The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1860-03-14
THE STATE OF THE COUNTRY.
Speech of VIM. Fl. Seward,
OF YoRK,
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES,
February 29, 1seO.
February 20, 1890.

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Mr.. PRESIDENT The admission of Ia
sas into the Union, without further dela
seems to me equBlly necessary. just and wis
In recorded debates, have airead anticipat,
the arguments for this conclusion
is In coming forward among the political q
trologers.it it shall be an error of Judgment. al
not of disposition. if my Interpretation of Il
feverish dreams which are disturbing the con
try shall tend to foment, rather than to ALA
the national excitement. / shall SAP Hothiu
unnecessarily of persons. because, 10 our sy
g ten, the public welfare and happiness depen
chiefly on institutions, and very little On mel
shall allude but briefly to Incidental topic
because they are ephemeraI and because, eve
IN the midst Of appeals to passion and prejr
dice. 1t Is always safe to submit solid truth t
the deliberate consideration of an honest an
enlightened people. 4C.r
IL VIII be an overaowing source of shame
as well as Of sorrow, if we. thirty millions
europeans by extraction, Americans by brit
or discipline, and Christians in faith, ant
meaning to be sach in practice--cannot q
com bine prudence with humanity, in our con
daet concerning the one disturbing subject b
slavery, as not only to preserve oar UNEQUAL
led institutions of freedom, but also TO enio,
thelr benefits with contentmeBt and harmony
Wherever guiltless slave exists, be he eau
casian, American Malay or African he is the
subject Of two distinct and opposite ideas -one
Lhat ne is wrongly, the other that he is rightly
slave. The balance of Numbers on either
SIDE, however great never completely extiu
guishes this Difference of opinion, for there are
always some defenders of slavery outside, even
II there are none inside. of free State, while
also there are always outside, if there are not
inside. of every slave State. many who assert,
with Milton that no man who Lnows aught
can be SO stupid as to deny that all men natu
rally we're born free. being the image and re
semblanee of God himself, and we're by privi
ege above all the creatures. horn to mand.
and not to obey It ofteni perhaps generally
happens, however, that In considering the sub
Ject OF slavery, society seems to overlook the
Datnral right or personal interest of the slave
himself, and to act exclusively for the welfare
OF the citizen, But this fact does not mate
rally affect ultimate results for the elementary
question OF the rightfulness or wrongfulness Of
slavery inheres in every form that discussion
concerning it assumes What is Just to one
class OF men can never be injurious to any
Other; and what is unjust to aay condition Of
persons IN State, is necessarily injurious. in
some degree. to the whole community. AM
economical question early arises out of the
subject of slavery-labor, either of freemsn
or of slaves, is the cardinal necessity of soci
ETY.. Some States choose the one kind some
the other. Hence two municipal systems
widely different, arise The slave State strikes
down and affects to extinguish the personality
OF the laoorer, not only as member of the
political body, but also as a parent, husband,
child, neighbors, or friend. He thus becomes.
IN political view, merely property, without
moral capacity, and without domestic, moral
and social relations duties, rights, and remedies
"a chattel an object of bargain, SALE giff.j
Inheritance, or theft. His earnings are com
pensated and his wrongs atoned, not to him |
sell, but to bis owner. The State protects
not the slave as man, but the capital of an
other man, which he represents. On the 9th I
er band, the State which rejects slavery, en-
eourages and animates and invigorates the la.
oorer by maintaining and developing bis natu
raj personality in all the rights and faculties of
manhood, and generally with the privileges of
cihzensbip. In the one case, capital invested
IN slaves becomes great political force; while
in the other, labor, thus elevated and enfran
chised, becomes the dominating political DOW
er. 1t thus happens that we may, for convent
ience sake. and not naccuratey, call slave
States. capital States, and free States labor
States. 1;
80 soon as State feels The impulses of
commerce, or enterprise, or ambition its eiti
zens beginto study the effects of these systems
OF capital and labor respectively on it's intelli
gence, its virtue its tranquility. its integrity
or unity, its defence, Its prosperity its liberty
its happiness, its aggrandzsment, and its fame.
In other words, the great question arises.
whether slavery is moral, social, and politi.
cal good .or moral social and political evil 4
Tbs IS the slavery q lestion at home. But there
Is mutual bond of amity and brotherhood e
between man and man throughout the world :
Nations examine freely the political systems
OF each other. and of all preceding times, and n
accordingly as they approve or disapprove of
the two systems OF capital and labor respect
lively, they sanction and prosecute or condemn e
and prohibit commerce in men. Thus in one
way or another, the slavery question, which sol
many among Us, who are more willing 10 rule .
than patient in studying the conditions of so :
ciety, think is a merely occidental or uEneces Il
sary question, that might and ought TO be set
tee and dismissed at once is, on the contrary. P
a worlds wide and enduring subject of political c
consideration and civil administration. Men, s
states aud nations, entertain it, not voluntari, =
ly, but because the progress of;society contin [s
uaily brings it into their way. They divide {
upon It, not perversely, but because, owing to
differences of constitution, condition, or cir Il
cnmstances, they cannot agree. z. U s
The fathers of the. Republic encountered It. !
They even adjusted it SO that it might have Z
given Us much less than our present disoniet, =
had not circumstances afterwards occurred v
which they, wise as they were, had not clearly a
foreseen. Although they had Inherited vet =,
they generally condemned, the practice off !.
slavery and hoped for its discontinuance.-l
lney expressed this when they asserted in the =
declaration OF Independence, as a fundamen = =
tai prineipie OF American society, that all men
are created equal, and have inalienable rights \:
TO llie, hoerty, aud the pursuit of happiness e =,
r.aen 1cale, however, reserved to itself sexclu :.
slve pohtcal power over the subject of slavery =
within its own borders. Nevertheless II nna | q q
voidably presented itself in their consn,t a,;ans
on a bond of Federal Union The new g.. L
ernment was to be representative one. slave, m
were capital in some States, in Others canitaI u
had no investments 10 labor Should those Y
slaves be represented as capital or as persons d
taxed as capital or as persons, or should thew .
not be represented or taxed at all2 The faith !. !.
ays disagreed, debated long, and compromised >
at last Each State they determined sballI (
have two Senators in Congress. Three fiftbs ?
Of the slaves shall be elsewhere represented -
and be taxed as persons. What should he .
done If the slave shonld escape into labor
STATED Should that State confess him to be 9
q chattel and restore him as such, or might y
y regard him as person, and harbor and pro =, ~
tecs MN as mani They compromised again. :, :,
aha aecided that no person held to labor or - J,
service in one State by the laws thereof, es y
Gaping into another, shall, by any law or REQ u u
alation OF that State, be discharged from such !"
labor or service, but shall be delivered mon
claim to the person to whom such labor Or ;, ;,
service shall be due. =. tf
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