The Van Buren press., 1859-10-28

Us d NJ feftn9W y Co., General Newspaper
Agent. No. il9, Nassau Street Ne,c Ycrk, are our
authorized AGENTS for that City
For the Van Buren, Press
Remarks upon the "Observations. t"
Whilst in Your favor basking,
Your patience I'll be tasking;
And Jere Black will never lack,
Conundruas to be asking.
Why are my "Observations'' like the
Lecompton Convention?
Dye give it up? Because they are full
Of misrepresentation. Tol de rol. ...
Notwithstanding there is about the "Ob
servations" good deal of Jere Blacks Co.
nundrum ingenuity, l do not think that Jere
wrote it, He may have had hand in it;
but his equally notorious compatriot, ST.
mon S4ags, from the South. is deeper into
1t than he is. AS neither gavo us his name,
shall assume that Simon wrotc the "Ob.
servations." Simon's argument with his
daddy, that there was nothing like bet in
the turning up-Jack transaction between
them-by which his daddy was induced to
stake the poney-is equaled only by ST.
mons present logic. by which he expects TO
make the Northern people look upon Con-
gressional protection of slave property in
the territories-as not exercising the power
OF 'legislating" slavery into the territories.
Simon said, Daddy, it is not betting; |
know You won't bet. If / don't turn up
the Jack, you take the money; if do turn
up Jack, l get the poney- that's ALL" ST.
mon now says, IN substance, that he is op-
posed to Congress legislating slavery into
the territories" He is only in favor of
Congress protecting slave property, when
the Legislature there refuse to do SO. Now,
don't think there is the slightest prospect
OF the Northern people biting at that sort
OF bait; and do not want TO go into the
next Presidential election depending upon
such a shallow trick. Simon himself saws
that very large majority North are with
him. He don't say the democratic parry
North-the sly dog; he knew that would be
too big fib for anyboly's throat. In his
majority. he includes the black republicans.
ihey do indeed agree with him-that in the
I. ,. Government, the territorial govern
ment lives, moves and has its bcing-who
can make it and unmake it with breath.
But Simon says all the party South are
with him IN this. which is a large fib OF his
Then he says the President is with him,
too, which assertion is larger fib Don't
Simon know that President Buchanan gave
his sentiments to the people of the United
States, previous to his election, in these
words: 'The people of territory, like
those OF State, shall decide for themselves
whether slavery shall or shall not exist
within their limits" Did MIR. Buchanan
endorse this doctrine for the purpose of mis-
leading any one-to cheat or hoax? No,
certainly not; he meant it to be understood
as everybody understood it-according to
the plain meaning of his language, which
the question of the day made unmistakable
and in this same sense the doctrine is sun.
ported by the whole democratic party North
and large portion of the democratic party
South.
'Tis true Simon, in his manner, makes
the ''contiscation" by the territorial Legis
lature. the doctrine which is opposed by the
majority North, Dc, in this way, (charac-
teristic of Simon): when Douglas SAYS a
thing is 90 feet high, Simon slips off a ci-
pher and makes of it and swears he has
taken nothing from it; and when Douglas
says thing is feet high, he sticks on
cipher, and goes ahead, declaring he has ad-
ded nothing. Thus he makes Douglas say
one thing at one time, and another thing at
another, at pleasure; and at other times he
starts bran new position for him. s'Con-
fiscation' of property sounds very despotic,
and Simon gives us homily on it, that
makes us shudder; but he relieves us-'tis
only so when done by people througha ter
ritolial Legislature, { and looses it's OPP
preston and anconstitutionality when done
by the same people through their represen-
tatlvcs convened to frame a constitution, or
by the people of a State through their leg
islature a citizen who, for several years
past, had paid no attention to politics un-
til he read Simon's observations, would
wonder what this horrifying thing could be
that Douglas wanted to do. From Simon's
terrible description of it., he would conclude
that he wanted to bring among us some al
most unheard-of foreign custom or policy.
He would read on at the top of his curiosi-
ty, and, to his great relief, he would pres
emily find that Simon acknowledged that
the thing, whatever it was, had been for
many years the established custom and pol
icy of Il large number of States. Reading
cuss the feller! why it is the right Of the
people to adopt or prohibit sla~ery-it's all
about. and Douglas wants to extend this
right to the people of the territories as well
as the Statcs!'' and would be very likely to
throw Simon in the fire for serving him
such trick He would be reminded of the
tale popularity told the children, about
certain curious people he had fell among in
his travels. He said they had fashion of
fixing up mud to build their houses with
that some of them lived under ground-that
they used the skin of certain beasts to cover
their feet and legs up with-that they eat
the flesh of wild animals, and gathered cer-
tain seeds with which they made kind of
tea-that, by drinking, made them cut up
strange antics, &c. After sufficiently won
dering at these strange barbarians, they
were surprised to find that Peter was desert
bing the people about tllem-of Connect
cut. a good deal like this is Simon's bar
barous confiscation trick-tbat would be SO