Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1860-02-03

= dsies.e" rSsyen-fre,sirths Of the opposition
hina from the North.' u.uc
" NJ f,;Iu-e of this scheme left the territory
-;,ho,t government and in August le4o ,s stI
a ."ron territorial bill was passed; oy Tue
Vl.sS of which. it was enacted that the mnaol'
S "s,s If the said territory shall De enti''eu "
M - he privileges granted by the ordinance "i
We, We and "shall be subject to all the coro'tlons
restrictions and prohibitions in said articles
- compact. imposed upon the people oi $40
u;torr Here then was an enactment OIL the
W;not ~nroyiso: but as it only covered terrific
~ north Of So deg. so min., the President APP
.,ored it on that ground: And the Soutn &C
[ otuiesced again. ~
msin;nr territory; and in lS4e, Virginia re-
nso,ea and confirmed her resolution OF lsi',
fsod adacd another Us to the slave trade IN the
district of Columbia. The following are the
r,.ras, from resolutions o, the General Assembly OF '"'
sin!a. adopted January ~. lsw: Of tho
az Re,olSed. unanimously, That the .pasSase
,,ote mentioned provi.o makes it the duty Of ever! s, a.
holding State, and Of all ciiiLens ;hersoi, asineS 'L and
d.xrest privileges, their sovereignty, their inaepenue em..r +aJ
taeIr rights OF property, 10 take hrih' un"e
. .I = Resolved Tina, We regard the passage OF . > ~ =
the Congress Of the United states, aSGnsa a. y direct attack
,lsye trade In the District Of Columbia, - " Va hs rs,isted
UPON the institutions OF the Southern s''e'
A'eTffS Rs s,ii,e rhs, In the even, Of the passage oy Con.
-. ~. Wiimo, pror!so, or any law nSehshing slavery
Or tns slave trade In the District OF CoianT,u s :. - convsus
Oh. LEGISLATURE Of thl, State (fi: shall have a,Sdjourned,) to
consider OF the mode and measure OF TeostS.
South Carolina again responder III Oecehi'
her, lS49, and declared that the time Tor action
had come; and she WAS not mistaken. FOR, I'M
mediately thereafter, the President OF the
United States sent out his military governor TO
organize the Territory OF California. At his
word, election districts are formed and electoral
rights conferred; and the prcmiscuous horde
whom war and the spirit OF adventure had col
lected in California, are invested with authority
to make a Constitution, and by it exclude the
entire South from any participation in the
wealth of that whole region.
Ia 1850 this Constitution came before Con-
cress, and was adopted with the other mea-
SureS known as the compromise Of 1850. South
Carolina regarded these measures q mere agsra'
vation Of the injuries before hcaped upon the
South. She considered the Constitution OF
California, when sanctioned by Congress, to be
o virtual enactment Of the Wllmot proTlSo.-
Even the Missouri compromise line had been
disregarded by that Constitution; and the en-
tire Pacific coast had now, by the operation Of
tile OTeHOIl- OIL uuu LILO
fornia, been closed to Southern emigration
One Of these compromise measures enacted Is
follows:
1T shall not be lawful to bring into the us.
trict OF Columbia any slave whatever, LOT 'ho
purpose of being placed in depot to DC SUBS
ouently transferred to any other State or Piass
10 be sold rs merchandise; and II such siaie
be BROUGHT into the said District by It's '"hef'
or nv the authority or consent OF It's owner,
contrary to the provisions Of this act, sucu
slave shall thereupou become liberated ana
free" ~.
This law raised the issue upon which 'lr-
GINA had pledged herself to act; and Soutn
Carolina, in going forward, considered her-
self merely as the front rank OF the advancing
column of sisters. refer again to these Incl
dents merely as facts. with no intention to CEN
sure or impute wrong. They must be men
toned to explain and justify the course OF
South Carolina, and they show that IN each
stage Of her progress she had, as she thought,
the concurrence Of her sister States.
In her Judgment the other compromise OF
1850, which changed the boundary Of Texas,
was equally exceptionable. 1t withdrew
territory from the State Of Texas, for no other
apparent purpose than to convert that territory
into free soil, and brought close upon the flank
Of the Southern States the very instrument Tor
their destruction, which Lord Brougham had
sought in 1913; and for all this, the equivalent
offered to the South was Il fugitive slave law,
which We believed would be as perSistently
eluded by the Northern States, as the obligation
which the Constitution and the previous laws
of Congress had already imposed on them.
Entertaining these opinions, South Carolina
proceeded to arm her people. Desiring to act
in concert with the South, she first sent dele
gates to a Southern Congress, and next pre-
pared herself to secede from the Union. At
this stage of her progres, she was met by your
resolutions of 1851, in which YOU declared your
acceptance of the compromise of 1850, and
your request to US to desist from our purpose
Of secession. We did desiSt. We restrained
our gallant coursers, although with great strain
ing upon the reins OF State. We have $1,000
still from that day, and almost mute. We
have waited rs you desircd-and what have
since been the results?
Kansas next came upon the stage OF action.
4 strong effort is made in Congress by those
who yet believed in the virtue OF reasoning
With fanaticism, and Of persuading the dema-
gogue, to remove the whole subject Of slavery
from the halls of Congress. The kansas-Ne-
s braska act is passed the Missouri compromise
is repealed. At the same time the Supreme
Court lends its aid, by the bred Scott decision,
and the South is congratulated, that now she
is to have that peace for which 80 many sacri-
ices had been made.
No sooner is this done, bit the contest as
sumes u new and more alarming character
Throughout the North. societies are organized
for taking possession Of Kansas. Emigrants
are sent out, armed to the teeth-and the arms
are furnished by the pulpit and the press. The
South can DO no less than defend itsell-and
thus civil war is waged in the territory between
North and South and nothing but its distance
in the far west prevented it from involving the
entire country. That war Was crushed GU, by
the forces of the federal government; but the
blood-houndS whom it trained were kept in
LEASH to break forth upon ~iiarper's Ferry. i.
has ended in the complete delivery Of Kansas
10 the North: And now the two sections stand
front to irout-theN North clatc with victory, in
possession Of both Houses Of Congress, and
\ only awaiting the Presidential election, to seize
upon the purse and the sword Of the nation.
Heretofore, each section of the Union was
represented in either camp. But now both
camps are sifted, and no familiar voice from
either section is lifted to stay the sounds Of
angry rituperation. A broad geographical line
Is ~ploughed into the soil, and none may cross
1t but with sword and buckler. Compare this
state OF things with the period when a few IA.
na',sa! followers rallied around Birney as their
y leader. Loos at the struggle made at the last
& presidential election, and consider how nearly
we had reached the crisis. The Dalilah Of the
Norm had already cried out, THE Philistines
DC upon thee, 0 Samson" And although on
'n.t occasion he burst asunder the withes and
gave US respite for four years, yet now again
are new bonds in preparation; and this time
we nave reason 10 fear that the locks of our
srehsln nave been Slorn: and, made blind be-
iolenahu' we are about to be driven to tina mill
stones TO grind meal for our enemies.
49,. stand now IN the onion, Is States to Is;
"'u d 'nese 10 we must consider at least one
40 neuu"'; Inc constitutional barrier which
we QlYH allCatS hi l.. IL