Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1860-08-18
MIR. Vallandigham'S Speech.

In order that our readers may see the exact
position as sumed by our Representative in
stating that he was a "Western man, we
publish the following extract from his able
speech in the House of Representatives on
the 10Th December last We ask for it the
careful perusal Of every voter of this District:
"The North and the South stand here ar
rayed against each other Upon the one side,
behold numerical power; upon the other, the
violent, even fierce, spirit Of resistance. Dis
union has been threatened. Sir, in all this
controversy, so far as IL is sectional, occupy
the position of ARMED NEUTRALITY. | am not
Northern man. | have little sympathy
with the North; no very good feeling for, and
am bound to her by no tie whatsoever, other
than what once were and ought always to be
among the strongest of all ties-a common
language and common country. Least of all,
am that most unseemly and abject of all po-
litical spectacles--"a northern man with south
ern principles but, God be thanked, still
United States man with United States princi-
pies When emigrate TO the South, take up
my abode there, identify myself with her inter
ests, holding slaves or holding none; then, and
not till then, will have a right, and will it be
my duty, and no doubt my pleasure, to main
tain and support southern principles and
southern institutions Then, sir, / am not n
southern man either, although in this nnholy
and most unconstitutional crusade against the
South in the midst Of the invasion, arson, in
surrecton, and murder, to which she has
been subject, and with which she is still
threatened with the torch Of the incendiary
and the dagger of the assassin suspended
over her, my most cordial sympathies are
wholly with her.
Mr. Clerk, have heard good deal said,
here aud elsewhere, about Southern rights
Sir have no respect-nOne-for southern
rights merely because they are southern
rights They are yours, gentlemen, not mine
Maintain them here, within the Union, firmly
fearlessly, boldly quietly: do il like men
Defend them here and everywhere, and with
all the means in your power, - know you
will and as | know you can. Yorktown and
New Orleans the end of the Revolution and
the end of the war Of 1872, are both yours;
and there is no power on earth that can sub
due or conquer yon.
But while | have no respect for southern
rights simply because they are southern rights,
| have very tender and most profound and
regard for my own obligations.
Your rights impose upon me corresponding
which shall be fulfilled in their
spirit and to the very letter three -fiths rule,
fugitive slave law, equal rights in the Terrific
ries, and whatsoever else the Constitution
gives you. (Applause.) Our fathers made
that compact, and | will yield a cordial, ready,
and not grudging, obedience to every part of
it,
have heard it sometimes sad-it was said
here two years ago not on this floor, certainly,
aic yhara hiatt 10 frnn, ha
free States, North or West, who is true to the
South" Well gentlemen, that depencs upon
what you mean by being true to the South. III
you mean that We the Representatives Of the
free States Of this Union, North and West
shall sit here within this Chamber, uttering |
southern sentiments consulting southern in
terests, sustaining southern institutions, and
giving southern votes, reckless of our own
identity and our own selfrespect then | new |
er was, am not now, and never will, while the |
of free State, be true to the |
South" and | thank God for it. If that be |
what is meant by 'rottenness, in the other
end of the Capitol, commend me TO rottenness |
all the days Of my life.
But, ifyou mean---and know that large |
majority of you do mean--true to the Consti- |
tuition, without which there cannot be, and |
ought not to be, any Union; true to our own
ready and sedulous to fulfill
every article of the compact which our faith
ers made, to the EXTREMIST inch of possibility, |
and yielding, gracefully and willingly, as in |
the earlier and better days of the Republic, |
every thing which comfy and good fellow
ship, not only as between foreign States, but
among brethren, demands nt our hands, then,
| tell you, and / tell the gentleman from Ten
nessee (Mr. NELSON that the great mass Of
the Democratic party in the free States, and
in the West, and thousands and
tens Of thousands of others, not members OF
that party, are now, and trust, ever will be-
true TO the South.
Allow me TO illustrate my proposition
There are in this Hail. as elsewhere three
classes Of men. The Republican or anti-sla.
very man--and you, gentlemen, have or have
had not few Of that number in the south
asks, whenever a measure is proposed here
will it tend to iniure and hem in the institu-
lion OF slavery, or rather will Il weaken or
offend the South, because IL is the South2 and
he subordinates every other consideration to
the great object of snppressing slavery, and
Of warning ON the South, Upon the other