New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-07-15

Sovereignty which he now represents a. scoeP''o
bv tire RspubIcsns That bill was voted Tor BY
The whole body Of Southern Representatives WITH
5 very few exceptions, and it received the Moore
u ert Of the Democratic party. According to tae
keic Of Mr.. Douglas, this support Of the hsnss-
Nebraska bill must be taken to prove the ADOPTION
BY the South and by the Democratic party OF the
doctrine Of the right Of the people OF AAnse
to determine their own INSTITUTIONS; ana
yet We fitd the South and the Democratic party IN
defiance of Mr. Douglass logic. srrsyed in the isst
Congress in soid column sgao'f TINS very doe'fioe'
attempting to force Constitution upon the people
of Kansas against their villa Constitution which
the people of Kansas hsd rejected BY more than
ten thousand msjorty As il is thus perfectly PLAIN
that the vote given by Southern and Democratic
Representatives. for the Kansas-Nebra'ka bill did
not afford any ground for concluding that the South
ard the Democracy had adopted the do;trine Of
Squstter Sovereignty, so is the conclusion equally
upf, unded which Mr.. Douglas attempts to draw
Il at because the Republicans in Congress voted for
the Crittenden- Montgomery bill they too are
converts to Squstter Sovereignty. The Southern
Representatives. voted for the Kansas ebraska BILL
not because they held TO the doctrine which many
Of The IN openly, ard all of them secretly repudia.ed
that the right Of excluding or admitting Slavery
belonged TO the people Of the Terrtory-they
voted for it solely in order to get rid Of tie MIS-
souIi prohibition, and in foil confidence that
this prohibition once Withdrawn, Slavery would
establish Itself in Kansas. The only Squatter
Sovereignty which they recognized in voting
for the Kansas-Nebraska bill was Squatter
Sovereignty in the interest of Slavery. The no
ment they found Squatter Sovereignty IN the inter-
est Of Free Labor, they felt Themselves IN no WISE
restrained by their vote for the Ksnsas-Nebraska
bill from acting it at total defiance. So the Repub
lcans, in voting to refer the Lecompton Cons!;u-
ton to the acceptance or rejection Of the people Of
Kansas, had nc other object in view except to get
rid of the Lecom2ton Constitution. They voted 10
full confidence, and on the assumption, that the peo-
pie of Ksnsss would reject that COnstitution. Any
conclusion as to char GO Of opinion in fav)r OF the
right Of anybody to establish Slavery, which Nr.
Douglas OF anybody else may undertake to draw
from that vote, will be found, whenever the thing
is tested Just as deusive and baseless as the expec
ID
vote d for the Kansas. Nebraska BILL therefore they
would stand quietly by and allow the Kansas squat
ters to act their pleasure in excluding or admitting
Slavery in that Territory.
SO far from the doctrine Of Squstter Sovereignty
being accepted by the American people, we doubt
very much whether Mr.. Douglas himself, much as
be msy applaud it in stump speeches, would ven
tuIe to carry it thoroughly into practice. At all
events nothing is more certain than that this doc
trire of the unlimited right of the people of the
States to regulate their own institutions in their
OWL way is i'll the very face and eyes Lot only Of
the Federal Constitution, but of each aud all of the
State Constitutions The State Constitutions sll
.et out with bill Of rights. And what is this bill
of rights except recital of certain limitations on
the power of Government-certan reservations in
favor of Liberty certain restrictions upon the au-
tbority of the people, certain rights inherent in the
individual and which no majority has any power to
take away
As to Mr.. Douglass argument that diversity of
institutions 10 the extent of Slavery in States
ard Free Labor in others, is the greatest safeguard
of our systtm-thst to set plain facts at defiance.
What evil arises, we should like to be informed,
from the similarity of the institutions of New-Ens.
lard ard New.Yorkl ard what evil would arise
were that came similarity extended to all the rest
of the Union1 On the other hand, yerybody
krows that the diversity of the institutions Of the
slaveho.dipg and .haveholdng States is attend
ed by evils which become every day grester and
more alarming