The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1860-01-18

ance to its extension into any free territory,
now or that may be owned by the United
States.' They deny the binding authority
of the dictum OF the Supreme Court OF the
United States, asserting right of property
in one man over another, as a fundamental
principle, and making the federal consttu.
tion the instrument of rendering it universal,
as not limited to the reach of the local power
which created the relation of master and
slave; but on the contrary, they declare
that the idea, there could be property in men,
was expressly excluded from the constitu
which contans no such word as slave or sls- |
very in any of its provisions and which in ev,
cry clause, construed, or that can be con.
strued, as referring to slavery, regarded il
as the creature of State Legislation, and de
pened wholly upon State legislation for its
existence and continuance. They deny, that
the constitution guarantees to the slavehold-
ing States, any other than their local rights,
in Connection with the institution OF slavery
but such as it expressly declares First,
That the foreign slave trade should not be
abolished before 1908 Second, That any
law or regulation which eny State might es
tabiish in favor of freedom should no! impair
the legal remedy, supposed at the time o
the adoption Of the constitution to exiat by
common law, for the recapture by legsl pro-
cess, in such State, of fugitives from labor
or service, escaping from other States and
Third, that three ffhs Of ell slaves should
be counted in settling the basis OF represent
alton in the several States. Beyond these.
the trainers OF the constitution Intended to
make no peculiar concessions to the slave.
holding States, and these were made, be-
cause "they had Union OF the States 10
minds the voluntary removal of slavery by
the action of the States themselves, with
cut Federal interference, seemed not only
certain, but close at hand" The people Of
Ohio have further declOred, that, in their
, opinion, the people of territory have nc
power under the constitution, or from any
other legal cource, to establish slavery as
one of their institutions, during their terrific
rial existence that the exercise of such q
e individual rights Of the citizen of the terrific
3 ry, and utterly subversive Of all true popular
sovereignty, which demands as a primar.
Y essential condition, the recognition of mali
f enable personal rights. They insist also
d thnt coupled with the power, it is the duty Q
O Congress to prohibit by express enactment
It the extention OF slavery into any free terri
" torv of the United States-that the exercis
10 of this power has been repeatedly approve
" by every department. of the State ond NJ
.e tionaI Government, end to the universal az
g. ceptance of the people, and that its recogn
to ton as fundamental principle, to be here
D. after exercised. whenever occasion may
!, presented, indispensable, to restore tine sin
t, plicity and purity Of the government, and
lie carry out the great purposes OF the const
v. tuition, as declared in the preamble : I"
a. form more perfect union, to establish ju;
I'd lice, insure domestic tranquility. promo
the general welfare and secure the blessing
o. OF liberty to ourselves and Our posterity.
Such are the judgments of the people
he Ohio, repeatedly expressed on the subject
D slavery, as a social and polifca question:
~ Butthey do not conceal from themseves,'h ,'h
nd the practices of the Federal Governme
ef. have long been opposed to their convictio
,is on the subject. They know that it has be-
nd administered for many years in subserven
OF to the purposes of the slavery extensioni:
lio Of the slaveholding States. The war
in extend the boundary of slavery to the R
ith Grande-the violation Of the Missouri Coz
ne pact-the war against Kansas, to eXte
N. slavery to the Pacific, are all sacrifices
,e. the public opinion, and the moral sense
est the masses of the country, by ombitiuus
of cumbents in the federal administration, /,
that combination in the South, which brin
tes the vote of Fl teen Slave States in Pnala
ON to divide and conquer the Free, and SO &C
10. tinue their trumphs in Presidential ell
ain tions. This combination has long been {
ev solute in its mastery over nominations, ell
los tions, administrations, and even legislat
,n touching the maintenance and expansion
Iv the institution of slavery, to which it oV
es its political strength.
ms What is the result ! Il the combinat
80. satisfied Far from it. There is grow
M power impaired by free institutions in
So anti-slavery Sts.eS-by their industr
full economy--by their intellectual resourC
en- which gradually render abortive all the a
sril of intrigue that pervert the organs Of the
ate tional will into instruments Of sectio
ent oligarchy. The selfish combination in v
CO. suborns northern aspirants to it's purpo
her rendering all the corrupt influence its C.
. soIidated force can command, to seduce 6
on. port in the North, to carry the Chief Mag
it's tracy, and threatening, in case of defeat,
pie overthrow of the Union, to coerce patri
IN. ism itself to submit to the minor, to az
mt. the great mischief. In vain its le4den &C.
ov. tre has stunned and swayed the natio
the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES the conciliating co
ion pacts of 1920 and lS50-and interpola
the Slavery as a part of the nations Consti