The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1860-02-02
REMARKS OF SENATOR pooLITTLE.

The subjoined remarks, made by Mr.. Sena-
tor DooLITTLE, of Wisconsin, were delivered
on the occasion of the late anniversary of the
Landing of the Pilgrims, as celebrated by the
New England Society of the city of New York,
on the 22d of December last:
Hon. Mr.. DooLITTLE, United States Senator
from Wisconsin, was introduced, TO respond to
the following sentiment:
" The american Union: 1t sprung from that
independence which the patriots of New Eng
land freely shed their blood to achieve; and
while their sons have votes to cast arms to
strike, or blood to flow, they will struggle to
preserve that Union, so as to secure the bless
ings of liberty to themselves and their chill
dren."
MIR. DOoLITTLE said Mr.. President, never
in my life has there been an hour when | could
not respond to that sentiment and with u full
heart. | do so now. l do so, because my
name and family are of Puritan and New Eng
land origin. l do so, because / take pride
in the memory aud deeds Of those piolrs. brave.
and austere Pilgrims, of whom the Old World
was not worthy, who came to this New World
to find :" freedom to worship God" and at the
same time to lay the foundations of an Empire
greater, nobler and trust more enduring, than
the sun ever before shone upon. And L do so
because / am now of, and permitted to
speak for, the West, whose voice, If not to day,
Is vet to be all-powerful upon this question ;
and tell you sir, that the West, when, in the
fullness OF time, it shall be filed up with untold
millions Of free, brave, hardy, energetic, and
selfrelant men--the picked men of all the
States and of all nations in Christendom-wil
neither dissolve this Union, nor suffer it to be
dissolved. Let me assure the nerves of those
timid men who sometimes start and tremble at
the fear of disunon, that the great West-soon
to be the seat of Empire, with one arm through
the Mississippi reaching the Gulf of Mexico
and the other through the Great Lakes, reach
ing the Atlantic seaboard, will hold this Union
together forever in its giant embrace. But
more than ever now at this juncture in our
affairs, when some real or supposed peril threat
ems the Union, am | prepared to respond to
every line, every word, every letter. of that sen.
timent. Let the threats come from what source
they may whether from men 10 high place or
IN lowlier life, it makes no difference. The
people of the United States feel bound to main
tain, and they will maintain, the Union of these
States, and the supremacy of the Constitution
and laws passed in pursuance thereof, at all
hazards, and against all enemies. No greater
mistake can exist in the mind Of any human
being than to suppose that this Union can be
peaceably broken up. To talk of disunion,
therefore, is to talk of war. Disunion means
neither more nor less than war-bloody, relent-
less, civil war-to bring in its train at the
South all the superadded horrors of a servie
war.
Sir, we are bound together by geographical,
commercial, and political necessities. You
cannot cut the Mississippi river in twain. The
IL. L. i Al
in its great valley, will flow onward forever, uu-
interrupted, to the Gulf Of Mexico. The mil
lions who are to inhabt that valley will have
their commerce float uninterrupted to that
Gulf. They will never suffer the outlet of that
river to be held by any foreign Power. Be-
sides, the great mass of the American people
are bound together by other ties and other con-
siderations. | would ask any man who for one
moment dreams of a peaceful dissolution of the
Union, where would you draw the line of sep
aration? On which side of Mount Vernon
shall IL fall / know not how the people Of
this great city may feel, but | am sure
that the great mass of the people in the coun-
try will never consent that the tomb and the
remains of Washington shall rest upon the soil
of q foreign jurisdiction.
There is, however, one question, and but one
question, which has ever endangered the
ULion and that is, the negro question:
question which lies deeper than the slavery
question: and which must be answered before
can ever arrive at satisfactory solution of
the slavery question ITSELF What shall be done
with and for the negroes who are now free, and
who shall hereafter become free by the volun-
tary action of States and of individuals? An
answer to this question must of necessity pre-
cede all practical solutions Of the slavery ques.
ton. The men of the South declare slavery to
be right, demand its unlimited expansion, and
maintain that the Constitution, of its own force,
carries it into all the Territories of the United
States. The men of the North denouGce sla.
very as in derogation 'of natural right, and
MAINTAIN that 1T rests upon local law alone.
They maintain that the Constitution carries
slavery nowhere, and are uncom promsingly
opposed to its extension into the Territories.
merely state the question. | do not propose
TO argue it. This is neither the time nor the
occasion for me to do so. Between these con.
hicting opinions there is no neutrality, no mid.
die ground. The one or the other will prevail.
Men may deplore its discussion, and try to put
down agitation. But it is useless TO cry peace,
peace, where there is no peace. Compromises
do not bind it, Party resolutions do not keep
il down. The question is up, is forced upon
the country. Ii will not "dOwn at your bid
uilgs III ucidhuS, anu viii nave, an explicit
answer-Is freedom sectional and slavery
national? Does the Constitution, of its own
force, carry slavery into all the Territories we
now have or may hereafter ever acquire
Wherever our flag floats, over sea OF land, is
slavery protected under its falds
] have never doubted, for one moment, what
answer will be given to this all absorbing aues-
ton, when passed upon by the American PEG.
pie. But, after all, the great question still re-
mains, and without answering which all at
tempts at emancipation by States or individuals
if not Impossible, are almost impracticable
What provision shall be made for those who
no'c are or hereafter may be ensaec;patedg
Many of the free States refuse to reeeive them
into their jHFisdctlans. Many of the slave
States are passing laws to re-eDslave them. We
talk of the horrors of the African slave trade.
bat there is going on to day, before the eyes of
the American people, in this Christian land,
system of violence and oppression whose cold.
blooded inhumanity can hardly find parallel,
and which seeks to reduce 10 slavery almost
half a million offfeg men. Il wall Of anguish
from these people is going up to rend the very
heavens What, in Gods name, shall we do
with them and for them? We have no right.
it is true, to interfere with the Independent &C.
ton of States, who have sovereign power over |
this question within their respective jurisdic. |
tons. But is there no responsibility resting |
npon the Government of the United Gia,es. /
and especially upon the people OF the North |
We have never yet presented to the people of
the South an answer to that question. Without
dwelling at length upon this subject, / main.
tain that it is a duty which we owe to The peo-
pie of the South, WHICH wa owe to this unfoartu.
nate class Of oar fellow beings, which we owe
to ourselves, and which we owe to that Divine 4
Being who commands US to Glove our neigh.
bors as we love ourselves" BIZ some action of
the United States, which controls our foreign