Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1858-11-19
NUMBER 80.


Ment u tno gree AaooE system N the neS
Htates.
Hitherto the TIVE systems have existed Ii
}. different States, ast aide by side within Tia
American Union. This has happened BE-
9 cause the Union 10 a confederation of States
? But in another aspect the United State
\ constitute oniy oRe nation Increase .
> populations, which is filing the States o.,
i to the very borders, together with q new ans
: tending network of RailFOaSs ana o,Ae,
( avenues, and al internal consn2rcs which
daily becomes more intimate, is rapidly hrieg.
7 ing the States into q higher and more aer.
feet social unity or c0Dselidatioa. Thus the
antHgonisiie systems are eontiraallv coming
+ into closer contact, and sSlisIen resalts.
shall tell you what this collision lneaasi
, They who think it is aeeidea a.al, unarressa-
: ~, the work Of Interested or faualieal azita-
: ton, ahd, therefore. spheneral, mistake tia
case altogether. u is an irrepgesslhle eea.
niet between oFPosi1g and enduring fessea,
J and II means that the United States must
and will, sooner o. later. become either en-
tirely SlaVehoIdiHg nation, or entirely a
Free Labor nation. Either the rice and
cotton field. of South Carolina and tse suy.r
plantations Of Louiaisaa will altinrtely be
titled by Free Labor, and Chasleston and
New Orleans become Earts for legitimate
merchandise al0ne. 81 else the rye and whea.
helds OF Massachusetts, and New York mast
again be surrendered by their farmers to
slave culture aud to the production Of slaves,
and Boston and New York become once
more markets for trade in the bodies sea
sOals Of ESaeu. 1t is the failure to apprehend
this great truth that induces SO many uusuc-
eessful attempts al ina. compromise between
the Slave and Free States, and II is the ex.
istence Of this great fact that renders all
such pretended compromises, when made
vain and ePhemeral. Startling as this state.
ment may appear to you, fellow citizens, il il
BY no means an original or even a modern
one. Our forefathers knew it 70 ba 3xue, ard
unanimously acted upon II wfeu they frarr.
ed the Constitution OF the United States. a:
! They regarded the existence Of the seville
| system in SO many of the States with sor-
row and shame, which they openly confess
1 ed, and they looked upon the collision be-
tween them, which was then jdst revealing
itself, and which we are now accustomed to
depolre, with favor and hope. They knew
that either the ons or the other system must
exclusively prevail.
/ Unlike too many OF those who in modern
time invoke their authority, they had a
choice Between the two. They preferred
thessystem Of free lsbor, and they determin.
ed to organize the Government, and 80 to
| direct it's activity that that system should
surely aud certainly prevail. For this pur.
pose, and no other, they based the whole
structure Of Government broadly on the
| principle that all men are created equal, and
therefore free-lttle dreaming that within
the short period of one hundred years their
descendants would bear to be told by any
orator, however popular, that the utterance
Of that principle was merely q rheto ial
| rhapsody; or by any Judge, however vener-
ated, that it was attended by mental reser-
vasions which render it hypocritcal an1
falses By the ordinance of IL I5 they dedi-
Gated all of the national domain, not vet
polluted by Slavery, to free labor immedi-
ately, thenceforth and forever, while by the
new Constitution and laws they invited for
eign free labor from all lands Under the sun,
and inteFdicted the Importation Of African
slave labor at all times, in all places and un-
der all circumstances whatsoever. II is
true that they necessarily and wisely modi-
fed this policy of freedom, by leaving il to
the Several States, affected as they were by
differing circumstances, to abolish Slavery
in their own way and at their own pleasure
instead of con6ning that duty to Congress,
and that they secured to the Slave States,
while yet retaining the system Of Slavery,
three -fifths representation Of slaves in the
Federal Government. until they should find
themselves able TO relinquish it with safety.
But the very nature of these notifications |
fortifes my position that the fathers knew |
that the two systems could not endure with /
in the Union, and expected that within a |
short period slavery would disappear forever. |
Moreover, in order that these notifications
might not altogether defeat their grand de-
sign Of Republic maintaining universal |
equality, they provided that two-thirds of the |
States might amend the Con stitution.
1t remains to say on this point only one |
word to gurad against misapprehension. II |
these States are to again become universally |
slaveholding, do not pretend to say with |
what violations of the Constitution that end |
shall be accomplished On the other hand
while do confidently believe and hope that
my country will yet become land of uni |
versal freedom. do not expect that it will
be made SO otherwise than through the ac-
ton of the several States cooperating with /
the Federal Government. and all acting in
strict conformity with the ir respective Con-
stitutons.
The strife and contentious concerning
Slavery, which gently disposed persons do
habitualy deprecate, is nothing more than
the ripening of the conflict which the Fa-
thers themselves not only thus regarded
with favor, but which they may be said TO
have instituted.
Il is not to be denied, however, that thus
far the course Of that contest has not been
according to their humane anticiputions and
wishes. In the field of Federal politics, !
Slavery. deriving unlocked for advantages
from commercial changes, and energies un-
fereseen from the facilities of combination
between members of the slaveholding class
and between thai class and other property
classes, early rallied, aud has at length
made q stand, moi merely 10 retain it's orgin-
al defensive position, but TO extend its sway
throughout The whole Union. 1t is certain
that The slayeholdiDg class of American ciI-
izcHs indulge this high ambition, and that
they derive encouragement for il from the
rapid and effective political successes which
thew have already obtained. The plan ot
operation is this: BY continued appliances
of patronage, aud threats OF disunion, they
will k ep 2rty favorable to these do
signs in the Senate, where each State has
an equal representation. Through thar
mqjprly they will defeat, as they best can,
the admission OF Free States and ecure the
admission OF Slave States. Under the pro-
teciion OF no Judiciary they will, on the |
principle OF the Dred Scott case, carry Sla- |
very into IA ! Cf the Territories OF the United |
States nov existing and hereafter TO be or