Union County star and Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1859-1864, 1860-05-18
THE ADMISSION Or KANSAS.
STATE OF THE COUNTRY.
Speech of VIM. II. Seward,
In The {. ). senate. February %, isco.

Mr.. President, the admission OF Kansas
into the Union, without further delay,
seems to me equally necessary, just, and
wise. In recorded debates, have already
anticipated the Arguments for this conelu-
sion.
In coming forward among the political
sstroIopers, it shall be an error of judg-
meut. aud not of disposition, if my inter
pretatiou Of the feverIsh dreams which are
disturbing the country shall tend to TO-
mcnt, ratucc than to allay, tue national
excitement | shall say nothing unneces-
sarily Of persous, because, in our system,
the public welfare and happiness depend
chiefly on institutions, and very little on
men. | shall a!lude but briefly to incl
dental topics, because they are ephemeral,
aud because, even in the midst of appea,s
to passion and to prejudice, it Is always
safe to submit solid truth to the deliberate
consideration of an honest aud ightened
people.
1t will be an overhowing source of
shame, as well as of sorrow, If we, thirty
millions Europeans by extraction, Amer
leans by birth aud discipline, aud Chris
tians iu faith, and meaning 10 be such IN
practice-cau not SO combine prudence
with humanity, in our conduct coucerning
the one disturbing subject Of slavery, as
not ouly TO preserve our uncqlaiei InSti-
tutions Of freedom, but also to enjoy their
benefits with contentmeut and harmony.
Wherever a guililess slave exists, be he
Caucasian, American, Malay, or African,
he is the subject of two distinct aud oppO-
site ideas-oue that he is wrongly, the
other that he is rightly, a slave. The
balance of numb on either side, how
ever great, never completely cxiIDgulshes
this difference of Opiuion, for there are al
ways some defenders of slavery outside,
even if there are none inside, of free
State, while also there are always outside,
If there are not inside, Of every Slave State,
many who assert, with Milton, that "no
man who knows aught can be so stupid to
deny that all men naturally were boru free,
being the image aud resemblance Of God
himself, and were by privilege above all
the creatures, born to command aud not
to obey" 1t often, perhaps generally,
happens, however, that, in considering the
subject of slavery, society seems to over
look the natural right or personal interest
of the slave himself, and to act exclusively
for the welfare of the citizen. But this
fact does not materially affect ultimate re-
suits, for the elemeutar question of the
rightfulness or wrobgfuluess of slavery iu-
heres in every form that discussion con
cerniug it assumes What is just to one
class of men, eau never be iujuriou, to any
other; and what is unjust to any condition
Of persons in State, Is necessarily lnjuri-
ous in some degree to the whole cummu-
nifty.
An economical question early arises out
of the subject of slavery-.aoor, either OF
freemeu or of slaves, is the cardinal ne
cessity Of society. Some States choose
the one kind, some the Other. Hence two
municipal systens, widely different, arise.
The slave State strikes down and affects
to extiDguish the personality cf the labor
er, not only as a member Of the political
body, but also as pareut, husband, child,
peighbor, or friend. lie thus becomes, in
q political view, merely property, without
moral capacity, aud without domestic, NOR
al, and social relations, duties, rights, and
remedies cbattel, an object of bargain,
sale, gift, inheritance, or theft. His earn
ings are compensated, and his wrongs
stoned, not to himself, but TO his owner.
The State protects not the slave as man,
but the capital Of another man, which he
represents On the other hand, the State
which rejects slavery encourages aud ami
mates and iuvigorates the labOrer by main
tanning aud developing bis natural person
ality in all the rights and faculties of
manhood, and generally with the priviieg-
as of citizenship. In the one case, capital
invested in slaves becomes great politi-
cal force; while in the other, labor, thus
elevated and enfranchised, becomes the /
dominating political power 1t thus hap
pens that We may, for convenience sake,
and not inaccurately, call slave States,
capital States; aud free States, labor
States.
So soon as State feels the impulses of .
or enterprise, or ambition, its ,
citizens begin to study the effects of these
systems of capital aud labor respectively
on its intelligence, its virtue, its trauquilli-
ty, its integrity or unity, its defence, its
its liberty, its happiness, its
aggrandizement, and It's fame. In other
words, the great question ARISES, whether
slavery is moral, social, and political
good, or moral, social, aud political evil?
This is the slavery question at home. But
there is a mutual bond of amity and broth
erhood between man and man throughout
the world. Nations examine freely the I
political system of each other, and of all
preceding times, and, accordingly as they
approve or disapprove Of the tao systems I
If capital and labor respectively, they /
sanction aud prosecute, or condemn aud l
prohibit, commerce in men. Thus, in one
way or 10 another, the slavery question,
which so many among Us, who are more
willing to rule than patient in studying
the conditions Of society, think is merel y
accidental or unnecessary question, that
might and ought to be settled aud dismiss
ID at once, is, on the contrary, world
vide aud enduring subject of political con- !
aud civil administration. Men, l
Ind 0afiopc ar.nr.o;n =, ,-,l,p.arii--