, 1860-01-06

iOl properly Oan subordinate gOvs..
ment do that If the Territories ba
power to decide whether man shall ISN s
his property or not, where did the no-P
come from Surely not from CoppO.VG psG
through the organic acts. They must ios.
it then upon what Mr.. Douglas c.ila
great principle, and that great pripcinlo
be nothing else than b" Sovereignty IN .sa .s
Territories" Thus it is seen that N.Y.
Douglas makes tour to the West ana NJ ~
bis way back he contradcts what be s.;S
as he went out,
There are but two sides to this cor,,.
versy: The Territories are either SOW
ereign powers by natural and in6s,'n,
right, or else they are political corporaIon.i
owing oil the authority they possesS n ~
acts of Congress which create them h'
not possible to believe. that Mr.. Dousl..
wrote thirty-eight columns in a msros,s.
to prove the truth of the latter doc,y;".'
Nobody but himself and bis followers ws.-
ever accused Of denying it, If he did NJ.
deny it, and plant himself upon the oDno %
sing ground OF sOreyeignty IN The Tsryitos,fi,,
then there was no dispute, or cause or AZ
visions, between him and the democra,i.
party apd be has consequently been q.
gagged in raising an excitement about not6,
ing trying TO toss the ocean Of politic.
into tempest, without having even :
feather to wafr, or fly to drown.
Bat that is not ALL Mr.. DouQlas h,,
continually used the rsry lcoyd sorersigviv
with reference to the Territories. I'M.
sorcreignty IN The Territories he has asserted
and re-asscried so often, that the phrase /
in great danger Of becoming ridiculous bv
the mere frequency with which he repeah
it, For many months he has not made
speech or written letter for the newsp,.
pers on any other subject 1t heads hh
elaborate article in Harper it is vOcierD.
ted into the public ear from the stumd
and it stares at US in great capitals from
the hand-bills which call the people 70 hb
meetings. Unless it be acknowledged he
predicts the hopeless division Of the party
and even threatens 10 refuse its nomination
for the Presidency Now, all at once, the
subject.matter of the whole controVefSy i
admitted to be nonentity He " cheek
his thnnder in mid-volley," and owns ihn
there is no sovereignty in Territory any
more than in a British colony. Other pet.
sons may have ridden their hobbies as hard
as Mr. Douglas but, since the beginning
Of the world, no man ever dismouuled.m
suddenly.
Sovereignty in the Territories nd
which we have heard so much, is genefaIly,
if not always, coupled by Mr. Douglas with
the prefix Of +" Popular" This last word
appears to he used for the mere sake Ofthe
sound, and without any regard whatevRtO
the sense 1t does not mean that the pe6
pie or inhabitants Of the Territories bare
any supreme power independent Of thelaBl,
or above the regularly constituted legal
authorities They cannot meet Together,
count themselves, and say: b" We aresO
many hundreds, or SO many thousands, and
we must therefore be obeyed; the law e in
our voice, and not in the rules which Our
Government has made to control uGH--
Something like this view was vaguely en-
tertained in times when the Lecompln
constitution was opposed. But that b
gone by Mature reflection has leit iuOk
ocracg without defender Nobody how
insists that the right to make or Rnuulnus
and constitutions can be exercised in vol
untary mass-meetings or at elections nuta
thorized by law Mr.. Douglas himself
says: alt can OMly lie exercised Wherethe
inhabitants are sufficient to constitute aga
ernment, and capable ofpaioymi1g itfSat
owS functions and dHtiss-7h fact to bsat
certancd and determined by Congfe'tp
The sovereignty, then, is in the government
if it be anywhere But Mr. Douglas nov
says it is not there; and be is right Inst
being the case, where is it? a stt-
When Mr. Douglas. in bis speech q
Wooster, was repudiating and denying th'
doctrine Of sovereignty in the Territorle,
and resuming his old position, that theyal'
not sovereign powers, it would have been
well TO fall back upon something iiile
more ineligible than bis reports 70 The
Senate, or his anti-Lecomptou letlsFto
Philadelphia, Here is the way he d.
scribcs sovereignty in bis report Of 1856:
"The sovereignty of q Territory remains
in aJeydace, suspended in the United Slais'
IN trust for the people until they sbail %
admitted into the Union as State" a@
What do these words meau and in whai
possible way can they help US to kncyY'
edge Of the matter under consideratioll--
AJeyanoe is good law French, and signih~
the peculiar condition Of an estate after ous
tenant has died, and before his successoIh
Competent TO take it, But what upplea'
ton con it have, even BY analogy, toe So'-
ereignty which never existed? 1t seems
too, that this sovereignty is su,pendeainsA.
United States; that is, hung or dependent
from something in the United States ana
not independent like every other sovereignty
under heaven. But tile most marvellous
part Of the business is that one governme"
which as sovereign is represented as a traF
tee of the sovereignty Of another govern
ment which is admitted mol to be soVerelgI.
This is the talk Of a man who has TOO masA
learning. These technical terms o. su'
common law were invented by English e0r
veyancers and real property lawyers, rsn'
purpose Of expressing the artificial Ie