The weekly Mississippian. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1859-1864, 1860-07-18

I. ed at present. he will havo no friend more al
, dent than shall be, or whose plume will J
, more forward in the fight for the assurance {
!, that safety of the Union which has been s
highly jeoparded by pressing forward in thi
crisis those illogical points which distinguis
. from first to last the unfortunate doctrine G
asouatter sovereignty" They never will
accepted by the Southern people. Southern
democrats have always denied their existenc
in their platform, ard they now stand read,
to resist them. | extend the hand oil tru,
fellowship in the contest; will do my best t.
sustain the rights which our people enjoy un
der the Constitution. ] am no extremist
love the Union will fight for the
Union-but / will never betray the equa
rights of our people in the Union. Soberly
and quietly saw to you that | love my wife
aud children. who are now in my kentucky
home: but rather would | see them turned
into the woods to live among the forests Oh
our hills, without shelter from the storm,
than to enioy the comforts which now sur
round them. if these are to he purchased by
the surrender and sacrifice Of the constitution
al rights of or people, | am among the
humblest of that people. hope to die on
the soil of Kentucky, but | would prefer to
be an exile from my native country than 70
live upon it, deprived of my brthright. We
will have equality. tell you our people Will
have equality under the Constitution, and no
human power, no party ties, no political
watchwords, no personal resentments or aus
appointments, will make them abandon their
own rights Mr.. Webster embraced TINS
whole question ten years ago. bis speech IN
the Senate in 1850 in twenty lines contains
all we have advanced upon this question oil
t :rritorial sovereignty and OF protection 10
property in the Territories. keep that
speech always by me, and l will close THESE
remarks by reading to you what the great
man of New England said in 1890 on these
questions Where he stood in that speech l
stand now, and it is interesting to observe how
far Northern sentiment has advanced, now
steadily Southern sentiment has settled upon
true ground We will not be diverted from
it. We will yet maintain it firmly and with
success. The step in the true direction is to
rally upon Breckenridge and Lane, without
regard to party.
Mr.. Marshall then reed the following ex-
tract from Mr. Webater's speech after which
he retired with applause, and the stand was
occupied by Hon. Mr. Burnett, Of Kentucky
"The argument is, that by possibility it
may become necessary to pass laws respecting
slavery, if it shall ever exist there. Now. |
suppose that the amendment proper to be in |
troduced fol. the purpose which has been sig
nified by the gentlemen who have spoken
would be to strike out those words, and to
say that the territorial legislature shall have
no authority to pass any law for establishing |
or excluding slavery in the territory. 1t APP
pears to me that this is the upshot of the
whole matter. That is very proper, because |
take it that the meaning Of the whole is that
this question shall be left to the people Of the
State to decide after it becomes sovereignty
by admission into the Union on the same
footing with the original States. 1t may then
be question for the people themselves to
decide, because | take it to be clear that it is
municipal question. 1t is question for the
decision of the people in their State sover-
eighty, and there may be propriety-there
certainly is no impropriety-in excluding the
exercise OF any power in the territorial gov
eminent for the establishment or exclusion of
slavery.
sit has been advanced that these people,
while Territory, have right to do anything
and everything that belongs to the rights Of
men. cannot conceive that they have.
eve have always gone upon the ground
that these territorial governments were in a
state of pupilage. under the protection or
patronage of the General Government. The
territorial legislature has a constitution pre-
seribed by Congress. They have no power
not given by that Congress. They must act
within the limits of the constitution granted
them by Congress, or else their acts become
void. The people under the territorial gov
ernment are not a sovereignty, and do not
possess any Of the rights incident to sovereign
ty. They are if you so please to denominate
It, in state Of inchoate government and So
vereignty. If we well consider this question
upon the ground Of our practice during the
last half century, / think we will find one
way of disposing of it. 1t is our duty to pro-
vide for the people Of the Territory govern
ment to keep the peac,, to secure their proper
ty; to assign to them subordinate legislative
authority; to assign TO them subordinate
judicial authority; to see that the protection
If their persons and the security of their pro-
perty are all regularly provided for, and to
them in that state until they grow
nto sufficient importance, in point Of popula-
ion, to be admitted in the Union as State
lpon the same footing with the original States.
It seems to me that that is all our duty. |
hall most readily concur in anything which
oHeis 10 the performance Of that duty. But
;annot go into any general discussion about
the rights oil the people while under the ter
ritorial government, and do more that they
are permitted to do by that constitution which
creates government over Them