The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1857-05-16

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ri. " ~ y desizs Of hsolsfhs essseh
h q endless conFovsrsy Wild our cctsn-
poraxy, much les any wish q tsying posis-
ical cancellations with him. Il vsrs ainest
useless % prolong ths controversy further
for We should b just y far fron agreeing
. year hence, - We ere now, nsvertheless,
ne win reply to : few points raised by our
neighbor. First, be says thaths has : been
looking ovsr ths article Of agreement be-
tween The States--ths Consultation Of the
United States, and have been unable to Snd
anything bearing upon'the subject Of Slave
r,n except the clsuse u reference e The
return Of Fugitive Slaves. In our article.
We did not refer 70 the Constitution Of the
Cnited States, bat to the Ordinances OF 1851,
in looking over which the editor may hnd
something very like an agreement to the e.
feet We stated. In opposition to the opln-
ions Of the editor Of the Bugle, Chief Justice
TAsrr says" the rights Of property in q
&ave 4 ezpressly conferred in the Constifu-
ZION, and guarantied to every State. -
Secondly, the editor accuses NJ Of . wish to
g interpolate into the Constitution the
speeches and debates made and had before
ito ADOPTION" merely because we said We
gathered from the history Of the debates,
the inference that the motive which prompts
ed the North TO recognise the existence Of
Slavery, and the allowing Of Slave represen-
tation, was that the Northwest Territory was
destined by Ordinance to be free, and no.
body looked to any acquisition Of territory
At the South, for the. creation Of Slave
States. We have no wish to impugn the
motives Of our neighbor, and can only ac-
count for the unjust and mealled for asser-
ton, as tho result # an oversa1ed imag'n-
alton.
We now come TO the more argumentative
part of the editors discourse, wherein, he
g takes the broad ground that Congress
does not possess the power under the Con-
stitution, to establish, abolish, extend, OF
restrict Slavery" 1t is very easy matter
to take untcnable ground upon any subject,
but not SO easy to maintain it. We shall
hesitate long time before we take the opin-
ions of the editor of the Bxqls. as better au-
thority in constitutional law than WILLIAM
PlNcKNEY, LANGDoN CHEEvEs, WILLIAM II.
CRAWFORD, HENRY CLAY, and DANIEL WEB
srER, to say nothing of scores Of other leg
islators Of great ability, who never doubted
that Congress had the power to interdict
Slavery in the Northwest Territory above
the line Of .37e 80 min. The time was, too,
when JOHN c. CALuoUN, the great Southern
extremist, gave his written opinion, as a
member Of Mr.. MoNRoE's Cabinet, that the
Compromise of 1920 was not in conflict with
the Constitution. Are We to believe the ed
itor Of the. Bugle in preference to CALHOUN,
BENTON, CLAY, WEBSTER, and other illustri-
GUS statesman? We think not.
Now for the illustration in relation to the
principle enunciated by our neishbor, /. e.
elf it is right to keep Kansas out Of the
Union, would not the same principle if fully
carried out, reach back to Kentucky, and
cause you (us) to vote her out Of the
Union." We answer, unhesitatingly, and
without fear of contradiction, no!-for the
editor of the Bugle himself says, Sc that the
right to establish, abolish, extend or re-
strict Slavery, is not prohibited by the Con-
stitution to the States, and hence the States
mot the Territories have exclusive jurisdic-
ton over the subject within their limits. +"
We cannot see why Kansas should be any
more entitled to admission into the Union as
Slave State because of the admission Of
Kentucky. For our part we Gun see no rea-
son, that because ON evil exists in certain
portions of this confederacy, beyond the
control of the Federal Government, it is
necessarily extend that evil. Because a
certain portion of the body is diseased,
would you try to check its further progress
if you, could not wholly eradicate it, or
would you rather endeavor to spread the
disease over the whole system? 1t is i'm
possible that Slavery and vital genuine
republicanism should thrive and spread to-
gether; it is impossible that bond labor and
free labor should work cheek-by-jowl on
tho same soil; it is impossible that special
class should rule the people, and the people
still retain their supremacy and power. 4
disease may linger long time on the ex-
tremities of system, which would be fatal to
it the moment it touches the great central Or
gans. In nations otherwise free, slavery may
prolong subordinate existence for many
years, but when it leaps into the ascendant,
the spring Of the national life is broken. Sla-
very and freedom cannot both be national.
The spirit, the impulse, the aspirations Of one
or the other must prevail. If Slavery is not
. local thing, peculiar to some Of the States,
then freedom is local and peculiar, and
must withdraw moro and more from the
control Of legislation. Confined to its orig
inal localities, the Slave system Of the United
States is pernicious only or chiefly within the
limits of those localities; but when the spirit
and the power Of it invades the General Gov
eminent, and seeks diffusion over the terri
tories, it becomes an universal evil--an evil
which, unless arrested, and confined to its
present range, willdry up the sources Of our
most noble and glorious progress. Whatev-
or may be the policy and the course Of indi-
vidual States, there is for the nation but one
policy and one course. e
Our objection to Slave representation is
founded upon the fact, that the Constitution
Of tho United States recognises no difference
such is the opinion Of Chief Justice fancy J
between Slaves and other property-and as
no property, but that of the Slave is allow
ell representation, hence an inequality be-
tween the States. If the people Of the
Southern States are allowed representation
based upon their property, why not the
North, likewise? As far Is this kind Of rep
resentation exists, we have no desire or in
tention to interfere. We do not seek to
disturb vested rights. We simply afsrm