts and strong the minds,
OF those who framed in high debate,
The immortal league of love that binds
Our fair, broad empire State 10 Stale"
Take away this league Of love; convert it
into bond of distrust, Of suspicion, or of hate
and the entire fabric which is held together by
that cement will crumble to the earth, and rest
scattered in dishonored fragments upon the
ground.
Now, sir, apply these principles to the ques-
ton of the division of that territory which is
common to the country. Amidst all the wild
theories, the fantastic propositions, which upon
this subject have been broached, have heard
no man yet contend that the territory which
has been acquired by treaty, purchased by the
common treasure, or conquered by the common
valor of the country, is not the common prop
erty Of all and ask you if upon any fair
construction Of the rights Of those States which
formed this confederacy, as they are laid down
in the Constitution, this common territory cav
any more be appropriated to the exclusive use
Of one section Of the Union than the common
treasure can be employed for the exclusive SER
vice Of that same section?
Sir, in every case where the trainers Of the
Constitution foresaw any temptation which
could induce majority from one section OF the
Union to legislate for their own exclusive ad
vantage, they have expressly prohibited such
an abuse in order to preserve equality between
the States. They tell you that mo capitation
or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in pro-
portion to the census or enumeration hereinbe.
fore directed to be taken" They tell you that
no tar or duty shall be laid on articles ex.
ported from any State" They tell you that
mo preference shall be given by any regula-
ton Of commerce or revenue to the ports OF
one State over those Of an other; nor shall YES
sells bound to or from one State be obliged to
enter, clear, or pay duties in another" In the
very preface Of the instrument, in declaring its
objects, you are told that it was "to form
more perfect Union, establish justice, insure
domestic tranquility, provide for the common
defence, promote the general welfare" Of the
land. Take it up under any aspect that you
please, and no fair, no proper, no candid con-
struction of the instrument can lead to any
other conclusion than that which have an
nounced.
Those who are unwilling to meet the force Of
these principles, who find that it is impossible
TO refute them, endeavor to evade their appl-
cation. We are told that the South is not ex
cluded from the common territory; that we
have all just the same right to go there which
people from the North have; that all that is
done is 10 say that we shall not carry pattic-
nlar species of property there and the honor.
able senator from Ohio, Mr. Wade, l remem-
ber, in a speech delivered by him on the Kan
s-Nebraska bill, compared the prohibition by
Congress Of the introduction Of slaves into the
Territories to the prohibition Of the introduc.
ton Of spirituous liquors, or Of gunpowder, or
Of any dangerous substance about which Con-
gress might pass police regulations in legislat-
ing for the Territories.
Mr.. President an argument like this is as
insulting to the intelligence of the people OF
the South as the maintenance of the PROPOSE
ton which it seeks to sustain would be inju.
rous to their interests. The fallacy, to our
minds, is 30 obvious that believe no one has
hitherto undertaken to answer it. 1t appears
to carry its own answer. But sir, we have
been taught by sad experience that arguments,
however plainly their fallacy may appear to
some, are frequently efficient instruments in
deceiving others. Some mischief may be done
II