Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1860-03-15

ing the conditions Of society, think Il a
merely accidental or unnecessary question
thai night end 5ush, 10 be setsled spd dis'
missed at once. is, on the contrary, sIworld.
wide and enduring subjebt Of political con.
siderstion and civil administration. Men,
States thd nations entertain it, not voun-
tsrilv, but because, owing to differences Of
constitution, condition or circumstances,
they cannot agree. ' ,''i' f"rilfsf
The Fathers ofthe Republic encountered
It. They even adjusted It 80 that Il might
have given us much less than our present
disquiet, had not circumstances afterward
occurred which they, wise ss they were, had
not clearly foreseen. Although they had
inherited, yet they genfslly condemned ,ihe
practice Of Slavery, and hoped for its dis
continuance. They EXPRESSED this when
they asserted In the Declaration Of Inde.
pendence, as . fundamental principle Of
American society, that all men are created
equal, and have inalienable rights to life,
liberty, and the pursuit os happiness. Each
State, however, reserved to itself exclusive
political power over the subject Of Slavery
within its own borders. Nevortheiess, II
unsvoidably presented itself ID their con-
sullstions on bond Of Federal Union
The new Government was to be epresen-
tatve one. Slaves were capital in some
States; in others. capital had no investments
in labor. Should those slaves be represen
ted as capital or as persons, taxed as capital
or as persons, or should they not be repre-
scented or taxed at slli The fathers disa-
greed, debated long, and compromised at
last. Each State, they determined, shall
have two Senators 10 Congress. Three.
ffihs Of the slaves shall be elsewhere re-
presented, and be taxed as persons. What
should be done If the slave should escape
into labor State! Should that State con.
fess him TO be chattel, and restore him as
such, or might it regard him as person,a ,and
hsrbor and protect him as a man, They
az ain, and decided that no per-
son held to labor or service in one State by
the laws thereof, shall, by any law or regu-
lation Of that State. be discharged from such
labor or service, but shall be delivered up on
claim to the person to whom such labor or
service shall be due.
Free leborers would cmigrate. and slave
might be imported into the United States,
The fathers agreed that Congress may
establish uniform laws Of naturalization and
it might prohibit the importation of persons
after 1908. Communities in the Southwest,
detached from the Southern States, were
growing up in the practice OF slavery, to be
capital States. New States would soon
grow up in the Northwest, while as We,
capital stood aloof, and labor hsd not lifted
the ak to begin there its endless but bene-
fcient task. The fathers authorized Con.
gress to make all needful rules and regula.
tioAs concerning tho management and dis.
position of the public lands. and TO admit
new States. So the Constitution. while il
does not disturb or affect the system Of capi'
tai in slaves existing in any State under it,
own laws, does, at the same time recognize
every human being, when within any ex-
elusive sphere OF federal jurisdiction. MOI
as capital, but as person.
What was the action Of the fathers il
Congress! They admitted the new Statet
Of the Southwest as capital States, because
it was practically impossible to do other
wise. and by the ordinance of 1887, con
frmed in 1889, they provided for the organ
iza,ion and admission Of only labor State
In the Northwest They directed fugitive,
from service to be restored, not as cha,tels
but as persons. They awarded naturaliza
,ion to inmigran, free laborers, and the
prohibited the trade in African labor. Thi
disposition of the whole subject was il
harmony with the condition Of society an
in the main. with the spirit of the age
The seven Northern States contentedly be
came labor States by their own acts. Th
six Southern States, with equal tranquilit
and by their own determination, RENAME
capital Stases. ,si t- s.. .
The circumstances which the fathers di
not clearly fo,esee were two, namely: tn
| reinvigorstion of Slavery consequent on tn
| increased consumption Of cotton, and tn
tension Of the natonsl domain across tn
Mi sissippi, and these occurred before 1926
| ne otHtt VI AOuioihues io'"cu W. oio'e
holding French settlement, within the new
ly.scquired Louisianian Territory, had the
already been admitted into the Union.--
There yet remained, however, vas. regior
which included Arkansas and Missouri, tc
eether with the then unoccupie,l and eve
unnamed Kapsas and Nebraska. Arkansa
a slaveholding community, was nearly read
TO apply, and Missouri, another such TER
tory, was actually applying for aemisso
into the Federal Union. The existing Cap
Ia, States seconded these applications, ar
claimed that the whole Louisiana Teri
tory was rightfully open to Slavery, and
J the organization Of future Slave States. :
} The Labor States maintained that Congre
had supreme legislative power within Il
domain, and could and ought to exc'u
{ Slavery there. The question thus open
3 was one which related not at all to Slave
, in the existing Capital States. II W
. purely and simply a national question wi,
{, ther the common interest Of the whole r
: public required that Arkansas, Nilsson
: Kansas ard Nebrasks. should become Cal
Q tai States, with oil the evils and dangers
a Slavery, OF be Labor States, with all t
J, securisy, benefits and blessings of frcedo,
la IL al