The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1860-12-14

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such aPPrehensons of contingent danger in the
future sufficient 10 justify the immediate de-
struclloa Of the no5lest system OF government
ever devised by mor'als ! From The very na-
ture of his office, and its high responsibilities,
he must necessarily be Conservative. The
stern duty OF administering the vast and com.
phcated concerns OF this Government affords in
itself guarantee that ne will not attempt any
Violation OF a clear constitutional right After
all, he is no more than the chirf executive Of
fcrr OF the Gnvernmer.- F1ts province is not
to --.>, t- lHtcutP the laws and il is = ra-
marka6le Fact III our history, thai, notW >'--.
ding the repeated efforts Of the aaii-sIavery par
ty, no single act has ever passed congress, un-
less we may possibly except the Missouri Com
promise, Impalring, in the slightest degree, the
rights OF the South to their property in slaves.
And II may also be observed, Judging from pres
eht indications, that no probability exists of the
passage otsuch an act, by "a majority of both
| Houses, either IN the present or the next Con-
gresS. Surely, under these circumstances, we
ought 10 be restrained from present action By
The pTecept OF Him who spake as never man
spoke that sufficient unto The day IS the evil
thereof" The day of evil may never come,
unless we rashIy bring It upon ourselves.
1t is alleged as one cause tor immediate seces-
sion that The Southern States are denied equal
rights with other States in the common Terri
tories. But by what authority are these denied ?
Not by Congress, which has never passed, and
/ | believe never will pass, any act to exclude
slavery from hese Territories and certainly
not by the Supreme Court, which has soIemniy
decided tEat slaves are property, and, like all
other property, their owners have a right to
take them into the common Territories, and
hold them there under the protection ofthe Con-
sttotion.
So far, then, as Congress is concerned, the
objection Is not TO anything they have already
done, but 10 what they may DO hereafter. 1t
will surely be admitted that this apprehension
of future danger is no good reason for an imme-
diate dissolution OF the Union. 1t is true that
the territorial Legislature Of Kansas, on the 23d
of February, 1860, passrd in great haste an act
over the veto of the governor, declaring that
slavery sis, and shall be, forever prohibited in
this Territory" Such an act, however, PLAIN
iy violating he rights of property secured BY
the Constitution, will surely be declared VOID by
the judiciary whenever il shall be presented in
legal form.
OnlY three days after my Inauguration the
Supreme Court oflhe United States soemnly
adjudged that this power did moi exist in ter
rIlorial legislature. Yet such has been the fac
tious temper of the times that the correctness OF
this decision has been extensively lmpugned be-
fore the people, and the question has given
rise TO angry political conflicts throughout the
country, Those who have appealed from this
judgment OF our highest Constitutional tribunal
10 popular assemblies would, if they could, in
vest a territorial legislature with power to an
nul the sacred sjghts CT property. This power
Congress is expressly forbidden by the Federal
! Constitution to exercise. Every State gisla-
/ ture in the Union is TO- biiden by its own con-
stitulon 10 exercise it. 1t cannot be exercised
in any State except by the people in their higt-
est sovereign capacity when framing or amen
ding tEer State Constitution. In like manner,
it can only be exercised by the people OF a Ter
| ritory represented 10 a convention OF delegates
! for the pul pose ofiraming constitution prePar-
atory to admission AZ State into the Union
| Then, and not until then, are they invested
with power to decide the question whether sIa-
very shall or shall not exist within their limits.
This is an act Of sovereign authority, and not Of
| subordinate territorial Legislation. Were it
otherwise, then indeed would the equality OF
the States in the Territories be destroyed, ..and
The rights OF property in slaves would depend,
upon The SHIFT ing major!leS OF an TresponsI-
bic territorial legislature. Such a doctrine,
from its intrinsic unsoundness, cannot long
Influence any considerable portion OF our
people, much less can it afford good reason
for dissolution OF The Union.
The most palpable violation Of constitutional
tistY which have yet been committed consists IN
The acts Of different State legislatures 10 defeat
the execution Of the fugitve-slave-law. It
ought 10 be remembered, however, that for these
acts, neither Congress nor any President can
Justly be held responsible. Having been passed
in violationsof the Federal Constitution, they
are therefore null and void. All Ihe courts, both
State and national, before whom the question
has arisen, have from the beginning declared the
Notwithstanding TO be constitutional. The
sin gle exception IS that OF State cour! IN WIS
consn and tins has not only been reversed by
the proper appellate tribunal, but has me: with
such universal repro5atlon that there can be no
danger from it as precedent. The validity OF
this law has been established over aud over "a
Gain by the Supreme Conrt OF the United States
with perfect nnanimiy. ii Is founded upon az
express provision Of the ConstI:u ion, requiring
that fugitive slaves who escape from service IN
one State 10 another shall be 'sdelivered up" to
their masters. Without this provision IT IS a
weIl-knoWn historical fact that the Constitution
itself coul! never have be en- adopted by the Con-
ven,ion. In one form or another under the acts
of 1898 and 1850, both being substantially the
same, the fuzitive-slave- has been the law oi
the land from the days Of Washington until the
present moment. HIRE, then, clear case Is
presented, in which II will be The duty OF ihF
next President, as il has been my own, to ac
with vigor in executing this supreme law agaIn:'
the conflicting enactments OF State legislatures
Should no fail in The Derformance of this hIgt