The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1858-09-29
Gen. sphinx and The Fugitfvc Slave

We asked, the other day, of General
Sr1Nk, a civil question touching his views.
of the Fugitive Slave Law, which az
pears to have excited the editor of his
home organ, the Wooster Republican,
to a high degree of wrath. Instead of
giving q direct and satisfactory answer,
he turns upon us, personally, and charges
Us with the double sin of having once
been ia rampant free sOiler and opposed
to the fugitive slave law P
Now, although it is Gen. SPHINX, in.
stead of ~ourself, who is the candidate
for Congress, we must express our as
constituent at the charge preferred against
us of having been a ffee-soiler. We
have never cherished a thought, or spo-
ken OF written a word, during our life
in sympathy with that miserable faction
and its -concomitant and m~ultitudinous
''isms." The Compromise measures of
1850, and particularly the Fugitive
Slave Law, had no more jealous advocate.
except It q Gen. SPiNK, during the
tendency of those bills in Congress,
than ourself. Our faithful aud able
Representative in Congress at that time,
Hon. j. K. MILLER, true to the National
sentiment of his constituency, gave his
votes for those measures, and We done.
what we could through our paper and
personally, to sustain him. Bet that's
neither here nor there. 1t was of Gen.
SPHINX of whom We were talking-and
before he can get a vote, we must
know just how he stands on the Fugitive
Slave Law. His answer, through his
organ, the Wooster Republican, is not
as cleaf and unequivocal as it might be.
Here it is:
s:General SPiNK has no opinions to
conceal. He is 10 favor of "The Repeal
of the Fugitive Slave Bill, or such an
essential modification of it as shall make
it agree with the Constitution and with
the principles of Justice" This is his
position, and has been ever since the
northern locefoco ~doughfaces united with
the South to repeal the Missouri Com.
DIOull6C3 aud W. bAbOO II q e
mocracy, headed by PIERCE and b.
cHANAN took the position that the Con-
stitution of the United States carries
Slavery into all the Territories"
Do we understand by this, that Gen.
SPHINX is of the opinion that the Fugitive
Slave Law of 1850 requires can essen
tial modification" in order to make it
'fagree with the Constitution and with
the principles of justice ?" He did not
think 50 two years ago, when, in the
Philadelphia Convention, he voted to
endorse this Fugitive Slave Law as a
part of the "fnal settlement of the
slavery question. The Missouri Com
promise has not been disturbed since he
gave that vote in the Convention. Then
how are we to account for the chaDge?
General Sp1NK must have been around
.Oberlin recently. He has forgotten his
old patron saint, HENRY CLAY, and has
become Africanized. The General has
struck his old flag whichibe proudly car
ried during the campaigns Of a genera
tiop, and has surrendered to the pesti-
"isms, of Oberlin. Alas! what
a rickety, unstable hoax this thing called
Republicanism is! You may think you
have your finger upon it to-day-but be
fore another revolving moon it is not
After the people shall have one
or two more chances at it, they will ar
rest and confscate the whole concern.
The Repu5lican is somewhat exercised
about Mr.. JEFFRIEs, and appears dis
posed to borrow some trouble on his &C.
,ount. II says: !:
ain return for brother KNAPr's kind
ness we would be pleased to have him !.
state the posifion of JOAN p. JEFFR1Es, :
IN the Fugitive Slave Bill" I
Now, although we have never passed
|. word with Mr.. JEFFRIEs upon the sub
eet, we are as familiar with his views as
houeb we had eaten, slept and talked ! !
nth him upon the subject during the q
ast twenty-five years. Mr., JEFrRlEs
!, in favor of. tho Constitution. When
Iccted, he will swear 70 support tbatiC