New-York daily tribune., 1858-03-04
SPEECH OF GOV. SEWARD,
In Senate, March g. 1853,
AGAINST InE tEC0MPT0h CONSTITUTION.

(~xiol Foor years later, we exploded atogen'' tA0
tine -bcnored system of governing the ie'HD
wsS.rsl miles and regulations and published aol P0
6snimed in its stead a new gospel OF roPU"'' '0'.
sxaty, whose ways, like those Of "'''o"'' "''' :"
e .Io...n,ness and all of whose paths were
-.r...d % he the sowery paths of peace Neverthe-
- a. ,;s,ion whether there shall be Slavery or No
,srv IN the Territories sgaih the stirring passage
- An. d.y The restless Proviso has burst the cere-
.,t, Of The grave, and, striking hands here in our
.rv presence with the gentle spirit of Popular Sover
ssepty run mad is seen raging freely in our halls scat
SeYiss dsmsy among the Administration benches in
Nm Houses Of Congress- Thus an old and unweicome
ksson is read to The question of Slavery in
Ae Federal Territories, which are the nurseries OF
1Aure States independently of all its moral and humane
olements, involves dy nastic struggle oi TWO
s>Isronistic systems, the labor Of slaves and
Ae labor Of freemen, for mastery ID the Fed
srsl Onion One Of these systems psrtakes of sn
ssysoersc character; the other is purely democratic
Hssh one Of the existing States has staked, it will
ams.ely stake not only its internal welfare, but also
~ influence in the Federal councils, on the decision of
Mat contest Such struggle is not to BE arrested
sseBed or reconcied by temporary eIpedens or CON-
promises.
Mr.. President, always engage reluctantly in these
discussions which awaken passion just in the degree
nat their importance demands the impartial umprage
ef reason. This reluctance deepeDs now, when look
around me- and count the able contestants who have
pewy entered the lists on either side, and shadowy
forms Of many great and honored statesmen who once
were eloquent in these disputes but whose tongues
have since become striDgless Instruments, rise up
before me. IL is, however, a maXimin military SCIENCE
shat IN preparation for every one should think as
the last event depended his counsel and in every
great battle each one should fight az If he were the
sniy champion. The principle, perhaps, is equally
sound in political affairs. II it be possible, shall
perform my present duty in such II way as TO wound
DO Just sensibilties. / must however, review the
action Of Presidents Senates, and Congresses. do,
Indeed with all my heart, reject the instruction given
- the italian master of political science, which
teaches that all men bad by nature and that they
viii not fail to show this depravty whenever they
have fair opportunity. But Jealousy OF Executive
power s high practical virtue in Republics; and we
shall find il hard to deny the justice Of the character
Of free legislative bodies, which Charles James Fox
drew when he said that the British House of Com
mons of which he was at the moment equally an
rnsnent and idol, like every other popular assem-
bly,, must be viewed as mass of men capable of too
mach attachment and too much annosity, capable of
being biased by weak and even wicked motives, and
nsble to be governed by ministerial influence, by
oeprce, and by corruption.
Mr.. President, L propose to inquire, IN the hrst
place why the question before is attended by real
OF apparent dangers.
think apprehensions are in part due to the in
tnsc Importance of the transaction concerned When
we need to lay its foundations firmly to shape its
shaft with such just proportions TO pose 1t with such
e1actness and TO adjust its connections with the ex-
istng structure 30 carefully, that, instead OF fallng
Drematurey, and dragging other and venerable col
1mns with il TO the ground it may stand erect for
ever increasing the grandeur and the stability OF the
whole massive and imperial fabric Still, the sdms-
sion of new State is not necessarily even custom
srily attended by either embarrassments or alarms
We have already admitted eighteen new States with
eat serious cOmmotons, except IN the cases OF Mis-
eOaYi, Texas and California. We are even now admit
ting two others, Minnesota and Oregon; and these |
transactions 20 on smoothly that only close OBJ
servers are that are thus consolidating our
dominion on the shores of Lake Superior and almOs
at the gates Of the Arctic Ocean
IL is mantle st that the apprehended difficulties In the
present have some relation TO the dispute con- |
eenng Slavery which is raging within the Territory
Of Kensss Yet l. must be remembered that nine of |
the new States which have been admitted expressly
established Slavery tolerated it, and nine of them
forbade it, The excitement, therefore, is due to pecu-
kaI circumstances. think there three of them,
namely:
First: That whereas, in the beginning the ascend |
eacy Of the Slave States absolute, il is being
reversed.
Second, That whereas, heretofore, the National
Government favored this change of balance from the
Save States to the Free States, it has reversed
this policy, and opposes the change.
Third That National Intervention in the Terrific
yes in favor Of Slave Labor and Slave States is OPP
posed TO the natural social and moral development of
1he Republic.
It seems almost unnecessary to demonstrate the first
ef these propositions. In the beginning there were
twelve Slave States, and only one that was Free:
Now, six Of those twelve have become Free; and
there sixteen Free States to fifteen Slave States.
II the three candidates now here, Kansas, Minnesots
and Oregon, shall be admitted as Free States, then
there viii be nineteen Free States to fifteen Slave
States Originally there were twenty-fcur Senators
Of Slave STATES, and only two of Free state; now
there are thirty-two Senators of Free States, and
thirty Of Slave States In the first Constitutional
Congress the Slave States had fifty seven Represen-
tatives and the Free State had only eight now,
The Free States have hundred aud forty-four e-
presentatves while the Slave States have only ninety
These changes have happened in period during
which the Slave States have almost uninterruptedly
exercised paramount influence in the Government and
notwithstanding the Constitution itself has opposed
ws-known checks TO the relative increase Of repre-
sentstion Of Free States. assume, therefore, the
truth ofmy first proposition.
Suggested Sir, q second circumstance, namely:
That whereas in the earlier age of the Republic, the
National Government favored this change, yet il has
nnce altogether reversed that policy, and 1t now
opposes the change. ! do not claim that heretofore
the National Government always, or even habitua.y,
interyened in the Territories in favor Of the Free
States but only that such intervention rreponderated
While Slavery existed in all of the States but one, at
TIE beginning, yet 1t was far less intense IN the
Northern than in some OF the Southern States. AL OF
the former contemplated an early emancipation Ihe
fathers seem not 70 have anticipated an enlargement
Of the National Territory; consequently, they eX-
pected that all the new States TO be hereafter admit
td would be organized upon subdivisions OF the then
exstng States, or upon divisions of the then existing
national domain. That domain lay behind the thirteen
States and stretched from the Lakes 10 the Gulf and
was bounded westward by the Mississippi 1t
naturally divided by the OHIO River and the North west
Territory and the Southwest Territory we're organ.
ized on that division. II foreseen, even them
that the new States TO be admitted weuld ultimately
everbalance the thirteen original ones They were,
beweyer, mainly to be yet planted and matured in
the desert, with the agency of human labor.
The fathers knew only of two kinds of labor, the