Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1858-07-17
POLITICS IN

vindicated his consistent adherence to the doc.
trine of squatter sovereignty, and carefully an
nounce1 the principles on which ho should con
duct the popular anvass for his re, elcction to the
United States Senate. The Republicans of the
state have nominated ne their candidate for Mr..
Douglass place a Mr., Lincoln, to whose ability,
intelligence and general good character, Mr.. Doug
lass %certifes. lie charges that there is an alliance
between the Buchanan wing Of the party and the
Republicans, for his defect, and that he shall throw
the bot shot not caring who is hit.
lie gives the following explanation Of his own
course in Congress.
l made my speech against the L%ocompton mon
strosity. solely upon the ground that it was q vlo'
lation of tho fundamental principle OF Free Gov.
eminent on the ground that il was not the act
and deed Of the people Of Kansas, and did net en-
body their will. They were adverse to it. Hence
1 denied the right of Congress to force it upon
them, either as a free State or as Il slave state
(Cries OF Good" Bravo" clear, hear.') | deny
the right of the Congress Of the United States to
force a free Sta,e upon an unwilling people. "a
voice GOOD again.") ! deny the right Of Con,
gress to force a slaveholding state upon an unwil-
ling people. | deny your right to force a good
thing upon a people unwilling to receive i'll
ytauEhter) The great principle-the right of
every community to judge and decide for itself
whether a thing is right or wrong-whether it Is
good for them to have it, or evil for them TO adopt
1.-THE right of free action, and the right of free
thought-the right of free judgment upon the
question is dearor to every true American than
any other right under a free accommodations
my objections to Lecom pton were that it undertook
TO force q constitution upon that people against
their will, in opposition to their wishes, aud for
that reason violated the great principle upon which
all our institutions rest.
Mr., Douglass defends tao bred Scott decision.-
lie says:
But ! am equally free to say that tho reason as
signed by Mr., Lincoln for resisting the decision of
the court in the Dred Scott case, does not com.
mend itself to my appreciation. lie objects TO it
because that decision declares that a negro descen-
ded from African parents, who were brought here
and sold as slaves, IL not and cannot &c IL citizen
Of the United States.
lie says it is wrong because it deprives the ne.
gro Of the benefits Of that clause OF the Constitu.
ton which says that citizens of one State shall en-
JOY all the privileges aud iununi;ies Of citizens Of
the several States. In other words, he thinks it is
wrong because it deprives the negro OF the privi.
lodges, immuuities and rights OF citizenship,
which pertain, according to the decision. only to
the whi'e man. | am free to say to you, my fell
low citizens, that in my CpiuiOn this Government
Of ours is founded on a white basis. 1t was made
10y white men for the benefit of white men, to be
administered by white men in such a manner as
they should determine. 1t is also true that a Ne
gro or Indian or any other man Of an inferior race
TO the white man, should be permitted to enjoy,
and humanity requires that he should have all the
rights and all the privileges and all the inmuni-
tics which he is capable Of exercising consistent
with the safety of society. | will give him every
right and privilege which his capacity will eua-
BILE him to enjoy consistent with the good of socie'
ty where he lives.
But you may ask me what are those rights and
privileges? My answer is that each state must
decide for itself the nature and extent of those
rights. Illinois has determined for herself. We
have decided that the negro shall not be Il slave.
We have, at the same, decided shat he shall not
vote nor hold Office, nor serve on lurieS, nor enjoy
political privileges. | deny the right of any other
State to complain Of our policy on THAT subject, or
to interfere with or to attempt to change it. On
the other hand, the State of Main has deciled that
in that State Il negro may vote on an equality with
q white man. Tue sovereign power OF Maine had
q right to prescribe that rule Tor herself. Illinois
has 10 right to complain Of Maine for comforting
negro suffrage, nor has Maine any right to inter.
fere with or complain of Illinois for denying negro
suffrage.
On the other hand, the State of New York has
decided in her constitution that a negro may vote,
provided he owns $3.50 worth Of property, and not
otherwise. The rich negro may vote, but the poor
one shan't. Although that distinction does not
commend itself 10 my Judgment, yet | say that the
sovereign power of New York had a right to pre-
scribe that form Of elective franchise il she chose
to do so. On the other hand, Kentucky and Nir.
ginia and other States have provided that negroes,
or n certain class Of them in those States, shall
he slaves, having neither social nor politica! rights.
Without endorsing the Propriety Of that decision,
! assert that Virginia has the same power, in vir.
tue of her sovereignty, to tolerate slavery within
her limits, that Illinois has to Danish it forever
from her borders.
Mr.. Douglass compliments his Republican allies
in Congress by saying:
My friends, while [ devoted my best energies,
NIL my energies, mental and physical, to tho ylndi'
ca.ion Of that great principle and while it's re
suit has been such as will enable that people to
come into the Union with such a constitution as
they desire; yet the credit Of this great moral vic
tory is to be divided among \ large number Of men
of various and different political creeds. Cheers
/ rejoiced when | found, in this great contest, the
Republican party coming up mantulIy and sus'
tanning the princi pie that the people of each Ter.
ritory. when coming into the Union. had a right to
decide for themselves whether slavery should or
should not exist within their limits.
l had seen the time when that principle was
controverted. | had seen the time when all par
dies did not recognize the right of the people 10
bave slavery or f~reedom--to tolerate or prohibit
slavery as they chose, but this power was claimed
by the Congress of the United States TO the exclu-
s;en of the decision of the people of the Territory
and when | found, upon the CriJtenden MOntgor
merry bill, the Republicans and the Americans of
the North joining with. and may say too, soma
glorious American and old line Wings from the
South Applause. like CrittendOn and Bell zap,
plause) when | saw these gentlemen uniting with
a portion Of the democracy to carry out and yindl'
cate the rights of the people to decide whether
slavery should or should not exist within their
limits, | have rcjoiced within my secret soul, for
! saw an indication that the American people,
when they came to understand the principle,
would give it their cor iiai support.
The 'Crittenden bill was as fair, as perfect an
exposition of the doctrine OF Popular Sovereignty
as could be carried out by any bill that man ever
devised, and it proposed to refer the Lecompton
Constitution back to the people Of Kansas, with
Ake right to accept it or reject it as they pleased,
ut q fair election, to be held in pursuance of law;
and ia tue event they rejected 1t and formed an
other in is stead, then they became a State under
the constitution of which they approved. The
bill was just in all its provisions, gave it my
cordial support, and | was rcjOicod when | found
that il had passed the House Of Representatives,
and for 4 time [ entertained the hope that it would