The Kanzas news., 1858-03-27

i Congress ? Do you tell me that the Su-
preme Court of the United States has re-
4 moved the foundations of that great feature
I reply, that they have done no such thing;
they could not do it. They have renlanded
/ the negro man Dred Scott to the custody Of
! his master With that decTeee We have
/ nothing here, at least nothing now, TO do.
| This is the extent of the Judgment render
i ed, the extent of any judgment they could
render. Already the pretended further de-
/ cision is subverted in Kanzas. So it viii
/ be in every free State and every free Terri-
| tory of the United States. The Supreme
| Court, also, can reverse its spurious fudg-
ment more easily than we could reconcile the
people to its usurpation. Sir, the Supreme
1 Court of the United States attempts to com
mand the people of the United States to ac-
| eept the principles that one man can own
other men, and that they must guarantee
| the inviolability of that false and pernicious
property. The people of the United States
never can and they never viii accept Princi-
pies so unconstitutional and so abhorrent
Never, never. Let the Court recede.-
| Whether it recede or not, we shall reorgan-
ize the Court and thus reform its political
sentiments and practices, and bring them
into harmony with the Constitution and
with the laws of nature. In doing so we
shall not only resume our own just author
ity, but we shall restore that high tribunal
itself to the position it ought to MAINTAIN,
/ since SO many inalienable rights of citizens,
and even of the States themselves, depend
upon its impartiality and its wisdom.
Do you tell me that the slave States viii
not acquiesce, but viii agitate Think,
first, whether the free States viii acquiesce
in decision that shall not only be unjust,
but fraudulent. True, they will not menace
the Republic. They have an easy and sim
pie remedy, namely, to take the Government
out of unjust and unfaithful hands, and
commit it to those which will be Just and
faithful. They are ready to do this now
| They want only little more harmony of
purpose and little more completeness of
organization. These will result from only
the least addition to the pressure of slavery
upon them. You are lending all that is
necessary, and even more, in this very act.
| But will the slave States agitate Why !?
! Because they have lost at last battle that
4 they could not win, unwisely provoked,
fought with all the advantages of strategy
and Intervention, and on field chosen BY
themselves. What would they gain? Can
they compel Kanzas to adopt slavery against
| her will ? Would it be reasonable or Just to
do it, if they could Was negro servitude
ever enforced by the sword on any people
that inherited the blood which circulates in
our veins, and the sentiments which make
US free people? If they will agitate on
such ground as this, then how, or when,
by what concessions we can make, will they
ever be satisfied ? To what end would they
agitate? 1t can now only be to divide the
Uniop. Will they not need some fairer and
more plausible excuse for proposition so
desperate? ? How would they improve their
condition, by drawing down certain ruin
upon themselves ? Would they gain any
new security for slavery Would they not
hazard securities that are invaluable? Sir,
they who talk so idly, talk what they do not
know themselves. No man when cool can
promise what he will do when he shall be
infiamed no man infamed can speak for
his actions when time and necessity shall
bring reflection. Much less can any one
speak for States in such emergencies.
/ But 1 shall not insist now on so radical
measure as the restoration of the Missouri
prohibition. ] know how difficult it is for
4
1 suicidal policy all at once. We may attain
the same result IN this particular case of
Kanzas without going back so far. Go
back only to the ground assumed in 1854
| the ground of popular sovereignty. Hap
PLY for the authors of that measure, the
jealous and energetic resistance of abuses
practised under it has so far been effected
that popular sovereignty in Kanzas may now
be made fact. and liberty there may be
rescued from danger through its free exer
else. Popular sovereignty is an epic of two
parts. Part the first presents freedom in
Kanzas lost. Part the second, if you viii
consent to write it, shall be freedom in Kan
zas regained. 1t is on this ground that
bail the eminent Senator from Illinois Mr..
Douglas and his associates, the distinguish
ed Senator from Michigan Mr.. Stuart) and
the youthful, but most brave Senator from
California Mr.. Broderick. The late Mr..
Clay told US that Providence has many
ways for saving nations. God forbid that
should consent to see freedom wounded, be-
cause my own lead or even my own agency
in saving it should be rejected. viii cheer
fully cooperate with these new defenders of
this sacred cause in Kanzas, and I will
award them all due praise, when we shall
be successful, for their large share of merit
in its deliverace.
Will you tell me that it is difficult to in
duce the Senate and the House of Represent
atives to take that short backward step?-
On the contrary, the hardest task that an
executive dictator ever set, or parliament
ary manager ever undertook, is to prevent
this very step from being taken. Let the
President take off his hand, and the bow,
bent so long. and held to its tension by so
hard pressure, viii relax, and straighten
itself, at once.
Consider now, if you please, the eonse-
quences of your refusal. If you attempt
| to coerce Kanzas into tie Union under The