, 1859-11-25

. TlSulctlQp. III IS remarkable TACT, verl
veil worth noticing, that no northern Stat
. ever passed any law to take a negro from
J his master. All laws for the abolition 0
{ slavery have operated only on the unborI
S descendants Of the negro race, and the YES
5 ted rights Of masters have not been dis
turbed ia the North more than 10 the
/ South.
, In every nation under Heaven, civilized,
semi-barbarous, or savage, where slavery
} has existed in any form analogous to ours
5 the rights Of the masters 10 the control oI
: their slaves as property have been re-
spccted; and on no occasion has any gov.
eminent stuck at those rights, except as il
f would strike at other property. Even the
T British Parliament, when it emancipated
the West India slaves, though it was leg
) islating for a people three thousand miles
, away and not represented, never denied
either the legal or the natural right Of the
. slaVe-owner. Slaves were admitted to be
, property, and the Government ackuowl-
edged it by paying their masters one hun
dred millions Of dollars for the privilege Of
setting them free
Here, then, is q species Of property which
is Of transcendant Importance to the mate
rial interests Of the South-whieh the peo-
pie Of that region think it right and meri-
torious in the eyes Of God and good men
to hold-which is sanctioned by the gene
raj sense Of all mankind among whom Il
has existed-wbich was legal only short
time ago in all the States Of the Union,
and was then treated as sacred by every
one Of them-which Is guaranteed by the
Constitution; aud Mr.. Douglas thinks that
territorial legislature is competent to
take it away. We say, No the supreme
legislative power Of a sovereign State alone
can deprive a man Of his property.
This proposition is so plain, so well es-
tablished, aud so universally acknowledged,
that any argument in its favor would be a
mere waste Of words Mr.. Douglas does
not deny 1t, and il did not require the
thousandth part Of bis sagacity to see that
il was undeniable He claims for the ter
ritorial government the right Of con6scat-
ing private property on the ground that
those governments ARE sopereigH-have an
uncomfortable and Independents power over
all their internal affairs. That Is the point
which be thinks is to split the Democracy
: and impale the nation. But it is 50 en-
tirely erroneous that it must vanish into
, thin air as soon as II comes to be exam
ined.
A territorial government Is merely pro
visional and temporary. IL Is created BY
Congress for the necessary preservation Of
order and the purposes Of police. The
powers conferred upon Il are expressed IL
the organic act, which is the charter Of its
existence, and which may be changed or
repealed at the pleasure Of Congress. In
most Of those acts the power has been ex-
pressy reserved TO Congress Of revising the
territorial laws, and the power to repeal
them exists without such reservation
This was asserted ia the case Of Kansas BY
the most distinguished Senators 10 the
Congress Of 1856. The President ap-
points the Governor, judges, aud all other
officers whose appointment is not other
wise provided for, directly or indirectly, BY
I Congress. Even the expenses Of the terri
torial government are paid out Of the Fed
eral Treasury. The truth Is, they have no
attribute Of sovereignty about them. The
essence Of sovereignty consists in having no
superior But territorial government
has a superior in the United States Gov
ernment, upou whose pleasure il Is depend
ent for lis very existence whom il lives,
and moves, and has its being-who has
made and can unmake Il with breath.
n Where does this sovereign authority to
deprive men Of their property come from 7
This transcendent power which even des-
pots are cautious about using, and which
|, a constitutional monarch never exercises
how does IL get into territorial legisla-
ture Surely it does not drop from the
! clouds; Il will not be contended that it ae-
; companies the settlers o. exists in the ter
, ritory before its organization. Indeed, il
| is not to the people, bat TO the government
Of Territory, that Mr.. Douglas says Il
belongs Then Congress must give the
power at the same time that il gives the
territorial government. But not a word
! Of the kind is to be found in any organic
act that ever was framed. It is thus thai
, Mr. Douglas argument runs itself out into
nothing.
r But II Congress i0ould pass q statute ex
: pressly to give this sort Of power to tht
territorial governments, they still wonld
not have It; for the Federal GoYernmen
itself does not possess any control orel
mems property in the Territories. Thai
. such power does not exist in tho Fedora
! Government needs no proof Mr.. Douglai
admits It fully and freely. It Is, besides
3 established by the solemn decision Of Con
|. gress, by the assent Of the executive, au'
/, by the direct ratification Of the peopl
acting in their primary capacity at tn
: polls. In addition to all this, the Suprem
i Court have deliberately adjudged it to b,
i an unalterable- and undeniable rule Of con
r stitutional law.
: This acknowledgment that Congress ha
4 no power, authority, or jurisdiction owe
the subject literall Obligss Mr.. Douglas /
= give up his doctrine, or else to maintain
!. by asserting that power which the Fec
eral Government does not possess may b