The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1858-07-22


tids OF the States--We must maintain and
carry obt thet great principle Of self.goFeTn.
mfnt incorporated in The acompromise lof
ls5Osend6fbed by tae Illinois legislature
in 1851, and embodied and carried out In
the Kansas Nebraska bill, and vindicated
this wear by the refusal to bring Kansas in
to the Union with Constitution which she
had voted down. :,
The other proposition advanced by Mr..
Lincoln in his speech consists in crusade
against the Supreme Court Of the unlteo
States on the ground OF the Drea Scott de.
cision. On this question also l desire 70
SAY to you u'unequivochlly, that take uHect |
or distinct issue with him. have no war
fare to make on the Supreme Court ot tne
'UnIted States, tapplause,l either on account
of that or any other decisions which iney
have pronounced from that bench: the
Constitution Of the United States has pro-
vided that. the power Of the Goyernment----
and the Consultations Of the several states
had the same provisions--shall be divided
into three departments--the executive, leg
islative, and Judiciary. The right and the
province Of expounding the. Constitution
and the construction Of law is vested IN the
judiciary established by the Constitution
AS a lawyer, feel at liberty to appear be.
fore court and controvert any principle OF
law while the question is pending before the
| tribunal; but when decision is made, my
private opinion, your opinions, all our opin.
| ion must yield to the majesty Of that au-
thoritative djudicationr-[ Cries OF "Good,"
and cheers1--and wish you to bear In mind
that this involves the great principle upon
which our rights and our liberties and our
property oil depend. What security have
you for your property--for your regulations
--for your personal rights, unless the
courts are to be upheld and their decls.
ions respected, when once finally rendered
by the highest tribunal known to the
Constitution! . r.-l ysE !ear ~
i do not choose, therefore, to 60 into an
argument with Mr.. Lincoln in reviewing the
various decisions that Supreme Court has
made either upon the Dred Scott case or any
other, and have no idea Of appealing from
the decision of the Supreme Court. upon.
constitutional question to q decision OF
town meeting. [Cheers.] ] am aware that
an eminent lawyer Of this city, now no more,
once said that the State of Illinois had the
most perfect judicial system in the world,
subject to one exception, which could be
1 cured by slight amendment. That amend
, ment was that the laws should be changed
, so as to allow an appeal from the decisions
, OF the Supreme Court of Illinois, on all
constitutional questions, to two justices OF
, the peace. [Cheers and laughterJ nay
! friend Lincoln assures me that that proPo-
$ sitioB was when was Judge of the Supreme
n Court. If that be true, don't think that
o that fact adds any greater Importance or
D weight to the suggestion. II matters no'
!. to me who was on the bench, whether Mr..
d Lincoln or myself, Lockwood ora Smith,
g or whether it was a fancy or Marshall;
$ yet the decision of the highest tribunal OF
;. nation on the Constitution Of country must
Il be final until il has been reversed be equal
d " high authority. Hence | ain opposed to
II this doctrine OF Mr.. Lincoln's, by which ne
proposes to take an appeal from the decision
= of the Supreme Court of the United States
q upon these high constitutional questions
II to Free Soil or Republican caucus situat
o ed in the country-yes, or to any other eau
d Gus or town meeting. / respect the decl
q sion OF that august tribunal; | shall bow II
!. Difference to it. | am w-abdng man
e | will sustain the Constitution of my coun
y try as our fathers have made it, and vii
l. Weld obedience to the laws, whether Ink
J. them or not, as find them on the statut
Is book. will sustain the judicial trlbuna
it and the constituted authorities in all matter
}; within the pale Of their jurisdiction as detla
h ed by the Constitution. But am eqn III
l. free to say that the re son assigned ny Mf
" Lincoln for resisting the decision of tn
,e Court in the Dred Scott case does not com
- mend itself to my appreciation. He object
" to it because that do ,sion declares that
ic negro descended from African parents VIII
I'd were brought here and sold as slaves is nc
ID and cannot be a citizen of the United States
or He says il is wrong because it deprives tn
al negro Of the benefit of that clause OF In
as Constitution which says that the citizens q
h. one State shall enjoy all the privileges an
as immunities of the citiZens Of the severo
le States. In other words, he thinks it
in wrong because it deprives the negro OF tn
ad privileges, immunities, and rights OF citizen
or ship, which pertain, according to the decis
IN ion, only to the white man. am free t
10 say to you, my fellow citizens, that in m
D opinion this Government of ours is founde
rs ON white basis. 1t was nude by whit
lis men, to be administered by white men
py such manner as they shall determine
e 1t is also true that negro OF Indian, or an
ed other man Of an inferior race to the whit
H. man, should be permitted to enjoy, and hu
ly manity requires that he should h1ve all tn
re- rights and all the privileges and oil the in
at munilies which he is capable of exercisin
n. consistent with the safety OF society. | wi
I'd give him every right and every privileg
tv which his capacity will enable him to enjo
of consistent with the good of society wher
or he lives. But you may ask me what OF
n. those rights and privileges! My answer
that each State must decide for itself tn
r. nature and extent OF those rights. Illino
he has determined for herself. We have d
n, cided that the negro shall not be slave.-
,f. We have, at the same time, decided that
* shall not vote nor hold office, nor serve o
.,v juries, nor enjoy political privileges. d.
he ny the right of any other State to complai
M, of our policy on that subject, or to interel
,er with or attempt to change it. On the 9TH
les hand, the State Of Maine has decided lnat
all that State negro may vote on an equali
X with white man. The sovereign power
we Maine had right to prescribe that rale f
he herself. Illinois has no right to comPla
he of Maine for comforting negro suffrage
wn On the other hand, the State of New Yo
has decided in her Constitution that neg
=. may vote, provided he owns $3.50 worth
sh property, and not otherwise. The rich n
',e gro may vote, but the poor one shan't. 4
sn' though that distinction does not CONNIE
W. W. itself to my judgment, yet say that t
a'e sovereign power of New York had n rig
oV to prescribe that form of the elective Ira
'eu chise, if she chose to do so. On the 9th
Nv. hand. Kentucky and Virginia, and 9th