The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1857-01-24

frertlom for having voted for DuNN's hill. |
saw in more than one place-in more than
one handful proclaimed buchanan, Brock
inridge. and Free Kansas !" and the result bf
the collpquy which took place upon this floor
bctwc,n two grnl,men from illinois the
other day shows how far authorities can
agree as to what position was ASSUMED by
the Democratic party in that State.
have nowhere here heard it asserted that
it was anywhere maintained as an accepted
dogma of that larty at the North. that Con-
grcss had no power over the question OF >ia-
very in the Territories; that the people had
no pow er over it III the Territories; that the
people ought not to exclude slavery from the
Territory of Kansas: that ,hey were opposed
to the people doing it: and unless there be
g.ntl, men who can reconcile and justify all
those things, then there Is as great and wide
gulf In point OF policy. as there is in point
of constitutional principle. between the Dom
ocrats Of the North and theDemocrats of the
South. For what matters it to the South
that Congress shall not intei fcrc if another
instrument is substituted which will inter
ftre Is it more huMiliating to the South to
have line Of fair division, like that Of 1920
giving part to the South & part to the North
a line and boundary of peace forever esta b,sh-
ed here by the Congress of the United: States
than to be rudcly expelled by congress Of
Kansas sqhntteis here, where she is repre-
scntcd by her eloquent sons; in the Senate,
where she is protected by her equal vote. by
the President. armed with the veto against
all oppression-rath.r than there where she
is not represented, has no voice and 10 veto!
Or are her interests more likely to be tcndrrly
dealt with 10y the rude backwoodsman or the
European rcd republican Or, II she may
BE- excluded, is it so much more to her taste.
or does it better comport with her dignity.
that n few rambling cmigrants get together
in log cabin by our authority -av, under
that huiwark of southern rights, the Kansas
act land to improve the price of land pro.
claim that slavery shall not exist-that at
the line man, in a hunting shirt, with
rifle on his shoulder and bowie knife at his
belt, shall haunt n blotched copy Of the Will
mot rroyiso in the face Of the southern cu-
grant, and bid him back in the name Of the
sqnat;cr kings-,han that here, On SOLEMN
consultation, such partition be made that
peace, and not war, may reign in the K pub
lie Does that mode Of settling the matter
touch the dignity of the South less; or rather
docs it not touch it more? Or is Justice more
or l'ss likely TO be done!
Oh. but it S Of no consequence at all say
he gentlemen from Tennessee and South
Carolina for if the people arc opposed to
slavery they won't protect it,! Indeed
then it is only more apparent that the only
point of agreement between the northern and
and southern Democrats is in the fact that
directly or indirectly. by law or without law.
they both admit slavery may be excluded
One would suppose the South had small favor
| to he grateful for. A right without rem-
cdy Ia the lawyers ahsurdity; yet for this
the coLntry has been brought to the verge of
civil war!
Frustrated in one effort, they try their
| lmping logic on another. Their merit and
unity consist in their assertion of the equality
Of the States and the right Of the people Of
Territory to form their own domestic insti-
tutions-thc principles Of the acts Of 1850
violated by that of 1870, and restored and
reinaugnratctl bv the kansas.N braskn net,
its vivlfying principle.
Sir, the President llbcled the living, and
his friends rob the dead to cover his naked
ness. The very purpose and principle of the
act of 1920 were to vindicatc the equality Of
the States, and the right Of the people to form
their own constitution without control; it was
signed by Mr.. Monroe for that very reason;
! and they doubly hlundcr in law and history
| when under pretcnse Of those principles they
repeal it.
The acts Of 1850 inauguratcd no new prin-
ciple. They were acts Of compromise
ing and taking, like that of lS20-wisely
suited to the present necessity, leaving UNI
repealed the laws Of the central Government
of Mexico, and, if Congress could pass them,
in full force as laws Of Congress just as the
French and Spanish laws were left in full
| force in Florida and Louisiana, when repeal
I'd north Of 36dcg. 80 by the act Of 1920.
If the acts of 1850 provided for the cd
mission Of States with or without slavery as
the people might prefer, then that was the
very princi pie consecrated forever as the law
one purpose of the law Of 1920 was to divide
the territory between the North and the
South, and by the same authority to make
tory while Territory ; and the other thing
settled in that law-an1 from that day down
to the Kansas Nebraska act never nssailcd or
tory Of the Republic. and remaining now the
accepted and conceded law of the Constitu-
ton everywhere. except among few wild
school-was, that the people of the Territory
stltutions when they come 10 form their State
constitution and that Congress could rei-
ther impose a condition precedent, nor bind
by compact their absolute sovereignty over
the matter. The effort in the Missouri con.
test was to place MI inhibition OF the State
of Missouri-to cause the people of that Ter.
,;tor, 70 p,ov;da al y i, thar