The Kanzas news., 1857-08-08


ton that the white people had He shows
this with so much particularly as to leave
no doubt of its truth, and, as sort Of con-.
i ciusion on this point, holds the following.
language:
"The Constitution was ordained and established
by the people of the United States through the
action In each State, of those persons who Were
qualifed by its laws to act thereon in behalf OF
themselves and all other citizens of the State. In
some of the States, have seen, colored per-
SONS were among those qualified by law to act on.
1 the subject. Those colored persons not only
included In the body of the people of the United
/ States by whom the Constitution was ordained
and esablished but IN at least FIVE of the States
they had the power to act, and doubtless did act,
by their suffrages, On the question OF its adep-
! ton"
i Again, Chief Justice Taney says:
at is difficult at this day. to realize the state g
public opinion which prevailed In the civilized amt
enlightened portions of the world at the time of
| the Declaration of Independence, and when. the
Constitution of the United States was framed and
adopted"
And again, after quoting the Declaration,
he says:
1 to include the whole human family, and if they
were used in a similar instrument at this day,
would be so understood"
In these the Chief Justice does not di-
rectly assert, but plainly assumes, as fact,
that the public estimate of the black man is
more favorable nor than it was In the days
of the Revolution. This assumption is a
mistake. In some particulars, the condi-
ton of that race has been ameliorated; but
as whole, In this country, the change be-
tween then and now is decidedly the other
way; and their ultimate destiny has never
appeared so hopeless as In the last three or
four years. In two of the five States
New Jersey and North Carolina-that then
gave the free negro the right of voting, the
/ right has since been taken away; and In al
third-New York-it has been greatly
abridged; while it has not been extended, So
far as l know, to single additional State,
though the number of the States has been
doubled. In those days, as | understand,
masters could, at their own pleasure, eman-
cipate their slaves; but since then, such le-
gal restraints have been made upon emanci-i
patton, as to amount almost to prohibition.
In those days, Legislatures held the un-
questioned power to abolish slavery in their
respective States; but now it is becoming
| quite fashionable for State Constitutions to-
withhold that power from the Legislatures.
In those days, by common consent the
| spread of the black mans bondage to new
countries was prohibited; but now Con-
gress decides that it aoil not continue the
prohibition, and the Supreme Court decides
that it could not if it would. In those days
our Declaration of Independence was held.
sacred by all, and thought to include all;
but now, to aid in making the bondage of
the negro universal and eternal, it is as
sailed and sneered at, and construed, and
| hawked at, and torn, till, if its trainers
could rise from their graves, they could not
at all recognize it. All the powers of earth
seem rapidly combining against him. Nam
mon is after him; ambition follows, and
philosophy follows, and the Theology of the
day is fast joining the cry. They have him
in his prison house; they have searched
his person, and left no prying instrument
with him. One after another they have
closed the heavy iron doors upon him, and
now they have him, as it were, bolted in
with lock of hundred keys, which can
never be unlocked without the concurrence
of every key; the keys in the hands of a
hundred different men, and they scattered
| to a hundred different and distant places;
and they stand musing as TO what invention
in all the dominions of mind and matter,
can be produced to make the imposibility
There is natural disgust in the minds
of nearly all white people, to the idea of an
indiscriminate amalgamation of the white
and black races; and Judge Douglas evil
IDENTIFY is basing his chief hope upon the
chances of being able to appropriate thei
benefit of this disgust to himself. If he
can, by much drumming and repeating,
fasten the odium of that idea upon his ad-
versaries, he thinks he can struggle through
the storm. He therefore chngs to this hope,
as drowning man to the last plank. He
makes an occasion for Juggling it in from
the opposition to the Dred Scott decision.
He finds the Republicans insisting that the
Declaration of Independence includes ALL
men. black as well as white; and forthwith
he boldly denies that it includes negroes at
all, and proceeds to argue gravely that all
who contend it does, do so only becausei
they want to vote, and eat, and sleep, and
marry with negroes! He will have it that
they cannot be consistent else. Now pro- |
test against that counterfeit logic which |
concludes that, because do not want al
black woman for a slaue must necessari- /
| " want her for soife. I need not havel
her for either; can Just leave her alone.
In some respects she is certainly not my
e4uaIs ous IA HSl hdSuEaf right 10 eat tne
bread she earns with her own hands, with |
out asking leave of any one, she is myl
equal, and the equal of all others.
Chief Justice Taney, in his opinion in
| the Dred Scott case. admits that the Ian
guage of the Declaration is broad enough
to include the whole human family, but he |
and Judge Douglas argue that the authors
of that instrument did not intend to include |
negroes, by the fact that they did not at
once, actually place them on an equality
with the whites. Now this grave argument
comes to just nothing at all, by the other
fact, that they did not at once, or euer af-
kerzcQrds actually rlaea all white r,oo,.ja .,y,