The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1857-11-11
The Ques.ion stated.

ihe toHowing 10 from the speech OF Mr
Buchanan, delivered in the Senate, Marcel
1874, upon The Nebraska Kansas, question
sThe people of ,Pennsyl ylvania have, from
tbe earIies times, had the unquesiioned righ
Of establishing or prohibiting among them
| selves the institution of slavery. They per.
mited and Iegalized il SO long as they
lhousht proper, aadi when the time arrived
,;,sl il was exped;snt and righ, 10 eradicate
it, hey did 80 without dication from any for.
eigh authority. Neither The British crown
The continental Congress, or the government
ofthe United States, eve, spoke 10 Penn
sylvania in the tone of command upon this
subject. We decided for ourselves, as the
best judge of our own interests aud welfate
and we could have justly spurned any in
junction issued from an alien authority. All
the northern States of the old thirteen who
participated in the Revolution and W on their
Liberties by the power OF force, enjoysd the
same exclusive jurisdiction over The same
question. This principle of local control
and Legislation is as prominently stamped
upen the political policy of the northern
States as any of which history holds the re-
cord. Peuusylvanis, for good reasons, foun-
ded in policy and principle, abolished, in
1889, the institution of slavery within her
borders; apd ~ did this in manner as just
as IT was benefieent aud saiulary. MOI pron.p.
led by the blind, incalculatiDg spirit of mod.
ern abolitionsn, she accomplished the work
gradually, and under conditions as little op-
prsssive as possible upon individual rights
and existing arrangements. Is there any
solid objection against extending 10 the peo-
pie OF Nebraska the same rights which we
have enjoyed and exerciseds Are republi-
can principles to be varied by location and
geography, SO that what is right along the
waters of the Susquehsnna shall be consid'
cred criminal upon The prairies of the far
west, and a, The base of the Rocky noun.
tains Can Massachusetts, or New York,
or Maryland, deny to their people who have
gone westward, rights which have been nei-
ther deuied Of questioned in the States from
which they emigraled
What spirit Of evil is this which rises up
n our mids, and fnvokes us to a work oI
outrage and wrong7 Have the republican
citizens Of the Territories no right 10 com.
plain that The general government should at.
temp, to dictate their institutions, and de-
7rive them OF a jurisdiction over their own
concerns which has been enjoyed by the
olden States Of the Unions They have res.
cued, and are rescuing, the region m which
they have settled, from its desert condition,
and have made, and. are making it, fit fol
The habhation OF civilized man. The forests
have fallen before them; the savage has re-
tired as they have advanced; they have sub
jected alike prairie, mountain, and valley
TO the dominion Of labor and Industry, and
have swollen the wealth and extended The
limits of the republic. And shall they have
no rights except such Us are doled out ID
them from government located al The city
of Washington Shall their laws be framed
aud imposed upon them by representatives
of Hartford, Boston, and Baltimore? or shal
they, free from congressional interfere nee
/
free from the dictation of representatives they
have no voice in eIecing-shape their owr
institutions aad the laws under which they
are to live ~
awe would resent, m Pennsy ylvania, 10 tht
utmost, any encroachmeni of The fedora
government upon our just and reserve,
fighls. And why should we, therefore, as
sisl in exieidng Congressional interference
into The Territories of the Union. The hum
BILE emigranl who goes out from amongst us
our relative, neighbor or ffiend-should car
ry with him, TO his Eew home in the west
the same republican principles, which prevail
in the locally from which he emigrates.-
There Is no reason why he should forfeit an
OF his rights as an American citizen, by I
removal into the Terrdores--lhe common
property OF the Unued States. Sir, wheI
this principle of local power squares exactI.
with The national interests, in removing lh'
question Of slavery from the field of Con
gressional debate, aud secures the peace ant
harmony OF The States in their relation tt
each other, that man must have bad motives
or must be greatly OF grossly mistaken, whit
would oppose it's adoption"