Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1857-01-16


conseiousne7s Of hef influence in hepoHuco world She
makes and uumakos Presidents. She dictates her terms
70 ihe Northern Democracy. and they obey her She see
lcct from among the faithful of the North imam upon
whom She can rcly, and she makes him President She
takes the initiative 100 pmishiug traitors like Van bureu
and her sisters uf hc South unite with hcr ant the rW
tors out IN and out of Congress, in the science
OF politics She holds Che North to her purpose"
We hear much Mr. President, in some
quarters, In relation TO the equality of the
States and southern gentlemen tell us that
they viii remain in the Union only so long as
they can remain in it on terms Of equality.
Like popular sovereignty, this phrase,
equality of the States, is a taking catch
word. II is desirable that we should under
stand the true meaning and application of the
term. What is meant by this claim of the
equality of the States, What are we To- UNI
derstand by it; II gentlemen mean that cv-
cry State has a right TO regulate its own inter
nal atiuirs IN its own way undoubtedly there
is an equality of the States In that respect
Butts there actual equality among the States;
While ! am standing here. 'he State of South
Carolina. with free poptf son forty thous-
and less than my little State Of Vermont. has
six Representatives in the other House Yer
mont but three. Is that the equality of the
States of which gentlemen speak ] grant 1t
is such equality of the States rs they arc re-
spcctiyoIy entitled TO under the Constitution,
and we viii abide by it but it is very far
from am actual equality.
Under the old Articles Of Confederation
every State, great or small. had an equal vote.
When they came to form the Constitution of
the United States that was the great point of
trouble. ] know it has been the fashion TO
represent that the difficulty at which they
stuck. the trouble under which they labo ed
when the Convention came very near break
ing up. arose out of something connected with
slavery. In fact, that bad nothing TO do with
1T. The trouble was this the smaller States
insisted ON retaining in the new formation of
the Government their equality in voting as
they had had it before They said. d" We
come together as equals soycrcignties in the
Wow of tho world are always equal we ought
20 remain equal. The larger States. headed
by Virginia and Massachusetts,; insisted that
it should not bo SO; that the destinics of the
country and its public affairs. should not be
equally controlled by q small State like Della
ware and q large state like Virginia. There
was the point upon which the Convention al
most broke mp 10 was settled, as we all know.
by a compromise, giving TO the people of the
several States their relative weight by repre-
sentation i'm one House. and 80 the States ass
corporations their equal weight in the other
House That was the compromise, and when
it was made, two out of the three delegates of
the State of New Iork-now very great
State. the Empire State. which then called
herself ono of the small States, and was very
much afraid of being overslaughod by the
larger ones-Mr Yates and Mr. lansing went
out and never returned. | think Mr. Luther
Martin. of Maryland also retired, and did
not come back.
Of the States. IL failed. low what IS meant
by it; What is really intended to be claim-
ed: ! do not wish 70 disguise the TRUTH
7 understand il to mean this: that there shall
be in this body as many Senators from the
slave States as from the lrec statos. The
President saws this election has settled the
equality of tho different States and sections.
Now, the moment we make sections of this
country, independent of the sections made bv
( the States, and demand that each of those sec
tous shall he entitled to their different rights.
there is no end to our subdivisions The
northern and eastern States a manufacturing,
fishing. commercial people, make one section.
On this principle. they have a right to dc
mand that they shall have an equal rcprosen-
tation with every other section i'm this body.
The slavohoding section claim an equality
with all the rest The northwestern States
may, on the same principle. claim that they
shall have as much representation here as all
the rest of the United States.
Again, if we once establish principle of
this kind we must of course forbid anything
and everything that is inconsistent with it.
Now. suppose we take the whole Territory of
/, the United States set it off into States ;
shape the destiny of each by providing for
slavery going into one Territory and not into
, another. and we all know that Territories Will
form themselves into States as their character
is formed when Territories; it has been always
{ so. and always will be so. If slavery is adj
mitted into Territory it will become slave
State if slavery is prohibited and kept out,
it will become free State. Train up a
child i'm the way he should 60 and when he
is old he will not depart from it, This is as
{ true of States as OF individuals History
shows it to be so. Suppose we should divide
off our Territories so as to have an equal
, number of slave and froo States, and say this
IL the condition of things TO be preserved
Then Delaware, Kentucky Missouri, Virgin
Z ia. and Maryland, never could abolish slavery.
Their doing so must be prohibited, for it
would destroy this equilibrium Tho princi-
/ pie is one incapable of execution, inconsist-
, ent with our whole institutions, and with the
theory of our Government.
Again, is there any propriety in our accord
{ ing in any one of the departments of the
. Government, the same power to six millions
d of free people as to thirteen millions Is il
TO be expected that the thirteenmillions should
{ submit, and be asked 20 submit TO go down
: like the fable of gathering the trees of the
Q forest together to select king, and their say
ID ing 10 the bramble, Come, thou, and rule
1 over us ;'-not that ] mean anything often
e sive but the fact is, their numbers do not
G entitle them TO any such claim.
4 wish | were able 10 argue a little more at
e large as to the exercise of the power of SOW
t eroignty. Until within a very recent period
G the principle on which our Government has
e always gone in relation to the Territories is
/ this Where slavery existed when we obtain
b ed territory, where it was already established
{ we have not forbidden it, but have taken mca
sures to prevent its increase but in relation
S TO all that territory whore it did not exist tc
any appreciabe extent, we have forbidden it
T. | say that is the practical construction Of The
G intention Of the Constitution. | should de
# sire TO be able to argue little more at large
C TO show that this must necessarily be our pol
= icy. Such is the view of the Supreme Com
/ in the Florida OF Canter case, to which haV,