Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1856-04-21
The Dem ,cracy and Fee Soil.

Cen ZoicoffeT. of Tennessee. one oil tue eolcs'
members of the House of Representatives, made
a speech in that body the 9Th inst. In which he
made the fail,ving examination into the course
and position of leading Democrats. with regard
TO the subject Of free soil. Rasing and raniing
abotionsm, &C the Garrison type. can never nc
eemplsh any thing in this country; hut the plaus.
ible and quiet system Of extending the area OF
freedom pursued by the North western Demo
cray. will. IL no, checked. efec,aaly aud forever
bar the extension Of slavery an inch further
We make an extract from Gen. Zolicoifer's
speech:
have sketch of a speech before me which
can.r.I Shields made in defence Of the Nebraska
hill nj Springfield. Illinois. in the fall OF 1894,
which appeared in the Washington Union OF Oc'
tober %, of that year. Now. remembering That
The Nebraska bill is,he present Democratic plat
form, this extract is important. Here 1t Is; see
upon what ground he defends that measure lie
said:
kansas and Nebraska were free noe and the
people there would keep them free. The estab'
iishmept of slavery in those Territories was not
only improbable but impossibie aud it was al
WAYS wiser and better TO let people work out a
great good for themselves. than have IL forced
upon them by others; and this was the way IN
which freemen always do what isgreaf and good,
by their own free mud voluntary act The prin-
o;nle of non. Intervention would not only keep
Kansas aud Nebraska what they are novice
lint would by its full and fair operation. II we
ACQUIRE the continent to the Isihmus of Darien.
cork nth such poloe.f FIJI force and sfses that no
man ,ropid frtr see another SLAVE Territory on
this continent
The Washington Union. in the article copying
this extract, expresses its tifcaion that Gen
eral Shields is in the canvsss in his State, Civ
ing po,eerfui aid TO his nguished colleague,
Judge Douglas" and remarks, TINT in this par
icuiar speech, 'he sustained the principles ~
the Nebraska bill Nth great force and c6ect I"
He was giving powerful aid to Judge Douglas.
And what was Judge Douglas doing have no
copies of the speeches he making in Illinois;
but have an extract of letter he addressed TO the
editor Of the Concord IN H. Patriot, dated Feb
ruary IT, 1854. in which, speaking Of the allega'
ton In the North that the Nebraska bill opens
the whole country to slavery, he asks:
WHY do they.not state the matter trul y and say
that il opens The country to freedom, by leaving
the peopl. perfectly free to do as they please"
This ia very similar to sentiments expressed
'oy the same distinguished gentleman in the Sen
ate, in his speech on the Territorial question. On
the 18th aud Ilth March, 1880. lie said;
Last year introduced bill for the admission
Of all the country acquired from Mexico by the
treaty Of pence into the Union as one State, ro-
serving the right to form new States out of any
portion Of said territory lying east Of the Sierra
Nevada mountain = "lfmy bill OF last SEES
sion had become the law Of the land-which it
certainly would have done il he (slr. HAIE) had
net united his forces with those of the Senator
from South Carolina mir CALHOUN to defeat it
the nhoie Of the territory acquired IN Merico
could at this moment hare been dedicated 10 free
dom forever, by a constitutional prorision."
In thu same speech. speaking of the effect Of
his own amendment 10 the Texas annexation
olution. he said:
while Texas remained mn Independent Power,
it was III slave territory, from the Gulf of Mex
100 10 the forty second parallel OF latitude. BY
the resolution If alnex ation, five and half de-
grees of this slave territory. To- wit: all between
thirty six and hall and the forty second paral-
lels were to become fixed. pledged, fastened TO
be- free, and not slave territory forever by the
solemn guarantees of law Here is territory
stretching across FIVE and n half degrees of la,i
tude, uithdrd,cn from siapery and depoted TO
freedom, by the very act which the Senator tMr
WEBsTER) has chosen to denounce and deridc as
the cork of The Northern Democracy"
.Apd when the northern Democrats are ar
ragned and condemned for having contributed to
the extension of slavery, the fire and a half de
grees Of latitude north Of 80 deg. 30 min, for
which provision was made to be concerted from,
Stare into free territory absolutely. and prohnb ly
double that amount south Of that line by the &c
ton of the people themselves when they come to
form State constitution ought to have been
brought to the notice Of the public. and pat to our
credit in the statement ofthe account"
Here we have Judge Douglass oWn interpre
tafion of his orn action, connected with the tire,
most momenfous measures touching the public
territories, for which his southern friends give
him so much credit Is it not legitimate to pre-
sent these record facts OF history Still it is
Just TO say. that Messrs. Douglas, Shields, and
Richardson, are Of the very soundest of northern
Democrats. and are really entitled to much credit
for the patriotism and general nationality oftheiI
sentiments.
They are far better than the masses of the De
mocratic party at the North. who have been 81
fearfully complicated with Free -Soism and tn,
-lNimot proviso So generally has this been so
that, after Mr.. Pierce's nomination for the Pres
I idency.. the Washington Union, edited by a Ten
nesseean, was forced to say--at least, have of
ten seen this language quoted fromit:
1.-THE Free Soil Democratic leaders Of Thu
North are a regular portion Of the Democrat
party: and General Pierce, ifelected, riH max,
no distinction beticeen them and the rest Of IN,
Democracy in the distribution 81 official patron
age. and in the selection ofagenfs for admins
tering the Cove rnmeat."
The public Offices trere accordingly filled, e
a great extent by Free. soil Democrats from the
North-such as Dix, Bishop, Cochrane, Fowler
Croker, &c.-whe sound national men--sucl
as Dickinson. Bronson and others were neglect
ed or prescribed. w. j. Brown, of Indiana, who
would have been made the Democratic Speaker
of this House in the Thirty-Second Co ngress but
for the accidental discovery that he had given a
written pledge to Wilmot that he would COM
pose the committees nth Free soil majorifies was
appointed to and now holds under the Admins
. trstion high and important office. The pres
ent Secretary Of the Interior is a W,imot Prorist
Fyse-sosler OF so strong type as to deny tina
slgyss are property Our minister Plenipotenti
airy to Russia is Fressoilsr Of the scvent,
delegates appointed by the Softs to attend tn