The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-09-23
DOUGLAS S POSITION MANIFEST ATLAsT
[From Tho Mobile daily Reglster.J

Our neghbor OF the Advertiser exprosssd the opinion
days ago that in in s0pposing Sena
tor Douglas TO be in favor the admission of Kansas
without respect 70 hen possession of the representative
ito of population Our neighbor precated this opinion
upon quotation from of the senator's late speeches
in which he declared that he believed that when Ter
ritoy had population enough for slave State it had
enough for State but he believed, nevertheless
that no Territory ought to be admitted into the Union
ill il had population of ninety-three thousand We
differed from the Advertiser In construction of this
declaration of the senator not finding sufficient to rebnt
previous conclusion inferred from the general tenor
of Mr. Douglass views in connection with the conference
act and from the position OF his leading organs and
friends this question, that he was in favor Of the ad
mission Of Kansas without respect to population We in
erpreed the senator's words to that although he
maintained the general principle that Territory should
be admitted until it had attained the requisite population
for representative in Congress- he not In favor of APP
plying that principle to the of Kansas nasmuch
Congress had decided by the passage of the conference
act that she should come In with less populations
slave State Our neighbor met argument with reg
uar syogism framed upon the best model OF Whateley
Hedge Aristotle to show the faacy of construc-
ton, and to substanate the conclusion that Douglas
would oppose the admission of Kansas until she should
have acquired the requisite population of ninety three
thousand Unfortunately, however, for the efficacy of
neighbours logic and in vindication of the
of assumption to the views Of the senator Mr.
Douglas has in subsequent speech declared himself
pcitly upon the point at ssue to leave it lon
ger matter of inference and argument that he for the
admission of Kansas before she has acquired the represc
tatve ratio. In his late speech at Freepor Mr.. Douglas
defined his position on this question Us follows:
In my opinion whenever Kansas has people enough To
constitute slave State she has people enough free
State. l will not make any exception of Kansas to
the other States of this Union hold it to be u sound
rule of universal application to require Territories 10 con-
tain the requisite population for member OF Congress
before they into the Union made that propos-
ton in the Senate in 1856 renewed it in tho Senate
during the last session. by bill providing that no Terri
tory Of the u s. should form constitution and apply
nlp tla IIpfa L..lt
population Congress did not adopt my general rule re-
uring all the Territories to have that amount Of popuia
ton before they should into the Union hut did make
an exception OF Kansas alone will not stand by that
exception Applause Either Kansas must come in the
same as any other State, with whatever population she
may have, the rule must be applied to all the other
States alike. therefore once hapng been decided
thai Kansas has enough for sldpe STATE hold that she has
enough Jma free Sias Applause.l hope MIR. Lincoln
is satisfied on this question,
Here, then, at last, we have Mr. Douglass explicit
ayowal of his position this vital question He is for
the admission of Kansas whenever she shall apply with
her new free State constitution without respect to tho
number OF Inhabitants and In despite and defiance Of the
conference act He is thus in attitude Of open
with the settled and recorded policy of the democratic
party upon the Kansas question His in the strg
gle in which he is engaged in Illinois will be tri-
unph over the democratic party and Its Kansas polcya
triumph the of the South which, at best but
feeb vndicated in the passage of the conference act
will have been utterly prostrated and ANONYMOUSLY
tamped under foot In the violation of that OF
compromise And yet, in the face of these clear and
questionable deductions, there democratic journals
here at the South bndly and ratonally claiming that
Mr. Dougas deserves the sympathy of every southern
democrat in his contest in Illinois, and deprecang and
denouncing any warfare upon him on the part of the
democratic press It is claimed that he Is fighting the
battle of the South in Illinois, when he is for breaking
down the last and only barrier of protection to southern
rights in connection with the settlement of the Kansas
question.
Some of democratic brethren and contemporaries of
the South to be laboring under absolute hauc
nation with regard to the merits of Mr. Douglass posi-
tion and contest in Illinois We are unable any other
hypothesis account for their infatuated sympathy with
the fortunes of who is in open against the
Of the democratic party and the South and whose
success must inevitably rebound to the discontinue Of
both upon the question most ytaly and imminenty
affecting their interests.