The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1860-03-16
The Admission Of Kansas.
SPEECH OF
VIM. II. SEWARD,
nE NEw Vnpu
Delivered in the Senate of the United
States, February 29M, 1860.
OF NEW YORK.

The Senate, in pursuance oi It's special order,
look up the bill introduced on the I'D inst by Mr.
SEWARD; OF New York, 10 admit the State oil
Kansas into the Union. under tho Constitution
framed. and with the boundaries prescribed by
oy the Convention which assembled nt WyGndot
last July, and Mr.. SEWARD opened the debate as
follows:
MR. PRESIDENT:
The admission of Kansas into tho Union,
without further delay. seems to mo equally
necessary, just and wise. In recorded de-
bates hivo already anticipated tho argu.
nents for this conclusion.
In coming forward among the political us.
trologors, il shall DO All orror Of Judgment
and not Of disposition. If my Interpretation
of tho feverish dreams which arc disturbing
the country shall tend to foment. rather
than to allay, the national excitement.
shall ray nothing unnecessarily of persons
because, ia our system. tho public welfare
and happiness depend chiefly on institutions
and very little on men. / shall ullude bul
briefly to incidental topics, because they arc
cphemoral, and because even in tho midsl
of appeals to passion and prejudice, it il
always safe TO submit solid truth TO tho
deliberate consideration of an honest and
enlightened people
1t will be an ovetfowing source of shame
as well as of sorrow, it we. thirty MILLIONS
Europeans by extraction, Americans by birth
or discipline. aud Christians in faith, and
meaning to be such in practice-cannot so
combine prudence with humanity. in our
conduct concerning the ono disturbing sub.
jcct OF slavery, as not only to preserve our
nuequalled Institutions of freedom, but also
to enjoy their benefits with contcntncnt
and harmony.
Wherever q guiltloss slave exists. be he
Caucasian. American. Malay. or African. he
is the subject of two distinct and opposite
idcas-one that ho is wronRly,th other that
he is rightly slavo. The balance of NUN
bors on either side, however great, never
completely extinguishes this difference of
opinion. for there ar0 always some defend
ers OF slavery outside, oven if there are none
inside Of II free State. while also there are
always outside, if there are not inside OF
every slave State, many who assert with
Milton. that mo man who knows aught cuu
be 80 stupid as to deny that all men natur.
ally were born free, being tho image and
resemblance of Gcd himself and were by
privilege above all the creatures, born to
command and not to obey" 1t often. per.
haps generally happens, however, that in
considering the subject of slavery, society
seems 10 overlook the natural right or pcr.
sonsl interest of the slave himself. and TO
act exclusively for tho wclfare of the citizen.
But this fact docs not materially affect ulti-
mato results, for tho elementary question
o: the righttulncss or wrongfulness of sla.
very inheres in overy form that discussion
concerning it assumes. What is just to one
class of men can never DO injurious to auy
other; and what is unjust to any condition
Of persons in State. is necessarily injurious
in some degree to tho whole comm unity
An economical question early arises out of
;he subject of slevery-labor either of FREQ
men or of slaves is tho cardinal necessity of
society. Some States choose tho ono kind
some the other. Hence two municipal sys
tens widely different arise. Tho slave
State strikes down and Affects to cxtingusb
the personality of tho laborer, not only as a
member of tho political body. but also az a
parent husband, child. neighbor, or friend.
fic thus becomes, in political view, merely '
property, without moral capacity, and with
out domestic, moral and social relations
duties. rights and rcmcdcs-a chattel. au
object OF bargain, sale, gift, inheritance, or
thott His earnings arc compensated and
his wrongs atoned, not 10 himself, but to his
owner. Tho State protects not the slave
as man, but the capital of another man.
tho State which rejects slavery encourages
and aninatcs and invigoratos tho laborer
by maintaining and developing his natural
personality IN all tho rights and faculties of
manhood. and generally with tho privileges
of citizenship. In tho one case capital in.
vested in slaves becomes q great political
force, while in tho other, labor thus eIeya.
ted and onfranchiseI, becomes the domino.
ting political power. 1t thus happens that
We may, tor convenience sake, and not in.
accurately. call slavo States capital States.
and FREQ States labor States.
So soon as State feols the impulse of
commerce or enterprise or ambition, lts citi.
zens begin to study tho Effects of these sys.
toms OF capital and labor respectively on its
intelligence, its virtue, its tranquility, its
integrity or unity, its detcnse. it's prosper
ity. its liberty, its happiness, its aggrandize
ment, and it's fame. In other words, tho
great question arises. whether slavery is o
moral, social, and political good, or moral
social and political evil. This is tho sla.
very question ut home. But there is mu
tual bond Of unity and brotherhood betwcon
man and man throughout tho world. Ma.
tions examine freely tho political systems OF
oach other, and of all preceding timcs, and
accordingly as they approve or disapprovc
OF tho two systems of capital and labor rc.
spectively tboy sanction and prosecute. OF
condemn and prohibit commerce in mon
Thus. in one way or in another, the slavery
question which 40 many amongst US, who
are more willing to rule than patient in
studying the conditions of society, think i.
merely accidental or unnecessary q question
that might and ought to be settled and dis.
missed at once, is, on the contrary, n world
vide and enduring subject of political con.
sideratlon and civil administration, Men.
states and nations entertain il, not yoIunta.
rlIy, but because tho progress of society
continually brings it into thoir way. They
olvlde upon il. not pervcrsely, but because
owing to differences Of constitution. condi.
lion. or circumstances, they cannot agree.
Tho fathers of tho Republic encountered
Il. They oven adjusted it SO that il might
havo given us much less than our present
disquiet. had not circumstance afterwards
occurred which they, wise as they wore, had
not clearly foreseep. Although they had
inherited, yet they generally condemned
tho practice of slavery and hoped for it's
d'scontinuancc. They expressed this whom
they asserted in the Declaration of Indo.
pendence, as a fundamental principle of
american society, that all mon are created
equal and have inalienablo rights to life
hoerty, and the pursuit of happiness. Each
state, however, reserved to itself exclusive
political power over tho subject of slavery
- IL