Delaware inquirer. (Wilmington, Del.) 1859-18??, 1859-12-17
POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY.

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op'iouS US Tue OonS'ess,sna' anu eon'enuon
VI pa.v sanes,oA. ine upp'oNa, Vi '"e ae'
Vi ioos' ~ rtesiue"' iiefoe' e''uehoes MS
shno'loi, hor US iaf Us tue writer KNOWS uoes
'ua' u'''insuiSneu STATESMAN now NOR mas NE
Ut An' '''ne s'a'eu 'na' ms interpretation was
io' us Popui"r anu receiver one anu certain
y, as mas seeh SHOWN, tnat was the sense IN
whlch IL was consiuereu py the subsequent
hauohai convention nut pesiue MS approF"i
VI Tue "c' MS opihioh oi ts prihc'pie Is more
u'Stihctiy given IN MS speciai message 10 Con
gress' Vi tue z4'n 'ahuary, 1000 reiatihB 10
hansas' he there says "Ahe Act 10 organ
lie 'he Ierrltories oi Neoraska ana hansas'
was manifestation Oh the legislative OPINION
OF congress on TWO general points Oh eohs.tu-
tiohai CONSTITUTIONAL Inc nrst mas no bearing
on the present uiscussion' out the second was
saiu 10 De- Una. 'ne ihhaoi'ah's OF any sueh
territory considered as an inchoate state, arc
en'itied, IN the exelcise OF sel-goVernmeht, 10
decide Tor themselves what snail De their own
domestic institutions, SUBJECT only TO the Con-
stitution, anu the laws enacted by congress
|
70 decide, according to the provisions ana
principles OF the Constitution, at what time
the territory shall be received as state INTO
the Union Can the most rehned ingenuity
eohs'rue TINS as meaning anything else 'hah
the very doctrine OF Judge pouglas, whlch 'he
Accomplishment Is now, win more zeal anu
ingenuity thah true regard tor the reputation
OF rreslueht rlercei ASSUMING one OF the
only TWO limitations 10 which alone, the rres-
ldent says, the power OF Ierritorlai people IL
during the Ierrltsriai conu'tloni ana during
that condition alone congress is 10 ueeiue
at what time the territory is 10 De state OF
the Union, ana LOT I'LL the time previous 10
such uecisioh, says Mr. rlorce, II ms worus
nave any meaning the lerritoriai people are
eonsidered'as m inchoate state, ana en'itieu'
IN the exertion OF selt-goverhment, 10 determine
ior themselves whal small De 'heir own uo'hes-
TIC INSTITUTIONS inc particular hsttu'ioh
'ndeed the only one that leu 10 the iegisiatioh,
II is TO be remembered, was domestic slavery
ana upon TINS, says the President, congress
had given the people the power to determine
Tor themselves as right IN the exercise OF
seli-government, "belonging 10 them as an
lnehoate state" ana, because OF such state
existence, consequently, from its origin to It's
extinction. The principle winch he IS salu TO
have then intended, is, that the power is pos
sessed only when such people meet in Con
vention to establish Constitution, in order to
be admitted as State into the Union. If this
be so, it is clear that the President was oppos-
ing mere Pigment of his own brain. Who,
either wise man or fool, ever imagined that
such power as that did not exist2 A State
Constitution necessarily implies State sovereign
power, includes the power to deal as it sees fit
with slavery or any other domestic institution.
Such was not the question which was then
troubling the public mind. 1t was the one
which, in this particular. the Territorial CON
dition presented, and upon that question, il the
President designed what he said in his message
of January, 1856, if he designed sincerely then
to express his real opinion, it was that the
constitutional construction evidenced by
"the legislative opinion of Congress" in the
Kansas and Nebraska Act, was, that upon
this question of domestic slavery, the right
and power of a Territorial people of State
2. OF Mr. Buchanan's sanction, his letter of ac-
ceptance of the 10th of June, 1856, furnishes
conclusive evidence. After alluding to the
agitation by which the question "of domestic
slavery" had TOO long distracted and divided
athe people, and stating that it seemed to be