New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-12-25
rnE SECESSION MOVEMENT.
u,v ppoIrcTEp COMPROMISE.

mn, Committees of Cengress-tae Hoase
~,a,,,,;,tee Of Thirty.thrce and tho Senate Com
..,,,ce cf Thirteer,--are hard at work endcavor-
mo 70 find legislative solution of our disorders.
The object of the Committees is 10 appeasc the
,evolutionists The difficulties are very great.
In lie first place lsrg,e body Of them do not
wan. to be appeased, and in the next, the oppo-
sjton 10 CONCESSION claimed under threats oi
breaking down the Government ia very strong
fink the case turns upon the qnestip Of
,sbstAer an agreement can be- made TO o Psfh-
20, &C territory between the Slave and Free |
state This ia the nub Of the controversy p'hen |
wippcwed frcm its chaH. An the other points,
I fancy, can be managed. But the concession
on tbe main one, Of partition OF territery after
The plan of the Missouri Compromise, is th
sticking place. The revolutionists in the Gulf
States don't want 10 be satisfied with this, bu
Che other Slave States or those in tAern who are
oppoFed TO disssring the Union, consider that
the concession Would force the seeessionists te
aesist. The partition is demanded under IL
form Of constitutional guaranty. No ordinary
legislative acton viii satisfy the shareholders. AS
MIR. Toombs says, IT must take the shape OF
positive constitutional guaranty or be would not
give a fig for it, for the Abchdonisss are
treacherous and would repeal the settlement to-
merrow if they had chance. declaration
e1ninently betting the ainiablc gentlemen who
tore down the Missouri Compromise after thirty
yeaIs stsrdiug in order to cheat the North out
si kuLsas and make il Slave State. The pro-
1.s.d partition, then, cannot be made except It
L., agreed 10 by twe-thirds of both branches of
Congress and be ratified by the Legislatures or
public Conventions of throcfoarths of all the
States. The question is, this be done
The argument with which Congress ia to be
ul;ed is this: We are on the eve OF an ineyita-
BILE rupture of the Union, One Slave State has
already gone out (as far as she can go BY her
own action) and others are about to follow.
The ultimate result win be the secession OF the
whole fifteen Slave States, not because they all
want to 60 but because, after certain number
shah have gone, the others wiz feel constrained
% follow After they shall have gone, the ques-
ton viii arise, What is going to be done about
VIII you have fght between tse two sections,
or Will you recognize the separation If you are
ready for a free fight. nothing more is to be
said Rat if you are to recognize the secession
Of the Slave States when it shall have taken
place, as an accomplished fact, what becomes
Of Che territorial question Have not the
seeding States an equitable right to q por
ten of the common territory And il so,
should il not be yielded as O matter Of course
Right stands, and equity stands, though the Union
fals. If, then, YOU ore gong TO partition the
Territory atlet die~slftioo, " not * well do it
l<fore, AID ave tie evls the dangers and the
di.,ra,e If a Tupture before the civilized world
Sub, in brici, is to be the argument ad-
dressed 70 inenbtrs of Congress on this point OF
consentirg % partition OF the common territory
Between the slaytholdng and nom sav9hollug
uctionp. II is 10 be enforced by appeals from
III trading ind commercial sections aud prop
rty.LoldtIs 10 he saved fiom financial ruin, and
from all other Forts Of people, to save the nion
and preserve The country from civil war and q
d;,ma future OF unkno~n terrors.
Wlft tLan, are the chances that Congress
asd ibre, -fourtLs Of the Sta'Fs VIA yleli 10
these considerations, and make the desired con-
sessions Let others answer.
On The territorial question I have one sugges-
in to make Which, as yet, nobody seems to
have Put forward.
If it shall be determined TO partition the terri
tory Of the whole between the sections, what
should be the rule Of diyision7 An arbitrary
line, like that Of So 80, possesses intrinsic
Justice when looked upon in reference to the
equity Of the case. If the sayehoding portion
of the country has clHirns (Which we do not I'D
nit) to a part Of the common territory, those
claims must be limited by the Ike claims Of the
pon.rlayehOlding portion. Upon what do the!
rest Clearly upon their relative free popnla-
ton, or, at most, upon their representative rights
in Congress. If they have any title or claim
at ALL it is TO then due proportion and nc
more. If they are a third Of the whole,
then, If the claim be recognized, they are
entitled 10 a third of the territory. No more.
And, as in regard 10 exiting territory, 30 in
negard 10 future acquisitions. Gu this basis OF
equity each party is cEt;ded to bis due proportion.
And 20 our prospective acquisitions likely to
be at the South rather than ~ the North, the
same equity that would require giving up exist
ing territory to the siareholding sectien would
demand the surrender Of their proportional part
to the nOn-slayehOlding section Of any territory
acquired in Mexico or Central America. or any
where else
throw out this suggestion because if We are
going to try to run this Government on the plan
of one head to two bodies. or that Of siamese
Union, each party is entitled 70 claim equal
privileges. J. T. =.
WILL CONCESSION STOP SECESSION 2