M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1860-01-26
The Terri,eriaiDomnin.


ical settlement of our territorial do.
main. What, in right and justice,
ought to be the political status of our
brethren settled there before the
act of Congress has admitted them as
States into our Union, has been, in
practice, a question Of more than or
dinary difficulty and magnitude
Nor does the question promise to lose
any of its interest or Importance, un.
til j. has received such a solution from
the hands of our National Legislators
as shall satisfy the deep-seated con =
victions of the great body of our peo-
pie, and shall harmOnize with the prin,
ciples which form the basis OF our
present system of government.
At the adoption of our Federal
Constitution, in accordance with
whose provisions all legislative mat
tiers in tie Territories have, since that
time, been prolessedly governed, the
public domain was quite small-ex.
tending only to the east bank of the
Mississippi River. BY far the lar
gest portion OF this had already been
provided for by the ordinance OF 1887,
and but little remained to be provided
for when our present system Of gov
ernment went into operation. All
anxiety in regard to the settlement OF
this small portion was swallowed no
in the mOmentous concern called forth
by the effort made to unite the thir,
teen States and to avert the danger Of
anarchy and ruin impending over
them.
But since that time, regions of vast
extent and Of unparalleled fertility and
mineral wealth have been added to
our public domain. They comprise
an area more than twice as large as
that belonging to us at the close oI
our Revolution. 1t contains noble
rivers; boundless praires, and com
modious harbors ON the Pacific invi.
ting the commerce OF Asia. Its rich.
es have stimulated to remarkable Wig.
or the spirit Of American enterprise,
and the rapidity with which these
hitherto unsubdued wiIds have been
tilled with teeming population hard
ly finds an equul in history. From
it ten new States have already been
added to the Confederacy, and others
are promising soon to present them
selves for admission.
The portion yet remaining in. a
Territorial OF wild condition is still
quite as large as all the States put to-
gether. Its surface is ample enough
to furnish more than thirty States OF
the size OF Ohio. 1t is no longer dot.
ted here and there with a few feeble
settlements struggling against the
murdcrous savage for existence, nor
wandered over by the solitary hunter
in search of game. The tide of i'm.
migration has become a resisless tor.
rent. The most energetic and saga.
cous Of our citizens, men in the prilne
Of life, with sturdy, well-trained in
tellects, experienced in the courts of
justice and halls OF legislation, with
their fortunes and families, are scatter.
ing themselves over every part of this
immense country. They 60 to find
permanent homes, and to build up
new communities, and, as the result,
new States are knocking at the doors
of our Union almost every year.
1t is not too much to say, that the
course pursued by Congress, hitherto,
toward those who have left our midst
and gone to settle these lands, has been
anomalous, strange and unauthorized.
They have been stripped OF those po.
litical privileges which, by nearly
every State in the Union and in the
most solemn manner, have beon asser.
ted to be the inaleDable blrthright OF
every American citizen. Previous to
the time OF numbering a certain popu.
lation, they have not been regarded as
having any political existence at ALL
The first notice taken of them by the
General Government is in sending
them Governors and Judges, without
regard to their elections or DESIRE
And when, by the act Of Congress
they are permitted to elect Territor.
ial Legislat ure, its enactmertS are sub.
iect to the vote Of the Governor, and,
in some instances, to the revision and
sanction Of Congress.
Here is a phase Of our General Gov.
ernment which rivals in irresponsible
despotic power, any thing which pre-
ceded the Revolutionary struggle o.
our fathers. Why is this so! Is il
because those who 60 into these Ter.
ritories are unfit to make laws tol
themselves Are they so ignorant
as not to know what laws will best Sc.
cure their own interests Who go to
these Territories ? Ex.Governors, ex.
Senators, ex.representatives - both
State and National !--ex,i Judges, law.
yers, clergymen, merchants, artisans
of every class, men Of every rank in
society. and every degree of wealth -