Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1860-03-08
SPEECH
OF
VIM, Il, SEWARD,
OFF NEW YORK.

SION lHlO tne Union, bpckS hS 4oiiO"SN
Sir. President, the admission OF Kansas IN
to the Union, without further delay, seems to
me equally necessary, just, and wise. In re-
corded debates have already anticipated the
arguments for this conclusion.
In coming forward among my political as
trologers, it shall he an error uf judgement,
and not of disposition, if my Interpretation
Of the feyerish dreams which are disturbing
the country shall tead to foment, rather than
10 alay, the national excitement. shall say
nothing unnecessarily of persons, because, in
our system, the public welfare and happiness
depend chiefly on institutions and very little
on men. l shall allude but briefly to Incl
dental topics, because they are ephemeral
and because, even in the midst of appeals to
passion and prejudice. it is always safe to sub
NIT solid truth to the deliberate consideration
of an honest and enlightened people
1t will be an oyerf0wing source of shame,
as well as sorrow, il We thirty miiiuns-Euro,
peans by extraction, Americans by birth OF
discipline, and Christians in faith and mean.
ing to be such in practice cannot 50 combine
prudence with humanity in our conduct con-
corning the one disturbing subject Of slavery,
as not only to preserve our unequaled insti
tutions of freedom, but also to enjoy their
benefits with contentmcnt and harmony.
Wherever a guleess slave exists, be he
Caucasian, American, Malay, or African, he
is the subject of two distinct and opposte
idcas-one that he is wrongly, the other that
he is rightly a slave. The balance cf mum
Dors on either side, however great, never com
plete!y extInguishcS this difference of opinion
Tor there are always some defenders Of sav-
cry outside, even il there are none inside, of
free State, while, also there are always out
side, if there is not inside, Of every slave
Sf0fa -iN II. Il.
man who knows aught can be SO stupid as to
deny that all men naturally were born free
being the image and resemblance Of God him
self, and were by privilege above all the crea
lures, born to command, and not TO obey"
1t often, perhaps generally, happens, how
ever, that III considering the subject of slave.
~ society seems to overlook the natural right
or personal interest of the slave himself and
t. act exclusively for the welfare Of the citi-
zen But this fact does not materially affect
ultimate results, for the elementary question
ot the righttulness or wrongfnlness of slav-
cry nheres in every form that discussion con
corning It assumes. What is Just toone class
OF men can never be injurious to any other
and what IS unjust to any condition Of per
sens N state Is necessarily Injurious in
some degree, to The whole community. An
economical question early arises out of the
subject OF slavery. Labor, either of freemen
or OF slaves is the cardinal necessity of So
ciety. Some States choose the one kind,
some the other. Hence two multic plc sys
TENS, widely different arise. The slave State
strikes down and affects to extinguish the
personality Of the laborer, not only as mem
Der OF the political body, but also as a parent.
husband, child, ncighbor, or friend lie thus
becomes, IN political view, merely property.
without moral capacity, and without domes-
TIC, moral, and social relations, duties rights.
and remedIes-a chattel an object of bargain.
sale, gift inheritance, or theft. His earnings
are compensated and his wrongs atoned not
to himself but to his owner. The State pro
tects not the slave as the man, but the capi
tai OF another man, which he represents.
On the other hand, the State which rejects
slavery encourages and animatcs and invig-
crates the laborer, 10y maintaining and de-
veloplng his natural personality in all the
rights and faculties Of manhood and gcner-
orally the privileges of citizenship In the
one case, capital invested in slaves becomes
great political force, while in the other, labor
thus elevated and entranchisCd, becomes the
dominating political power 1t thus happens
that we may, for convenience sake, and not
lnaccurately, call slave States capital States,
and free States labor States.
50 soon as a State feels the imuulses of com.
merce, or enterprise, or ambition. its citizens
bcgih to study the effects of these systems of
capital aud labor respectively on its inteli.
gence, Its virtue, It's tranquility, its integrity
or unity, Its defence, Its prosperity its liberty
ITS happiness, It's aggrandizement, and its
fame. In other words, the great question
arises, whether slavery is q moral social
and political good, or moral, social, and no
liucal evil. This is the slavery question at
home. But there is mutual bond or am;ty and
brotherhood between man and man tbrouoh
out the world. Nations examine freely the
political systems Of each other and Of All
preceding times, and accordingly as they an
prove or dlSapprOve of the two systems Of
capitai and labor respectively, they sanction
and prosecute, or condemn and prohibit. com,
merce IN men. Thus, 10 one way or in an.
other, the slavery question: which so MANY
among Us who are more willing 10 rnIa than
be patient IN studying the conditions of soci
ETY., think 1t merely accidental or unncees
sary question that might and ought to be set
lied, ana dismissed at once, is, on the contra.
ry, Worldwide and enduring subject of 20
hucal consideration and civil administration
Men, States, and nations entertain it, not vol
unfairly, but because the progress Of society
continually brings it into their way. They
aiVlue upon 1t, not peryersely, but because
owing to differences of constitution, condition,
or circumstances, they cannot agree.
The fathers OF the republic encountered il
They even adjusted it so that it might have
given us much less than our present disouiet
had not circumstances afterward occurred
which they, wise as they were, had not clear
ly foftseen. Although they had inherited, vet
they generally condemned the practice Of sla.
very, and hoped for its discontnuance They
expressed this when they asserted in the Dec
larntlon Of independence, as fundamental
principle of American society, that all men
are created equal, and have inalienable rights
TO life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Each State, however, reserved to itself exclu-
sive political power over the subject of slavery
within ITS own borders. Nevertheless. it un-
AElIl ablY nresant cd itse 6 in