Nebraska advertiser. [volume] (Brownville, Nemaha County, N.T. [Neb.]) 1856-1882, 1859-10-06
NO. 49,.


'That this was the basis Of the compromises u
1859 confirmed by both the Democratic and Whig
parties in National COnyentUn-rati6ed By lho
people IN the election Of lS52-a0d rightly applied
to the organization of the Territories in 1854 that
by the uniform application Of this Democratic pTin.
eple to the organization Of Territories and 20 The
admission Of new States with or without domestic
Slavery as they NAY elect, the equal rights Of all
wall be preserved intaet-the origiual coHPasts u
the Constitution main inviOate- md the per-
petuity and expansion Of this Union insured 20 It's
utmost capacity Of embracing IN peace and harmc-
ny any future American : tate that may be cOnsttu-
;ed or annexed with Republican form Of GUT-
eminent"
In accepting the nomination Of thls
Convention, Mr.. Buchanan, in a leler
dated June l6, 1856, said
"Tho agitation on the question Of Domestic slh-
very has too long distracted and divided tho people
of this Union. and aGenated their affections frVR
eech other. The azitatiOIshas sumed many fOrrss
since its commencement, but IL seems 10 DC di-
rected chiefly to the Territories; and judging from
its present character, think may safely antci-
pate that tits rapidly approaching a 'fnality.' Tho
recent legislation Of Congress, respecting domestic
Slavery, derived, it has been from the original
and pure fountain of legitimate political power The
viii Of the minority promises, ere long, 70 alay tho
dangerous excitement. This legislation is founded
upon principles ancient free government itself
and in accordance with them has simply DECLARED
that the people Of Territory, like those of State,
shall decide for themselves whether slavery shall OF
shall not exist within their limits" -.-
This exposition Of the history Of those
measures shows Conclusiveiy that the au-
thors of the Compromise measures Of
1850, and the Kansas Nebraska Act of
1854, as well as the members Of the Con-
tinental Congress in l774, and the fUuR-
ders Of our system Of government subse-
quent to the Revolution, regarded the
people Of the Territories and colonies as
political communities which were entitled
to free and exclusive power of legisla-
ton in their provincial legislatures, where
their representation could alone be pre-
served, in all cases Of taxation, and IN
ternal polity. The right pertains to the
people collectively as q law-abIdlng and
peaceful community, and not TO the isola-
ted individuals who may wander upon the
public domain in violation of Law. Il can
only be exercised where there are inhab-
itants sufficient to constitute q government
and capable of performing its various
functions and duties-a fact to be asCer-
tanned and determined by Congress
Whether the number shall be fixed atteD,
fifteen, or twenty thousand inhabitants
does not affect the principle. .-
The principles, under our political sys-
TEN, is every distinct political community,
loyal to the Constitution and the Union,
is entitled to all the rights, privileges,
and immunities Of self-government Ia re-
spect to their local concerns and internal
polity, subject only tothe Constitution Of
| the United States.