Sugar planter. [volume] (West Baton Rouge [i.e. Port Allen, West Baton Rouge Parish, La.]) 1856-1925, 1856-07-19

The, ,oshTy nI,,,oe,i as into u rar with a nation more
abb. to do US injury than any other nation !" '
world"
uaf,er the administration had entered upon the war,
instead Of coming forward with manly confidence, am
taxing the people for its support, 'ii'y pase'y '"
from their @Dty, i'll order to MAINTAIN t'ef p'p""n
ity, and adopted the ruin"us system OF carrying ..
the contest BY borrowing money. WHAT "eie =. L..
effects of this policyY Does not ever man Ia ''
country know, was it even disguised by ID. ao"nnla .
tration, that the United States would, IN a shor, ',ns
have become bankrupt had not pea,e been ~
Thanks then to Heaven, that we have ooth'h'a u
peace, BAD AND DlSGRACEFUL AZ IT Is: otherwise
III. beautiful structure Of the tederal government,
supported by the same feeble hands, might have suhA
-lk. the capitol, into ruins
. From the above extracts ii will be per-
ceived that Mr.. BUCHANAN was in the earliest
mart of his political history, , Federalist OF
the "straightest Sect and a determined OPP
ponent Of every measure Of the Democratic
Administration, even the wa, Of lel9-but
We ;orbear further comment.
The next important point il Mr.. bUcHAs-
ANS history, is where he tskesstrons grounds
against the extension Of slavery, on account
of its "demoralizing influences" and its an
tasonism to the great cause of humanity"
At a meeting held in Lancaste:, at which the
Hon. WALTER FRANKLIN was called to the
chair, and VIZ. JENKINS appointed secretary,
JAMES HOPKINS, JAMES BUCHANAN and
WM. JENKINS, having been appointed a COM
mittee for that purpose, introduced a set OF
resolutions, one of which VT copy as a sam
pie of the whole:
Resolved, That the Representative in Congress from
this district, be, and they are hereby most earnestly
requested, to use their utmost enteavors, ~ mem
bers OF the National Legislature, T. prevent the eS'
i.tence Of Slavery in any Of the Territories or States
which may be erected by Congress.
The other resolutions refer b the "demor-
alizing influences" Of slavery and assert it
TO be the duty of the member, of the Legis-
lature to instruct their representatives in
Congress, to use the most ~zesIous and siren
uous exe1tions to inhibit tn. existence Of
slavery in any Of the Territories or States
which may be hereafter createe by Congress-"
These resolution, together With the entire
proceedings Of the meeting, can be found in
the Pennsylvania Gazette, Of November 30,
1919, and also in the Lancaster InteHicencer,
number 81, vol. 81, same year, published
by order Of the meeting! s. there can be
no doubt as to the fact Of the meeting, or that
Mr., BUCHANAN was one Of the committee on
resolutions. But a. one JOINS, whom, we
are informed, was formerly q staunch Free
Soiler himself-if not at present-has seen
fit to assert in Congress- that he had good
authority for denying that Mr.. BUCHANAN
had anything to do with the passage OF those
resolutions, not being present It the meeting,
we propose to inquire into The credibillty
of said JONES testimony. In the first place
a suspicion is cast upon mis- testimony by a
species OF special pleading, wholly unneces-
sary, upon the supposition thst the witness
knew he was uttering the truth and his word
was deserving Of credit. Nd content with
stating that he had such authority (which he
never produced) MIR. JONES, upon the assump-
ton that Mr.. BUCHANAN did have a hand in
these resolutions, attempts to explain away
the force OF them, if We r~esollect Alright,
by charging them to youthful udiscretion or
inexperience.
That Mr.. BUCHANAN should have held such
sentiments, as are contained in those ~resolu-
tons, is by no means strange, and may be
fairly presumed, Independent # other con-
siderations, from the fact, that It this period,
there was hardly a dissenting opinion in
Pennsylvania, in reference to The question OF
slavery.
On the 10th of December, 1919, the Legis-
lature of that State. in accordance with the
instruction, contained in the resolutions from
which We have selected the foregoing ex-
tracts, passed resolutions ,nsructlng their
representatives in Congress, b vote against
the admission OF any territory as a State, into
the Union, unless said territory shall stipulate
and agree, that the further Introduction OF
slavery or involuntary servit,te, except for
the punishment of crimes, wlereofthe party
shall be duly convicted, shall De prohibited
and that all children born within the said
territory after its admission inio the Union as
a State, shall be free: but may be held to ser
vice until the age of twenty-five years.
The preamble accompanying he resolutions
of instruction, in concluding, ays:
"Under these convictions "-as set forth in the
m h1a IS roI ru II, fan .x~.~A that ..-, IA
topic there Is but one cpinton in P~e's'sylrania,'" &c.
The vote upon these resolutions stood. yeas
s~eventy-four Democrats, and twenty Federal.
lists, nays NONE; thus showing that there was
really but one opinion upon the subject, in
Pennsylvania, at that period, and that was in
opposition to slavery! hence we conclude
that Mr.. Buchanan hid not been u~njustly
charged with being at that tine a Freesoiler
if not an Abolitionist. Again: this charge