Newbern weekly progress., 1859-09-20
Review of the Magazine Manifesto of NEr.
Douglas.

his interests or his claims for the Presidency by
his late Magazine article. We alluded a day
two ago to long review that had appeared il the
Washington Constitution of the views set forth
10y tlF.|Dougias.@ take following COR
densed notice with the accompanying extracts
| from the New York Day Book
| The Washington Constitution of Saturday
evening contains five column review of Mr.
! Douglas late manifesto in Harper's Magazine. 1t
is able and powerful article, convicting Mr.
Douglas not only of bad logic, but of what is
| worse, Inconsistency and vacillation. In his New
Orleans speech last winter, Mr.. Douglas expressly
said that his friends in Illinois accepted the Drcd
! Scott Decision, and fully admitted the right of
southern men to go into any federal Territory
with their slaves and hold them there other
| property ooaS held And in the Senate last winter
| he repeated the same doctrine, andSwe recollect
complained to southern that they asked for
more protection than what was accorded to other
property. Now he claims the sovereign power of
the Territory to confscate " slave" property, yet
in report to the Senate on the Topeka Constitu-
| ton in 1856, he held the following language:
Z" The sovereignty of Territory remains in
obeyamce suspended in the United States, an trust
for the people uHtH they shall be admitted into the
| Union Stdie. In tie meantime they admit
ted to enjoy and exercise all the rights and pri
vileges of elfgovernment an SabOrdinatt0n to the
Constitution of the United States and in obedience
to the organic to,c passed by Congress in pursu-
| ance of that instrument. These rghtsiand Privi
leSes all derived from the ConStitet on hrOugh
thS IF H,--oc,- u,,d must be exercisSd
Nd in st.ejecton to al the lInitat;:JE :sll Sc
stTicfions Inch that Constitution imposes.
The letter he addressed to Philadelphia met
ing, IN February, 1898, Is more explicit anu,
barring anomalous ideas concerning the
Obcynace of the power and the suspension of it an
| trust, it is clear enough:
Under our territorial system, it requires
sovereign power to Ordan and establish co1lsitu-
tions and governments. While Territory may
and should enjoy ali the rights OF self government,
Obedienceto its organic lac, it is mOt sovereign
| 80
obeyunce, suspended in the United States, in trust
to' the people achcn they become State, and cannot
be ,oithdraaca from the hands ote and rested
IN the peoptFgG Territory 'oithOat the consent Of
his, do{ {trine Mr.. Douglas now openly repu-
dates, since his famous discovery of the simiiari
ty between the colonies under royal charters and
the Territories as organized under the Federal
Constitution The article from which we have
quoted, very pointedly says i'll reply to Mr.. Doug
las charge that southern Democrats claim that
the Constitution establishes 50 slavery:
The Constitution certainly does not establish
slavery in the Territories, nor anywhere else.
Nobody in this country thought said SO.
But the Constitution regards sacred and IN
vioable all the rights which a citizen may legal
ly acquire in State If a man acquires property
Of any kind III State, and goes with 1t into
Territory, he is not for that to be stripped
of it. Our simple and plain proposition is, that
the legal owner of slave or other chatte may so
with it into Federal Territory without forteting
MS tlIlo
The concluding portion of the article says:
1t is agreed point among all Democrats that
Congress cannot interfere with the rights of pro-
perty in the Territories.
1t is also acknowledged that the people of
new State. either in their cons stitution in
act of their legislature, may make the negroes
within it free hold them in state of servitude.
But we believe more We bclieve-in submit
ting to the law as decided by heSupreme Count,
which declares that territorial Legislature cannot
any more than Congress, inter fere with the rights
of property in Territory-that the settlers of
Territory are bound TO wait until the sovereign
= Ijs.s,is 6efoga si... z5T57ss lllgs
Y dang gerous OF All It's functions Mr. Doeglas de
: MES this, and there is the issue.
i Why should such an issue be made at snch
1 time? What is there now to excuse any frien,
of peace for attempting to stir up tile bite
waters of strife? There is difficulty about th
subject in any Territory. There is no question
upon it pending before Congress Or the country
: We called upon to make a contest at once un
necessary and hopeless, with the judicial authori
ty of the nation. We object to it We will no
obey MIR. Douglas when he commands us to as
saut the Supreme Court of the United States
We believe the court to be right, and Mr. DouglaI
wrong.
THE BROTHERS HARPER-The family orig
.nally came from England and settled on IoII