The Opelousas patriot. [volume] (Opelousas, Parish of St. Landry, La.) 1855-1863, 1856-10-25

American party ). e Utah and New
Mexico bill, and nerican platform
Mr.. Benjamin. AUG eve said il
this bill, that we h..-sferra to the people o
that Territory, the entirf p0Aer to control, B,
THEIR WI LEGISLATION, their domesti
institutions, subject only to the provisions o
the Ctlstitution." Then he says in substance
we agreed that every question touching human
slavery should be settlea by the Courts-tht
Supreme Court of the Uaitedi in the last resort
Then with std1iuete that we'll becomes his goot
nature, and smiling. countenance, he concludes
i" Therefore WI advocate this bill amopa
my people at hoiA> I say to them ii
all candor and sine ty: You are safe under
this BILL" y 81
Now we submit Il 1t the simplicity of mind
and the amiab1aS disposition indicate j
these quotations, are almost as char{ ,ng as
one of the authors sm,-1s-the n lodious
tones of his voice, or the richest strai i of his
fascinating eloquence.
Let us see what this means in py in English.
We gave the first wave Of emf ration that
rolled into the Territory, the power to pro
hibit slavery by law but, " my ear people at
home, you can go there with your slaves to
settle, and if they won't let you in, or if they
declare your slaves free under their laws, sue
'em, and in two or three years you'll get a
Judgment of the Supreme Court of the United
States for or against you! I say to you, in
all candor and sincerity, You are safe under
this BILL" ,
What mockery! No wonder you were silent
on these matters, Senator Benjamin! No
wonder we Shiny serpents" were not allowed
to reply. What give the North That can send
emigrants with five times the celebrity that We
can, and that has ten times the emigrant popu-
acknowledging aliens-that we have; the
power to exclude slavery Immediately upon
settlement, and then tell US of the South, You
are safe under this bill you can sue and get
your rights! Senator Benjamin, if a common
man born at the North, but " brought here in
his parents arms" were to .triae thus, after
sacrificing our rights, we should take him
out and talk to him" very severely. Even
now we fear to trust ourselves and so pass on.
Democracy tries another way to shift off
some Of the odium Of this damnable heresy.
Speaking through Senator Benjamin at the
barbecue, it declared that the Kansas-Ne-
braska measure was copied from the Utah and
NewMexico bill" We are sorry to give the
truth, because it is opposed to his assertion, as
he ought to have known, though probably he
did not. We only speak Of the ,estil at
In every other respect .he .bis may be
similar. The former me- rfovides that
" the Legislative power of the Territories, shall
extend to all rigltful subjects of legislation,
with the Constitution of the United
and that said Utah and NewMexico
70 shall be received into the Union, with OR
slavery, as their Constitutions may
prescribe at the time of their admission"
Here, Senator Benjamin, is the true doc
Legislative power and " Legislation u
may goye'a and regulate slavery, but can not
touch its being or existence-can not establish
destroy it this right belonging to sovereign
y. For instance, our Legislature could not
1t its next session abolish slavery; this act
could only be done by the sovereign power
The people. So in the Territories under the au-
'hority Of Congress, the Legislative power
nay, according to Mr.. Fillmore-the Utah
md NewMexico bill-and the American plat
orm, govern or regulate slavery as an entity,
'ut the question Of its existence can be de-
ermined only by the people when they assume,
" are clothed with, sovereignty. Now please
ecur to the clause of the Kansas-N ebraska
'll on slavery. 1t speaks Of slavery in express
erms, and gives the Territorial Legislature
he full power to admit or exclude--to estab-
ish or abolish. "Moustrous doctrine" as
Ar. Calhoun said, that a mere territorial Or
ANIMATION, without a semblance Of sovereignty,
hould, at any time, while a territory, when /,
he population is 100, 500, 1000, or 10000,
lecIare against slavery, and keep every slave
'o'der out! Does this not give the North
With her superior population, and her vastly
uperior facilities for emigration, the chance,
she feel disposed, to make all the Territories !
carry out her motto "No more
lave States and James Buchanan's idea of
limiting, not extending, slavery? Is she not /
disposed to avail herself of s~ouatter t
Oyereignty? Are not her emigrants, aid So {
letles hard at work to this end? Who is res !
onslole, Senator Benjamin? No wonder you I
wooded the disagreeable subject. h
But, as if Northern emigration of anti J
avery voters was not quite sure to DESTROY =
outhern rights, you voted for the clause in i
ne same bill giving aliens-the most Of whom c
re opposed to slavery both from sentiment !
interest-the right to vote slavery TO
cath in six months after arrival! SO that
lousands and tens of thousands may be I'M
for that especial purpose, if required.
It all events they are rapidly focking to all of $
lr new notwithstanding "the advance !
lard of Freedom" y
we conclude then, sir, that you became bv O
our votes as a representative of the South fl
Id by supporting Buchanan you continue v
] efficient co-worker with the Van Burens. Z