Daily national Democrat., 1860-11-03


opinion by his vote.
Again Mir. buchanan, in the United States senate,
July lst, 1886, said
In 1850, when the peace of the country seemed to
be IN imminent danger, the experienced men of this
body, such as Clay and Webster, and the venerable
Senator in front Of me, Mr. Cass, and others conceiv
ed ana presented new mode of adjustment That
was simply to take this question out Of Congress and
conide IL to the people Of the Territory-to submit it
to their ju gment and thei will. For one thought
the principle an admraAle one II seemed to me that
it ought 10 give entire satisfaction to the country,
ana that it would have sautHry influence upon our
national rclatOns-a principle perfectly in unison
with our whole republican system of government,
mere recognition and extension TO the territories OF
that vital principle Of seli-goyernlnent-a principle
suited to all times, all occasions and all Territories,
and as mperishabe as our mountains, no temporary
remedy, no arbitrary rule, no pershablc eNpedent,
but simply this, that the people of State at al
times settle this question OF domestic policy lor tnem
selves Congress will enforce that the poue Of Ter
rtory shall have the same orportunity-that that
power which is to be complete and exclusive when the
people become State should operate during the Ter
roria existence. Not only because if was perfectlv
lSht IN prihciIe, Jut because believed IL would be
wise IN practice, preferred it to any which had pre-
Nou'y been practiced in the Government, any 9TH
er ea presented at the time antagonstic to itn APP
pendx Congressional Globe, 1st Session, 34th Con
gress, vol. 3d. pages I29, I30.
Since the cnuncaton Of this doctrine by the Presi-
dent, his wing Of the party have maintained it most
zealously both North and South.
On this subject the Kansas Nebraska lii being un-
der consideration Mr.. Brecknridge said
1t viii he observed that the rights OF the people to
regulate in their own way all their domestic iustitu
tons Is lett wholly untouched except that whatever is
done must be done in accordance with the Constitu-
uon-ihe ) preme law for US all. And the rights of
property under the Constitution, as we'll the egs
AtlYe action, Is properly left the decision of the
Federal Judiciary This avoids a contested issue
which II is hardly in the competency of Congress to de-
eide, and refers 1t to the proper tribunal
Ihen sir, neither the purpose the effect of the
bill to ltgslate slavery into Nebraska and Kansas,
but its effect is to sweep away this vestge of Congress
ia oil fln fra sit
Zeus of this Union to enter the common Territory
with the Constitution and the bill alone In their hands
aud to remit the decision of their rights under both to
the courts OF ln1 country. VINO can go beI Ne his
constituents refusing to stand the platform of the
Constitution See app. Cong. Globe, vol. 20, page
Al.
The issue made up was (and it went back of all di-
visions and patched-up settlements, and to the very
bottom of the subect shall slavery be prohibited in
all tie territories Of the United States by act of Con-
sress or SHAH be le to the people VINO inhabit them,
subject only to the Feera Constitution aud this
fought the great hattie OF 1850. The eholdng
States said, have exhausted every scheme of adj
justment; we have offered the old line it is contemp
tuously refused; you claim all very well them we
unite with you i'll burying the past we accept the
broad issue OF intervention non-intervention we
dcc and that all the citizens OF the United Statcs be al
lowed to enter the common Territory with the Con
stltution alone in their hands. If that instrument
protects the title OF the master to the slave in this
common Territory you cannot complain and if it
does not protect his title we ask no help from Con
gress and the relations Of the Constitution to the
oil the United States. We do not ask Congress to in
teilec to interfere for us, ard will resist all legis
tive interference against u.s. Sir, L care
nothing about refined distinctions, Of the subteties of
verbal criticism. repeat the broad and plain prop
oston, that if Congress may intervene this subject,
it may intervene on any other; and having thus
rendc ed the principle and broken away from const-
tational limitations, you are driven into the very lap
of arbitrary power. BY this dDctrne you may erect
despotism under the American system. The whole
theory is a libel Institutions 1t carries us
back to the abhorrent principles of British colonial
authority, against which made the issue of indie
Pendeuce. l have acquiesced in this cdious
claim G an ana VIII not believe that it can abide the test
The freedom OF these new countries to establish their
own institutions, ought therefore, to be as lear to the
man from Maine as the man from Florida. Appendix
to Congressional Globe vol % ist Sess 33l Cong,
pages Al, Az
Again in speech at Lexington, after his election to
the Vice Presidency he said
Upon the distr4ctng question of domestic slavery
their Qhe Democratic partys) position is clear. The
whole power of the Democratic organization is pleds
ell to the following propositions That Congress shall
not inteTGcae upon that subject in the States, in the
Territories, or in the District of Columbia that the
peopte ct edch 7ey7St0yy SaGU determine tie QUes-
ton for themselves without discrimination on accuun.
of the allowance or prohibition of slavery.
Mr.. Buchanan then not only adopts this principle
sad ia bo unsound but Mr. Breckinridge declares it
to be his creed, and more, that the whole Democratic
organization in the Union is pledged to maintain it,
The evidence does not stop here. The following ex-
tracts taken from the speeches Of leading Southern
stan ling ofthe Comprrmse of 1850 and 1851.
Pending the discussion Of the Compromise measure
of 1850, Senator Pratt of Maryland, said
The doctrine Of the South US l understand it, and
the only true ground on which the South stand, ii
the doctrine OF non-intervention. Now, what l un-
derstand by n0n-interyentlon is the denial of The
ecutve and legislative authority of the Federal Gov
erument of all power the subject Of slavery, any
where and ryWhere. That is the uOn-interyenton
upon which have been taught to rest the rights Of
the South That is the non-ntervention upon which
am willing to rest hem-that neither the eXecu-
tive legislative branches of the Federal Govern
ment have the power in any way whatever, to inter-
fcre with the subject of domestic slavery anywhere
App Con. Globe, vol. p, part 2, l,4G4
On the 1lth of December, 1856, Senator Mason Of
Virginia, said
The Kansas Bill was intended to delegate to the
cupauts of the Territories whatever power Congress
possessed all subjects of rightful legislation
Congressional Globe 3d Session. 33d Congress, p. 80.
Mr. Bayard, Senator from Delaware, the 18th of
May, 1851, SAID
The honorable Senator from Virginia, Mr.. Mason,
assumes, substantially, the position, placing the
Importance of the bill Nebraska Kansas BID on the
single ground that it establishes the principle of nom
intervention by Congress with the institution Of slave
ry in the Territories as well as tie States Of this Un
ion-App. Cong. Globe, oil. 20, p. T15.
Pending the debate on the Kansas Nebraska Bill,
the 2 March, 1851 Senator Butler, Of South Caro-
! lima said
Now, believe that under the provisions of this
Bill, and of the Utah and New Mexico Bills, there will
be perfect carte blanche given to the Territorial
Legislature to legislate they may think proper
App. Cong. Globe, LIST Ses. 33d Cong vol. p p. 292
o the "a of july, 1856, Mr. Brown of Mississippi
in the Senate of the United states held the following
languagei
supposed when we passed the bill (Kansas Bn),
that we intended by It to give them lthe people, a
right to legslate all subjects touching their domes-
tic policy, and that II anybody was dissatisfied, he
should 20 to the Courts and not come to Congress for
hs remedy This has been my understanding, and
have endeavored to live up to it APP Cong Globe,
34th Congress LIST Session, page sol.
These are the witnesses, statesmen and patriots,
whose fidelity is unqueStioned all testify that it was
the intention of the Kansas Nebraska act, to Danish
forever the slavery agitation from the halls of Com
gess and refer the subject the PEOPLE of the Ter
rtores, under the Constitution OF the u. s. The Gin
cnnati Platform OF 1856 also afirIns this doctrine Of
non Intervention in language too strong to admit of
controversy. 1t reads thus
And that we may more distinctly meet the issue on
which sectional party, subsisting exclusively on
slavery agitation now relies to test the fidelity of tie
people, North and South TO the Constitution and Un-
/ ion
T. Resolved, That claiming fellowship with and de-
string the corporation Of all who regard the preser-
walton ofthe Union, under the Constitution, the
paramount issue and rcpudatins all sectional par
ties and platforms concerning domestic slavery which
seek to enbro the states and incite to treason and
armed resistance to law in the Territories, and whose
ayowed purposes, If consummated mnSt end in civil
war and disunion, the American Democracy recog-
nize and adopt the principles contained in the organic
laws establishing the Territories of Kansas and Ne
braska, embodyng the only sound and safe solution
Of the slavery question: upon which the great idea OF
the people of This whole country can repose in its
determined conservatism Of the UniOn-non- nterfe-
| renee
/. Non-interfcrence, by Congress, with slavery in
State and Territory in the District Of Columbia.
2. That this was the basis of the Compromises OF
! 1850 confirmed by both the Democratic an1 Whg
parties, in National Conventions ratified by the peo-
pie in the election Of 1902 and rghtuy applied to the
| organization Of Territories in 1851.
s. That by the uniform application of this Democrat
c principle to the organization of Territories, and to
the admission of new States, with without domestic
slavery, they may elect, the equal rights of all viii
be preserved nact-the original conn acts of the Con
sttuton maintained inyiolae, and the perpetuity and
expansion of this Union insured to its utmost capac
! ty of embracing in peace and harmony any future