Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-09-20

every well-iusornsd man 5knoWs ihat Of all
/ ths1awsafth0 world which nlst6nthe chains
Of despotism upon mankind, there is hardly
one which does not rest upon the pretext that
political offences must be prevented. Proven
lion OF mischief was the snare with whichpeo-
/ pie in all ages aud all countries have been
prevented from asserting their liberties
Preventive laws are the poison with which
| freedom is killed. Il is said that years ago,
an American citizen met Prince Metternich
in the city Of Brussels You remember who
Prince Metternich was. The history of the
| world hardly knows the minister who bad TO
answer for more tears and curses OF crushed
nations. The American showed him the Con-
stitution Of the United States, and asked his
opinion oft "This constitution said the
Prince, "lacks but one thing, and can govern
the Empire of Austria with it" What is
! thatY asked the American. with astOnish-
/ ment "lt is the power Of the central gov
/ ernment to pass preventive laws What a
pity Prince Metternich is dead. In Judge
/ Douglas he would have found the man Of his
heart Put Judges Conspiracy Bill upon
! our statute book, and declare unconstitutional,
aud the deficiency is supplied. Prince Net
ternichis willing to govern Austria, after his
/ fashion, with the Constitution Of the United
j States. Place the power to indict and punish
/ for combinations and for criminal intent in
/ political matters into the hands Of our Federal
Judges, these pretty pro-consuls who feel big
when they can show their power, and we shall
soon have little Star Chamber in every little
Judicial district, a little FOuquier Hnville TO
act as prosecuting attorney, and a little
Jeffries TO pass the sentences of tile Court /;
there will be a government spy to smell out
treasonablu combinations wherever three or
four of them are assembled, and the cells Of
your prisons flied with men who have the
spirit 10 think and speak about Slavery as
Washing on, Jefferson, Madison and Frank
lin thoughtand spoke. -. ..-.......
And there are those who dare to call the
man who proposed to inaugurate such a sys-
tenn Of policy "great statesman. To the
honor OF Southern men be it said, in both
cases, when be proposed 20 confer the war
making power upon the Presiient, as when he
mrUduced the new seditiUn law, he had the
the modification of being put down by aslave-
hulde. II was in both cases Jefferson Davis,
the leader of the hre-eaters, who had the
patriotic spirit to yindicate our republican in
sttutionS against the disgusting schemes of
Nor,h IN uenagOgaes.
But Northern man also was listening
with indignant astonishment to Douglas
speech in favor of the new sedition law;
that was the brave John Hickman, of Penn
sylyania, the Anti-Lecompton Democrat, who
believed what he said And when heleft he
Senate chamber he broke out in the words,
On thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt
thou eat all the days of thy life"
DOUGLAS ONE ORIGINAL SCHEME.
Yes; his speeches do contain one original
idea, and 1 tell you that is bright one; it
belongs all to him; nobody ever advocated
it before, and nobody will hereafter. We
have been laboring under the impression that
Douglas did not care whether slavery be vo-
ted up or down; but we must beg bis par
don't turns out that he does care; for the
only original idea that he can boast OF is that
slavery must necessarily exist for the sake of
Dariety. Laughter. Don't laugh, / pray
you-it is very serious matter-it is the
fundamental principle upon which Mr. Doug
las whole statemanship rests; and as he is
the greatest statesman alive, it certainly de-
serves aserious consideration. He tells US it
is the very issue upon which he conducted
the canvass in illinois in l858-it is the very
ground upon which he placed the necessity
of his Conspiracy bill, and be has peddled it
all over the Union in numherless speeches.
The original idea, as expressed in his own
language, IS simply this: al assert, said
he, in his speech opening the canvass Of 1858,
@that the great fundamental principle which
underlies our complex system Of State and
Federal Governments, which implies diversi-,
tY and dissimilarity in local institutions and
domestic affairs of each and every State then
in the Union, or thereafter to be admitted
IthereiOre conceive that Mr. Lincoln has toe
'--'-T-Er -e-lAA a.. asraat prt p
on which our Government rests. UnTIUrHIt y
in local and domestic affairs would be de-
structive Of States rights, of States sove-'
reignty-of perronal liberty and personal
freedom. Wherever tue doctrine of uni
formity is proclaimed that all the states
must be free or slave; that all the labor must.
be white or black; that all the citizens OF
the different states must have the same privi-t
lege, or must be ruled by the same regula-'
tions, you have destroyed the greatest sale
guards which our institutions have thrown
around the rights of the citizen. From this
view of the case l am driven irresistibly to
the conclusion that diversity, dissimilarity,
variey in all our local and domestic institu-
tions is the great safeguard of our liberties.
@4s-% = Irepeat that uniformity in
our institutions is neither possible nor desir-
able" F
He insists that 'swhere the doctrine of
uniformity is proclaimed, all these States
must be free or slave that all labor must be
sarily 60 by the board, therefore we must
have more variety. The variety Of manu-
featuring and commercial mining and agri-
cultural products, is sadly insufficient He
insists that there must be little variety Of
/ freedom and slavery, of white and black la
Dor; and that seems to be his favorite mix
ture, his cardinal, fundamental, sine q1la non
variety; and not only have we no right to
establish uniform free labor by encroaching
upon the rights Of the States bat quite as a
general thing, the extinction of his iaYorite
Uayiehy, Hwould be neither possible nor desi-
rable." He declares it to be "a fatal heresy
to proclaim that there can or ought to be uni
formity among the different States Of this
Union II would, then, according to the
Judge, not be desirable that free labor should
prevail every where, for that would create
uniformity, and uniformity is the death Of
/ freedom
And, now, mark that wonderful muddle of
nonsense in the head of that "greatest Of liv-
ing statesmen Our Liberties rest upon our
federal system Of government; our federal
system Of government rests upon the variety
Of institutions; that variety of institutions
consists Of there being slayey in some Of the
States. If Slavery disappeared, that variety
would disappear; if that variety disappeared,
our federal system of government would DIS
appear; if our federal system of government
disappeared, the safeguards of our liberties
! would be desrroyed-consequen if sl@re-y
disappears, liberty disappears also.
Again, if ali the States were free there
would be uniformity; but uniformity in local
and domestic affairs would be destructive OF
personal liberty-that uniformity is prevent