Demoine courier., 1856-03-20


lief that The policy which has for years
pas, been adopted in the administration
Of The General Government, tends to the
utter subyersion OF each of the great
ends for which the Constitution was es-
,abIished-and that, unless il shall! be
arrested by the psomp, ~irierposition Of
the People, the hold Of the Union upon
The Loyalty and affection will De ralaxed
the domestic tranquility will be dis
t,urbed, and all constitutional securities
ifor The blessings OF liberty 10 ourselves
and our posleri,y, vii! be destroyed
The ~Slaveholding interest cannot be
made permanently paramount in the
General Government, without involving
consequences fatal to free institutions
We acknowledge that il is large and
porerfu.; that in the, States where it ex
exists il is entitled under the constitution,
like all other local interests, TO immuni-
ty from The interference Df the General
Government, aud that il must necessari
ly exercise through lis representatives, a
considerable share OF political power
But there is nothing in lis position, as
there is certainly nothing in lis character,
10 sustain the supremacy which il
seeks to es,a blish. There Is no, a state
in the Union IN which the Shareholders
numbe. one tenth Of the free white pop
ulalion-or ia the aggregate do they
number oneJtteenh part of The white
population Of The United States. The
annual productions of the other classes
of the Union, far exceed The total value
of all the Saves. To say nothing, the.e-
fore, of the questions Of natural justice,
ard of political economy which Slavery
involves, neither the magnitude MOI the
numbers of those by whom il, is repre-
sen'ed, iatiile tito one-tenM part Of The
political powers conferred upon The Fed
eral Government by The Co%nsti!ution.-
Yet we see itseekiug, and at this mo
ment welding. all the functions of ,he
Governmenl-execu,iye. Legislative AMI
ljudicial-and useing them for the aug
mentalioE Of its powers and the es,ab
lishment Of its asce ndency. 4 4
Frou. this ascendency The principles
OF the Constitution, the rights OF the g !.
eral States, tue safety of the Unioa. and
the welfare OF the people of the United
States, demand that it should be dlslodg.
ed.
Historical outline of the progress Of
SLAVERY t0wards dsc ndeacy IN the
Federal Gouernment.
|. is no: necessary for us to rehearse
in detail The successive steps by which
the Slave holding interest has secured
the influence it now .exer,s in the Gen
eral Government. Close students. Of
polilicalevents will readily trace the path
of lis ambition through the past twenty-
five years Of our national history.
Ii was under the administration Of
President Tyler, and during the nego-
t~ia,ions which proceeded the annexation
Of Texas, that The Federal Adminislra-
ton for The first lime declared, in lis di,
flomatic correspondence with foreign ma
lions, that Slavery was a political insii,
Ia. ion, essential TO The peace, saIfy and
prosperity Of those States of the Onion
IN Which 1t erists;-and that the para
mount motive of the American Govern
nent, in annexlng Texas, was wo,fold,
first, 10 prevent the abolition OF Sla-
very within its Unite. aud secondly, to
render slavery more secure and more
powerful within the Slave holding States
Of the Union.
Slavery was thus taken under the spe.
Il nal rarn on{ neNfao,inn IF thu ENadarat
Government, II was no longer 10 be
left as a Slate institution. to be CONTROL.
ed exclusively by The States themselves,
i. was TO be defended by the General
Government, not only againss the inva-
sion or insarreclion Of armed enemies,
bu, agains! the moral sentiment of hu-
manly. and the natural Development OF
population and material power.
Thus was the whole current of our
national history suddenly and ~uncons,i
,~u,ionally reversed. The general gov
ernmen. abandoning the position il had
always held. decided It's purpose to pro.
tee, aud perpetua.e what the great found
ers OF our republic had regarded as an g.
vii, az al variance with the principle on
which U institutions were based. and a
source of weakness, social and political,
10 the communities in which il existed.
At The lime of the Revolution, Slavefy
existed iu all the Colonies; but neither,
;hen, nor for half a century afterwards,
had it been an element Of political strife,
for there was no diffefnce in opinion
or policy in regard 10 it. The tendency
Of affairs had been towards emancipa-
lion. Half the original thirteen States
had taken measure at an early day, to
free themselves from the blighlins influ.
ence and the rs2roach OF Slavery. Viz
GINA and North Carolina had anticipated
the Continental Congress Of l774, in
checking the increase o. their Slave pop
%ula.ion by prohibiting the Slave trade in
anyof their por's.
Sentiments oC,he trainers Of tho Con
stitution concerning. Slauery,
The constitution comforting upon Con
gress full power 4 prevent The increase
Of Slavery by existing The slave trade
had, OF, Of regard :or prohibiting inter
ests and vested rights. postponed the ex