Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1860-07-06
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. yi9S9q pf 1Dal fob kdeial aAtlbfiA, Grau
= part Of the Copstitiop. forbade the FEEDER,
, Government to control sIevery in the federa
e EterritoFiesy7whiie sllI tie gestT ProHsbly ha
: the same understapding, Such, ppqnestion,
: blYiwas khe understanding Ofbdr ID thsrswE
! framed the original Constitution aud th
text affrms that they understood the questio
I better than We.
: But 80 far. have been considering the III
: derstanding Of the question nahifestsf~ by th
/ trainers of the original Constitution In an
| by the originahinstrument, a mode was prov
ded for ameading it d and, as u hate alread
| stated, the present form. Of Government ur
! Ider which we live consists of that original, an
!, ,lItwelve amendatory articles framed and adopte
!. since. Those Hhe as~ insist that Federal con
\ Itrol of slavery i'm federal aef9itories violate
; the Constitution, point us to the provision
-tIwhich they sgpposezit thas violasesg and, as
!. understood, theyna fxs upon provisions il
these ame1datory articles, AID not HI the ori
ginal Instrument. The Supreme Court, in til,
Dred Scott case, plant themselves upon tn,
i fifth amendment, which provides that naper
i son shall be deprived of property without&dut
process of laws;s' while Senator Douglas Aand
his peculiar adherents plant themselvest upon
the tenth amendment, providing that e the
/ powers not granted by the Constitution, arc
reserved tozthe States respectively, and to the
/ people" ..7.. 49, a. ....-iFI = =. AZ
Now, it so happens that these amendments
were framed by the first Congress which sat
! under the Constitutien-the identical Congress
which passed the act already msntioned, eHfor-
cling the prohibition xofs slavery in the north
western territory Not only was it the same
| Congress, but they were the identical, same In
dividual men, who at the same session. and at
the same time within the session, had under
consideration, and in progress toward maturi-
] ty, these Constitutional amendments and this
act prohibiting slavery in all the territory the
nation then owbed ts The Constitutional
amendments were introduced before, and pass
ed after the act enforcing the ordinance Of 81 i
| so,that during the whole pendence of the act
to enforce the ordinance, the Constitutional
amendments were also pending. .,5! I ,..,...is, .
| The Congress. consisting in oil of 76c mem
bers, including 6 of the trainers of the origin
al Constitutions ;.svbefore sfnfed, were preelni-
ncsftty our fathers who framed that part of the
Govefnneiit under, which we live, which is
now claimed as forbidding the Federal Gov
I,ernnent to- control slavery in the federal ter
ritories. sf9ssTef1 % z4frsi9i3 1asi9 i's bssIH
/ 1siit nota little presum ptuous in any. one,
| at this day, !, TO affirm that the two things which
that Congress deliberately framed, and carried
I to maturity at thesame time, are absolutely
= o
such affirmation become impudently absurd
when coupled with the qother Affirmation, from
the.saHe -mouths that those who did The t~o,
thiRgs alleged to1 be inconsistent understood
whether they really were inconsistent better
than better than be who raffrms that they
are inconsistent -,s4 ~!sifeat.sf9 ,r iils--, ssf
+ 1t is surely safe to assume that the "thirty-
nine u framers of the original Constitution,
and the seventy-six members of the Congress
which framed the amendments thereto, taken
together do certainly include those who may
be fairly called fathers who framed the Gov
ernment under which We live" Z And SO asso-
ming defy any man to show that any of them
ever in his whole life, declared that in his un-
derstanding, any proper division of local from
federal authority. Or any part of the Constitu-
troll as to slavery in the federal Territories l
go step further. I defy any one to show
that any living man in the whole world ever
did, prior to the beginning of the present cen
tury (and might almost say prior to the be-
ginning of the last half of the present centu-
ry) declared that, in his understanding, any
proper division OF local from federal authority,
or any part of the Constitution, forbade the
Federal Government to control as to slavery
in the federal territories. To those who now
so declare, I give, not only " our fathers who
framed the government under which we live"
but with them all other living men within the
century in which it was framed, among whom
to search, and they shall not be able to find
the evidence of a single man agreeing with
them.
Now and here let me guard little against
being misunderstood do not mean to say
we are bound to follow implicitly in whatever
our fathers did. To do so would be to discard all
the light of current experience-to reject all pro-
gress-all improvement. What / do say is
that if we would suppiant the opinions and
policy of our fathers in any case, we should do
so upon evidence SO conclusive, argument so
clear, that even their great authority, fairly
considered and weighed cannot stand and
most surely not in case whereof we ourselves
declare they understood the question better
than we.
If any man, at this day, sincerelo believes
that a proper division of local from federal au-
thority, or any part of the Constitution, for
bids Federal Government to control as to sla-
very in the federal territories he is right to
say so, and to enforce his position by all truth
full evidence and fair argument which he can.
but he has no right 70 mislead others, who
have less access to history and less leisure to
study it, into the false belief that our fathers
who framed the Government under which we
live were OF the same opinion-thus substi-
tuting falsehood and deception for truthful evi-
dense and fair argument. If any man at this
day sincerely believes our fathers, who franz
ed the Government under which we live," used
and applied principles, in other cases, which
ought to have led them to understand that
proper division of local from federal authority
or some part of the Constitution, forbids the
Federal Government to control as to slavery
in the federal territories, he is right to say So
But he should, at the same time, brave the re-
sponsibility of declaring that. in bis opinion,
he understands their principles better thar
they did themselves and especially should he
not shirk that responsibility by asserting that
they understood the question just as well,
and even better, than we do now."
But enough. Let all who believe that our
fathers, who framed the Government under
which we live, understood this question just as
well, and even better than we do now," speak |
as they spoke, and act as they acted upon it. I
This is allRepublcans ask-all Republicans de-
sire-u relation to slavery. AS those fathers
marked it, SO let it be again marked, as an evil
not to be extended. but to be tolerated and |
protected only because of and SO far as its ac-
tual presence among Us makes that liberation
and rrotaction "a nacacsitv ef all fha ey,,ar.l