Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1856-01-04
common advantage. but abundant means
Of ufreciprocal injury and mischief.
Practicable Il is i,,nna nrial Xhef her no.

Practlcally, II Is mmaterlal wnetner ag
gressive interference between the States
or deliberate refusal on the part of any
one Of them to comply with constitutional
obligations, arise from erroneous convic
ton or blind prejudice, whether il be per
petrated by direction or indirection. In
either case, it is full of threat and Of dan.
ger to the durability of the Union.
CONSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS OF SLAVERY.
Placed in the office of Chief Magistrate
us the executive agent of the whole coun-
try, bound to take care that the laws be
faithfully executed. and specially enjoined
by the constitution to give information to
Congress ON the state Of the Union, it
would be palpable neglect Of duty on my
part to pass over IA subject like this which,
beyond all things at the present time, Vi
tally concerns individual and public secu-
ritv
1t has been matter of painful regret 10
see States, conspicuous i'll their services for
founding this Republic, and equally sha-
ring its advantages, disregard their consti-
tntional obligations to it, Although con-
scious of their inability to heal admitted
and pal pable social evils of their own. and
which are completely within their jurisdic-
ton, they engage in the offensive and
hopeless undertaking Of reforming the do
nestle institutions of other States wholly
beyond their control and authority In
the vain pursuit Of ends. by them entirely
unattainahle, and which they may not le-
gally attemp, TO compass, they peril the
very existence of the constitution. and all
the countless benefits whichit has conferred
While the people of the southern States
contine their attention to their own affairs,
not presuning o!iciously to intcrmeddle
with the social institutions Of thu northern
States. too manv Of the inhabitants Of the
latter are pcrni'ilicnti, organized Il. ",nocl-
ativis, 10 infrt injury on the former by
wrongful acts, which would because OF war
as between foreign powers. and only fail to
he sucn i'll our system, because perpctratcd
under cover Of the Union.
1t is impossible topreScnt thi, SUBJECT as
truth and the occasion require, without no.
ticin~ the reiterated, hut groundleSs, allie
CATION that the South has persstently a.
serted claims and obtained advantages in
the practical administration Of the general
gov, rnment to the prejudice oi the North,
and in which the latter has acqlIeSccd
That is, The States, which either promote
or tolerate attacks Oh the rights Of persons
and Of property i'll other States. 10 disguise
their own injustice, pretend or imagine,
and constantly aver. that they whose con.
stitutional rights are Systematically aSSaiI-
ed. arr themselves the aggrcssors At the
present time this imputed aggression, rest
ing, "a il does only in the va%1lr. declama-
tory charges Of political agitators, resolves
itself into misapprehen>ion. or misinterpre-
tation, Of the principles and facts of the
political organization OF the new Territor
les of the United States
What is the voice of history? When
the ordinance, which provided for the gov
ernment of the territory northwest of the
river Ohio. and for It's eventual subdivision
into new States, was adopted in the Con
gress of the confederation. il is not to he
supposed that the question of future rela-
tive power, as between the States which
retained. and those which did not retain, u
numerous colored population. escaped no.
tice, or failed to be considered And yet
the concession of that vast territory to the
interests and opinions Of the northern
States, territory now the seat of five
among the lagest members of the Union,
was in great measure, the act of the State
of Virginia and of the South
When Louisiana was acquired by the
United States it was an acquisition not
less to the North than to the South for
while it was important to the country at
the mouth of the river Mississippi to be-
come the emporium Of the country above
il, so also it WAS even more important TO
the whole Union to have that emporium
and although the new province, by reason
of its imperfect settlement, was mainly re-
gartled as on the Gulf of Mexico, vet. in
fact, it extended to the opposite bounda-
ries of the United States, with far greater
breadth above than below, and was in ter
ritorv. As in everything else, equally at
least an accession to the northern States
1t is mere deusion and prejudice, therefore.
to speak of Louisiana as acquisition in the
special interest of the South.
The patriotic and Just men, who parti-
cipated in that act, were influenced by mo-
tives far above all sectional jealousies. 1t
was in truth the great event, which, by
completing for us the possession of the val
ley of the Mississippi, with commercial ac-
cess to the Cuff of Mexico impaired unity
and strength to the whole confederation,
and attached together by indissoluble ties
the East and the West, as well as the
North and the South
As 10 Florida, that was but the transfer
by Spain to the United States of territory
on the east side of the river Mississippi, in
exchange for large territory, which the
United States transferred to Spain on the
west side of that river, as the entire diplo-
matte history Of the transaction serves to
demonstrate. Moreover, it was an acqui-
sition demanded by the commercial inter-
ests and the security of the whole Union.
In the meantime, the people of the Uni
ted States had grown up TO proper con-
sciousness of their strength and in brief
contest with France, and in second Sc
rious war witt Great Britain, they had