Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1859-10-18
~ A recent district convention Of de

KR- A recent district convention OF dem
:. ocrats in Massachusetts,, called to appoint a
delegate TO the Charleston Convention, adopt
ed a resolution expressing the opinion that
the people of TERRITORY, when they come
to form a State Constitution, we're compe7
tent TO dispose of the subject OF slavery, and
not before. This resolution was Immediately
seized upon sby Southern democrats as evil
dence the soundness Of the democracy OF
Massachusetts, upon the subject of slavery
1t was one sweet morsei amongst score OF
bitter ones offered them by Northern demo-
crats; AID they ought to esteem tive will
not say, highly; but, for tchat IL Is ,corh How
: much it is worth, we can soon ascertain.
The democratic State Convention of Massa-
1chusetts nominated last mouth a candidate
Ttor Governor, Mr.. B. F. BUTLER. This gen.
tleman has accepted the position in letter
in which he takes occasion to give bis views
upon the question of slavery in the terrific
ries His views are directly at variance
with those of the resolution mentioned above.
Now, if the democrats who adopted the reso-
luton, refuse to support Mr.. BUTLER, their
'soundness may be regarded as beyond ques-
tion, and their resolution of great value
But if they do not reject Mr.. BurLER, they
cannot be regarded as sound, and their reso-
luton is not worth the paper upon which it
is written. Will they reject Mr.. BUTLER
Ofcourse not. Their views were for South
ern market-his are for home market
They understand each other, and will pull
together as well as any matched team.
The following are Mr.. Buffers views upon
the slavery question:
Upon the question of slavery, which ap-
pears to control the political action of a ma
jority in Massachusetts in preference to OBJ
jects affecting their more immediate interests,
/ believe 1 can be equally explicit, having no
opinions to conceal. In my opinion, slavery
exists nowhere by natural right, but only be-
cause of some positive enactment, embodied
either in the Constitution or statute law of
the community in which it is found.
Again, believe it to be the essential ele-
ment of the Democratic creed, as promulga-
ted at Cincinnati, in 1856, as well as plainly
deducible from the doctrines of the Gathers
of the Republic" one 10 ,chch eUery lung Dem
oerat,c salesman has, at some period, pIedged him
seLf, that the people of every community, who
associate themselves upon the territory Of the
to be organized into Territorial Govern
ment, hire the right By their legislation, under the
Constitution, 10 manage all their d6ne,fic inst,tu-
tOnsW their ot0n tcdy; or, in other words. to de-
termine for themselves the Status of society
under which they will live, and that this
right continue until the formation of such
Territory intO State, when 1t Is conceded
by ALL Then, slaves being decided TO be
property by the Supreme Court, in the States
here al ~
ted as such in the Territories. as far as in the
several States, giving the master the right to
hold them while there is no Territorial lcgis-
lation on the subject, with the further right
to remove them within a reasonable time at
ter legislation is had that divests him of his
property by a law declaring them free. This
would put the rights of the South upon their
true constitutional basis, leaving the public
domain fairly open to competition and emf
grafton; permitting the question of bond
and free to be settled by the natural
laws of interest and profit, or by the new
Informed community, as soon as it is
of ability to settle any other question
of government policy; retaining in the
Shareholders, who had brought his prop
erty upon the public land. under the protec
tion of the Constitution. the right 10 take il
away, II In danger of being Invested of II by
Territorial legislation. More than this the
South ought not to ask; more than this the
North ought not to grant. -.F.-
or course, from the reasoning, no one
would hold that by carrying his slave into
unoccupied and unOrganiZed territory. the
master valves his right to him, so that by
ths act he would be emaneipated. Upon this
subject. deem the public mind to be sub
stantialiy settled in the full determination to
leave slavery to be dealt with by the laws Of
the several localities where it has it's exist