The Feliciana Democrat., 1858-04-03
8 s
Tbe felitiana Democrat.
EXTRACT FROM A SPEECH

of Kansas us State. under the Lccompton Con- /
stinon.
North to give the South fair chance to make
Kansas slave State They organized emf
grant aid societies Immediately after the bill
was passed, and emptied their surplus vagrant
population into the Territory to Shrek" and
vote for free soil Look to the appointment of
the several Governors for that Territory. |
shall not attempt to screen the party with
which | usually cooperate for do not con-
So far as the National Democratic party is
concerned, I will support it when | think it is
right, and oppose it when wrong. fear nei-
ther the frowns, nor court the fnvors of the Adj
ministration, though contributed, TO the best
of my humble ability, to swell the majority
which was given to Mr. Buchanan in the State
of Alabama
Look ut the appointment of the Governors
of that Territory, five in number, all from the
North and, from the first to the last, all in
favor of making Kansas free State. They
took a Southern man and sent him as Gov
ernor to Nebraska where We stood no earthly
chance to make a slave State The whole
power Of this Government has been exercised
in Kansas to crush ont Southern rights, break
crifce the South upon the altar of party |
have not the time, though would like 10 do
it, to review in detail the administration Of all
those Governors of Kansas, and to devote
half an hour, at least, to the Administration
Of that great Southern traitor, Robert J. Wal
kcr Why, sir, he was against us from the
first day he went into the Territory: be went
there with the avowcd policy of making Kan
sas a free.sol State. He admits this fact III
his letter of resignation where he says that
when he entered upon the duties Of his Office,
he regarded the slavery question as of "HHic
practicai importa0ccn His correspondence with
the Secretary of State and his inaugural nd.
dress, both indicate his preference for a free
State, provided the convention would protect
the slave property then in the Territory: and
he pledged himself, if the convention would
carry out his views, to canvass the Territory,
and make speeches every day to secure the ra-
tifcation Of such a constitution. He labored
to make it free State, and now IL found op-
posing the President and his old party friends,
in trying to keep Kansas out Of tie Union,
when his new allies themselves lelierc that if
Kansas is admitted with her present constitu-
ton, the South will gain only barren victory.
Perhaps he dreamed that such course might
elevate him to the Presidential chair /. Well.
| admit that his administration in Kansas has
immortalized him. But we should remember
that there are different kinds of Immortality
The person who fired the Ephesan dome i'm
mortalized himself Washington achieved mn
immortality Of fame-Arnold an immortality
of infamy
Mr.. Chairman, another objection has been
interposed in both branches of Congress against
the admission Of Kansas into the Union, as
proposed by the President, and that is, that
her admission would not restore peace to her
people; but, on the contrary, it would light the
fires of civil war in the Territory. am not
to be deferred from demanding here all the
rights to which my section is entitled by such
an argument as that. In the defense Of
great principle, | will discharge my duty, re-
gardless Of consequences. Civil war is, grant
you, great evil, and cannot be justified if it
can be honorably avoided. But there are
greater evils gentlemen, than those which fol.
low in the path of civil war. Those evils
would be experienced by the Southern States,
if they continue to remain in the Union after
it had become the established practice Of the
Government to admit no more slave StateS..-
If, therefore, it be true that the admission Of
Kansas now, with her pro-slavcry constitution,
which the North says will not last six months,
would indeed light the fires Of civil war, |, for
one, say--let the deed be done let the fires
burn and flame up, if need be, as high rs
heaven itself; let them burn, eyeu though the
Union may fall in the general conhagration.
| would rather see the South, my native land,
as much as ! honor her, and as willing as |
am to lay down my life for her dcfcnse.-I
would rather, say, see the South, with all
her people, forever
In the deep bosom Of the ocean buried
than have her remain in the Union on terms of
inequality with the North her constitutional
rights denied her, her civilization slandered,
her institutions perpetuay warrcd upon, and
her progress i'll territorial expansion checked.
In the Union on such terms, we should no
longer be the brave and gallant people that
the world has ever been taught to regard us;
but would become mere captives, bound to the
chariot wheels of the victorious North. IF
such fate should be reserved for us in the
future-which may Heaven forbid--if we are
to be yassals at ALL | would for myself prefer,
thousand times, to be yassal Of Old than
of New England.
D,t e., : +ruo in that tho oln,;oo;a,, q