Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Randolph County, Ind.) 1855-1862, 1860-02-09

very, or is it anti-slavery? it was ask
ell. The South found in it the right
to plant slave labor in the Territories
Internationally, and the North found
in it the right to drive Slavery out of
them. Each section of the country en-
deavored to appropriate the results of
the Nebraska bill to itself, and the
same measure, which was to transfer
the struggle from the halls of Congress
into the Territories, transferred 1t from
the Territories back into Congress. and
there the Northern and Southern ver-
sions Of the Nebraska bill fight each
other with the same fury with which
the Southern and Northern versions of
the Constitution have fought each 9TH
er before. What does the Constitu-
tion mean in regard to Slavery? That
question remains TO be settled. What
does the Nebraska bill mean? This
question depends upon the settlement
of the former.
OF all men, Mr.. Douglas ought to
he the first to know what the true in
tent and meaning of the Nebraska bill
and the principle of popular sover-
eighty is. He is said to be states
man, and it is to be presumed that his
measure rests upon positive idea; ali
true craftsmanship is founded upon
positive ideas.
In order to find out MIR. Douglas
own definition of his own great prin'
ciple.' we are obliged to pick up the
most lucid Of his statements, as we
find them scattered about in numerous
speeches and manifestoes. After mul'
tifarious cruisings upon the sea Of
platforms and arguments, Mr.. Doug
las has at last landed at the following
point: a slave, says he, in his ia
nous Harper Magazine article, "a slave
within the meaning of the Constitu
ton, is a person held to service or la
Dor in one State under the laws there
Of, not under the Constitution of tn,
United States, or under the laws there
of, not by virtue of any federal author
itv whatever, but under the laws 0
the particular State where such serv
ice or labor may be due" This i
clear, and with his eyes firmly fixeC
upon the people of the North, he goe
on: If, as Mr.. Buchanan asserts
Slavery exists in the Territories b,
virtue of the Constitution of the Unit
ed States, then it becomes the imper
a,ive duty of Congress. to the perform
ance of which every member is boun,
bv his conscience and his oath, an,
from which no consideration of polic.
or expediency can release him, to pro
vide such adequate aud complete pro
lection as is essential to the enjoymen
of an important right secured by tn
Constitution; in one word. to enact
general slave code for the Territories
But Mr. Douglas is not satisfied wit
this. In order to strengthen his as
sumption. and to annihilate Mr.. Bucl
anan's construction of the Nebrask
bill still more. he procreds: The Cor
stitution being uniform everywher
within the domimions of the Unite
States. being the supreme law of th
land, any thing in the constitutions {
laws of any of the States to the contr.
notwithstanding whydoes not Sla,
cry exist in Pennsylvania just as we
AS in Kansas or in South Carolina, /
virtue of the same constitution. sin,
Pennsylvania is subordinate to Il
Constitution in the same manner an
to the same extent as South CaroliI
and Kansas
Just so. Mr.. Douglas having be,
SO positive, he can not deny us Il
privilege of making a few logical d
ductiOns from his own premises. "
expect him to proceed in the followiI
manner: Since a slave is held und
the laws Of State, and not under t
Constitution or the laws of the Unit
States, Slavery exists only by Writ
of local law or, as the Court of A
peals OF Kentucky expressed it. It
right to hold a slave exists only
; positive law Of q municipal charact
and has no foundation in the law
nature or the unwritten and comm
> law If Slavery can not exist exec
by virtue of local law of a munich
character. it follows as an irresistil
e consequence. that a STAKEHOLDER c
not hold a slave as property in a L
n ritory, where there is no local law O
! municipal character establishing Il
/ right of property. And further.
: right to hold slave having no -four
% alton in the law of nature or the l
\ written and common law, we are 70
1t ell to the conclusion, that sla
ID brought by his owner upon the soil
ID Territory, before the territorial /