The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1860-05-23
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How was

met Dy that QlStln8ulSneu St&leSman 20 WnOm
the delegate from Missouri has alluded as SO
worthy of his applause and Of his approval
it was met at the very theshold of Congress by
that distinguished statesman saying that Com
gress must ssintervene" ON this question; that
Kansas should not CIRCULATE her domestic in
stitutions in her own way, Ent that her Con-
stitution, at the mandate of Congress, must be
sent back to the people tot be ratified, Tap
plause;1 that the ssway' of Kansas must yield
to the "way" of Congress. ss4i ls5',
Sir, is not this history That distinguished
statesman, that powerful mansts I believe him
SO be, and as have on more 4aan one occasion
publicly pronounced him to be, utterly wrong,
in my opinion, in his views upon this question,
but yielding to him most cheerfuHy the same
loyalty to his convictions Of his duty that I
claim for myself-he, himself, the author of
that bill, proposed 'intervention by Congress"
against the highest sovereign act of the young
State of Kansas, and through his influence
Kansas was made to take back her Constitu-
ton, and it now sleeps the sleep of death in
the archives of history. Loud cheers rg9-.
And what else? Why, sir the ink in which
is written the history of that period on this
fact that on that issue this Northwestern Dem
ocracy, which has been so inconsiderately laud-
ed here to-day by its representative, as always
standing by the constitutional rights of the
South, following the fortunes of its great lead
er, voted that Congress should intervene in
that matter, and that Kansas should not have
slave Constitution without letting the people
re-vote upon it. Loud cheers What else
Why, sir, the information has barely reached
us yet in official form, but believe it is cor
rect, that recently, what is called the Wyan-
dotte Constitution of Kansas, in other words,
the anti-slavery Constitution, has been pre-,
\ 4 i H.. <,f
Kansas under that Constitution into the Union,
was demanded. This has been asked directly
in the teeth and in violation Of the compromise
that was made when the Lecompton Constitu-
ton was re-submitted to the people, and that
was that she should not be admitted until her
population had reached certain number, I
believe $4,000. A census has not been taken.
No official communication of that fact has been
made to Congress, as I understand, and yet
the House of Representatives passed bill to
admit Kansas into the Union under that Con-
stitution, by, I believe, sixty-one majority,
And where, oh! where was. that Democracy
which always, as we have been SO inconsider-
ately, vets vauntingly told here to-day, stands
by the South? But three-aye, but three of
that great host remained to tell us that there
was a constitutional Democracy in the Northern
States! [Great cheering.] These three were
Scott, of California, English, of Indiana, the
author of the Conference bill, and Sickies, of
New York. TApplause.] If I am wrong in
this, ask to be corrected. The pledge made
by the whole Democracy was that Kansas
should come in with or without slavery, as her
people should determine. When she formed
slave Constitution, she was rejected by the
overpowering influence of the brilliant states
man who heads the column of the Northwest;
and when she formed Freesoil Constitution,
and came into the House of Representatives
with it, there were found but three votes from
the whole North to protest against this great
political fraud. What does all this indicate
: The Democratic party we are here told truly,
once had an overpowering ascendancy In the
Northern States; and we have been taunted
here to-day that there was once time when
Democracy was not prevalent at the South,
and when the Northern States could elect
Democratic President without the aid of the
Southern vote. I acknowledge it. I acknowl-
edge that, so long as mere party issues were
before the country, not involving any of its
fundamental institutions, the South differed
with each other on these issues of policy. The
question of the United States Bank, of inter-
nal Improvement by the General Government,
and of the tariff caused great differences of
opinion at the South. In the Northern States
the Democi atic party was overwhelmingly in
the ascendant. Why are they not so now p
And why is the South more unitedly Democrat
ic? The answer is ready. The anti-slavery
sentiment is dominant at the North; the sla-
very sentiment is dominant at the South
And, gentlemen, let me tell you why, if it is
not presumption in me to tell you, that you
have grown weaker and weaker. It is my be-
lief, from some observation and reflection upon
this subject, that you are not in the ascendant
now because you have tampered with the anti
slavery feeling of that section. I do not mean
that you have tampered with it or yielded to
it as matter of choice; do not mean that
you are wilful traitors to your convictions of
duty, but this is what do mean that in your
own hearts, finding the overwhelming prepon-
derance of power in that anti-slavery sentiment,
believing it to be the common will of your peo-
pie, you hesitated, you trembled before its
march, and you did not triumph over the young
Hercules in his cradle, because you made no
direct effort to do so. You acknowledged
that slavery was wrong. You gave up the
real ground of battle, the key to success, when
you acknowledged, what was the foundation of
the anti slavery sentiment, that slavery was
wrong. You acknowledged that it could not
exist any where by the law of Nature or by
the law of God; that it could exist nowhere
except by virtue of statutory enactment. In
that you yielded the whole question; in that
you showed the weakness of the soldier who
doubts In the midst OF the conflict on the Held
of battle. You simply said beseechingly to
your anti-slavery countrymen, 4slavery does
exist, but we are not to blame for it." There
was the weakness of your position. IF you
had taken the position that had been taken by
one gallant son of the North, who proclaimed,
under the Kisses of thousands, that slavery was
right, that anti-slavery demon, if not dead,
would long since have been in chains at your
feet. But you have gone down under the ad-
mission on your part that your opponents placed
natural and divine right And tell you, gentle
men, that you will continue to go lower and
over unless you change front and change tao
ics. The history Of the country shows that I /
I'm right in this matter. They have advanced /
from small band of Abolitionists, who, when
was asehoolboy in one of the Northern States,
we're pelted with rotten eggs whenever they
even in the State of Massachusetts.
N IL n T 1.