The weekly Mississippian. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1859-1864, 1859-08-03

gress-and that the aggrieved party must ap-
peal to the Courts for redress Of grievances.
Mr. Douglas and his friends insisted that the
laws were in violation of the Constitution, and
they invoked the Intervention of Congress to
set them aside 1t was done. They were
pro slavery laws and neither the doctrines of
non-interyention, nor eompacts, nor anything
else, could save them.
Again. in 1853, Kansas presented her pro-
slavery Constitution and asked admission into
the Union. Where was Mr.. Douglas The
truculent hero of non-ntervention and popu-
lar sovereignty, where was he Arrayed
against the Constitution, stoutly denying the
right of the people Of Kansas to make such
Constitution or to obtain admission under it.
It was idle that we pleaded back upon him
his fayorite theories. Kansas asked admission
as slave State and mainly by his influence
she was excluded.
In his speech of February 23d, Mr.. Douglas
replying to Mr.. Clay, of Alabama, said
81 will answer the Senator's question. First,
do not hold that squatter sovereignty is su-
perior to the Constitution. | hold that no such
thing as sovereign power attaches to Terri
tory while Territory. | hold that Terri
tory possesses whatever power it derives from
the Constitution under the organic act, and no
more. hold that all the power Territorial
Legislature possesses is derived from the Con-
stitution and its amendments, under the act
Of Congress and because hold that, / de-
MED last year that the people of a Territory
,cithout the consent Of Congress, could assem-
bic at Lecompton and create an organic law
for that people. denied the validity of your
Lecompton Constitution, for the reason that
Constitutions can only be made by sovereign
power; and because the Territory was not D
sovereignty, that was not Constitution, but a
| petition But, sir, / will not occupy time on
| that question. The limit of the authority of
a Territorial Legislature is the organic act and
| the Constitution and its amendments
Now the Constitution has not been changed
since that speech was made. The act of Con-
gress giving territorial government to Kan
sas called by Mr.. Douglas "the organic act'
has not been repealed, or enlarged; Congress
has not consented that the people of Kansas
should create IAN organic law for themselves.
On the contrary, Congress has said in express
terms that the people of Kansas should do no
such thing, (see Mr.. English's compromise
bilD and yet they are going ON to make an
anti-slayery organic law or Constitution We
have seen Mr.. Douglas reasons for interview
ing last year against pro-slavery Constitution
of Kansas. Every one of these reasons will
stand in equal force next year and yet before
the first day of March, 1850, we shall see Mr.
Douglas voting to admit Kansas under the
anti-slavery Constitution her people are now
framing.
Thus we have it that when territory passes
laws friendly to slavery, Mr.. Douglas inter
venes to annul them, When she makes
pro-slavery Constitution, Mr.. Douglas inter
poses and keeps her out of the Union When
she passes unfriendly laws, and We complain,
Mr.. Douglas says hands off, non-intervention
is the true doctrine, and when she makes an
anti-slavePy Constitution in utter disregard of
the act of Congress, English bill,) and we re-
monstrate, Mr.. Douglas says be silent, popu-
lar sovereignty is the word! When laws and
constitutions are made in our favor, and we
want them to stand, non-intervention and pop
ular sovereignty are disregarded When un-
friendly laws and hostile constitutions are pre-
scented, and We want them set aside, we are
warned not to lay our profane hands on the
sound doctrines of popular sovereignty and
non-intervention Are we bound to uphold
doctrines which have been habitually disre-
garded when they worked in our favor, and
are only invoked by our enemies when they
operate against us? Certainly we are not
And We repeat again that compact broken
on one side is a compact broken on all Sides
Therefore, if the South had agreed to nom
Intervention and popular sovereignty in the
sense pleaded by Mr. Douglas which we ut
teriy deny, she is released from the agreement
by the repeated violations of it by him and
his friends.