Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-12-12
WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP.

ceive that the current Congressional discus
sion of " Squatter Sovereignty" is lik lily to
expedite proper disposition Of the legitimate
business before the Chambers. Nevertheless,
it is by no means injuring the cause of sound
readings of law and constitution. The design
with which it was initiated was doubtless to
scatter hand grenade, as it were, into the
Democratic Congressional ranks The speech
of the Hon. Mr.. ii. Marshall, delivered yester-
day, seened TO less directed to that end than
those of Messrs Campbell and Sherman of
Ohio, and Washburne of Me , who preceded
Mr.. M. on his side of the debate. All of them
tended to strengthen the conviction that sound
readings of the constitutional law in this par
ticular are growing hourly more in favor
among Northern Democratic public men, very
few of whom, indeed, now fail to accept as
correct, the doctrine that the squatters or set
tiers in United States Territory, in making
needful laws for their own government, may
not trench on the rights of any of the
citizens Of the sovereign States which have
confded to the General Government the tenn
porary keeping of their territorial property.
We do not know a dozen Democratic mem
bers of Congress who stand by the right of
settlers or squattcrs in United States Terri.
tories to make laws interfering in any way
with the right of the citizens of any State in
the Union to the asufrUct of the Territories.
Nor do we know of single Democratic Sena-
Tor or member who does not hold that such
settlers have the right to regulate for them
selves all matters appertaining solely TO their
own condition, safety and interests If We
understand Mr. Marshall correctly he holds
with the mass Of the Democratic party so far
as its position first stated above is concerned,
and with the Republican party in the matter
of the last mentioned position. This is indeed
very strange attitude for a gentleman of his
Proverbial astutencss to be found occupying.
1t is doubtless the result of the fact that
he Is now cruising under rowing (politi-
caD commission, being unconnected with any
living party He is thus initiating the never
to-be- forgotten " two-horse act'' Of our gentle
talented, amiablo and courteous peighbor,
lately defurct. As the latter essayed to ride
both the Republican and Know Nothing nags
at once, go the former, yesterday, tried in this
matter to mount the Democratic and Republ-
can animals. By the aid of Mr Or. he got q
high fall ere fairly out Of the ring The lat.
ter exposed. fer the amusement Of all, the alb.
surdity of the positions into which Mr. NJ. has
rushed on hearing the cry Of stand from
under" occasioned by the late disruption,
fall and scatterstion OF the Know Nothing or
zanIzatlon. We hope ere long to End him
taking common sense views on this snuat.er
sovereignty question.
The tso-Cslled) lnsurI eCtion-iu Mississip.
p. Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana. over
which the free soil press ia now g!oating in
delight turns out to be next to nothing at all
Infaned by appeals from secret abolition
emisssrits, some Of them in the guise of chris.
tian teachers, here and there in the States
named above, squads of negroes have been
led to plot murder and arson, and to believe
that through such means they may overturn
the order Of society there. As always has
been and as always will be the case in the
Southern United States, their plots have been
discovered before they were ripe for execu-
ton. Most Of their Northern seducers have
60 far escaped due punishment by fleeing, and
8 few Of them together with some twenty or
thirty of the guilty negroes, have been proper
ly dealt with by the people it was their pur-
pose to murder and rob. Such things are Of
constant occurrence, since it has been held at
the North to be a virtuOus and praiseworthy
act to set their legal obligations on the subject
of slavery at naught. The non-slaveholdng
States contain hundreds Of thousands who
maintain the righteousness and propricty of
the Adjustment Of slavery by Instruction or
any other possible means, AID, we fear,
larger number ready at all times to palIiate
if not to justify, such acts. 1t is not wonder
full, therefore, that the crazies. Of them on that
TOPIC risk going secretly to work at times in
the southern States to bring about the change
they aim to compass, by persuading the DE-
groes 10 resort 10 FIRE and the knife.
This practical! effort to revolutionize the in
stitutioLs Of the South has ended as might
have been expected. The only regret is that
mere Of the pbilanthrOpists engaged in i.
have rot paid the. proper penalty of their
labors. Lots of mu'kets, kegs of gunpowder,
&c, designed Tor their work have been dis
covered, introduced by being boxed in ready
made cofins. They come from the North, Of
course; as inportaiions Of ready made cofins
into the South ere all from that quarter of the
confederacy.
The New York Eueaing Post and TriBu,s
Of course attributed this affair to the peculiar.
titles Of the institution of domestic slavery in
the South, keeping on: Of sight, as far as DOS.
sIbIe, the fact that it is the result Of the teno,
OF Republican party speeches in Congress and
on the stump and Republican party newspa
per arguments, operating On Northern fanatic,
10 tic point of inducing them to tamper with
slaves in he South.
We, Of this vicinity, wcro indebted to Dray
ton and Sears, two Ct the class rendered SO in
zane by abolition preaching and teaching for