Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1860-08-01


tuition, power to abolish slavery and the
slave trade 10 the District of Columbia, and
that there is nothing 10 the terms or ci.cum-
stances of the acts Of cession by Virginia and
Maryland, or otherwise, enforcing any legal
or moral restraint on its exercise.
ResolUed That Congress ought to take mea-
sures to effect the abolition of slavery in the
District of Columbia.
Resofctd, That the rights of humanity the
claims Of justice. aud the common good, alike
demand the suppression, by Congress. of the
slave trade carried on in and through the
District of Columbia.
Resosred, That Congress has. by the Consii-
tuiion, power to abolish slavery in the Terri
tories Of the United Szrtes.
ResolDe3, That no new State shall hereafter
be admitted into the union, whose Constitu-
tion OF Cover ument shall permit the existence
of domestic slavery therein.
Resolved. That Congress has, by the Consti-
tniion, power to abolish the traffic in slaves
between the different States OF the Union.
Rssolred, That the exercise OF this power is
demanded by the principles of humanity and
justice.
At the time Mr.. EVERETT expressed bis
concurrence in these resolutions. leading
men, of all parties, in the North entertained
the opinions enunciated therein. He was en-
gagged in an active canvass for the executive
chair of the State; his competitor was MAR
CTS MORTON, democrat, who held similar
opinions. On the question of the power OF
Congress to abolish slavery in the District of
Columbia, Mr.. VAN buren,, the democratic
..ficial then occupying the Presidency,
HENRY CLAY, and other statesmen, agreed
with him. although they deprecated the ex-
.rcise of the power. The suppression of the
slave trade in the District, subsequently, be-
came one OF the measures Of the compromise
of 1850, which was acquiesced in by the
whig and democratic parties as final adj
justnent of the questions involved. This
particular measure found warm and ardent
supporters in the Hon. VIM r. KING, of Ala.
subsequently, elected to the Vice Presidency,
Gen. CAss. Gen. SHIELDS. Mr.. DICKINSON, Mr..
DOUGLAS, and other democratic leaders. The
question as to the power Congress to abolish
slavery in the Territories has been deter
mined by the Supreme Court; SO, also, has
the question touching its power to abolish
the interstate slave trade. Mr.. EVERETT be-
longs to that school of statesmen who sub
Mr. FILLMORE, whose administration OF the
government will ever lie regarded as one of
the brightest pages in our history, at one
time believed that Congress had the power,
and favored the suppression of the traffic in
slaves between the States, abandoned bis po-
siIion upon the adverse decision of the su-
preme judicial tribunal. MIR. EVERETT could
do no less. This every citizen owes as
duty to his country; to the obligations i'm
posed BY the constitution. There are doubts
in the minds of leading men, both North aud
South, whether in the bred Scott case The
court really decided that congress has no
power to abolish slavery in the Territories.
If Mr.. EVERETT felt these doubts,-nay, if he
were sure that the court had made no such
decision be could not favor proposition to
abolish slavery in any of the Territories, be-
cause the exercise of such authority would
he resisted by the South, even to a disrup-
ton of the Union; and be declared in the
Senate In 1854. that he really "would do al
most anything" to preserve the Union; would
even. as he intim ted. acquiesce in carrying
slavery into territory where it did not pre-
vioGsly exist The refusal 10 admit State
because its constitution permitted slavery. is
another exercise Of authority which the South
would resist. and which Mr.. EVERETT could
not favor. holding the views he expressed in
1854. But we are not comp lied to trust to
his fears of the disruption of the government.
He adheres to the compromise of 1880. and
it commits him to the principle of non-inter-
vention; OF permitting the people of a terri
tory to determine the character of their do
mesiic institutions. and guaranteeing them
admission into the Union when they form a
State government, with or without slavery
as they may elect. His adherence to the
compromise is announced in the following
extract from his speech in the Senate on the
sth of February, 1854, to be found in the ap-
Pendix to the Congressional Globe, vol. 90;
page 162:
Il trust that nothing which have now
said, will be taken in derogation of the COM
promises of 1850. / adhere to them; / stand
by them. do so for many reasons One is
respect for the memory of the great men who
were the authors of them-lights and orna-
ments of the country, but now taken from its
service. would not SO soon, if it were in
my power, undo their work. if for no other
reason. But besides this. am one of those
I am not ashamed to avow it-who believed
at that time. and who still believe. that at
tina. period the Union of these States was in
great danger, and that the adoption of the
compromise measures of 1850 contributed
materially to avert that danger; and there
fore, sir, l say, as well out of respect to the
memory of the great men who were the au-
thors of them, as to the healing eff ct of the
measures themselves. would adhere to them.
They are not perfect. / suppose that no.
body. either North or South, thinks them
perfect. They contain some provisions not
sati-factory 10 the South. and other provi-
sions contrary to the public sentiment of the
North; but believed at the lime they were
the wisest. the best, the most effecrive meas
ures which. under the circumstances, could
be adopted" - -ea=sa $50 -.lE
Had Mr.. EVERETT adhered to the opinions
he held in 1889, and had it been his purpose
to act upon them, he would have awaited
himself of the oportunity offered by his posi-
hou III INC Oeha'e' Anas he u'u hot oo GU: 8
proof that his mind has undergone a radical
change, and that the South has nothing to
apprrhend from him. a 4ea3 -rs
To elucidats the former positions and
the changes which have taken place in the
views of Northern men, we may here make
an extract from speech delivered in the
Fl ouse Of Representatives in 1886, by Hon
CALEB CUSHING. on the 9th Of June, on the
admission of Arkansas, which he opposed on
account of provision in her Constitution
slavery. He said:
I" This provision of the Constitution of Ar
kansas is condemned by those whom repre-
sent on this occasion. as anti r publican, as
wrong on general principles of general polity.