Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1857-07-31

and expressly affirmed in the Constitution. ''
and that every citizcn has a right To take with
him into the territory any article of property
which the Constitution of the United States
recognizes as property and Congress has no
power to deprive a person of this right, nor
could it authorize a territorial government to
exercise it. Alas for popular. sovereignty
and sclt-governmont in territory. it Is not
equal to allowing the territorial legislature
power to protect the people against the intro
duction Of negro slavery. Whatever other
rights of seli-govornment the people Of the
territory Of Kansas may have, the right to
keep slavery out is not one Of them, accord
ing 20 his opinion.
Still there arc those who insist that.
while the right TO hold slaves continues in a
territory, and cannot be divestod or alionated.
1t sis barren and worthless right. unless
sustained, protected and enforced by appro-
pirate police regulations, and local legislation,
prescribing adequate remedies for its viola
ton. These regulations and remedies must
necessarily depend entirely upon the will and
wishes Of the people of the territory. as they
can only be prescribed by the local legisla-
turcs- Hence the great principle of popular
sovereignty and sclEgovcrnment is sustained
and firmly established BY this decision" Ac-
cording to this argument. solEgovernment
consists in not being compelled to pass police
laws for the government of negro slaves.
whose presence there is no power to prohibit
or, rather, the decision that a people have no
/ power TO extinguish slavery. establishes the
/ great principle Of their sovereignty and self
government
What glorious principle is this, as thus
/ oxpounded What an inestimablc privilege
| TO allow people TO have negro slaves intro
/ duccd into their midst, without compelling
/ thom TO pass police laws for their govern
ment A precious right, indeed, to be al
lowed to permit negro slaves to run at large.
uncontrolled by local legislation And to
this has "the great principle Of popular soy
crcignty and seli-goyenment' come at last
according to ono of the midwivcs who first
brought forth this political monstrosity, as
applicable to a territory.
Judge fancy in his opinion says that the
Constitution "makcs it the duty of the gov
ernment to protect it'-slavo property: but
the lesser lights of the self-styled democracy.
who indorse the opinion and are great sticklers
for performing all their constitutional obliga-
tions. and particularly in regard to slaves.
say that this protection depends upon the
will of the people of the territories, acting
through their territorial legislature. Here is
direct intmation that the people Of a terri
tory have a right to disregard their constitu-
tional obligations. and make the right to hold
slaves "a barren and worthless right" with /
out local protection. Where arc the Union
savers. that they do not cry aloud at the pro-
mitigation of such hcresy as this Why. /
the attempt to let loose a negro slave a few .
years ago, in the city of Boston, came near
dssolving the Union, according to these self |
same political doctors, who would now let
loose all the negro slaves in territory, leay- 1
ing their masters but "a barren and worthless
right" to them
For my part, if compelled to have negro
slaves in the community in which live, /
should greatly prefer having proper police |
regulations for their government: and uues-
ton if Shareholders will thank one of their
co-laborers for intimatng that they are not
entitled to such protection
The most monstrous proposition put forth
by the sectional majority in this opinion is
that which asserts that "tho right of property
in a slave is distinctly and expressly affirmed
in tho Constitution No such clause can be
found in that instrument. Theword ''slave"
is not in the Constitution, nor is there any
provision in it. express or otherwise affirming
paoperty in man. The most which can be
said is, that the Constitution does not prevent
persons being held to service or labor in a
State under the laws thereof" But for this
clause, it would be entirely competent for
each State into which a person owing service
in another should escape, to discharge him
thereirom, and the Supreme Court Of the
United States decided in the case of Prigp
agt. the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
If the right of property in slave is ex-
pressly affirmed by the Constitution of the
United States, why was provision made for
the surrender of only such persons as were
held to service or labor in one State ''under
the laws thereof" Why must they be held
under the laws of State, if the Constitution
affirms property in them; The assumption !
of the sectional Judges as to what is in the
Constitution being untrue, the argument !
drawn from it, that what the Constitution
recognizes as property any citizen has a right Z
to take with him and hold in the territories, !
and that neither Congress nor a territorial
legislature has power TO deprive him of this ;
right, must be unsound also. If true, it
would nationalize slavery throughout the
Union; for a citizen must necessarily have {
the same right to go with that which is af- /;
hrmed to be property by the Constitution Of !
the United Statos, into a State as into terri .
terry
! utterly repudlate this extra Judicial sec
tonal opinion, so far as 1t undertakes to le-
gihmatizo slavery in the territories of the Il
United States, and denies the power of the l
people thereof, acting with the assent of Con- i
gress, of Congress itself to exclude slavery {
whilo the territorial condition continues y
Such doctrines are at war with the Constitu- u
ton, which coniers on Congress the power to |
make all needful rules and regulations re- n
specting the territories, subversivo of the e
principles of sei-goyernment, destructive to a
the rights of a free people and from the tri- q
bunal which has undertaken to establish them |
appeal to power higher and above even $
This court Of last resort, whose name is "The II
People and who will, ] trust, in due time, o
reform this national court, by increasing the a
number of judges, or otherwise placing upon a
he bonch fair proportion of Northern mem Il
lers. p
ORANGE PEEL.-The especial attention of a
parents and others is called to the following il