Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1859-11-04
eer, Ohio, and written out by himself are

ter, Ohio. and written out by himself are
these:
Il NEv9R claimed that te,rstoriaz gov-
es7eneeaat, scere sovereign, or that tie Terri
torees aoere sovereign poacers"
OF course this is not to be understood |
as mere naked denial that he had pre-
=vlonsly used those very words. We have |
no right to charge Mr.. Douglas with ad-
5ePtlng the exploded system Of morality,
winch allows man to cover up the truth I
snnder an equiuoque. We are bound to
take his deniel fairly, as meaning, that he
never thought the Territories had the right,
and powers, which belong to sovereign
governments, Let us see how this asser-
ton will stand the test of investi CATION.
We do not deny, that the article in Har-
per is extremely difficult to understand
Its unjointed thoughts, loose expressions
and illogical reasoning, have covered it
with shadows, clouds and darkness But
we will not admit that it has no meaning
at all. 1t is scarcely possible to mistake
the general purpose of the author That
purpose undoubtedly was to prove that
! the States and Territories, so far as con-
Germs their internal affairs, have political
| rights and powers which are precisely
equal. In fact, he declares, in so many
words, that Pennsylvania and Kansas are
subordinate to the Constitution ':i1 the
same manner and to the same ecte7tt'-
! He not only levels the Territories up to
the States, but levels the States down to
the Territories. If Kansas has slavery by
/ virtue of the Constitution, he insists, that
by the same reasoning, Pennsylvania has
ii too. Now we know Pennsylvania to be
a sovereign ; and if Kansas be her equal
then Kansas must necessarily be sover-
eign also.
But look at the last sentence, which is
the grand summary of his whole doc
trine:
''The principle u,der oar 1oziticI eys-
tenn is that every distinct politicab coosnaw
| nity, loyal to the Constitution and the
Union, Is entitled to alL the rights, prlui-
leges, and imnaunities Of seZtgovernmeat
in respect to their loca! concerns and in
ternal polity, subject only to the Consti-
tuition Of the United States"
Here the States and Territories are
+, paced Oh footing of perfect equality
I There is no distinction made between
them. II the States are sovereign,so are
1.-THE Territories. Besides, the s.rights, priv
bes as pertaining to every distinct political
community, Chat is, to both States and
| Territories, are sovereign rights, and moth
ing else. Any community which has the
independent and uncomfortable right OF
self-government, with respect to its local
concerns and internal polity, must be-
qAo0U hoe, a sovereign.
4 gain: Mr.. Douglas in his speech at
Cincinnati, made SO lately as the 9th OF
September last, used the following unmis-
taxable language:
''Examine the bills and search the re
cords and you will find that the greal
principle which underlies those measures
(the compromise of 1850 is the right Of
the people O. each State, and each Terri
tory WHILE TERRITORY, to DECIDE the
slavery question for Themselves"
Is not this claiming sovereignty for the
Territories Can the slavery question be
decided without legislating upon the righ
of property! Can subordinate govern
ment do that? If the Territories have
power to decide whether a man shall
keep his property not, where did the
power come from! Surely not from Con
gress through the organic acts. They
must have it then upon what Mr.. Douga
calls a great principle, and that great prn
ciple can a be nothing else than Mr.. Doug
las make tour to the West, and on hi
way back he contradicts what he said al
he went out.
, There are but two sides to this contro
versy: The Territories are either sover
eign powers by natural and inherent right
or else they are political corporations. ow
, ing all the authority they possess to th'
, acts of Congress which create them. /
Il is not possible to believe, that Mr.. Doug
las wrote thirty eight columns in mag
azfIle to prove the truth of the latter doc
trine. Nobody but himself and his follow
ers were.ever accused Of denying it. |
! he did not deny it, and plant himself up
: OH the opposing ground of sovereignty II
? the Territories, then there was no dispute
or cause of division, between him am
!, the Democratic party and he has conse
I quently been ingaged in raising an excite
|. ment about nothing trying to toss th
2 ocean OF politics into tempest, withou
: having even feather to watt, or fly t.
!. drown.
But that is not all. Mr.. Douglas ha
continually used the very aooa'd sovereign
I ty with reference to the Territories. Thi
!. aooereig7aty an the Territories he has .as
serted and re-asserted so often, that th
phrase is in great danger of becoming II
D diculous by the mere frequency wit
! which he repeats it. For many month
he has not made speech or written a LET
ter for the newspapers on any other OF
t ioct. It heads his elaborate article i
8 Harper; it is vocferated into the publ;
car from the stump and it stares at us i
of 1c E,O,, he ho,, h n