The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1858-07-22

for themselves what kln0 OF common pCu"ot
system they will have; you alloN them %
decide for themselves q 10 whal kind Pf
banking System they will adopb or 4 they
will have any; you sllow,them 70 decide aoi
themselves the relation between husband
and wife, guardian and ward; in fact, you
allow them to decide for themselves on all
other questions, why not let them decide on
thisit Whenever you put Limitation upon
the right Of any people to decide what laws
they want, you have destroyed the great fun
damental principle Of sslf-government.-l
| l[Applause,] II 4 ~
III connection with this subject, perhaps It
fwiitnot be improper for me IN this ccca'
sion to allude to the position Of those who
have chosen TO arraign my conduct, on this
same question. "A Voice-Taik more to
the crowd, and not to the people atound you
there Another aYoice-Three cheers Tor
! the Administrations. lssl et gr.il
have observed from the public, prints
that but d few days ago the Republican par.
ty Of the State Of Illinois assembled in Con.
veution OF Springfield, laid down aplstform,
and nominated a candidate as my successor.
| [Voice--"No! never !" and slight Kisses, ]
take great pleasure in saying that have
known personally and intimately for about
q1arter ofa century the worthy gentleman
nominated for my place. and will soy also
that regard him as q kind, amiable, intelli |
gent gentleman, and an honorable opponent,
and hence whatever issue may have with
him will be an issue of principle, and not
one involving personality. Loud applause.
That gentleman made a speech before
that Republican Convention which had
unanimously nominated him for the Senate,
which speech wOs evidently carefully writ
ten and we'll prepared. Ii constitutes the
basis upon which he proposes to carry on
the. campaign during this summer. That
speech lays down two distinct propositions,
which shall now notice, and upon which
fshall tax d direct and bold issue with him.
In the first place, he sets cut in his speech
to say, quoting from Scripture, that house
divided against itself cannot stand; that the
American Government divided into an equal
number of free and slave States, cannot
stand; that they should all be the one, or all
be the other. In other words, he asserts, as
q fundamental principle of this Government,
that there must be uniformity in the laws
local laws and domestic institutions of each
i. and all the States Of this Union. He, there
fore, invites all the non-slavehoding States
to band together, organize as one body, and
| make war upon slavery in Kentucky, upon
slavery in Virginia, upon slavery In oil the
slaveholding States of the Union, and to
persevere in that war until it shall be exter-
4 minated. He. then invites the slaveholding
n States to band together as unit, and make
n aggressive war upon the free States OF this
n Union, with Q view to- establish slavery in
!. Illinois, New York and New England--iC
every free State of the Union--and keep W
n that warfare until it shall be firmly establish
\ ed in their limits. He advocates, boldly ant
i clearly, a war of sections--a war of the
q North against the South--of the free State:
:. against the slave States--a war Of exter
. lmination to be continued relentlessly unit
a the one or the other shall be universal, ant
/, all the States shall either become free O.
j become slave. ..... ..., t.....
- Now, my friends. must say to you frank
l. ly, that take bold and unqualified issu
# with him upon that principle. | assert thu
ir it is neither desirable nor possible that ther
,, should be uniformity in the local laws an
II domestic institutions Of the different State
u of this Union. The frumers OF our Govern
# ment never contemplated uniformity in thes
a. internal concerns. The fathers of the Rev
% oution, and sages who made the Consti,u
Io ton. well understood that the laws and in
70 stiutions which would suit the granite hill
a of New Hampshire would he utterly unfi
m for the rice plantations of South Carolina
T. they well understood that the laws whic
,t would suit the agricultural districts Of Penn
.. eylvnnia aud New York would be utterl
ID unfit for the lorge mining districts OF tn
, Pacific or the lumber regions OF Maine
ly They well understood that great diversit
,e of climate, soil, und pursuits in Republl
as large as this, required different local an
in domestic relations in each locality adapte
,e to the wants of each separate State, and fo
h. that reason it was provided in the FEEDERS
in Constitution that the thirteen original State
n. should remain sovereign and supreme, witt
I in their owu limits, in regard to ulf that wa
ic local and internal and domestic, while th
he Federal Government should have certsi
Ii. specified powers, which were general an
10 national. IA voice." That you may nevs
sb die. The trainers Of the Consttutio
10. we'll understood that each locality, havin
o. separate and distinct interests, required SCI
If. arate and distinct laws, domestic institution
il and police regulation, each adapted to i
I own wants and own conditions; and the
he acted on the presumption also that the;
ve laws and Institutions would be as dlversife
= and as dissimiar as the States would be N
We merous, and that no two would be precise
er alike, because the interests Of no two wei
az precisely the same. Hence assert lh
r. the great fundamental principle which III
IS. derlies our complex system Of State ar
n. Federal Government contemplated diversi
nv and dissimilarity in the local institutions
each and every State then in the Union
lv hereafter to be admitted into tho Cunfeder
re cy. [Applause.] " AEl"' ~.
of Hence [ conceive that my friend, M
de Lincoln has totally Inexperienced Il
,st great principle upon which our Governme
nix rests. Uniformity in local and domestic d
,e. fairs would be destructive of Stute right
ed Of State sovereignty, Of personal liber
nv and personal freedom. Uniformity is Il
en- parent OF despotism the world over, not o
III. " in politics, but in religion. Whenev
on that doctrine is proclaimed, that all Stat
or must be free or all must be slave, that
in labor must be white or all must be blac
lst that all persons in each State must ha
ks the same privileges, and be governed by t
the same regulations, you have destroyed t
lhe great safeguard of the citizen, throv
da. around him by the Constitution.
the How is this uniformity to be accomplis
Of ed, if it was desirable and possiblel The
ody is but one mode in which it could be brous
nee about, and that one mode would be to ab
up ish the State Legislatures, blot out ST.
I'VE &c eignty, and merge the rights and 81
,ar, ereignty OF the States in one consoldat
ess empire, vesting Congress with plenary po