Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1860-06-07
THURSDAY, JUNE a. 1860.

TseC crsrD RIGHT TO ESTABLISH SLAVE
px-Tbe best brief description of what is
really intended by squatter sovereignty was
given in a speech of Abraham Lincoln, deliv-
cred in Cincinnati, in September, 1859, as fol-
lows douglas popular sovereignty, as a
principle, is simply this: If one man chooses
to make a slave of another man, neither that
man nor anybody else has right TO object "
That is to say, it provides that men inhabiting
a territory may have slaves if they choose,
and be protected in having them, just as they
are protected in having cows, horses, and
sheep. And il was chiefly on account of this
provision that the squatter sovereignty scheme
was contrived Its main purpose was to deny
and set aside the fact that the normal condition
OF all our territory is freedom, and thus give
slavery free field. With the bred Scott de.
cison appended it settles the question against
freedom, and, with the territorial slave code
added although this is hardly necessary,
would be the completest scheme of slave
ry propagandism ever imagined Its whole
force, however, is in the assertion that the peo
pie OF a territory have sacred right to own
slaves, if they please, right to be classed with
the essential rights of human nature which are
SO solemnly asserted IN the Declaration of indie
pendence Never was there another such i'm
pudent brazen. browed sophistry as that put
forth by Mr.. Douglas and others, in behalf of
what is called squatter, or popular sovereignty
relation to slavery in the territories.
How different is slavery-supporting and
strengthening democracy from the old
doctrine of the republic! Immediately after
our government went into operation an act of
Congress prohibited slavery in all our national
territory. And this policy was supported by
the South as ell as the North. There was no
quarrel about it; no dispute; no angry talk
about sectionalism no dream that any body
could be SO blind or crazy as to deny the au-
thority of Congress to enact such prohibit
ton The slavery .excluding law of freedom
was by general agreement applied to every
foot Of territory we then had under the federal
jurisdiction. Certain tracts of territory, not
coded to the federal government, were
held by some OF the states as districts,
and one Of these was the district of
tracts, of course, remained under the laws of
the state to which it belonged. But freedom
was made the law of the general government
for all territory under its control. 1t was not
then believed that slavery should be aggran-
died, nor that it would ever undertake to be-
come permanent and all-controlling institu-
tuition. The clearest heads and brightest wits
of that time conld not imagine such democ-
racy as our modern democracy.
We republicans seek to restore the old doc
trine and practice; and one of our first duties
is to expose faithfully all the various assump-
tons, sophistries, and soft-footed knaveries, by
which they are assailed. 1t is an insult to
the common law, and an outrage against
reason, to pretend that slaves can be held by
the same right as "other property" for moth
ing can be more false. Property in slaves
cannot exist rightfully, and cannot exist at all
without the warrant of some local law. 1t
has not the same warrant as other property,
and cannot claim the same rights and preroga-
tives. We must always deny and beat back
the assumption that presumes to class it with
other property. And so must we deal with the
very cool and impious assumption of squatter
sovereignty, which represents that inhabitants
of a territory have sort of divine right to
establish slavery and own slaves, if it shall
please them to do, and which vehemently de-
MES the authority OF Congress to interfere
against slavery, or any other barbarism in the
territories.