The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1860-09-22
[JUNE, 1889.

2 popular ballet that 10 really did work for Il
canss Of ffse labor. How senpid muss the ma
!. have hsen not 70 re that, aaddled with the II
compton Consitasion, il would have been impol
: ibls for him 70 keep up that delusion. 50
! assumed the mask of an advocate Of popula
! rights; coquetted with the Republicans in orde
4 70 disaFm their oppositi0n, and vent before III
Ipeople Of Illinois . candidate for reelection
70 The Senate. What right have to speak o
! his assuming maskf have that right, il / cai
I ahow that Be threw i on - soon = his objec
| lives gsiasd.
!, Review bic acts in connection with the Kansaa
struggle Slavery and Free Labor had for year,
. lwaged their Gerce war about that unfortnnaf<
I Territory with doubtful success. Now q last ne
aane man could any longer close his eyes sgains,
the fact thst when the Lecompton outrage was
lpeFpetrated. ths Free State men outnnmberesl
their opponents almost ten TO one. Their vic.
tory might BE- delayed, but was no longer doubt.
ful. How had Douglas acted % long q Slavery
had chance TO gain the preponderance? Need
remind you Of the unwavering solicitudc with
which be defended the Border Rclsans; Of the
6erceness with which he denounced the Free
State immigration; OF tho yirulence with which
he upheld the Border RufIian code Of lava or
the promptness with which he put his foot upon
the law Of the people expressed in the Free State
Constitution; Of his brutal, cynic sneers at the
Il
tion Of the Border Rufian Legislature, the enact
ment of the Border Ruffian code Of laws. : less
6Agrant violation Of popular rights than the Le-
compton Constitution! How could he uphold
the former and claim the credit for opposing the
latterf Here il another most wonderful coinci-
dence. Just 90 long as Slavery had . chance
in Kansas, Douglas stood upon the side Of Sla-
very. But no sooner was the victory Of Freedom
sure than Douglas was cure to stand upon the
strongest side.
And now be 10 held up 70 our admiration a
4 the "true champion Of Freedom" After having
done more than any other man in perpesratipe
the outrage, what merit ID there in helping TO
prevent its final consummation, when it has be-
come manifest that in aiss Of him, that consum.
nation has become impossibles Look at it. The
Nebraska bill, as heard my friend Grimshaw in
Illinois illustrate it, had set fire to the edce Of
Territorial Liberty. The Republican fire CON-
panies are vigorously q work; the Republican
engines are playing with full force, and then
comes the very incendiary, Douglas, with little
| tea spoonful Of Anti ti-Lecompton water, throws it
into the flames, and then swells himself up and
Claims to have extinguished the confagration-
and 30 he goes before the people Of Illinois a.
the true champion Of Freedom
And this he would hardly have had the cour-
age to do, had not, as is now known to al Of us,
the indignant threats Of the gallant Broderick
"verawed him when he was about to compromise
with Buchanan.
repeat, would never stoop to question the
motives which actuated him, in the Lecompton
struggle, had not the acts which preceded it made
his honesty doubtful and had not those that fol-
lowed it precluded all belief in the sincerity Of
his repentance. If he was honest, YOU will be
obliged 70 confess, it il exceedingly hard to
prove it on him.
On the strength Of this exploit be succeeded
in carrying his point in Illinois; not indeed by
popular majority, for that was against him, but
BY an old Gerrymandering apportionment. 1t
was one of those lugubrious victories. which
consist in narrow escape from total snnihila-
tion But bis seat is regained; and now be
throws wistful eye upon = higher seat; and re-
members at once that the Democratic road to
the White House leads through the slaveholding
States. So he turns his face Southwark without
delay, and sets out on trip down the Missis
sippi. He is at once betrayed into making q few
remarks, here and there, 70 spontaneous gather.
ings. Suddenly we find the man who had tried
to delude the people of Illinois into the belief
that under the Kansas and Nebraska bill, the
people had right to exclude slavery, in the
South busily apologising for it; and now behold
the old Douglas again welding the weapon Of
sOphlstry with unblushing boldness, and endeav-
Oring TO make his doctrine Of Popular Soyer- |
eighty palatable to the Southern stomach.
The development of the Popular Sovereignty |
doctrine IL one Of the most instructive chapters
in the history of our days. It shows how easily |
the popular mind can be obfuscated by a sophis- |
tical plausibility and how easily correct princi
PIES are lost sight Of in the confused struggle Of
interests and aspirations. Future generations |
will scrutinize with curious astonishment the his
tory OF our days, and wonder at the temporary |
success OF 90 transparent fraud. Permit me |
brief digression
Popular Sovereignty in the true sense Of the |
term, means the sovereignty Of all individuals, |
90 regulated By law as to protect the rights and |
liberties Of any one against the encroachments |
OF any other, and 80 organized by political insti-
tutlons as to give common expression To the |
collective will Its natural basis is the equality
OF the rights Of all men, Its natural end is the |
protection Of all individuals in the exercise Of
their rights and in the enjoyment Of their liber-
ties Hence it precludes the idea Of Slavery in |
all its forms Apply this true Popular Soyer- |
eighty to the Territories, and we are willing to
accept it-nay, il is the very thing which we are
contending for. But Is this what Dougas, in the |
Nebraska bill, contemplated? BY no menus
dis Popular Sovereignty is based upon the a.
sumption that one class Of men has tie power
has the right-to strip another class Of their ma
tural rights, and to hold them as slaves.
For arguments sake, let US follow him in his |
course OF reasoning, and suppose the white pop |
uation Of the Territories had the right to hold
portion Of the inhabitants a. property. So we |
have to lower the standard Of Popular Sover- |
eighty one degree! Listen to the language Of |
the Kansas and Nebraska bill:
IL is the true intent and meaning Of this act |
not to legisate Slavery into any State Or Terrific
ry, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the
people thereof perfectly free to form and regu-
late their institutions in their own way subject
only to the Constitution of the United States"
A. hrst one would suppose this bill gave the |
people of the Territories the sovereign right to
introduce Slavery, provided, always that Slavery
could not 50 there unless introduced BY posi- |
tive act "f Territorial legislation Is that what |
Douglas principle Of Popular Sovereignty con-
tempatedy By no means! For, according to |
him. STAKEHOLDER may introduce his slave pro-
perty, and thereby introduce and establish Sla- |
very in Territory without that positive act Of !
Territorial legislation.
We have, therefore, to lower the standard Of |
Popular Sovereignty another degree One would |
suppose that Slavery 80 being admitted at irst |
the people Of the Territory would have at least |
the sovereign right to remove and exclude it by |
positive act Of Territorial legislation. Is that
what Judge Douglas' principles contemp!atsdf |
BY no means! lie told you At first that this was !
question to be decided by the Supreme Court,
then he told you that the sovereignty OF Ter
ritory remains in allegiance, suspended in the U. |
States: in trust for the people until they shall
be admitted into tho Union - State; and, at |
last, after the Illinois campaign, he dropped the
expression, Excluding slavery" altogether 1t /
s significant that the attempts Of the people Of |
Nebraska and Kansas to exclude slavery by law /!
were promptly put down BY the vetoes Of the |
Governors Of those Territories; vetoes exercised
BY virtue Of the power conferred on the Terri |
torial Governments BY Douglass own Nebraska |
bill.
Thus we have descended two great steps from
the true idea Of Popular Sovereignty, without |
having reached Judge Douglass great principle;
and you will perceive that the true Popular
Sovereignty has already disappeared long ago
But let US lower the standard Of Popular Soyer-
eighty still another degree, and We may hope
that the deeper We sink, the closer We may ap-
proach Judge Douglass position. At last we
find him mot with principle but with an as
sumption. Il matters not, said he in his speech |
at Frceport in Aug. 1855:
~ matters not what way the Supreme Court |
may hereafter decide Is to the abstract qaeston,