Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1860-09-15
.fsIFffaorlIE,,,c,pIoN OF SLAVE PROPERTY.

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AS few days afser the adoption Of the plat
forla resolutions in the Senate, the resolu-
tioIs Of Coy Brown, of Mississippi, demanding
pfpteetipn to slave property in Kansas came
up for consideration Lett be borqie in mind
tbatIslayer8 is positively prohibitedin Kansas
by the local Legislature of that Territory. If
ever there was necessity existing for its
protection, if any g necessity !" ever viii exist
atjahy future time, then certainly this case.
came within that category. What did the
Senate do What action did the ssireseaters''
of that degenerate body take in relation to-
protesting slavery in the Territory Of Kan
sas How did their acts correspond with
the following resolution introduced by Mr.
Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi?
Rbsozrea, That if experience should at any
timeiprov that tho Judicial and Executive
authority do not possess means to insure ade7
duata protection to constitutional rights in
Territory, and if the Territorial Government
should fail or refuse to provide the necessary
yel,eslies for that purpose, it will be the duty
of Congress to supply such deficiency.
ThisErcsolution comprehends the gist of the.
slaseplank in.the breckenridge disunion plat
fern which is in the following words I:
& Reso7ocd That.it is the duty of the Fed
eral Gov Sent in all its departments to pro-
tect, ~, a. ~ sd,y. the rights of persons and
!: nrd2Grty in the Territories and wherever else
its constitutional authority extends.
. 4 When mccessa,y!" Certain facts were
brought to the notice of Senator Brown, OF
Mississippi, last winter, showing the insecure
ty ofEslave property in Kansas. He, in all
the; conscious honesty and integrity of his
manly disposition, really supposed that men
meant what they said-he imagined that the
resolution of Mr.. Davis was not mere, 6r~tcne
|. ftlD,gn, the emptiest and hollowest sort of or
.atorical thunder, and he introduced the fol
lowing substitute as an amendment to the e5-
straction offered by Mr.. Davis =
Reso7ced, That cz;2cricnce harry already
SLe,c,t that the Constitution and the common
law. linaded by statutory provision, Go not at
ford adequate and sufficient protection to slave
property, some of the Territories having fail
ed others having refused to pass such enact
ments, it has become tho duty of Congress to
intertpsc and pass such laws as will afford to
slave property in the Territories that 21rotcc-
ZION which is given to other kinds Of prop
crty.",.
The yeas and nays being demanded on the
adoption of this amendment, it was decided
in thc.ncgative by the following vote:
Yea.s-Mcssrs Brown, johnson of Arkan-
eas, and MaIlory-3.
Nays-Messrs Benjamin, Bgler, Bragg,
Bright Chestnut, Clark, Clay, Clngman, Crit
tendc,l Davis; Dixon, Doolittle, Fitzpatrick,
foot. Foster. Green Crimes, Gwin, Hamlin,
Harlan. Hemphill, Hunter, Iverson, johnson,
of Tennessee, Lane, Latham, Mason, Nichol-
son. Pearce, Polk, Powell, Pugh. Rice, Sc
(astinn. SiidelI, Ten Eyck, Thomson,
Foombs, Trumbull, Wigfall, Wilson, and
Yulee-42.
So the effort to make men stand up to their
own declarations, failed, by an overwhelming
majority. The resolution was decided in the
negative-only THREE Senators out of
FORTY FIVE, being in favor of the Brock.
inridgc plank Of protecting slavery in ter
ritory :; when necessary" We. take it, if it
was not necessary lasf winter. it never Will
be, and therefore the resolution in the disu-
nionist platform is hollow sham, mere
makotbelievc, intended for the express pur-
pose of driving off Northern Democrats from
the party, and thereby securing the election
of Abraham Lincoln, in order to 1atford the
scceders an opportunity of dissolving the
Union,
Hcre,on the naked proposition to bring the
slave code to practical result every dsunion-
ist in the Senate except three, voted directly
against their own principles-if a save-codc
for the territories ranks as principle. Every
man Of them except three, voted against the
necessity of any such lcgislation-what neces-
sity existed then, buta few days afterwards,
for its introduction i'll the Charleston Conyen-
ton? Democratic Conventions are not legis-
lative bodies; in legislative body they had
votedit down, almost unanimously. Why
then was it introduced at Charlestonjust at
forwards if not as firo-brand to divide, dis
tract and defeat the Democratic party.
democratic EEpOsitor.
ear Mr.. Breckenridge has made that
speech He has gone and done it +! We shall
wait for full report, revised by himself be-
fore we mike any extended comments. IF
the telegraph has given US any just account
of his speech, it is a failure. 1t will disap-
point his friends; for it meets no point in the
case. He fails even to give any reason, or
even plausible one, why he is a candidate-
The rost is but very common stump speech,
which any of his Electors might have made
for him. he has not answered the questions
his friends in Virginia promised he should
ANSWER.
pgr "1T1lis whole Secession movement,
said Herschel " johnson the democratic can
fdidate fot -Presidentsin speech.at Ma
con, Georgia, the other day, +" this whole So