Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1858-11-18
a 10, Per.lnsn.n nl sianLlIea nl 4 rlIoIe


A Most PertiusntaH nd Sisnifics mt Article
Under this caption the Washington Union,
the organ Of the present national administration,
has the following comments upon article
which recently appeared in the Richmond (Va)
Enquirer the organ Of Gov. Wise, which has
heretofore sustained Senator Douglas in his so-
ton in reference to the Lecompton matter, IA
voring his reelection for another term. The
Washington U1,of, on the other hand has bitter
ly opposed him, and does still, but is very anx
ious to know whether the Enquirer speaks by
thority when il commits thu Illinois senator TO
doctrines SO entirely antAgnnistc to those he has
laid down in his speeches upon the stump The
Union says 1--WE observe article in the
Richmond Enquirer so very pertinent TO the at.
litude of politics at this moment that we copy
lengthy extract from 1t into editorial dol
unns." The extract alluded to from the En-
quirer is;
But, while counselling unity and harmony,
virginia is not yet unminjful Of the great ques
tions that are yet unsettled with regard TO slavery
in the territories, Virginia sees that though the
constitution recognizes, and the Supreme Court
sustains, her right to carry slrves INTO terrific
~, yet she also remembers what Judge Douglas
so pointedly brought to light in illinois, that this
right may be rendered null and VOID by the non
action Of the territorial legislature. While Nlr.
glnis recognizes no power that compel ter
ritorial legislature to enact those laws necessary
TO protect the constitutional right Of sla7ehcld
ers yet she does hold that Congress has the right
and is in duty bound 10 protect slavery in the
territories until the people Of erritory, when on
the eve of forming State government, may de
eide the question finally for the future State
This question is above the platforms Of
parties, and must be met and decided c'nstitu-
ILL., ofs Fffrf1
ally against It. 1t cannot and mast not be com
promised II the Cincinnati platform does not
provide for this question it must be made to meet
this issue.
This question Of protection to slavery in the
territories will have to be met AMI the Souah
wifi demand her constitutional rights these
rights recognized in the constitution, assert
ed in the Kanzas Nebraska bill, admitted by
the Cincinnati platform, and have been sane.
toned and adudicated by the Supreme Court
and, with this array OF authority, the South will
demand the legislation necessary to render valid
the rights so amply recognized by the party, the
country, the Congress, the Supreme Court, and
the constitution.
The right to reclaim fugitive slaves was given
by the constitution the Northern States refused
to legslate for the practical enforcement of this
constitutional right and Congress was compel
ed to provide the legislation necessary TO the
usefulness of this provision. So it is in regard to
slavery in the territories. There is power to
coerce territorial Legislature to do its constitu
tional duty, and Congress must supply the legis-
lation withheld BY the derelct territory.
Intervention for protection is fundamental
principle with the South, and wiser nor better
remark never fell from Gov. Wise than the lol-
lowing extract from his illinois letter
Protection in the territories and eUerylChere, to
all rights OF person and Of property, IN accord
ance with the rights of the Stale. aud Of the
stitution and laws Of the Union
Here, then, may be found Vrginias declara-
ton with regard to slavery in the territories To
this she is eonstitutonally entitled she asks
no more she will take no less"
The Union very pertinentiy suggests that, if
this be the present position OF Judge Douglas,
notwithstanding all the recen! antagonism be-
tween him and the Administration, then there
may not be any very great difference between the
Douglas and Buchanan wings of the Democracy
in the future.
But will Mr.. Douglas commit the astounding
official suicide of acknowledging the Enquirer, in
he article quoted above, as the exponent of his
present views That is the question. II he ad-
heres to the position laid down in his recent
speeches, then the Old Dominion and other
Southern States viii desert him, and he will be
obliged to fall back upon Northern support al
most exclusively. Kentucky, Tennessee, and
Missouri, alone OF all the Southern States, might
possibly stand by him.
The Union remarks upon the Eaq,arer's article
above quoted. follows
I'VE had supposed, if the English language
were designed to express and not to conceal
ideas, that the position Of Judge Douglas on the
points suggested by the Enquirer was perfectly
we'll asoertained. If he has been emphatic in
announcing his position any question, it has
been in denouncng any intervention by Congress
IN territorial affairs, whether for the purpose Of
protecting slave property or other purpose what
ever. At FreepoTt, he asserted the right of the
Territorial Legislature to exclude slavery to be
perfect and complete under the Nebraska K an.
z4s BILL and declared that he had argued the
Nebraska Kanzas bill on that principle through.
out the State of Illinois in 1850 And when, af.
forwards, Mr. Lincoln put the question categori-
caiy to him, whether in a territorial legis-
lature should attempt to exercise the power of
excluding slavery. he would advocate an in ter
ference by Congress for the purpose of protecting
the institution, he answered emphatically that
he would not, but that he stood forever upon the
principle Of nOn-intervention by Congress in the
affairs OF the Territories.
1t is possible, however, that Mr.. Douglas did
not mean what he said, that he did not say
what he is reported to have said, 1t is eminent
ly proper therefore, that there should be clear
understanding Of his position on this subject BY
the whole country and hence we say that the
article OF the Enquirer is most pertinent and i'm.
portant. The Enquirer evidently diseredits the
idea that Judge Douglas holds the opinions on
this subject that we have attributed to him. 9th.
erwise we should judge from the foregoing article
that its editor, who has been copying for some
time the pranks Of the hero of Denny brook Fair,
was endeavoring to pick quarrel with the Lit
tie Giant.
At all events the Enquirer is entitled 20 a re
Spouse from Judge Douglas or his organs, and
we shall await with interest the response which
the Philadelphia Press and the Chicago Times
will give to its invoeations. With the ENQUIRER,
we pause for a reply"
II the above extract from the Richmond En-.
qtlrer comprises the deliberately expressed plat
form Of principles upon which alone the South.
ern supporters Of Senator Douglas are willing to
60 in for him for the next Presidency then IT
would be hard to discover any improvement we
should make in substituting MIN for the presen,
incumbent the White House. for it is the same
platform on which Mr.. Buchanan has acted, thus
lar. But il his late speeches in Illinois are any
indication Of his position, then Mr.. Douga,
stands on platform very antagonistic to that
constructed for him by Gov. wise's organ.
DOUGLASS INDusTRY-A Western cores
pendent sends the New York Times a detailed
statistical account Of the labors Of Senator Doug
las in the recent esnvsssof Illinois, from which
il appears thatlthey were almost eoual In ,b,so =,