New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-11-13
TasIs CONSTITUTIONS -TaE UNroN--TIsE
H,AXps


LAWS.
we have abated not one lot or title Of our at
tachinent to the Constitution, the Union and the
Enforcement Of The Laws n--the proud and unex-
ceptionable motto of the party for which we bat
tied during Tie long and exciting contest so re-
Gently closed. We occupy the same ground we
have ever occupied We haze net changed IN the
slightest particular. Let the Constitution be en-
forced in all its integrity let the laws of Congress,
enacted IN pursuance OF its authority, be scrupu-
lousy and faithfully carried out let the decisions
Of the supreme judicial tribunal of the land be re-
spected and indicated in all portions of the Com
| fsderaey; let true and loyal obedience to the
laws and the courts prevail everywhere IN the
North, South, East and West-and the Union viii
be in danger Of disruption from any cause, but
viii stand for ages an indestructable monument Of
the surprising wisdom Of cur ancestors and the
unVarying fidelity and patriotism Of their descend
ants.
But, we cannot say, and we have never said, that
we were in favor Of Union to be maintained at
the sacrifice Of violated Constitution BY persis-
tent refusal to obey the mandates Of the supreme
Court, and by general notification of the laws Of
Congress, by the majority section, to Cypress and
outrage the minority portion Of the confederacy
We have never been in favor of such Union, and
never shall be. The fathers of the Republic would
/ have spurned such confederation with as much
loathing as they ddthe treason Of Benedict Arnold.
The Declaration Of Independence itself says:
\ 4 Whenever any form Of government becomes de-
struetiye Of these ends, ife liberty and the pursuit
Of happiness3 it the right Of the people to alter or
to abolish it. and to institute anew government lay
ing its Foundation on such principles, and organ
ling its powers in such form, as to them shall
seem most likely to effect their safety and happi-
/ ness Higher authority than the above is not to
be found in the history of the United States. The
principle it enuncates constitutes the very corner
stone of the temple of American liberty-o liberty
| everywhere. Wherever the principle is unrecog-
nized sheer and unadulterated despotism prevails.
There is no such thing civil and religious free
dom where it ii ignored. The right to change a
government, 81 70 utterly abolish it, and to estab-
| lish new government, is the inherent right Of a
! free people; and when they are deprived Of that
| right they are no longer free-not whit more SO
than the serfs Of Russia Or the down-trodden mil
4 lions of Austria.
The history of the Abolition or Black Republican
party Of the North is history of repeated injuries
/ and usurpations, all having IN direct object the
/ establishment Of an absolute tyranny over the
slaveholding States. And all without the smallest
/ warrant, excuse or justification. We have APP
pealed to their generosity, justice and patriotism
! but all without avail. From the beginning, we
1 have only asked to be let alone in the enjoy
mant Of our plain, inaienable rights as explicitly
guaranteed in our common organic law. We have
never aggressed upon the North, nor sought to
/ agrees upon the North. Yet every appeal and
| expostuation has only brought upon us renewed
insults and augmented injuries. They have robbed
us Of our property, they have murdered our citi-
zens while endeaEoring to reclaim that property
by lawful MEANS they have set at naught the de-
crees OF the Supreme Court, they have invaded
our States and killed our citizens, they have de-
cared their unalterable discrimination to exclude
US altogether from the Territories, they have multi
fed the laws of congress, and finally they have
capped the mighty pyramid Of unfraternal enorm.
tiles by electing Abraham Lincoln to the Chief
Magistracy, on a platform and by system which
indicates nothing but the subjugation of the South
and the complete ruin Of her social, political and
industrial Institutions.
+ All these statements are not only true, but abso
lutelg indisputable The facts are well known and
patent. Under these circumstances, in view of the
dark record of the past the threatening aspect Of
the present, and the very serious contingencies
to q candid and honorable world, whether the
Southern people have not been astonishingly pa
tient under gross OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES they have
not exhibited remarkable forbearance whether
they have not been long suffering, slow to anger
and magnanmons, on numerous occasions where
Indignation was natural, and severe measures of re.
taliation Unsuitable? There can be no doubt on this
point. For the sake of peace, for the sake Of har
mn fhaG nr.tb hos -,
compromise no farther, without she is willing to
compromise away character, political equality,
social and individual interest, and every right and
franchise which freemen hold dear.
All the Northern States with the exception of
New Jersey, voted for Lincoln AS he is fully as
odious to the South and just as dangerous to her
institutions as William Il. Seward would have
been, the fact Of his election, by an overwhelnl-
ing majority, Is full of portentous significance. It
shows, beyond all question or peradventure, the
unmixed sectional luminosity with which an enor-
nous majority Of the Northern people regard MS
Of the South In connection with this, there is an
either fact, not ~ generally known as it ought to
be, which we propose to lay before the Southern
public. The Constitution of the country recog-
nizes slaves as property the laws of Congress re-
cognize slaves as property; the decisions Of the
Supreme Court recognize slaves as property; and
the constitution, the laws and the court declare
that runaway slaves shall be restored to their own
erss But how are the Consultation, the laws and
the court regarded in nine great Northern States
Let Us see. Here is list Of penalties prescribed
by certain Northern Legislatures to such South
erners as venture to make legal endeavors to re-
claim their property in those States:
Fine Imprfsonmt
In Maine. .SiDpG years
IN Nemont 2Qol 10 years
In Massachusetts. 5000
Connecticut $500 ye5r
In Pennsy yania. 1000 3fn'fhs
Iii Indiana. $500 IN years
Michigan. 001 years
In Wisconsin. 1860
In Iowa. 1000 loyears
Every one of the above States, when they passed
those laws, placed themselves beyond the pale of
the Constitution. and yirtnaly dissolved their com