Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1858-03-26


Besides that. the men who labor in our
community are the men whom We cloths
with power. They are the men who exer.
cise the prcrogti'es OF the STATE. They are
the men who, after having beon clothed
with power there. are sent abroad "a repre-
Us elsewhere. They do our legislation at
home. They support the siAte. They are
the State. They are mon, high minded
men. They read, they watch you in these
Halls every day; and through all our com.
munity the d0ings Of this branch, aud Of
the other, are a. we'll understood and per-
hnps even better. than we understand them
ourselves. | affirm that, throughout our
community. tile proceedings OF Congress ara
more extensively aud accurately read than
even BY ourselves. These are tie men who
are to be classcd by the side of the slave who
tolls think IL Is true that, in about
every three generations at least, the wheel
entirely prfurms it, revolution. Tho
wealthy man OF the North, the wealthy man
Of any community, hnts wealth at the end
Of two or thrcc generations departing IRON
the hands that accumulated IL. aud those
who commenced life without means, aud
were " hirelins, manual laborers, Ia their
turn. by their industry, accumulate that
wealth. That - the operation Of things all
around US. You rarely find. after we have
destroyed the law Of primogcniturn, a tor
tune continuing beyond thrce generations
/ in this country, m the same family.
That class Of our community, cOnstitu-
ting a very large maoriiy, has been de'ig.
mated here as hIrrins lhhorcts, white slaves
Why. sir. does labor imply slavery Be-
cause they toll. because they pursue cours'
which enable. them to support their wives
and their families. even II u Poo ~ daily
manual labor. d1r. that necessarily imply
.aryitude3 Far from 10. atIirm that tho
great portion ot our hblrcr, ut tie North
own their homes, aud they labor 20 adorn
thcm. They own their own homes. and II
you will visit them you will fnd in nearly
all of them portion, at least. OF the liiera-
ture Of the times. which shows that they
read YOU will End there evidences 20 sat
isfv YOU beyond all doubt that they are in
telligcnt, aud that they are in truth and IN
fact precisely what have described them
to hc--the pillars OF the State, the State
itself. and the very ornaments and capitals
that adorn the columns. With q cm the
acquisition of knowledge is not a crime.
have quoted all that the Senator from
South Carolina has SAID on this point Tor
the purp,ss Of giving the widest circulation
| eau 10 the declarations he has made. lie
has mistaken. douh; not. the character Of
our hborcrs by judging them from What no
has scrn in his own vicinity, aud what. ia
my Judgment. j. produced hy that ye-y state
ol scryitude which Is there existing. IL Is
nv duty 10 yindicate our lahorcrs. Ny
only regret is that can DO it no more cih-
cienily.
VI President. r,ss now from the con-
sier'ion Of this subject 70 discuss very
briefly the practical question that is before
us.
First. | Object 20 yoking the living with
the dead You uas.~l nm enabling act, ~
you called IL, Tor Minnesota. iatinch m sort
0i implrtuncc myself ~, any nc, IN relation
70 Territory which authorize, her ~ adopt
a constitution preparatory "a her admission
into the Union a. u State. except this when
Congress voluntarily passes bill pr,scrib-
I'M, the terms to a Territory. AMI .lying that
II she will adopt and follow them, she shall
b, admitted, IL impps-s an obligation upon
w. ~ ID - IN good faith. lf she i,c' not
substantially follow the provisions Of the
cnahlin. nct, she is entitled 10 100 benefit
rum 10. Ii she does, as a matter ~ good
faith, shc i entitled q admission under It's
provisions. We did - by Minnesota. II,
therefore. she has substantially followed thu
line which we marked out fpr her, in good
faith. 10 honor. and IN honesty. wo are
bound n admit her.
We did nothing in relation n the Terri
tory Of KansAs. and she CONES here, there
fore. with no implied obligation on our part
90 admit her. We may do -. | do not
think il j. of any earthly Importance wheth-
cr we authorize Territory u form State
Constitution or not. The question with INC,
and tho only question. is. is the in',rument
before us the constitution OF the people OF
the Territory? | learned great many
y1ars ago. and il il doctrine shall carry
with me 10 my grave, that governments arc
founded upon, and derive their powers from,
the consent Of the governed that govern
ments ar, instituted for the people. IL the
people Of Territory come here with con-
stiiutiOn, only desire - know that Il is in
truth and in fact their will IL is their
will. AMI everything else isrisht, will vote
for their admission. II it j. not their will.
10 not care whether You have passed en-
abling acts, do not care whether ,hey have
mad, their constitution with orNithOut en-
abling Irts, will not vote iIr their admls-
sion. rhc two cIss ara here sought - b.
connected Why? l. q make one car
~ the Other! l. it for the purp,'' II Fore
ng Kansas into the Union upIn the back
and by the strength of Minnesota You
cannot avoid that conclusion.
Then come tO the amendment which il
offered by the senator from ohio, [Mr.
pugh. an amendment. which, Ia my judg-
meat, amounts 81 nothing at all.
Then comes the amendment which j. pro-
posed by nav friend from New Hampshire.
iMr. Clark That amendment meets tho
objection. Whether it is wiss or unwisc TO
alop, such an amendment. shall not now
stop 10 inquire. will, however, say that
do not bold that W, have any right 20
make constitutions; we have a simple right
to admit States; still We have right t. de-
termins upon what terms and conditions
we will receive partner into this COnfsd-
eracy. We may reject her because we DO
not like tho terms on which she proposes
admission. do not care what those terms
are; IT, in the judgment OF a maJprity OF
Ccngrsss. the terms aro not satisfactory, we
may reject her, aud we may continue u re-
pct her until the terms on which she pre-.
sents herself arc satisfactory. There has
never been a State admitted INTO this Union
upon which we have not imposed terms ani
conditions. You have provided that they
shall not tax your public lands, and the
taxing power lies atthe basis Of every gov
ernment. IL is the food on which govern.
ment must live; hut yOu deny them the
right. Ii is u condition which You have
wisely imposed, and you had right tn Inn
posa 4,