The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1858-07-29

= 1OOOs
that no fair mind can infer any such
thing from anything / have ever said.
|" Good" Z" Good."1 -
Now in relation to his inference that
/ am in favor of general consolida-
ton of all the local institutions of the
various States. l will attend to that
for a little while, and try to inquire, il
l can, how on earth it could be that
any man could draw any such an in.
ference from any thing l said. have
said, very many times, in Judge Doug
las hearing, that no man believed more
than / did in the principle of self.gov
ernment; that it lies at the bottom Of
all my ideas of just government from
beginning to end. / have denied tina,
his use Of that term applies properly
But for the thing itself | deny that any
man has ever gone ahead of me in his
devotion to the principle, whatever he
may have done in efficiency in advoca.
ting it. / think that l have said it in
your hearing-that l believe each indi-
vidual is naturally entitled to do as he
pleases with himself and the fruit OF
his labor, so far as it in no wise inter
feres with any other mans rights, Zap
plause, that each community, as a
State, has right to do exactly as it
pleases with all the concerns within
that State that interfere with the rights
of no other State, and that the general
government, upon principle, has nc
right % interfere with anything Other
than that general class of things that
does not concern the whole. / have
said that at all times. have said, as
illustrations, that did not believe in
the right of Illinois to interfere with
the cranberry laws of Indiana, the oys.
ter laws of Virginia, or the Liquor Laws
of Maine. / have said these things
over and over again and repeat them
here my -sAntisaAaAs-----
How is it, then, that Judge Douglas
infers, because / hope to see slavery
put where the public mind shall rest in
the belief that it is in the course of ul
innate extinction, that / am in favor o.
Illinois going over and interfering with
the cranberry laws of Indiana? What
can authorize him to draw any such in
ference? suppose there might be one
thing that at least enabled him to draw
such an inference that would be true
with me or many others-that is, be
cause he looks upon all this matter o.
Slavery as an exceedingly little thing
this matter of keeping one-sixth O.
the population of the whole nation in
state of oppression and tyranny un
equalled in the world. He looks upor
it as being an exceedingly little thing
only equal to the question of the
cranberry laws of Indiana-as some
thing having no moral question in it
as s0fnctfr1is a par wrtn tffc Yuc-vfor
of whether man shall pasture his LAND
with cattle, or plant it with tobacco
so little and so small thing, that he
concludes if / could desire that any
thing should be done to bring about
the ultimate extinction of that little
thing, must be in favor of bringing
about an amalgamation of all the othel
little things in the Union. Now, it Sc
happens-and there, / presume, is ths
foundation of this mistake-that th'
Judge thinks thus; and it so happens
that there is vast portion of th'
American people that do not lool
upon that matter as being this yer,
little thing. They look upon it as |
vast moral evil; they can prove it i
such by the writings of those who gave
us the blessings of liberty which W.
enjoy, and that they SO looked upon it
and not as an evil merely confning it
self to the States where it is situated
and while we agree that, by the Constitu
ton we assented to, in the States wher
it exists we have no right to interfer
with it because it is in the Constitution
we are by both duty and inclination
disposed to stick by that Constitution
in all its letter and spirit from begin
ming to end. Great applause.
SO much then as to my disposition
my wish--to have all the State Legisla
lures blotted out, and to have one gen
eral consolidated government, and
uniformity of domestic regulations il
all the States, by which l suppose it i
meant if we raise corn here, we mus
make sugar-cane grow here too, am
we must make those things which groy
North, grow in the South. All this
suppose the Judge understands am il
favor of doing. Now, so much for thi
nonsense-for / must call it-so. TIL
Judge can have no issue with me O.
a question of establishing uniformity i
the domestic regulations of the State.
J A little now on the other point-th
Dred Scott decision. Another one c
the issues that he says is to be mad
, with me, is upon his devotion to tn
| Dred Scott decision, and my oppositio
: to it.
/ have expressed heretofore, and
: now repeat my opposition to the Dire
| Scott decision, but / should be allowe
to state the nature of that opposition
and / ask your indulgence while l d
, so. What is fairly implied by the teri
Judge Douglas has used, resistanc
, to the decision % do not resist il
, i'll wanted to take Dred Scott fror
his master, would be interfering wit
property, and that terrible difficult
, that Judge Douglas speaks of, of intel
fering with property, would arise. Bt
/ am doing no such thing as that. br