The Opelousas patriot. [volume] (Opelousas, Parish of St. Landry, La.) 1855-1863, 1859-09-03
CONTINUED REVIEW OF Mr.. YAN.
!. GEI-S NREE(,H

| IOIV d4SC nEt UT 4uVs !
CET-S SPEECH
In our last issue we noticed the special pro-
lection which our fathers threw around The
Institution Of slavery in the early history Of
the government. the action Of Congress in
1903. when the limit Of protection expired, in
passing aSiaw Interfering the foreign importa
tion Of slaves, showed conclusively from the
arguments Of the Hon. gentleman. that snch
law was not passed in compliance with any
amendment to the Constitution authorizing
it that it could NIT have been passed in ODE
aiencr to the grant IF power given To Con-
gress for regulating comn,erce with foreign
States. but on the contrary such law was a
taliable violation IF the Constitution.
We now come to notice other acts If Con
gress antagonistic to slavery. and destructive
nf its very being. In 1919, these political
fanatics who iuaugu,a,ed This crusade upon
slavery in 1907. passed ii laEy declaring orr
citizens who should engage in the foreign slave
trade pirates! Was this high handed act All
thnrized by the Constitution? We deny it.
1t is claimed by its advocates, that its passage
was legitimated by the power given to Gun
gress to define and punish piracies on the high
seas.
To bring the foreign slave trade under this
def,itinn Of pirncy. the trainers Of the Cons'i-
talim must have thought ii piracy. This AS
81. nption is in direct violation of their acts,
for we see that they were dealers themselves IN
this traffic and succeeded in protecting it by
special constitutional enactment.
These two aggressive acts Of 1907. and
1919 were fatal blows to the prosperity Of
slavery. by cutting off one Of its chief sources
of increase and supply, the right TO purchase
slaves wherever the %inttres, Of the slave holder
might be directed. Destroy iii slavery the
attributes Of its development aud prosperity.
and you eventually destroy the institution,
itself. @1%s.E
Thus was engrafted npma slavery the
shackles Of abolition. the denial of the right Il,
purchase where our fathers had purchased, and
branding their p~osterity as pirates for doing
that. which they l%rgi'imare'y and properly did.
These laws having arrested al the power
aud increase .f The institution upon the East.
its enemies directed their attention to arrest
its expansion upon the West.
Not content with their crusade upon the
rights Of slavery IN the States, they next
open d their batteries upon The Territories.
By the passage Of the Missouri Compromise
Act Of 1890. slavery was forever prohibited
in ,ine-tenths Of our public domain.
This lnsl act Of aggression fer the first time
aroused The attention Of the country. and even
MIR. Jefferson was forced to admit that this
blow at the institution sounded to him like a
fire bell at midnight. This excitement how
ever soon subsidized. and the South continued to
acqniesce in these aggressive acts. in The hule
that the North would soon be satisfied. This
hope proved to be failacious. a.
In the year 1851, these Anti-slavery move.
me'lts reached their eliminating point. In that
year, three laws were passed. each Of which
was in violation Of the constitutional rights,
and subversive Of the true policy If the South.
The admission Of california into the Union
under the ~free-soil sqnatter sovereignty pro-
cess. the Acknowledgement If The slave domain
of the State Ut Texas. by which a large pr-
tion Of her territory was agail, taken under
the control If tile general government d",bt-
less to come under the rule of %s1uatter spver-
eighty. and the prohibition of the slave trade
between the slave States aud the District d
Columbia, we're each repngl,ant to the true in.
~terests Of the South, an prece,ie.ts calcu a,ed
Ia excite The best hopes Of freenen for The
perpetnity Of the Cninn Of the States.
Our national Legislature not content in
having interdicted the foreign slave trade,
wna'd now also direct u blow ut the internal
slave trade. If the passage al, ~nch n law
can be based npon The power ga(sen To Con.
gre<s !" regulate commerce betweeAg the States,
it il eau prohibit the trade be6iLen The States
a,ld the District Of Columbia then there is
no constitutional d ficnI.y to prohibit it be-.
tween Georgia and South Carolina.
This was q blow at the right If purchase in
the home market. Win vi the rapaciuns
jaws If abolition BE- filed? We haye-s seer
that the power Of increase IN The institution
Of Slavery was cnt of By the denial If the
! ght 10 purchase in the foreign market, that
its power Of expansion WAS arrested by the
passage Of the Missouri Compromise Act. that
the right 10 buy and sell in the home market
was in part cut of. yet we have to not &c
other pllcr%oachments-all having for their
tendency and object The gradual and rerfac,
destruction Of The institution. md we fear the
dissolution Of our glorious Union.
We will con imae our analysis If Mr.. Van
cey's arguments in Dur next issue.
TERRTroRY OF kANsAs-Ihe New c. nst.tu-
taon.-Ihe new colstition Of Kansas, just
adopted by the convention al Wyandnite, is Il,
he : .h,nlt.ed 10 o vote of the people on the
4th Of Octaber Gext. The following is u
summary 1T its min provisions:
The bill of rights cumrrises twenty sections,
setting firth the usual principles, aud disal-
lowing Imprisonment for debt except in eases