New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-05-05
WISE AGAIN.

We were little too fast, the other day, in COM
plimentDg Governor Wise upon having witten I"
short letter That short letter, it now appears,
was only premOntory symptom, amere flourish OF
of the pen preliminary to one OF those copions I'M
blrdenings in which it is one of the Governor 5
idios,ncrasies to indulge. He is the same person,
iu this respect at least, that he twenty years
ago, when, as a Wing, he used to make speeches
by the three days together against the policy of
Gen. Jackson and Martin Van Buren-Orations of
such intoerablc length "a first to have given rise
if We mistake not, to the idea of the onehour rule
What Mr. Wise did then by word of mouth he now
does with his pen. Having taken that pen in hand
he has found it impossible to lay it aside without
perpetrating a pamphlet-haying followed up the
short letter, of which we spoke the other day, by
another which fills no less than thirty columns Of
The Richmond Enquirer.
This letter is addressed to the editor Of an OBJ
scure Alabama paper, who reversed the usual order
of proceeding by first nominating Governor Wise
for the Presidency, and then writing to ask an ex
position of his political views. This long lester,
however, by no means goes over the same variety
of topics as the short one. Taking it for granted
as it would seem, that the Slavery question is the
only one in which the Southern public and his Ala
bama correspondent would be likely to feel any in
terest, Governor Wise confines himself entirely to
that.
There have been various indications hitherto of
dspo ition on the Governors part to take up
sort of middle position, and to recommend himself
as person whom the North might accept as a can
didate for the Presidency There were appear
snces of this same thing in the Governors prem-
mary short letter, especially in those paragraphs of
il in which he smented the folly Of the slave
holders in throwing away all character for
justice by attempting TO assume more than
equality, and instead Of demanding their
own due. trying TO deprive Others of theirs.
Ii now appears, however, that in these sentences
The Governor merely meant to rebuke the attempt
to force upon Kansas a Constitution in the forma-
ton of which fraud and force had acted the leading
part-his hostility 10 that procedure having been
based entirely on his love of fair play, and not at
all upon any concurrence in Mr. Douglass doc
ttine of popular sovereignty in the Territories and
Congressional non-interyention on the question of
Slavery In fact, the larger part of his last
letter is devoted to the demolition of the doctrine
of squatter sovereignty and Congressional nom
interyention-a work upon which he enters as
esborstely and zealously if it had not been fifty
times already done to bis hand, both in Congress
and out BY Republican orators and Republican
newspapers He maintains that the people of the
Terri ories so far from being sovereign and enti-
tied to establish aud regulate their own institutions
their own way, possess no political power at all
except such as Congress may see ht to delegate
to them; which delegation Of powers cannot eI-
tend beyond the powers inherent in Congress, and
the exercise Of which il is not only the right but
the duty of Congress to resume whenever the
Territorial authorities shall fail in the proper dis
charge of their duties.
But while thus fully agreeing with the Repub-
leans as TO the origin nature, extent and imi;s Of
the political power of the inhabitants Of the Terri
tories Mr.. Wise differs from them in toto. and
not only from them but also from Mr. Douglas, as
to the powers Of Congress in the premises. The