Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1856-01-24

pTOprlatlOns IOT In6 Improvement " tntlV
channels and hsrbors. The injustice Of
unequal grants OF lands is perhaps beyond
remedy; but it will be our own fault If
our Rivers and Harbors coz rtinue to be thu,
neglected,
While in these and many other impor
tant details Of ADMINISTRATION the interests
of our own State are deeply affected by
the action Of the National Government,
we are even more vitality concerned in the
great principle by which that action and
the progressive development Of our country
are regulated and controlled.
As man is more than his circumstances,
as freedom Is better than wealth, as rights
are more important than institutions, it
becomes Us to look well to the fundamental !
ideas which determine tue character Of Gov.
ernment and the course Of its practical
opuaion
The basis Of American Institutions, is the
democratic principle of equality among men.
They rest upon the solid foundation of popu-
lar consent The primary object of their
estub shment are the defence and protcc-
ton Of personal rights. II they fail to Sc
cure these ends, it is the duty Of the peo-
pie who established to amend or change
them. To organize and administer govern
ment upon these principles is the true work
Of republican people.
Whi,e the democratic ideas thus consti.
lutte the basis OF American Institutions,
various exceptions, under the pressure ol
real or supposed exiyencies, have been ad
mtted TO It's universal application. Among
these, Slavery, the creature OF despotism
and the deadly opposite of democracy,
claim. baneful pre-eminsucs.
When our country asserted her indepen-
dence, slavery existed in all the States
Its evil influences, social and political,
were, however, we'll understood, and is
irreconcilabie aatigonism to the rights of
human nature aud the principle of just
government, was universally acknowleog.
OF.
The founders Of the Republic, in fran.
ing our institutions, were careful to give
n, national sanction 10 this portcntou,
anomaly; but they attempted no iEterler.
ence W ith its existence in the States. -
Outs de of State limits, they allowed 1t NJ
shelter. Within States limits, they left i
to the exclusive disposition Of States i'm
mediately Concerned. NJ fact is better
sstab lshed by the records Of The past, thar
| the prevalence, during the earliest period o
our hisiorv, OF an almost universal expecta
tion that slavery, excluded, by positive pro
hbiiion, from oil national territory, would
gradually but certainly. and at no dstan
day, under the operation Of the principle:
OF the Declaration Of Independence, nnt
/ through the action Of the State authoril les
disappear wholly from every State OF tn,
Union. The foremost champions Of freedom
were citizens Of slave States, and occupe,
/ the highest stations in the State and Ma
tional Governments.
| In 1874, Immediately after the partial ad
justment of the conflict between the claim
of the Union and the pretensions Of th
States in respect to the territory between
the \lleghanies and the Mississippi, through
the cesson, by Virginin, To- the territory
northwest Of the Ohio, JErTEssoN propose,
to provide forever against the extension o
slavery, by positive prohibition Of its ex
istence after 1900, in any territory csded
or in any State TO be created out of sucl
territory. This proposed prohibition receiv
ed the votes Of sixteen out Of twenty thre,
delegates, and OF six out Of nine States il
Congress OF the Confederation 1t failed Il
become n law by reason Of that provision
OF tho Articles of Confederation which
| made the concurrence OF at least sever
States necessary to an Affirmative decs or
OF any question. The great minority in il,
fSvor indicates, however, the prevalent sen
timrnt of the time.
Three years later, the Ordinance of l7S-
impressed upon tho soil OF the territory
northwest OF the Ohio an ,indelibe prohi
btion Of Slavery. That Ordinance wa,
adopted by the unanimous votes Of all tn,
States in Congress 1t covered every incl
/ OF territory subject to the exclusive reguIa
tipn OF the General Government.
| In the same yenr the National Consttu
ton was framed. Nir. MADISON declared
"wrong To admit in the Constitution The ide
that there could be property in man" N
such word as Slave or Slavery found place
10 any o. It's rovisions. All recognition
oi the rightfulness of slavehold:ng, and al
national sanction Of the practice, was care
fully excluded from the instrument. II
every clause which has been, or Gun b,
construed as referring to Slavery, IL is re
girdrd ns the creature Of State legislation
and dependent, wholly, upon State legisla
ton Tor lis existence and continuance. -
There is no trace IN the Constitution itsel
ar IN the debates of its trainers, Of any ex
/ pect"tion or apprehension OF the institution
or maintenance of Slavery by national law
or In national territory. No one anIicipa,
ed its extension beyond the limits of th'
existing States.
But the people required additional securr
~. Wnen, therefore, Virginia Suggested
an amendment of the Constitution, that "nc
fireman. ought to be deprived of his life
liberty or property, but by the iaw Of the land, >
Congress refused TO sanction thia restricted
guaranty, but proposed, tor the adoption oI
the States, an amendment. embracing II
comprehensive and express interdict against
all invasion OF personal rights by the Gen
eral Government. That in,erdict made part
ol the Constitution by the consent Of the
States, is in these words; "No person y
q skuII IN aanrivaI az liCa l;la.,.