Brownlow's Knoxville Whig. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1855-1861, 1856-08-30
irumtho Nashville rstdat
THE RECoRp GRoMs DARKER.

BrrHANAy Nurrs TO CoNnprH rRornsl
HnN TuR AnnlsIIsG ShyTM ~ Tu
hniWr 90 CuuumA,
We have from time to time. since m,
nomination nj Mr. buchanan by the Gin
tiuu6tI Convention, prosecuted a muunain',
weight oi evidence ~ provo him hustlo q
thc South, and The Interests Of sAtehuldcrt
No man was over offered 10 tho country
whose record on this Qucslun Is -o black,
aud dHmn1lIv conclusive us O. hls unsound'
ness, This feeling was early manifested BY
him, and has becu unrrmiitngly maintain.
cd mp TO thIs day, mud ii now cherished by
him IN all is mnkncss, II the political
history Of the country cont ,Ns anything
that he has said ur done, in sreming con.
ilict with this feeling, some purely personal
motive prompted it n ho voted IL admit
Texas, he did IL with heart iclt, anii.slayt-
ry qualification, and with the RyuWed hppo
and belief that it would circumscrihe. II IL
did not operate 90 tN, sure extinction ul
slavery in bal, thC States whore u exists. --
II he endorsed lhe platform viii hvas made
for him NJ Cincinnati, 10 Wns as the cart
horse accepts The ppck..adilp-an irasomc
aud oppressive load which be only ENGAGES
to carry '.toF The rurIyf, uud whose chat
! ing he relieves with thr pad Of Squatter
Sovereignty, Whcreycr hr has been brought
/ 10 recognize or maintain the rights ur the
South in regard to slave property, IL WAS hy
/ tho force Of necessity For twenty years ho
J has been candidate for bis pnriys nrmi.
( nation to the Presidency, and has been com.
. PEELED 10 shll, aud shuttle tack and mm 10
: accomplish ,his end These gyratious have
occasionally forced him TO tutri6cs his abe
horrcnce to slavery, and smother bis cher.
| ished purposes to c0n6ue and finally drs.
troy IT, But fair aud candid examination
| of his whole course on the subject can
| leave no doubt with mn unpruudiced man-
that he il at hcnrt bitter opponent ot sa-
very, and that his ambition once gratdrI
he would not hesitate to sanction or urigi-
nate measures in accurdancs with his lcol.
ing. We think the proof justits tho
the South In regarding him ns nn ciirsmr.y
dangerous maa, We present this morning
m additional item Of testimony. which. ID
1t were possible, renders sill stronger the
overwhelming mass already piled upon
him.
We have shown thar 10 1919 he took the
position that Congress had the power to ex.
olude slavery from thc territories, and ad.
yo,ated It's exercise Ia the case Of Nilsson.
ri
That in 1916, in a speech delivered in-thc
House of Representatives, he declared slave.
ry to be great PolrlCALcvii,' - "a curse %
nnd devoutly gave thanks 10 his Maker that
his lot had been cast in n state where il did
not exist
That in 1896, he spoke in favor Of reccy.
ing and referring petitions praying the abol.
ltlOn Of slavery, 10 a select committee, or
the committee on the District OF Columbia:
and that ON tho lth Of january OF that
year. he ''thought Congress ought not Mt
his time to abolish slavery" in the District,
thereby implying and coutending for the
powcr.--iSec Cong. Giojc page s5
That during the second session Of the
9th Congress, there were torty abolition
petitions presented, and that he offered
hirfg.toU Of them,-See COag. Globe oj that
session.
That on the 4th Of April, 1886, he eKcus-
ed himself and the committee having under
consideration the admission Of Arkansas
into the Union, for recommending its admis.
sion rs a slave State, in the following preC.
nant words:
"lle considered the Compromise which
had been made when Nilsson, s.as admitted
into the Union AS having settled the ouestion
as 10 slavery in the new South Western
S,atos. and ,ho C,m,,;,,oo rIJrpEroRp
aid moi think nroner Ia interfere with tho in
s,;,n,;on ~ slnror,, IN ArLansa. 81, o.,
Globe, page 30.
III 'n'S ne "E"'n ',npheS' III uu'h's'eNno'e !,
uhgung'' n'S ne''el ~ t,1 power o' Con-
greSS 10 Interfere WIN tne ,h'''"uoh OF
have'y' an, uua1 he "ou'u nave u'na 30
IN the ease 81 ArNnn'aS' h"u h'' an eAis''hg
stA'u'e plecuuod NM
That in 1874, while the Texas treaty Of
annexation was under consideration, he eS-
pressed his great rcpugnunce by any act
Uf his to extend the limits Of the Union
over new slve-holding territory" AMI only
supported the treaty on the ground that it
would Limit" and not "oularge the dOmin-
ions NJ savery"-nnd further that It would
secure the abolition of slavery in the States
vi Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, and Mis-
souri,.
That m the 2lst of August, lS4S, he
wrote to Tbaddeus Sanford. Of Mobile, spo.
cialy 10 state that he adhered To his orin.
ions expressed ia 1919, rs to the power of
Congress over the question of slavery, and
reterates his OpiniOn. TINT Congress "pos-
sesscs the power to legislnte upon the
subject of slavery in the territories" and
declares that this power from itssnature,
must be exclusive"
That in October, 1913, be took q position
on the question of slavery directly opposite
tn that held BY Clay, Calhoun, and the hole
South. to.wit that the territory acquired
by the Guadaloupe llidalgo treaty was free
territory, and could not be opened to the
admission of slaves, unless by the positive
enactment of n competent legislative author.
ity. His words were as follows, that when
when we acquired it from Mexico, it was
free territory, both in law and in fact, and
free 10 must remain, unless its present condi-
ton shall be changed by the positive enact
ment of competent legislative authority
That in lS4S he advocated the extension
of the Missouri restriction line to tho Paci-
fc Ocean. 1t will be borne in mind that
this line is now the special object of the de-
nomination of Southern men, as unjust, odi. .
Gus. aud unconstitutional.
That ia 1856, in his letter on accepting
the Cincinnati nomination he, asserts in Ian |
runge that cannot be understood, the right
Of the people Of the territory to forbid, in
advance Of the formation Of State censti.
tuition. the carrying Of slave property into
the territories. and contends that it is a
princple and the meaning Of the Nebraska
Kansas bill. which Gov. Wrights Of Indiana,
distinguished democrat and supporter Of
Buchanan. lately declared to be the BEST
WiisoT PRoviso EVER ENACTED" and in
which he uttered truth for it is an equally
sure mode of destroying the rights Of the
South in the territories. and was pronounced