New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-11-19

ask the Southern States 20 into Southern Conference With
her and It Il understood tina, they will go provided she lay.
down beforehand the programme which hsl form the basis OF
action. Ihis l. supposed Virginia win do, and from inorma
on communicated to me will be of character sufficiently
comprehensive and oxac,ins satisfy the most ultra Southern
e." viii embrace fr,, repeal Of s statutes multiplying The
Fpote Slate Low BY Slater hh hare Pdsssd such star
ute nth guaranty Of faiti enforcement 81 thai IA" :" ne
future; second ccneession that the Constitution d"horro me
en,tno IF dare. into territory and eon9nenfPTo
lection 70, sare property therein; and third Nat neither C'Hg
oy ,b, T,,t,, .hdH interfere With Sarsy IN ne States or
T,ito, ereey m protection in The latter rheH ne''d'S
Some favor change In the programme to the extent Of dd"d
for N, pas,ace Of iap bp Congre fhph for proftef0"
in the 7eyritorie'
.L Nob bov any disposition compromise upon H. then
National Conference will be called to adjust the pending dcu
ties upon tina. basis Should hce measures fail to obtain the
sanction Of North secession Of al the Southern states VIII io
low"
This is tolerably cool i faith considering that
is hardly past the middle of November. Those
who have been beaten in the late contest pro-
pose TO graciously forgive the victors, provided
they will give up oil that was at stake on the
issue and good deal more. We can tell the
gentlemen who lost that this programme will not
even be considered by the Free States much
less submitted to. IL CORVALLIS at Yorktown
had offered Washington free pardon in case he
would lay down his arms and sue to George I'LL.
for mercy as repentant rebel, his demand
would not have been more prepOsterous than
that above quoted. Those to whom the People
have Just voted to ntrust the Administration of
the Federal Government do not believe that
I" the Constitution authorizes the carrying of
" Slavery into the common territory" any more
than Jefferson or Roger Sherman did; and they
will do nothing to favor such transportation,
but everything in their power to prevent it.
Congress will pass no law for the protection OF
Slavery in those Territories: if the next Con-
Qress should, Mr.. Lincoln would certainly veto it.
And az to the laws of certain States, designed to
secure the personal Liberty of their inhabitants,
those States will modify, repeal or retain them
exactly Us their own people shall see ut,
and uhen they see ft-and this will
never be while they are menaced with terri
BILE consequences if they do not promptly comply
with the arrogant demands of outsiders. On this
point, the Republican Platform adopted at Chi
cage says, explicitly:
THAT the maintenance nvos.e Of the rights ofhe States
and especially Of he gh, Of each State 70 order and control ~
o.n done su0ns according to it' ofon judgment eTo9s
re essential balance Of power which the PeTfec
ton and endurance Of our political fabric depends"
Who disputes this doctrine' Certainly no
one who processes to be q disciple of Jefferson
and Madison. Read the celebrated Virginia and
Kentucky Resolutions of '98 and 49, and judge
how supporter of the doctrines therein pro-
claimed would look advocating the above propo-
sition to dragon the Free States into repeal OF
their own statutes
The simple fact is, that this clamOr about the
Personal Liberty acts Of certain Free States is
hollow and delusive. Those acts are not the
cause Of but mere pretext for the present
slayeholdng Juror. Those who are tanning the
flames Of civil discord, hate to own that their
only grievance is the election President of the
candidate they most dislike: so they look in every
direction for excuses for their treason. That
the Personal Liberty acts are only used as pre-.
texts, is proved by the fact that the very Gov
ernors who officially inyegh against them do not
know which States have passed them. New.fork
has been repeatedly denounced as leading Of
fender; Indiana as another; Illinois as a third;
when in fact neither Of these States has passed
any such law OF oil the border Free States,
only Pennsylvania has any act on her statute
book that even attempts to protect those claimed
as Slaves, and Pennsylvania is a weak, nimsy
affair. Generally, We may say that the States
which have Personal Liberty acts are those into
which slaves seldom or never do or can fee.
Practically, those acts are Of no account except
to the Secessionists If every one of them were
repealed tomorrow, not five more fugitive slaves
per annum would be caught and returned than
now are. And the only effect of repeating those
acts at this juncture would be to incite new and
more unwarrantable emotions.
If any State has passed On Anti-Slayery ect at
variance with the Federal Constitution, the SUI
preme Court, on the proper prcsentment of the
matter, will be ready enough to declare that act
a nulhty. Mr.. Lincoln, as President, will proba-
bly, feel bound to recognize and enforce the de-
crees Of that Court. Here is o way-and it is
the only practicable way-to override these acts
if they be really exceptionable. All the other
States, with the lew President and Congress,
might command, entreat, impore Vermont or
Wisconsin to repeal her Personal Liberty act,
yet the act would remain unrepealed and in full
force; but let the Supreme Court declare it
invalid and there is in substance an end of it.
Tie Secessionists understand this; but they don't
want those laws repealed-on the contrary, they
wish there were more of them, and that they were
great deal more Objectionable than they are.
Let it be understood, then, that the South has
full sway in the Supreme Court, and can there
demolish the Personal Liberty acts if she win.
If she chooses to have them stand, the reason