Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1858-09-15

tor would constitute ia sovereign. The United
States Government possesses no sovereignty over
lie Territory; hut only til. right 10 eAc'cise Ger
tain very gre. powers uf sovereignty. The Soy
ereiynty itself 2l,idrs in the several States.
Nov, III what way can the Government with
draw its authority" except by declining to exer.
cise it, powers! II it only reposcs to exercise
the sovereign bowers, implicitly delegated to it
b. the United States, those powers would result
back to the United States, and not to the people
of the Territory. And consequently 1t is lmpos'
sblo for sovereignty to pass by this process from
the several States to the Territory.
The truth is, that the Government, rs the
arcut and trustee Of the several States, with.
draws not merely its authority Ito witt the Gov
,r,mcn,'s) but the authority of the United States
from over the Territory In other words, the
Government, although not sovereign in the prem.
ises, but only possessing the right to exercise
certain great pnwers of sovereignty AZ the agent
or trustee for the United States, regularly invests
the Territory with sovereignty; transferring 1t
from the United States to the people OF the Ter
ritory. 1t derives this power of transferring SOW
eraignty, from the same source that 1t gets the
powcr to govern the Territory, viz: Ii Is implied
im their resumption Of the trust by acquiring
tie Territory trithoM authority from the ConStt-
tuition, and also in the acquicsence OF the people
of I'll. sev,ral States in this acquisition of Ter.
ritorv for the purpose ot ultimate admission into
the Union rs States.
If then tkc Government invests the Territory
with sovereignty to make Slate, it may do this
ut one time rs well rs another. 1t may transfer
the sovereignty before it forms State Constitu-
ton, or afterwards, Or may defer it in its option
to tue moment Of the admission uf the new Stat:
i,., the Union. The whole matter is always Ell.
rirelv under the control of the Government. 1t
may pa$s an enabling act, with or without
transfer OF sovereignty. 1t may make conditions
r,:r the application IF til: Territory 10 c"trr the
Uuion. Indeed this think would be always
imuliel. Or, it may, rs it has in fact frequently
done, admit the Territory without any enabling
act, nud without any transfer Of sovereignty, ex.
cent such rs is made III the instant OF admission
INTO the Cunielleraay.
But i; MAJ he imagined, that if the Govern
ment car consita!. Territory sovereign, 1t
must be sovereign itself and consequently may
l.g:saL: AGAINST the institution Of Slavery i'll the
! rrrri,ur:, Oi course this latter deduction nc
.rs.ari:y f,l!awA from the prsulac that the
uili S,arcs Government Is S0Yrrci ~ over the
Territory. l;;,l it hy no means follows, that be-
.",,,s- the G"y"rnm"nt may transfer sovereignty
I..,m the United States to the Territory, there
.r.. the t.ritel States arc sovereign over the
Territory !! is prricr,ly competent ihr y sorcr
irn or conirdcracy of snverrigns to empower
an agent to transfer their sovereignty over a
giveu Territory to another power, or to the people
of the Territory themselves, without necessarily
making that agent sovereign. The Government
admittedly Possesses the rights to exercise much
sovereign power over the Territories but it
is ',7tSt rcp.Sed i'll the Government which it
must exercise for the benefit of all sections Of
the Union, North and South; and hence, any
legislation against slavery in the Territory is Il.
violation of the spirit of the Constitution snd a
breach of tho confidence leposed.
Ii these principles are correct, then Kansas
was not sovereign; and hence there Was no ne.
cessity to treat with her is sovereign. But it
may be said, even if she were not the reference
back WAS still reasonable and proper, as it was
| important to ascertain her views rs to the mOdi
ic;i.on made in the land matter before receiving
her into the Union. There can be no doubt that
if the question of admitting Kansas had to be
tried upon its own proper merits as on individu.
al instance, and without reference to the cause
of the Government in other previous cases, there
would be much to be found in the situation and
condition Of that Territory to forbid its utroduc-
ton into the Confederacy. But the question
was not, what ought to be the prerequisites Of a
people applying for admission,-bm should any
distinction Le made Jetoeca Stare State and
free. State 50 presenting Themselves The pre-
cedents plainly demonstrate, thsethe Government
has long since abandoned any notion that either
population or organism is Il necessary pre.requis-
ite. The points upon such applications as are now.
a.days decided, are, will it make Democratic
State? Or will it make FreeSlate? And the
indecent haste with which they are now ushered
into the Union regardless of their fitness for n
place among the august members of the great
Confederacy, is strongly indicative of the ap.
preaching disruption of the Union. No body
ever dreamed that Kansas was to be admitted
or rejected upon her fitness Or unftncss for the
Union; but up on the passage of the Nebraska
Act of 1854, the North turned their attention to
collonisng that Territory by Emigrant societies,
with the view to exclulc the South and restrict
Slavery; and the whole question was, should
she apply with a Slave Or Free Constitution !?
The operation Of these societies WAS a foul ag
gresson i'll itself upon the South. Without Slave.
RS ayitation Kansas wUuid have become as much
a Slave State as Missouri. Their soil, climate
and productions are the same. Wchave it upon
the authority of Senator HAMMOND that Slavery
will 60 wherever it is profitable, and that it will
vet probably take possession of the whole valley
of the Mississippi. Had the Institution there
not been assailed by these Emigrant Aid .Socie.
ties at least had there been no Slavery agitation,
Kansas would slowly and silently have fallen to
the lot of the South. The entering into compe
ttion with US there for this Territory, which, by
its location and other characteristics was an out
let for our population and not for the North
there bcin. millions Of acres of land more ac-
cessbc to them,-was, had it been from the
first ever 50 successful a foul aggression npon
us. But when they failed to get possession of
the Territorial Government, which fell into the
hands of Southcra men, failed to control the
Constituton-but Oh the contrary going through
all the forms OF law, and after repeated appeals
to the ballot box Kansas applied with Slave
Constitutun-what consideration did these Abo.
lilirlists deserve at the hands Of the Government?
Was it ust that the Constitution should be re-
ftred back to another popular vote, because at
the last moment they lla;l succeeded in their ne.
flrious scheme of obtaining forced and unn,lt-
ural majority? Let us reverse the case, and
suppose that it was the North who controlled
the Territorial Legislature, had a majority in
the Convention and formed Free State Consti-
tuition and applied Tor admission under it, and
it was the South who, at the last moment, Oh.
tanned the numerical majority Of the population,
does any sane man believe that Constitution
would have been referred back? Then it araS au
oa'ious, unjust md ni.cons itutiosat diScrimina.
ton against Stare Stutc!
But we have been asked what more could we
expect Of the Government than recognition of
ib,,y ,,1o tl,to CI,t, l..