Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1859-09-15


A late qumbsr ol ihe New York Tdbuno
contains tho speech. Of seysfal columps, Of
Jefferson Dawn, q. s. Senator from Mississippi
ri, to tho Democracy Of the State assembled in
Convention. The Tfibune donominates thia
soeeeh ca manifesto Of more than ordinary
importance. Mr.. Davis is unquesiionably the
foremost man Of the South at the present day.
In the Senate his pre- emineneo among his
slsveholding colleagues is conceded on all
hands Every Northern Senator will adm"
that from The Southern side Of that floor tine
most formidable adversary to meet in debate Is
the Missisaippian, whose demeanor reveals the
keen consciousness Of great and commanding
power. Il (the speech) presents IN concen'
trated form all that the best intellect OF the
slaveholding class has to say ON the whole
range of our politics as they now stand IL Is
the manifesto Of the South"
Mr.. Davis advocates the re opening OF the
slave trade Our purpose, however, is to mo-
tice but single statement in the speech
"In 1887 when Virginia, in a spirit of gener-
onity, and to promote the formation Of the
Union, had ceded to the Northwest, territory
suficicnt in extent and natural capacity for an
empire, the Congress Of the Confederation as
sumed 10 set the seal Of it's disapprobation on
the institution Of slavery by excluding it from
all Of that vast domain" 1t may be replied to
the charge of assumption by the Continental
Congress, that the first Congress under the
Constitution 10 its earliest work passed an act
endorsing and engrahing the Ordinance into the
| new code, and Washington, as President, ap-
proved the act.
| Ialsiiv as to erient Of area ceded by Virginia
To Congress north west of the Ohio river, It is
trumpeted in speeches both in and out of Con
oress The gift, the cession was so great Of
such vast extent from a slaveholding State, that
il must often be paTaded before our eyes. So
in "tbe Dred Scott decision" the same prom
,nence is piven TO the genero sitY Of Virginia
and the vast extent of her cession That de
cision rectes, that Virginia in lIS4 vountari
ly ceded to the United States the immense tract
Of country lying north west OF the river Ohio
and which was within the acknowledged limits
of the State" Again, "The example Of VirgiDis
was soon afterwards followed by other States -
And again, "The territory ceded by Virginia
belong to the several coniedersted States as
common property" 1t is Virginia, and only
Virginia, in the greatness Of her generosity
and muni6cence that we must contemplate
Now the facts are, that Connecticut, Massa
cbusetts and New York had Grown grants as
we'll as Virginia and their boundaries in more
exact terms than those of Virginia, were de
scribed by certain, continuous parallels OF lati'
itude running from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Have gentlemen never heard OF New Con
nectcut," or the "WesteTn Reserve'-a por
,ion of the claim OF Connecticut to her Colo
| IL. 1,nNu 4 md af
tude and extending loDgitudinally 100 milesl-
Congress yielded the fee of this tact to Con
necticut which becomes monument that
recognizes the validity Of title in Connecticu
, to her Crown Graut. All the balance lylnl
between these lihits Of latitude ioesteriy of thi
tract Connecticut ceded to Congress. Nor les
did Congress- recognize the claims OF Mlssachu
sets and New York 10 territory north west O
, the river Ohio lying between the 42d and 45tl
parallels. New York set the example" no
Virginia, as the Dred Scott decision afirms o
ceding western territory and her cession in arc;
was fourfold Of that of Virginia, allowing the
latter to have the title between the Ohio rive
and the 4lst parallel. New York mFde he
deed Of cession March lst, 1881, the very daI
on which the Confederation went into opera
ton. 1t was a noble example" and a mum
ficent cession Virginia had not completed he
cession till subsequent to the ordinance Of 1887
On the claim of Virginia it may be remarked
, that but little over a century since the GOveno
, and the House of Delegates of that State wer
at loQgerheads whether the French, on tn
e Western slope of the Alleganies, were IN fac
{ within the limits of Virginia. From evdenc
adduced in several sessions Of the COntinenta
, Congress which investigated the title Of Virgini
u to western territory, it appeared that mupicipl
regulations between New York and Virgini
had subsisted for the preceding 100 years b
reason of the coverture of New York over th
Six Nations through their dominancy over tb
> Western tribes, that the Western boundary {
Virginia was the crest of the Alleghaniesj an
d committees of Congress for the investigation {
= title to Western territory by Virginia repoI te
4 adverse to its validity. Who shall be the mex
advocate, and when the next Judicial tribuna
for affirming the generosity of Virginia i
{ ceding the "vast' and "immense" domain north
. west Of the OhiOl 7.