Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Randolph County, Ind.) 1855-1862, 1860-04-26

right to be. lie said that this fine re-
gion is capable of sustaining popu-
lation greater than that of all Europe.
| believe that he spoke within bounds.
lie told us that that region has twelve
million people; mark you, sir. only
twelve million. But we all know tina;
the area Of the slaveholding States is
greater by about one third than that
of the free States, while its population
is one third less. He spoke glowing
ly of the prosperity of the slavehold-
ing States. What, then. could be
more unreasonable and absurd than
these winnings and complaints of
Northern aggressions and expressions
by the great and popalous South,
when the North is entirely out of pow
er? If he speaks relatively, then he
speaks correctly. Property in slaves
was never so prosperous as to-day
Look into the slave market you will
find that slaves never brought higher
prices than now. OF course, slave la
Dor is more profitable to the owner
now than it has ever been. Sir, these
Southern gentleman are inconsistent
and contradictory; in one breath they
are all boast and glory, in the next it
is all despair and destruction. Please
reconcile some OF these contradictions.
If the North has, by means of its
underground, railroads. fatally and
treacherously sapped and undermined
the foundations of your whole system
Of labor. how is it that your property
has risen in value, and your prosperity
eliminated during all the time it has
been going on?
One other preliminary remark. Mr..
President. The Senator from Geor-
gia rose here in his place, with So
lemnity unusual for him, and with a
countenancc which was the very per-
sonation of despair, and announced to
an astonished people, that we, the SEN
ators on this side Of the chamber, are
the enemies of his country Yes. sir;
he felt that we are enemies of his
country. and therefore that power
would he unsaiely and dangerously
lodged in our hands. Why. sir. would
it be unsafe and dangerous? Certain
ly they have suffered no damage from
us so far. He argues after this fash
ion: he complains that we have been
faithless in the execution of his fugi-
tive law, and therefore the slave prop
erty of the South is insecure; but you
will remember, sir, that, long before
he got through with his speech. the
slaves in Georgia were so loyal to their
masters. that, from the days of the
Revolutionary war to the present time,
not one hundred of all their black gen
erations have fled from bondage. Sir,
if there are those whose nature is
so grateful that they can thank you for
nothing. there are others whose nature
is SO discoptented that thoy will COM.
plain upon every triffing cause. Only
one poor negro year, in eighty years,
has escaped from the great State of
Georgia; and yet he trimbles with rage,
declares war, and lays hold of the pill
lars of the Union. One poor negro a
year, and even that negro not certainly
lost through the Abolitionists or the
aggressions of the North. The Sena-
tor does not condescend to tell us how
any, or all the hundred have been
spirited away, but is content in boast
ing that all who have been lost, from
all causes whatever, do not exceed a
hundred.
Mr.. President, when gentlemen come
here and volunteer such arguments as
these, it is perfectly evident that there
is some motive stronger than any con-
sciousness of injury received at the
hands of those they accuse. The Sen
ator from Georgia Mr.. Toombs J
seei..s to have been specially assigned
to act the attorney general; and he has
brought in a bill OF iudictement, charg-
ing upon the Senators on this side of
the chamber pretty much all the crimes
known in the calender. 1t is an in
dictment. intcrspersed with something
OF argument; more of defamation, and
YET more of vituperation. Now, sir, l
acknowledge him to be well and wor-
thily assigned to this duty, for he is
one of the ablest and most experienced
members of the Senate. Ii case
could be made out at all against the
North, he is just the man to make it
out All who heard his speech will
admit that he does not lack the neces-
sary zeal. If he has failed, he may say,
with another noted character, that "he
fell where Satan could not stand."-
Laughter. Sir, he has failcd-ut-
terly, totally failed. pass by, for the
moment, the impeachments of treason
and perjury, to reach another, namely,
an impeachment of cowardice-an i'm
parchment which l confess grated
more harshly on my ear than all the
other vituperations in which he in
dulged. CaAf
The Senator from Georgia said that
we, the Republican Senators here land
the untold millions we represent, have
fallen so low, that we have not only
lost our virtue. but with it we have
lost our courage. so that we have not
the spirit to resent an injury" Did
the Senator believe the declaration
which he mades If he did believe it,
and / have no doubt he did, from the
tenor of his language. he believed that
on this side of the chamber we were all
non-combatants. | will not suppose
that he intended to earn cheap repu-
tation for valor, by insulting those who
he supposed would never accept a
challenge. Mr.. President, the whole
world knows, and therefore the Senator
from Georgia must know. that the
people of the free States of this Union
| hava uftarlv coniamnaJ ror,1;.,ol