Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1860-05-15
The hibstractfon.3

TUESDAY MORNING., MAY 10, lSOo.
The "ibstrnction."
The most plausible argument employed to
silence the demand of Southern Democrats for
a full and unequivocal recognition of the con,
stitutionat rights Of persons and property IN
the Territories, seems TO have assumed the iol-
lowing stereotyped form: This doctrine is, at
best, a mere abstraction it is Of no practical
Importance whatever; the protection of the
federal government to slave persons and prop
erty in the Territories, whether fully and adj
cQuatcv extended or altogether withheld, is
incompetent to affect practically the existence
or non.eSistcnce of slave property in any of
the Territories that question will, in any case,
be eventually decided by the conditions Of
soil and climate; wherever slave labor can be
proftably employed, ii will find its permanent
existence, us ctlectually under the laiSSc= Jairc
system as under any system Of governmental
protection; and wherever such labor cannot
be proftablv employed, no system Of protection
will maintain its existence.
This view Of the matter involves such sue.
ccSSon OF fal!acicS ingcniously combined, as to
render Il full reply almost without the range Of
ordinary newspaper discussion. In the first
place, it assumes that the only practical object
intended by the demand of Southern men, and
of constitutional law, is the mere extension ol
the area Of Slavchol1ing States. Protesting
against the view which regards Southern men
as engaged in = mere struggle for territorial
prcdomnancc, We can still show that even OIL
this assumed ground Of narrow sellishneSs and
short.sighted policy the argument Of ''abstrac.
ton" iml,s nest pitcously. We are willing to
admit the postulatc, that wherever soil and
climate arc so unfavorable rs to render tie EN-.
ploymcnt of slave labor improbable, its per-
mancnt maintenance is altogether hopeless
But the converse Of the proposition by no
means follows. 1t is not true in the present
condition OF our political and social relations,
that the mere advantages Of favorable soil anti
climate are sufficient TO ensure the permanent
maintenance Of slave property in any Of the
territories of the Union. Such would, indeed
DC the case in i perfect: healthy and normal
condition Of popular sentiment as applied TO
social and political affairs. but thu present
condition is altogether abnormal and unhealthy.
There is in the moral atmosphere rcst!lential
influence far more invidous to the pcrlna-
nent security of slave property in the terri,
tories, than is the icc-daggcr itself which,
we are told, is borne horizontally on the chill
blast Of the far Northwest Every arrival Of
an cmigrant train from the North creates an
auxiliary Of antagoniSm to slavery, which, il
left unresirained by sufficient legal enactment
efficiently enforced, will prove as noxious in the
Mcsila Valley as on the shores of Lake Supc-
rior. 1t is useless to say, that under the squat
ter sovereignty system, wherever the proper
natural facilities arc afforded for the introduc-
40" &c .,i~,. r.-r--.:., .L- -I..-t -,Inre wl
possess the majority Of political power, and can
make laws sufficient for their own protection.
The superior facility for emigration and settle.
mcnt is in all cases on the side Of the opponents oil
slavery And even were the facilities Of cml-
grafton equivalent, and the number of North
ern and Southern settlers equal, still the great
preponderance Of voting men would be OH the
side of the North There is no surplus popu-
lation in the Southern States. Especially is
there no surplus Of laborers. From Virginia to
Texas immense tracts Of land now lie unculti-
vated for want of an adequate supply OF labor.
ers. Thus the Southern population-especaly
the laboring population which seeks settlement
in the Tcrritories-is comparatively small and
gradual in its advances
Again, there is no surplus floating capital at
the South. The great bulk Of Southern capital
consists in real estate; and the incidental float
ing capital is scarcely sufficient for the manage.
ment of the real estate. When a Southern
man cmigrates, he must first convert his fixed
capital into floating capital, and the causes just
mentioned frequently render this conversion
difficult. and occasion many incidental sacri-
fees in value.
\ surplus Of floating capital, surplus oi
population, and surplus cl labor, must all
combine to render emigration and settlement
easy and rapid In most of the Northern
States this combination of requisites exists to
such m extent as to render emigration and
territorial settlement not only practicable, but
unavoidable. So much for the race of settle
mcnt, in which the North possesses an advan-
tace of ten 10 one, boli rs to time and mum.
bcrs.
I'm the first stare uf settlcncnt-at the first
period in which territory is recognized aS par
tially scttlcd-thc period Of the establishment
of territorial govclnment-thcrc is scarcely
a territory in whicl! the population Of non
shareholders will not Ear out-numbcr that Of
slaves and shareholders combined. Moreover,
the Northern capitalist, with his fifty lahnrc:$
will wcld liEy-oac votes, while the Southern
capitalist. with i,iS Iily laborclS, will count but
one vote. apply, at this moment, the Squat
ter Sovereignty rule, that the majority Of votes
shall decide for or against the holding Of slaves
in the territory, and Immediately and forever
slave property is expelled and excluded, in
every instance, on every soil, under every eli
mate, as cllrc;,ally and permanently as though
LAID under the ban Of Congressional intcrdc-
ton.
Thus the disadvantage to shareholders and
the disconragcmcnt to the introduction Of slave
property into territories, organized or unor-
ganized, is almost Indefinitely cumulative. Let
Northern competition be once authorltalivcly
armed with the decisive weapon OF H4na'ier
Sovereignty, and it will he mere quiSotis'n at
hest for Southern Shareholder TO make his
property The stake Of q hopeless conflict.
Under any circumstances, Lie settlement Of
slaves in an unorganizcd territory is attended