The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1859-02-23
Gge AsBlanb Nnion,
ASHLAND, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY %, 1859.
why the republicans opposed TN e admIs
sion of oregon. - i

WIN the kAcpuDllcanS oppOSc0 -
sion OF oregon. Z
We were in error last week in stating that
every Republican member of the House of
Representatives from Ohio voted against the
bill admitting Oregon as a State. Three Re-
publicans, namely-Messrs. HORTON, LETTER
and NIcHoLs-casL aside their party shackles,
and voted for the bill. Messrs. Hiss and
SHERMAN were either absent or had not the
moral courage to record their votes. Every
Democrat, however, from Ohio, was not only
in his place, but voted for the bill.
Oregon comes into the Union not only a
FREE STATE, but a WHITE MANS STATE. The
early policy of Ohio, designed to exclude a
Negro population, has been engrafted into the
Constitution of Oregon. And this is one of
the principal excuses offered by Republican
editors and Members of Congress for their OPP
position to the admission of Oregon. The
New York Tribune thus states the case:
tsBy the express terms of their Constitution,
Just accepted by Congress, any of Mr.. Eli
TRayer's constituents and supporters guilty of
having African blood in his veins who should
visit Oregon with intent to settle therein, is
guilty of a grave ofense against the majesty
of tina State, and will be treated therefor like
an outlaw and afelon. Any white rufhan may,
with perfect impunity, rob him of every far
thing of his property in broad daylight he is
forbidden to institute an action in any Court of
Oregon for the redress of any wrong whatever;
and, as Chief Justice fancy has turned him
out of the Supreme Court and bolted the door
behind him, his case is hard indeed.
There are very few negroes in Oregon to be
affected by this policy. They may go there,
as they came into Ohio, Notwithstanding the
interdict. If they do go Nhere, and -deport
themselves properly, it is not probable that the
laws viii be enforced against them. During
the twenty-five years that similar laws were in
existence. in Ohio, we never heard of an in
stance of their being enforced.
e But the policy is not dictated so much by
q hostility to the African, as by a design to pro-
tect the interest and dignity of the white race
particularly of the laboring portion of them.
We approve the policy as a sound and just one.
Let the Slave States take care of their negroes
slave and free.
The right of suffrage is among the disabili-
ties imposed by the Oregon Constitution upon
the. Negro-and this was one of the chief
points of attack by the Republicans during the
3 progress of the bill through the Senate. Mr..
FEssENTDEN; of Maine said: =,
nBy the laws of Maine under the ~constitu-
ton of the State of Maine, free negroes are
: citizens, Just as mach citizens Of the State Of
Maine, as ghite men 1t has been so solemnly
decided by the highest tribunal of our State
since the bred Scott case. The Supreme
Court of Maine has decided that they are emit
tied to all the privileges, that they stand upon
perfect equality ruth rhite men under the COnstt-
tption and Iaocs ofMe State. They are uoters,
and recognized as citizens under the terms Of the
Consultation aohich dUocs any citizen to cote
There is a clause in the Constitution now pre-
scented from Oregon which prohibits free ne
groes from coming into the State and residing
there and it therefore prohibits a portion of the
citizens of the State of Maine from going to
Oregon. / cannot vote for the admission of
any State, with a Constitution which prohibits
any portion of mig JeOop citizens of my own
State from the enjoyment of the privileges
which other citizens of my State have, and which
the citizens of every other State have. Hence,
sir, inasmueh as a portion of the people that
/ represent, the free citizens of the State of
Maine, cannot by the provisions of this Con-
stitution be allowed to go to Oregon to reside
under any circumstances, it is an insuperable
objection to my mind, and I cannot vote for
the admission of Oregon as a State with such
a Constitution"
- Mr.. FEssENDEN certainly evnces more zeal
for the interests of his colored constituents
than he ever did for his white ones.
Mr.. WADE, who represents the state of
Oberlin in the United States Senate, fully en-
dorsed the position Of the Maine Senator. .
Mr.: WILSON, of Massachusetts, entered his
protest against Oregon in this language:
s'The people of Oregon have adopted a con-
~stitution excluding slavery; but they have put
in a provision in this constitution, which L be.
feEe to be unconstitutional, nhuman and un-
christian. They not only exclude negroes ano
mulattoes from residing in the State, but they
have made a provision that they cannot hold
q any real estate there, they cannot make con
4 tracts, NOR MAINTAIN any suit Now, Mr.
President, I live in a Commonwealth that rec
Z ognizes the absolute and perfect equality Of al
men of all races. a MuIatto, or Negro, an til,
State I represent as not only q citizen Of tn
State; he not only has the right to vote, but !
the people choose to do At, they may elect him t.
toany office IN their gift"
1t is a very pretty Meory-that "down east
which recognizes the "a5so14te and pertec
eqaahty Of all men Of all races but it il
only a theory; because there is not a State il
the Union where there exists SO broad, a gul
between a bloated aristocracy of wealth ant
the mass, of the people. At the polls, in the
workshop, and in all the fields of labor, tn
poor white man is compelled to endure the degra
ding competition of the African. So long az
Massachusetts, and Maine offer an elysium TO
the Negro, they should not complain of tn
people of other States, who, having diferent
moral and political tastes, choose a differen
policy.
sa-To Northwestern Ohio belongs one, a
least, of the State officers, and for the Office O
Secretary of State we know of no better nam'
than that of F..C. LIE Blond, of Celina. Mr.
LIE Blond is a pure and undefled Democrat
has served in the Legislature and filed the
Office of Speaker of the House of Representa-
tiyes with marked ability. We know of nj
better man for the post-Constitation.
arNor we. AS regards integrity and ca
pacity, the Democracy of Ohio could not maxi
visey selection than FRANK C. LIE BLOND