Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Randolph County, Ind.) 1855-1862, 1858-04-22


investigate II. How are we met In
that request? We have had 10 en-
counter executive influence, and an in
vestigstion is denied MS. How. then.
can gentlemen get up and say that this
constitution expresses the true will Of
the people Of Kanzas. when they refuse
to allow us to bring proof to establish
bevena controversy that IL Is the con-
sumation Of the vilest frauds that have
ever been pcrpctra;ed?
The gentleman from Connecticut
(Mr. Bishop told YOU the other dsy
what You would get by it-that Slave
~ would ge, the she'll. and freedom the
oyster. There is truth in that. How
can you expect to maintain Slavery in
kanzas, with three-fcurths of her peo-
pie opposed to the eonstiiution9-
What good will i, do You. unless you
have laws to protect your Slaves?--
Can YOU maintain j; agains; the viii
of u community. even If YOU have laws
to give sanction to holding Slaves?--
see gentlemen from the South here,
who know tina, il cannot be done.
But we are blamed for maintaining
the position we DO. Here let me saw.
that there NAV he no misunderstand-
ing. that | have a very high regard for
the judicial tribunals OF my country:
but. sir, | have no regard for political
decisions, pronounced by a political
court ] never had. and never will
have. Slavery. | assert. cannot exist
in the absence of positive law in its
favor The doctrine established. as
gentlemen say. by the decision Of the
Supreme Court of the United States.
is that Slavery exists in all the Terri
tories Here. again. | follow nv old
political leader. Henry Clay He said.
in the debate on the compromise meas-
ures:
Far different would. fear. be our
case, if. unhappily. we wonld be led
into war, into civil war-a hostile pos
ition towards each other. in order to
carry Slavery into new territories ac-
quircd from Mexico Mr. President.
we have hcard-all of us have read
of the efforts OF France 70 propagate
what. on the continent Of Europe Not
slavery. sir. not Slavery, but the
rights of man; and we know the fate
of her efforts at propagandism of that
kind. But If, unhappily. we should
be involved III war. in civil war. be-
tween tie two parts of this Confedcr-
acy, in which the effort upon the one
side should lie to restrain the intro
duction OF Slavery into the new terri
tories. and upon the other side to force
its introduction there, what a specta-
Gle should We present to the astonish-
ment Of mankind. in an effort. not TO
propagate rights. butt must say it.
though | trust it viii be understood to
be said with no design to excite feeling
"a war to propagate wrongs in the
territories thus acquired from Mexico.
1t would be war in which we should
have no sympathics. no good wishes:
in which oil mankind would be against
rs: in which our own history itself
would be against us; for. from the COM
mcncement Of the Revolution down to
the present time. we have constantly
reproached our British ancestors for
the introduction Of Slavery into this
country"
But it is said here that this was orig
inally Slave territory; that Slavery ex-
listed there when we acquired il from
France. Well, that was certainly so:
but Slavery was abolished there North
Of the line thirty-six degrees thirty
minutes. and the compromise by which
it was abolished was assented 10 for
the third OF century. But the very
moment that this territory is open FOR
settlement, it is seized upon and con-
verted TO Slavery, not alone by fraud
but by force and arms. An effort is
made by the force Of this Government
to wiest it from freedom and to secure
it to Slavery forever The North per-
formed its share of the contract The
South said that we should have free
dom North Of that line, and we said
that you might have Slavery South of
it; but the South now violates its COM
pact. and insists on having Slavery
North OF H.
But gentlemen say that this Lecom-
ton Constitution has all the forms of
law in its favor We'll. let me ask
these gentlemen this question: if the
delegates to that convention had been
elected By full and fair vote of all
the people of the Territory. and had
cngrafted on that constitution certain
provisions odious TO all the people.
and that people. before the act was
consumated, came 10 Congress and
protested against il, is there a man in
this House-if the negro question was
not involved in it-who would stand
up and disregard that protest? IL Or
egon had come here with constitr-
ton, and If her Delegate on this floor
protested against it, and her Terrific
rial Legislature protested against il.
and ten thousand Of her citizens were
found protesting against il. and if the
North in spite Of all that. attempted
to force that constitution upon them.
dcnurciations loud and long would
have come from the the South. There
is not Southern man that would not
have been loud in his defence of tho
right of the people TO form their own
constitution But because there Is .
negro in this question, there is no such
denounciation.
Mr.. HUGHES Iwould like TO put
a question 70 my colleague.
Mr.. KlLGORE ] have no, time
10 he interrogated.
Mr. HUGHES. The question is
very short. II i fhis-
A. XrI q ODE I-1i -lf,