Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1859-04-02
From the Columbia South Carolininh.
The Doctrine Of Non Intervention The

A
The Doctrine Of Non Intervention The
~ Recent Debate.
|, Tho doctrine of Congressional intorven.
tion in the affairs. of the Te,Sitories, DIS ah-
nounced by some of our prohlincttt. South
er men, is yariously commented on by the
press of the country. The argument is .
Southern men have. q right, under the Con
ST ution, to go to the Territories with thoir
property IN slaves-thcy should, therefore,
be protected while there by Congress, the
executor of the Constitution. The Free
soiiers, on the other hand, contend that tho
Territories being the, property of tho States,
Congress, as the legal representative of tho
States in their federal capacity, has the
right eo exclude it. Here is direct CON
iiict, which IL became necessary to adjust.
To effect this, it was necessary to do that
much abused compromise. In dcS-
potic governments where there is conflict,
coercion is the remedy. In republics, as
was illustrated in tho formation of the fed
cral compact, and in the construction of ey.
,nict, reconciliation can only be obtained by
compromise, In such a spirit Was the doe
trinc of intervention announced to the
country; and after being discussed in Con
gress, through the press; aud on the hust-
ings, in every State in the Union, it was
accepted AZ tho final Adjustment It was
then particularly acceptable to the South.
Southern men saw that tho North possess.
ed the numerical control of Congress the
Wilmot proSiso, proposing to exclude ch.
tireIy from the Territories, was bsiug urg-
ed in, almost every Northern State. 1t was
plain that the South had nothing to expect
from Congress with this assumption pre-
vailing TO such an extent. The assunp
ton Of authority to exclude slavery, which
had been asserted und practived under tho
Missouri Compnniise, was met by the
counter ductrinc df intervention. BY
two powers could her institution be lcgisla-
ted aglnst--by Congress or by the people
of'thcHTcnitory. Congress il the right to
lcgislate was conceded to it, would, it is
thought, exercise it inimicaly. This doe.
trinc Of non, intervention tied it's hand, and
left the people Of the Territory still able,
as they were before, to act in reference
to slavery. 1t conferred no more power
uponthe people than they possessed prcyi,
Gus to the compromise, which disqualified
Congressional action. The point grained
by the South was that of the two powers
that which was regarded as the more dan
gerous was disqualified The South ac-
ccpted it as tho only practical solution
consistent with her honor and her rights.
We may dislike to acknowledge that the
people of the Territory can control the
question; but wherever there is trial by
jury thoro will be popular power whether
We acknowledge it or not,
Such was the result We now see the
dangerous doctrine advanced that the South
requires special protection from the Fedc-
raj Government. 1t would be well to re-
fleet what this protection means, and to
what extent it will involve the intervcn-
tion of Government. The first step would
bc the passage of code, Of laws. But as
enacting is one thing and enforcement an
other and as the former is absolute mock
cry without the latter, so to furnish federal
protection to Southern property, there must
be an exercise offorce The process, then
would be this: and action would be inst-
tutcd under this code. The judge would
cxpound the law, as did Judge Wayne and
Judge Maglath, before the Grand Jury in
the Echo case. If the people in the Ter
rltory were adverse to slavery, they would
qwetly throw out the bill. What next?
Either nothing or tyranny. Either ncqui-
csconce'or the subversion of the indcpen-
dcnce of the jury system. Those who pro-
pose this, overlook the fact that, when it,
interferes with domestic relations, our Fed
eral Governments perfectly powcrlcss be-
yond the right TO enact All powerful in
Encouragement Of foreign affairs, it can
be and has been with perfect impunity de-
fed by grand juries both North and South;
and if it attempted to establish slavery in
aTerritory where the popular sentimcnt was
hostile to it, signal failure would bo the
result. What folly, then, what incon-
sistcncy, in Southern men, after having
abused tho Federal Government and pro-
bouncing that it was thoroughly abolition
lied, to turn and implore its protection!
The Post rfine Tlanartmonf