The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1858-10-28

The ELECTION OF yesterday constitutes
ynu Member Of the XXXVIth Con
grcss. aud restores me to she privilege ol
a priyat. citizen Among those prlVl-
leges, nane is more Important than that
.ot respectfully aud frankly addressing our
public servants on matters perti4ping to
our political Interests.
In re4snt speech, at Xenia, you are
reported ag saying, THAT il We bought
Slave Tcrritqry-say Cuba-under such
n treaty as that BY Which we Obtained
Louisiana, we were bound to respect their
rights Of property and admit the Terrific
-ry as Slave State ii it wished to come
in As such"
| can give to this declaration no other
construction than all assurance that, if
the Executive shall negotiate treaty for
the purchase Of Cuba, and obtain its rat
ifcation By the Senate, you viii be bound
TO respect tie right or property 'ohtch tire
Spanisb masters hold IL hejr sfarcs J;
and. Oh account Of such right, you will
vote for the admission Of Cuba as Slave
State if her people ask it.
Coming from one to whom the question
will prqbably be submitted, this declara-
tioG is eertaiuly important, The adnlis-
sion Of Cuba as Slave State must great.
j. ptfect the interests, the rights, aud the
louor Of our people You will permit
me to suggest that this doctrine Of "prop-
crty ia hu~Aan feSh' has ever been repu-
dated by the people Of Ohio, even while
We were Territory. In both our first
and present. Constitutions it is most une-
quivocally rejected In all our legSls-
tiou, by the decision Of all our Courts, it
has with perfect unanimitY been discard
ed When it was Grst presented to the
Supreme Court of the United States for
decision, an eminent JuriNt Of Ohio
(Judge McLean) boldly denied its exist
ence under the Federal Constitution; and
exposed its absurdity with such powers
of logic and eloqucnoe, that no Siavehold-
ing Judge was then willing to meet or
deny his doctrine
When in 1885 it was presented to the
House of Representatives in Congress,
and referred to tho Committee on Claims,
my predecessor, the Hon. T. Whittlesev,
another son of Ohio, met it ably; and in
a report rejecting honor upon himself
and the State which he represented. show
ed from Official records that the doctrine
which you assert had up to that time ev-
er been repudiated by Congress. In ac-
cordancc with these precedents, | have,
during my service il that body, opposed
Il as often As presented for consideration !;
and, to thls day, as often as 1t hGs been
G9itateq an Congress 1t he's becs rejected.
At the formation Of our Federal Con
stitution, Mr. Madison declared it would
be wrong to admit i'll that instrument
that "nran can hotd property IN n1m." )"
to which every member Of the oonyen-
tlon Yielded tacit admission. but the
people were not satisfied with a silent ne
CATION Of such doctrine, and two wears
afterwards Congress proposed to amend
the Constitution by declaring, "7hot ~
person shall be depriued qfHte, liberty or
property, aoithout dus process ot' lac :"
that Is without trial and conviction before
some tribunal having jurisdiction Of the
offense and this proposition was adopted
by the States, and now forms a part of
the Constitution I need not say that
the Republicans of l776 and those of
1856 declared ii to be a "se!Eectdent
truth" that all men (incIuding sltrCes as
well as their masters) are endowed by
their Creator with the inalicnable right to
liberty, and that our Federal Government
was founded for the express purpose of
securing to every human being WITHIN its
exclusive jurisdiction the enjoyment of
this right. And should Cuba be annex
ed to the United States, and thereby
brought under our Jurisdiction, the Re
publicans will be bound to respect the
tight Of ereyg iadtri9uai to enjoy his lib
erty under the lars of the InUcd States,
while they will be equally bound to reject
any claims of property which Cubans may
set up 10 the souls and bodies of each
other.
To these doctrines Of our Republican
Fathers, of the statesmen and jurists OF
Ohio, to the letter and spirit Of our State
and Federal Constitutions, to the platform
and policy of the Republican party, you
seem to have placed yourself in the most
unmiStakable antagonism, say you seen,
20 have placed yourself in this attitude
You are SO reported, and you have been
misrepresented IN any respect, it is due
70 the people Of the State as we'll as tc
yourself that your true position be known
and l thus address ycu over my own sig
pature, in order that you may feel at per,
feet liberty to explain the language you
are reported to have used, Us well as tc
correct any error of facts or Of argument
into which ! may have fallen in this let
ter / know that vnu desira To be nntler.