Demoine courier., 1856-04-03
To the people Of the United States:
CONTINUED.

The plea that The Missouri Compro
mise ,cas not a compact.
/. The repeal of The Missouri Com.
promise. il is urged On behalf of those
by whom it was effected, involved no vi.
o!a,ion of good faith, because tina, COM
proTis Use was merely an oct of Congress
and as such repealable a, pleasure. Re
carried az a legal .echnicaliiy, we are net
disposed to contest this plea. The com.
promise was undoubtedly embodied in a
Congressional enactment, subject to re.
peal. But in this case, by the very "a
,ure Of the transaction. the faith of the
parties was pledged that this enac,me ni
should not De repealed. The spirit OF
the law, whatever it's form, was the spir
il of a compact, LIS enactment was
secured by an exchange Of equivalents.
The slayeholding interest procured the
admission Of Missouri into The Union,
by consenting and voting through It's rep.
resentatives liz Congress, tina, north of
It's Southern line, in The territory of Lou
l~siaua, Slavery should be prohibited for.
erer. Without that consent and ,ha,
vote The admission of Missouri coulu not
have have secured:-nor would the prohi.
bi,ion of Slavery until 1854, or until n
other date, or for any other time than
that specified in the ~act-nawely, foreu-
T-have purchased the assent of the
Free States TO the admission Of Nilsson.
ri az a Slave Sta lie in,o-:he Union. The
word. foreUsr, therefore. was a part Of
The law, and of the consideration for its
enactmei. Such law may be repealed;
but it's repeal is the rupture Of a COM
pac,-tEe Reputation of a solemn cove.
nans. The Missouri Compromise has
been regarded as such a compact from
the date of its enactment, in all sections
and by all the people of The county,
Successive Presidents have invoked for
it a respect and an obligation scarcely
inferior to Mat of the Constitution itself,
and Senator Douglas himself, as late as
1915. declared that it had been "canon.
lied in the hearts of the American PEG
pie, as a sacred Thing which no ruthless
hand would ever be reckless enough TO
disturb Whatever, therefore, the mere
form Of the bond may have permitted,
good faith on the part of the representa-
lives Of the Sl%aveholding interest requir.
ed lha. it should be KEEP, inviolate.
il. Nor Is this charge of bad faith,
brought against the S~laveholding interest,
for having repealed the Missouri Com
promise, answered or esaded by the
pleas argued in its defense-,hat origin
ally it was forcihly imposed by The free
States upon The The Slave States. withou,
their consent;--ihat j. was subsequently,
violated by the representatives OF Slave.
ry. a. Even if i. were true the pro.
hlbilion Of Slavery north of 36e 30. was
originally enacted by The Free States. in
their refusal TO extend i,s provisions over
New Mexico and Utah; or that It's repeal,
having been offered by the Free States
themselves. could o be resisted or re-
fused by the Free States against the
votes OF the South. the fact that the ad-
mission OF Missouri was accepted as the
price of that prohibition, would have
made the S~laveholdlng ir,eres, a parry
to the transaction. ~assen,ing 10 its terms
and bound by it's obligations. Blu, the
fac, IS not SO. This act Of March s., 1870.
which admitted Missouri and prohibited
Slavery in the Louisiana Territory north
Of 36o go, received in the Senate the
votes oil fourteen members from Slave
holding States, while only eight were
cast against it.-and in The House OF
Representatives thirty eight members
bers from The slave States voted for il,
and thirty seven agaiDs. il. A majority
Of the votes from slaveholding States, in
each branch of Congress-, were thus civ
en- for the bill ; and so far were the rem.
resentalivcs Of Slavery from regarding
j. as having been forced upor them. tina,
Charles Plckney, M of their greatest
ard ablest leaders, declared. on the nigh,
Of its passage. tina. 4. Uas regarded in
the Slareholding States as a friiunph,'
(2.) Sill more absurd is II to say tina,
the refusal Of the North to extend the
provisions Of the Compromise owe, 9th