The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1860-06-28

Senator from Illinois, (Mr. Douglas.)
has avowed, upon the floor Of the SEN
ate, that sit was matter Of perfect in
difference to him whether slavery is
voted in or out )" and his followers, un-
moved by the love of humanity or ma
tional glory, are apparently alike indif-
ferent. -,-..-
Thus, step by step, Mr.. President,
has the Democratic party of the North
ceased to be the party of freedom and
liberty, and been brought under perfect
subjugation to the interests Of slavery.
If anything were wanting to complete
the record of its degradation, and the
total abandonment of all its former
principles and leaders, it is the volun-
tary offer, made at Charleston, to sub
NIT to and be guided by the political
opinions Of the Supreme Court, as well
to those already promulgated as to
those which they may hereafter de-
clare. For many years the slave pow
er has been adroitly managing to mould
and fashion the Supreme Court, so as to
bring it into complete subserviency to
their interests. There is but one friend
of freedom left on the bench-all the
other judges are pro-slavery. So con-
stituted, this court has declared that
slaves are property under the Constitu-
ton, and that they can be lawfully
held in any of the Territories. This
opinion, in my Judgment, is entitled to
no more respect than that of the same
number of men in this Chamber, or
anywhere else; but when we look at
the necessary consequence of declar-
ing slaves property under the United
States Constitution, and to what must
inevitably be the next decisions, the
right to hold them in the States, in de-
fiance of State authority, voluntary
engagement to be bound by such decis-
ion is equivalent to surrender of the
whole country to slavery.
The present purposes of the slave
power are frankly disclosed in the fol-
lowing article, which appeared in the
U,aion newspaper of this city, the organ
of the Administration, on the 18th of
November, 1857:
s'The Constitution declares that the
citizens of each State shall be entitled
to all the privileges aud immunities of
citizens in the several States. Every
citizen of one State coming into anoth-
er State has, therefore, right to the
protection of his person, and that prop
erty which is recognized as such by the
Constitution of the United States, any
law of State to the contrary notwith-
standing. So far from any State hav-
ing right to deprive him of his prop
erty, it is its bounded duty to protect
him in its possession.
off these views are correct-and we
believe it would be difficult to inyali.
date them--it follows that all State
laws, whether organic or otherwise,
which prohibit citizen of one State
from settling in another, and bringing
his slave property with him, and most
especially declaring it forfeited, are all
direct violations of the original inten-
tion of Government which, as before
stated, is the protection of persons and
property, and of the Constitution of
the United States, which recognizes
property in slaves, and declares that
''the citizens of each State shall be en-
titled to all the privileges and immuni-
ties ofthe citizens in the several States -
among the most essential of which is
the protection of person and prop
erty."
Mr.. President the great thought
which overburdened the heart of Jeffer-
son in his latter days, was the usurpa-
tions of the Supreme Court. / quote
few of his prophetic warnings, and
trust that the people will heed them."
Extract of a letter to Judge Roane,
dated, Poplar Forest, September 6,
1879:
s'1n denying the right they usurp of
exclusively explaining the Constitution,
| go further than you do, if / under
stand rightly your quotation from the
Federalist, of an opinion that "the Ju-
dietary is the last resort in relation to
the other departments of the Govern
ment, but not in relation to the rights
of the parties to the compact under
which the Judiciary is derived" If this
opinion be sound, then, indeed, is our
Constitution complete feto desc. For,
intending to establish three depart
ments, coordinate and independent,
that they might check and balance one
another, it has given, according to this
opinion, to one of them alone the right
to prescribe rules for the government
of the others; and to that one, too,
which is unelected by, and Independent
of the nation" e44 ro
X
"The Constitution, on this hypothe-
sis, is mere thing of wax in the hands
of the Judiciary, which they may twist
and shape into any form they please.
1t should be remembered as an axiom
of eternal truth in politics, that what
ever power in any government is indie
pendent, is absolute also; in theory
only at first, while the spirit of the
people is up, but in practice as first as
that relaxes. Independence can be
trusted nowhere, but with the people
in mass. They are inherently indepen'
dent of all but moral law. My con-
struction of the Constitution IS very