Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1860-08-20
From the Syracuse CN. " Journal, Aug 18th.
SqunIter Sovereignty Not "a Fair Manifest
alton of Popular Government.

folk next Friday.
From the Syracuse N. " Journal Aug, 18th.
squatter Sovereignty Not a Fair Manifest
alton of Popular Government.
Leaving out of view for the moment the
gross and fundamental enormity of putting the
rights and liberties of any portion of man.
kind, which, we are assured by the fathers,
governments were expressly constituted to
secure and establish, upon an equal footing
with slavery, which is Numerically opposed
to these rights, few considerations are suff-
cient to demonstrate that so far from being in
accordance even with the principle of majority
government, "squatter sovereignty" is alto
gether unadvsable and unequal.
First the stake which a few struggling set
tiers possess in a territory is not equal in i'm
portance to that possessed by the whole peo-
pie of the Union. The first settlers are, it is
| likely, only an insigni6 cant fraction of the
| number destined to people its wide area.
While the wisdom, no less than the justice of
| the whole nation, will ever be best manifested
| by interposing as few restrictions as possible
to the emigrants regulating in their own way
those things which concern only or chiefly
their own liberties, it is absolute political
quackery and not craftsmanship, to contend
that questions vitality affecting not only the
permanent prosperity of the populous states
to be hereafter framed out of such territory,
but also that of the whole Union, should be
left to be determined by a few chance strag'
glers This has been, WttfOut exception, the doc
trine of all the great statesmen prior to 1850.
Again There is peculiar stake which the
states of this Union as such, hold in tho deci
sion of this question in all territories capable |
of becoming future states. 1t is well known |
that the basis of representation in the popular |
branch of congress, is not apportioned to the
number of actual voters in the several states, |
but that the slave states having the privilege
of adding their slaves to their own represent
aton in the ratio of five negroes to every
white man whence it is the case that in a
slave state every voter may, and in some cases
does have, in the house of representatives,
double the voice which pertains to the voter
in free state. The manifest inequality re-
sulting from this squatter sovereignty prin-
ciple, in giving, under the semblance of fair
ness, so significant preponderance to slavery
and to the slave states, is at once obvious.
But finally, the proposed method affords
only pretext of fairness with regard to the
settlement Of this question by the settlers
themselves. To say nothing Of the unstates-
manlike expedient Of plunging the few and
scattered settlers into interminable feuds, of
inviting outside interference on the part OF
other communities, to the full as much con-
cerned in the settlement of the question as the
settlers themselves, and of exposing them in
the latter in their defenceless condition to the
inroads and violence and frauds of armed
hordes from without-all of which the history
demonstrates to be inevitable fruits OF the sys-
tem-we may readily observe that there is
something peculiar in the question itself, of
slavery, which precludes it from being left like
other questions to the working OF the ordinary
laws OF social development, from being freely
and impartially canvassed from time to time,
and continued, discontinued, or modified from
time to time, as the real interests or wishes of
community may prompt. For let the first
gang of slaves set foot in territory and the
voice of free discussion must be silenced in
obedience to the dictation of the master. The
selfpreservation of the latter indeed requires
it. Liberty and slavery cannot co-exist along
side of each other, to argue out their relations
amicably together. Gags, vigilance commit
tees, mob law, the destruction of presses and
rifling of mails, become no less imperatively
required for white opponents, than are over
seers and scourges and bloodhounds, for black
mal-contents. The rights of discussion and
the rights of free inquiry can no more be toll
4 Grated in such a state OF things than torches
among gunpowder