Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1860-02-04

convention with power TO
make free State constitutiong 1t would
be unconstitutional to declare in State
constitution, formed over territory, that
there should be no slavery there. A con.
stutional convention, sitting to make a
State constitution, is human power. -
Is il true that slavery overiides every 9TH
er great interest! That the assumed right
of property in man is so old and enduring
that, touched by the indurting hand OF
time, it can harden into right absolute,
beyond the reach of any interference but
that Of Omnipotence Have we such a
government that there is no power but
that of Almighty God that dares to touch
it2. ifso, this great nation must bend its
neck to the yoke, and slavery become uni.
versal, and, in a government ordained BY
the people to preserve the blessings of lib
erly, humanity must "give signs Of woe
that liberty is lost"
The fact that Congress has the power to
prohibit Slavery in the Territories, howev-
er much that doctrine may be opposed
from motives Of interest or ambition, not
wi.hstanding the great weight that has
been thrown into the scale against
II, is as certain as that tho Government
has power to acquire Territory at all
That it. cannot control what it has power
to acquire by treaty, by conquest, or BY
purchase, is absured. This power should
be. exercised, and the way Of slavery extern
SIGN walled up forever. The Slave States
have no reason to complain of this. They
must be left unmolested in the enjoyment
Of the blessings Of that peculiar insti ution,
if there are any blessings connected with
it, in the Slave States, SO long as the Gov
eminent remains. While this is conceded,
the right TO impose it upon new Terrific
rles cannot be admitted, and its extension
must be prevented, not by inroads upon
the Slave States themselves, with violence
and blood, but by legitimate Constitution,
al Legislation, sustained by the power Of
the Government itself.
It cannot be conceded that the black
race has no business upon the earth. We
can hats 10 controversy with the Great
God over any supposed error in the loca-
ton or distribution of races. There is a
diversity of races. Intellect is confined
to no race, while there is great inequality
in intellectual development. So far a
the great rights Of life, liberty, and the
pursuit Of happiness are concerned, it is
enough that they belong to manhood
With wisdom which has distinguished the
different races Of men by marked physical
aud intellectual features, we can have nc
dispute. But we can learn, and we dc
learn, from this very diversity, that each
rice belongs to itself alone, and that there
can be no social concact or assimilation
but would carry with them untold disas
tiers. M
There are other eTils connected with this
subject. While the African slave trade
is made piracy by law, AID is so condemn
ed by the whole civilizel world, dellber-
ated attempts are constantly made to re,
open it, and frequent instances cargoes Of
slaves, fresh from Africa, have been landed
npon our Southern coasts, and the chattels
scattered through the country, marketed
for service upon Southern plantations
This evil Is more grave from the fact that
it receives countenance from leading
Southern statesman, and is openly pro-
Gained as a policy designed to be reinsta-
ted.
Again; in some Of the slayeholdlne
States, laws have been passed authorizing
the sale of free blacks into slavery, and the
confscation of their property, IN case they
remained there after given time, men
toned in the law. The laws which pro
hibit the ingress of free blacks surrounding
these States, render deplorable indeed
the condition of that unfortunate race OF
men, and are sad commentary upon the
Christianity end civilization Of the age,
ID land boasting Of its freedom. The ex-
tension of an institution of this character,
SO fraught with calamities TO both the
white and black races, into free territories.
multiplying the elements and means OF op-
preston and wrong, ought not to be en-
couraged or countenaDced either by the
citizens Of the Southern or Northern
States.
Free labor languishss and becomes do,
grading when put in competition with
slave labor, and ideness, poverty and wee
among large classes Of non-slaveholders,
take the place of industry, aud thrift, and
virtue. II prevents a general system OF
popular education, and ignorance abounds
in the places where knowledge should be
the brightest ornament Of intellect.
The increase Of the blacks in warm eli
mates is Ear more rapid than that Of the
whites. Already in some of the slave
states the slaves out number the free
whites. Twenty-Five years from the PRE-
sent time the ordinary ratio of incre Sc
will give slave population in the slave
holding states of nearly ten millions, at
least,eoualingif not superior IN numbers
10 the free white citizens. Looking to
future in the history Of states beyond that
we may we'll enquire what vii be the con
dition Of The Southern States aud OF The
whole country at the end Of fifty years
What can be done with twenty millions
Of slaves, without education, without liked
moral principles, the subjects of whIm, ca
price, passion; knowing no law but the
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