Gazette and sentinel., 1860-01-28

Auih INV Guy - oNihOuo IN wv
ing in the construction of useful works.
The danger lies less in extending con-
stitutional assistance to corporations for
building railroads, than in the careless
executiono of the laws by which the State
becomes q corpOrator. Unless Studi-
ously watched, tho restrictions imposed
by the organic law will be cvadcd by
The corporations, and the State not only
exposed TO loss, but the spirit, if not the
letter of the Constitution, be violated.
\ careful review Of our State affairs
and a vigilant examination into our re-
sources, is more incumbent on us now
than heretofore, in vicw'of the disturb
cd state ii oIr relations with Il large
portion of the people ot other prrtS of
the Union, O
Louisiana has always hccn moderate
and c~onSery,t VI in her sentiments. She
has ley al any period OF out national
history c|OUntcuauccd extreme opinions
or violent measures, lies citizens have
ever been loyal lovers of the union of
these States as made and administered
by our fathers, If her devotion to the
MON shall be weakened, it will he be
cause OF the intolefS1ce of a sectional
majority; and il it be ever obliterated it
will be because that intolerance has re-
/ suited in practical oppression, or produ-
ced IA state Of things to which no scnsi-
tive people can submit,
{ Bat loyal as louisiana is known to be
10 tie Federal Union, it must not be for
gotten that she is something more than
a mere State cf the Union. She is. by
her position, by her principles, and by
her choice, u Southern slavch0lding
State, and events seem to be hastcuing
tOa crisis the relation which those States
bear to the Union, in which her duty to
herself and 10 her sister States may be
brought into painful conflict with her
! devotion To the Union. \ great party
has grown up 1T the North and West
whose sole bond Of union is animoSity
! 10 the institutions OF fifteen of the States.
OF the Union. SO bitter is this hostility
felt towards the slavery that these IF
teen States regard as a great social and
political blessing, that it exhibits itself
in Legislation for the avowed purpose of
destroying the rights Of shareholders
! guaranteed by the Constitution and pro-
tected byaacts Of Congress. Popular
addresses, Legislative resolutions, En-
ecutiyc communications, the press and
the pulpit, all Iculcatc hatred against
Us and war upon the institution VI sla-
very, m institution interviewer with the
very clements OF our existence. The
fandticism engendered in the popular
mind by the doctrines taught and the
enmity excited, manifested itself very
recently by All Eruption Of armed men
III the State of Virginia, whose object
was to incite instruction, aud whose
mean were treason and murder, The
abrapt end to which the conspiracy was
brought. and the sharp, quick and Just
punishment vi the consplrators, proved
that the South had not ovcr-estimated
the stability Of her institutions. But
the apologies and eulogiums which de-
yeloped at the North widespread SYM
patty withthe %felons, have deepened the
dlstrust in the permanently of our Fed
cral Government, and awakened scnti-
ments favorable to a separation of the
States.
The representatives of these feelings
AGAINST us and our domestic institutions
are now struggling to obtain possession
Of the Government. 50 that Federal law
may Illustrate their doctrines, and Fed
Cral power enforcetliem. ] cannot con-
template withOyt the most serious alarm
the condition to which the Southern
States will be reduced, If q political
party, organized only iii onc section Of
the country, and without followers, or
sympathiZers III the other. should obtain
possession Of the Government, when the
only foundation or which that party
rests, Is detcstation of slavery, and
when the minority slave section will be
without the power TO protect itself
through the instrumentality of Federal
authority. When that time arrives the
Southern States will be practically with
ont representation in the Federal Gov
ernment, and the South occupy the po-
sition of ~subjugated States.
The Union cannot last without a re-
cognition of the vital principles of the
Constitution, that the States are equal
in the Confederacy. Every State must
be permitted to determine her OWL So
cial institutions, and left to the enjoy
ment of them III peace; aud the Terrific
RES, the common property of the States,
must be freely opened to settlement bv
the people Of the confcderated equals.
The insulting demand that there shall be
no more slave States, must be abandon
Cd hnnnt.A Il ~ .nl.-4- l