Civilian & telegraph. [volume] (Cumberland, Md.) 1859-1875, 1860-12-06
NJ E SIS A G. E =.
pr c5oze,s Of the Senate

ess The general health has been excellent our har-
ss have been abundant and plenty smiles throughout
land Our commerce and manufactures have been
osecutsd with energy and industry, and have yielded
ir and ample returns In short, nation in the tide
time has presented spectacle of greater mate
h prosperity than have done until within a very re-
mt period.
Why is 1t, then, that discomfort extensively
evas and the Union of the States, which is the source
all these blessings, is threatened with destruction
he long continued and Incorporate interference OF tue
orthern people with the question OF slavery IN the
uthcrn States has at length produced its natural ell
ets The different sections of the Union arc now ar
Aycd against each other and the uhe mas ur',eu,
much dreaded by the Father OF his Country, Whch
ostile geographical parties havo been forlnod nave
ong foreseen and often forewarned my countrymeh o.
he impending danger This does hot proceed sole
from the claim the part of Congress the terrific
al legislatures to exclude slavery from tho Territories
or from tho Efforts of different States to defeat the exc
luton of the fugitiveslave law. All any of these
wills might have been endured by the South without
LANCER to the Unon as Others have been in the hope
hat time and reflection might apply the remedy. The
Immediate peril arises not much from these causes
as from the fact that the incessant and violent ag
ation of the slavery question throughout the North
for the last quarter of century, has at length pro
duced its magn influence on the slaves and inspired
them with vague notions Of freedom Hence sense OF
security longer exists around the family altar This
feeling of peace at home has given place to apprehenon
of servile instruction Many matron throughout the
South retires at night in dread of what bed herself
and her children before the morning Should this apprc
hension of domestic danger whether real or imaginary
extend and intensity itself until 1t shall peryade the
masses of the Southern people, then disunon will be-
inevitable Sefprcservation Is the first law of
urc and has been implanted In tho heart Of by his
| Creator for the wisest purpose and political union
however fraught with blessings and benefits In all other
respects long continue if the necessary consequence
he to render the homes and the fesdes of nearly half
the parties to it habt,ay aud hopclcssly insecure
Sooner later the bonds of such Union must be
cred 1t Is my conviction that this fatal period has not
yet arrived and my prayer to God is that He would pre-
tha tifuttn thn rh1rt
generations.
But let US take warning in time, and tho
Of Danger 1t cannot be denied that for five and twenty
years, the agitation at the North against slavery in the
South has been incessant. In 1883 pictorial hand bills
and infammatory appeals, calculated extensively
throughout the South, of character to excite the pas
soBs of the slaves and in the language OF General Jack
ito stimulate them to insurreetion, aud produce all
the horrors of serrile war;. This agitation has
since been continued by the public press by the rocee
ings of State and county conventions, and by abolition
and lectures The time Of Congress has been
cupied in violent speeches this ending subject
and appeals in pamphlet and other forms, endorsed by
distinguished names have been sent forth from this cen
trail point, and spread broadcast the Union
How easy would II be for the American people to settle
the slavery question forever, aud to restore peace and
haIn,aay to this DISTRACTED, country.
They and they alone do it, All that is Necessary
TO accomplish the object and all for which the slave
States have contended is to be let alone and per-
mittod to manage their domestic institutions in their
way. As sovereign States they and they alone
responsible before God and the world for the slavery
sting among them For this the people OF the North
not responsible, and have right to in
terfere than with similar institutions in Russia or In bra
al Upon their good sense and patriotic forbeAncc con
Sou still greatly rely Without their aid, it il beyond
the power Of any President matter what may be his
political proclivcs to restore peace aud harmony
asnon8 the States. Wisely limited and restrained his
power, under Constitution aud laws, he alone
accomplish but little. for good for evil such
montous question.
And this brings me to observe that the election Of any
If frno If
not of itee afford Just for disaolving the Union
This is especially true if his election has been effect
81 by mere plurality, and not majority, of the peo-
ple and has resulted from transient and temporary
osuscs, which probably again In order
to justify resort to revolutionary resistance the Fcera
Government must be guilty Of "a deliberate, papoble
and dangerous exercise of powers not granted by the
Constitution. The late presidential election, however
has been held in strict conformity with Its express plovs
IONS. How, then the result Justify a revolution To
destroy this very Constitution Reason, justice regard
for tho Constitution, all require that shall wait for
overt and dangerous act the part Of the Pres
dent elect before resorting to such remedy
1t is said however that the antecedont8 of the Prcs
Cent elect have been sufficient to justify the haTs Of the
South that he will attempt to invade their constitutional
rights But such appehcnsions of contingent danger
In the future sufficient to justify the immediate destIuc
ton of the nobles system Of government devised by
mortasf From the very nature of his Office. and its
high responsibilities he must necessarily be conservative
The stern duty of administering the vast and pcated
Of this Government affords in itself guaran
toe that he will not attempt any violation of clear
constitutional right. After all, lo is than the
chief executive officer of the Government His province
is not to make, but to execute the laws and it is
markabe fact in history, that notwithstanding the
repeated efforts of the antislavcry party, single act
has passed Congress- unless may possibly except
the Missouri Compromise inparng, in the slightest de-
gree, the rights of the South their property in slaves
And may also be observed, judging from present ihd
cations that probability exits Of the passage of such
act by majority OF both Houses, either in the pres
ent or tho next Congress Surely, under these crc'm
stances ought to be restrained from present action
that Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof The
day OF evil may come unles shall iashy bring
1t upon ourselves.
1t is alleged for immediate secession that
the Southern States denied equal with the other
States iu the Territories But by what authority
these denied Not by Congress- which has never
passed. and believe will pass any act to exclude
slavery from these Territories and certainly not by the
Supreme Court, which has soepnly decided that slaves
ore property and, like all other property, their
have right to take them into the common Territories,
and hold them there under the protection Of the Cons
tuition.
So far, then, Congress is concerned the objection is
they may do hereafter. 1t will surely be admitted that
this apprehension of future dagger good for
immediate dissolution Of the Union. 1t is that
the territorial Legislature Of Kansas the 23d OF Fcbru
ary 1860 passed in great haste act over the veto OF
the governor, declaring that slavery 's and shall be-
forever prohibited in this Territory Such az, how
ever plainly violating the rights of property secured 10y
tho Consultation, will surely be declared void by the u
dietary whenever 1t shall be presented in legal form
Only three days after my Inauguration the Supreme
Court of the United States solemny adudged that this
power did not exist in a territorial legislature Yet
sneh has been the facous temper of the times that the
correctness of this decision has been extensively i'm
81. and fl..,