Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1858-04-23

and snecr and leer, That tnat snail NOT STOP
l. agitation. Perhaps not but do you think I
IL agitation will stop IL we refuse to admit hel
n Let the final vote In this House be rejeeti
Of Kansas as a State under the Lechmpt
constitution, and it will 90 with iightni
! speed, upon a thousand wires, 70 every part
: the North, and you will hear IN answering eel
= rattling along upon the same wires "We ha
: triumphed; we have crushed out these tyra
Shareholders; we have got the slave drive
: under our feet a-appsaling TO Black Re7ubl
y cans, ia terms the most impa 50 iOned and denu
+ ciatory, TO rash on and to subjugats them.
! may be that admitting Klasas with the l.
compton constitution may not still this unhs
: lowed, fratrieidal strife. fear, indeed, a.
: the times are ominous and portentous, that
: will not have that effect but il it is stOppe
that is the only mode, in ny opinion, by whic
Il can be stopped for a long time to come. r
fuse to admit Kansas, reject her, keep Il
question open, keep the SUBJECT Of strife sti
, before the people undecided, and feel iustifs
IN saying that know this unhappy conte:
will not cease. It will wax 6ereer rather.
Now, what is this slavery agitation? II
, not thing Of to-day. Il is not a thing Of 10
/ year past, or even Of the age Just gone b.
We have had Il for a long time. II originate
before the adoption Of our Federal ConstitU
tion, and it has continued ever since and
has raged since, perhaps, with more viOlenc
] lilan UtLUIEs IultI lldA lN5Il WHICH "
all know is a scOmpromise-an agreemen
which our fathers mutually entered into 70
themselves, their heirs, and their representa-
tives; uader the Constitution, slavery wa
made an element of political weakness in ever
state where il existed. And | come now 3
answer the idea which was thrown out, not 70
the first time, By the gentleman from Ohio
Mr.. Giddings IL say that, under the Fedora
Constitution, slavery is an element Of pOlitiea
weakness in the State where it exists.
Let me illustrate. We have had compari
sons instituted here between the State Of New
Z York and the state of Virginia, between th'
state Of Kentucky and the State Of Ohio.
I 90 not undertake to say but, suppose | shOul,
20 back into the history Of your proud old State
I Mr.. ChaiTman, and institute an inquiry OF an
other sort. The greatest product OF a civilizs
! government is its men, said Mr.. Burke, wheI
shedding eloquent tears over the grave Of hi
only and much-loved son" At this exigen
moment the loss of fnishsd man cannot easi
ly be supplied" / might point 20 the scroll o.
history, written 80 PLAIN that We may all read
and say, "TheTe is Virginia look at hel
names. There, too, is Neutrality-suspicious. old
Kentucky; and there are her names; = anC
leave YOU to point to the glorious sons Of New
York and Ohio, and array them, for / woulC
not make any inVidiogs comparisons.
Let me institute a comparison Illustrative Ol
the doctrines which | enuneisted just now, be-
tween, may say, the State Of my youth and
the State Of nay manhood the noble old State
where had the hOnor-fOT / do esteem it al
honor-to draw my first breath, and the glori-
Gus state where, hope, in the providence Of
God, shall be permitted to lay down shat
shall be left Of nv mortaI remains-Msssaehu-
setts and Tennessee. Ii appears from the CEN
sus Of 1880, under which was made the sppor-
tionment BY which We are now representing
those states in the national Legislature, that
Massachusetts, has a population Of less than
one million, whereas Tennessee is shown bY the
same authority to have population OF more
than one million. The precise numbers, il is
net necessary 70 state for the purpose Of the
argument On this floor, Tennessee, with a
population OF one million, is represented by ten
members only. whiis Massachusetts,, with a
popula-ioa Of less than million, is rePressn ed
by eleven members. This inequality occurred
under the provision OF the Federal Constitution
referred to b. the gentleman from Ohio, Mr.
Giddings, in the outset Of my remarks in con-
nection with an idea reported here and else
whhre, / will not say bow many times.
Mr.. FOSTER. Will the gentleman allow me
70 make a remarkf
Mr. MAYNARD. [ do not wish to be dis
courteous, and hope | am not discOurteOus
when decline to yield the floor. Owing to an
indOlent habit, / have not reduced my remarks
to writing, as is often done By other gentlemen,
and which, admit, may be the better mode.
Therefore / hope, as my time is fast running
out, that gentlemen will not interrupt me, un-
less the interruption is necessary. II | NAV
:. guess, nv friend from Maine Mr.. Fcster1
was going to state, that Of the population or
Tennessee. three hundred thousand, OF more,
are negro slaves.
Well. sir, let ne ask how many Of the peo-
pie OF Massachusetts, that 20 to swell the num-
q, -, E.h Trs shofr
ane in their prisons? How many
Of them are paupers2 How many Of them
are foreigners, ,unnaturaliZed and un-American-
lied Why, sir, in one school they have
there-and that is a fact | would commend to
the attention Of those who are fond Of dealing
in comparative statstics--in one institution,
the details Of which / happen to have, sort
Of juvenile penitentiary-a reform school they
call it; I believe an excellent and most neces
sary institution for that State-they have six
hundred and more bad BOYS, to be reformed.
suspect that, Mr. Chairman, is a greater mum
Der of graceless lads than you could fnd in all
: our state whom your civil authorities would
deem il necessary to take away from their pa
rents az that early age, and to shut them up IN
a reformstory institution, IN order to keep
them from becoming rogues when they grow up
to be men And these unfortunate cbiidfeH
are a pert of The population Of the State,
EDAuttl uN tue Null III Tue dA EuuuitAn-
tiOn! Why should we not reckon our negroes,
as well as Massachusetts her eonvicts7 Bot
YOU say negroes do not vote. That has been
true. in fact, in Tennessee, since 1884, when,
by a change in cur State constitution, The free
negroes who had previously eri0ved the cleo
tive franchise, were excluded for the first time
from the ballot box. But what does that sig
nify How many persons in Massachusetts,
vote The whole nuEber amounts to some
i r. ~ 4 r
lsLion Of something less than 2 million. So
that among the whole people, only one ia five
or six can vote and that one voter, by polit-
ical necessity, governs the other four or ave.
am aware there has been some objection made
to that state Of affairs BY an interesting pOr-
ton Of her population; that her fair daughters
and they are very far and learned 20 a de-
grse-hAve often pctitioned the Legislature,
and have held conventions without count, in-
sisting that things ought nor 50 20 be; that the
mode Of petticost-g0vernment
and curtain lectures are not exactly suited to
the progress and refinement Of modern civili-
zstfon that they desire little more authority
more eifectusi than peFsuation-
which. under the present state Of political
privileges, they do not enjoy. But at present,
less than one fifth Of the whole population do
TIE voting, exercise all the political power.
For the purpose Of this discussion, It matters
little ahO compose the other four ffJhs,
whether men. women, or children; criminal OF
the yirtuOus; black or white; fresmen or
slaves. They are not governors, they are the
governed.
What else2 We are told that our slaves
are not people, not population at all; that
.hey are mere property Why" they say
10 Us, 81 " ould you let our property V0te-our
oxen. our hOrses, our mules 2n-or 70 use an
illustration which would not venture upon in
this presetce, except that I borrow it from
son Of Massachusetts, after
wards distinguished son OF Pennsylvania,
BENJAMIN Frsnklin-'S would You allow our
iackasses to vote ?'' meaning the fouTfoOted
ones, Of course.
That brings us exactly to the point Of prac-
teal difTsrenc &c upon this subject between the
people OF the North and the people Of the South.
The people o. the South hold the slave to be
person. Northern men say he is merely prop
erty, a chsttel, and nothing more We were
tol. the other day by the gentleman from
Ohio, Mr.. BLngham,] that he could not ad-
nit this guilty fantasy "-i think that was
his expression--of property in man. Ny dear
-ir, where do you get that idea from3 No
property in bur 1an beings? Do you state that
a. q propositions Of law, o. an assertion Of
fact that can be maintained? What is prop
erty? What do we mean Dy il F? Property I;
pTOprields-Whatl ls itf
Mr.. BINGHAM. The gentleman from Ten
nsssee, | presume, refers 10 ne. The gentle
man asks ms whence get nv authority for
saying as ] did say on this floor, that there
could be no property in man and the pretsnce
Of property 10 man was an atrOcity, a wild
and guilty fantasy. am surprised that the
gentleman, should put that question. tell the
gentleman in the first place, that feel perfect
iy confident that the gentieman's own immOr-
tai spirit bears witness, 10 spite Of his logic to
the contrary. to the truth of the assertion that
there can be no property is nan; that his
right to life and liberty is inherent and imPer-
ishabie; therefore, put the question to the
gentleman, can be himself be Tightfully re-
ducsd to a chatte snd sold as chattel? Can
bic wife be rightfnily reduced to a chsttei and
sold as ehattel? Answer me that.
Mr.. MATNARD. It is that same immortal
principle alluded to BY the geutlsman-.he IN
snsyersbie logic Of personal coRvietion-upon
which was proceeding to predicate ny argu-
ment. But before doing so, submit to his
better Judgment that II is, TO say the very least
Of il. in questionable taste fer member
l.