The weekly Mississippian. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1859-1864, 1860-07-04
NUMBER 20.

. oi slavery, AIII overthrow It, and the cor
K merce and civilization Of the world, like Il
d hands OF the watch when the spring is br
t KEN will run back at least one hundred yea
: in the first decade and every interest of ms
r will lie blasted ami withered, like the leav,
., OF the forest when autumn has come. que
: ton, Sir, whether, when YOU so to invade II
: South, and to overthrow her system of labU
: il you do not find the canon and bayonets
T the civilized world bri5tling along her interic
: I frontier, and stIldin. her Sea-colst puarliu
1t as the heart of Their commercial greatnes
and denying to you the. right, in an hour
folly TO destroy the fountain and source
the now universal prosperity, individual an
national, of the world
, But. Ar. Chairman, out Of what does th
disturbed condition ef the country flow
Why do the southern States think ofsecedin
fonl the Union And whv this threat ,
war and compuls;on, by the Black Republ
can party In the showing have made. III
vindcatinn of the South will he found w
INSIST, first that the constitutional compsc
Of the fathers shall be strictly observed by tn
/ Federal Government and the States We in
sist, secondly, that by the organism of tn
Government power is distributed between tn
Federal Government and the States, with
view to preserving homogeneity on this cont
| nent, where interests are naturally and nee
essarily so diverse that its spirit is to avoic
antagonisms. We insist thirdly, that th,
| Govornment is the common property of al
the States. We insist, fOurthly, that no mum.
Der of States have the right by an unnoly
combination, to seize it for themselves We
iusist, filthy, that the chartered interest
have mentioned Shall not combine aud take
! possession OF the Government as the repre-.
! sentative Of their in crest, and as means O.
| expressing the agricultural States We in.
sist, SiNthly, that combination Of States. bv
means-of the government, have no right to in
'eriere, either directly or indirectly. with the
! domestic institutions Of any State. We in,
| SIS, se7enthly, that combination of State,
have no right by means of the Government
to remodel the institutions Of any Of the States
We insist, eighthly, that all the States have /
common interestin the common territory, ant
that the citizens OF every State have the right
to go to it and occupy it with whatever is re-
cognized as property in the State from which
| they may go without molestation or hinder
ance by the Federal or territorial government
until the people, by their chosen delegates
meetin convention to frame constitution fol
| State organization. Grant MS this. and we
arc odbASllSu DiSCOIu Will aL once lie nan
ished from the land, and the clouds which
| now SO darkiy lower over our house will be
dispersed forever, and the sun of glorious
peace and unity and concord will again break
through the thick and gathering tempest, in
spring the heart Of the patriot and lover oi
liberty with Frightening prospects around us.
submit it to yoti, gentlemen, if there is any
thing unjust in these demands ? | submit it
fO fhn inlarTnar1t pftI tI,a
erour demands are unreasonable ? The main
tenance Of them I submit to the arbitrameut
of the sword. if need be.
Now, Mr.. Chairman, is there Hnythipr un-
just or unreasonable in these demands and
can any fairminded maR refuse to grant them 2
will examine each very briefly, as my time
will not admitof any elaboration.
L rstinsist 1non strict observance Of the
constitutional compact Of the fathers of the
Republic. Is this not right? Ought it not
to be done {? 1t is a solemn agreement.
having its benefits for all the States, The
South should grant to the free States their
rights under the contract, and NAV, with
prss.etF, ie..l..si I0s77 salss1f tat To " iIicll
shes entitled. his ssfe has ai1Tays-. done
faithfully, honestly
Next, l insist that the organism of the
government distributes power between the
Federal Government and the States. with a
view to preserving homogeneity and avoiding
antagonism. | have shown, in the early part Of
my argument, that this Is necessary to give
durability and perpetuity to any government.
history 9ustalns me in the assumption rea-
son ami common sense sustainS me :. the COM
mon experience of every man, derived from
his common observation, suStans me Should
every State, then, not observe this great funda-
mental principle Of our Government
In the third place, | have assumed that the
Federal Government is the right of all the
States, and its advantages and disadvantages
are to be equally enjoyed and endured by all
equally. may ask, if this should not be al
lowed Have | not shown that it is not al
lowed IF So have / not fairly and legiti-
mately established cause of complaint by the
agricultural States and should we not com
pei the removal Of those causes or withdraw
from the Union
Ny fourth proposition is, that no number of
States have the right to combine and seize
the Government for themselves. Would this
not be violation of the compact, which would
release the remaining States from their alle-
glance, and fully authorize them to withdraw
that allegiance and assert their separate inde-
pendence? In my judgment, any fair-mind-
ed man viii give me an affirmative answer
The southern States are parties to Govern
ment Of all the States, have right to partici-
pate in its administration, and voice in its
control. vi, .za'snsfc,E Z
| assert as my fifth proposition, that the
interests enumerated by me have no
right to unite their separate powers and then
take the possession of the Government as the
means Of executing their purposes of oppres- |
sion, Have they this right !? If they do it,
viii not new party to the Government be
changing the whole nature and
purposes OF the compact? And will the Gov
ernment then besthe same given US by our "a
Tiers And will this not absolve us from
our allegiance, and sustain US in our declared
purpose to secede without reformation
My sixth proposition is, that a number of
States cannot combine, and BY the means Of
sufrpge or otherwise take the control of the
Government, and then use it, either directly
or indirectly, to affect alter, or change the do
mestic institutions Of any Of the StateN with
ont releasing those States from their ale
glance, and afording them just cause for So
cessiQn. Has this not been done Is not
the Republican organization for this very pur-
pose? Have they not in every way they
could, from the moment of their organization
to this hour, been endeayoring to render the
institution Of slavery as insecure as possible ?
Is it not their ayowed purpose to overthrow
it at the earliest moment II can be done with
out producing sheck too violent to the peace
and commerce OF, the world Are they
not constantly, BY every means which human
can devise, exerting themselves to
render 1t insecure, odious, troublesome to
manage and dangerous to the white race p
And will they not, the moment they obtain
power, By means Of prescription and acts of
usurpation, utterly destroy the Institution,
emancipste tbs slaves, and force them upon
the white conir1anity South as our eqnals?A
This proposition none will deny. And for this
cause alone the southern States will be re-
leased from their allegiance to the Govern
ment and must organize for their own secu-
Tity. "Ajs -9 st4 s s"
My seventh proposition contains the denial
of the right Of a number OF States to combine
and take the possession Of the Government by
any means, and thus Temolel the institutions
81 any of the States, Is such power posses
sed bythe9 Federal Government Z In what
clause is it to be found 2 Is sit in accordance
with the spirit OF our Government j have
shown that such Interference by the Federal
Gevernitent nth the. States was the thing
most dreaded ;aid afforded the principal diff
Guilty TO the 1nioa., and was more strictly
guarded in the Constitution than any other
one thing. Many OF. the States, thinking
their protection was not sufficiently guarded,
REQ uired1 am sndments to the Constitution be-
fore they woald adopt it, making their protec-
ton more exp -icit. -----~
Ny last proposition is, that each State has
q common interest in the common territory;
and that the citizens OF each State have the
usiftlt5 60 toeis and occupyit with whatever
is recognized as properly in ths State from
which he ernigEeted . wthouv molestation or
hinderauce BY the Federal or territorial gov
eminent, until the period when the people OF
the Territory meet in convention to form
Constitution for State organizations: The few
minutes allowed me under the operation of
this hour rule will not justify an elaborate ex-
animation Of this important proposition. I
shah only be abe to present the most promi.
nent reasonsfor this assumpt on. s.
. Government isl intended and is established