The southern enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1854-1870, 1860-06-14
- ,s.saiGREENYILLE,. SOUTH

IL
pleSo the Territories to; ;rea,latc in ,u,eir
own. way, under, .ihe ,Federpi Eonsiitution
and fbe decisions OF thet Supfefs,e Court oof
tile UHited cStates!a Four 'yehfsf n 90 Stliis
unanimously adopted Sbyathe
SontA ltiyss, regarded, by them at, that
time as senpj. No objections were, heard
to IT. Everywhere the Soutif c3ntended
that they had n right; according to the
platform, toscarryD their slaves into the Ter.
ruories and keep. Them iu defiance of all
Congressional or Territorial. legislation
against slavery. This was their construc.
ton of'the Democfaticrc creed 20 - Ea -"
saIedse nosS;lAs=snd he Northern Dome.
Gratis gave ~ different construction, 10 this
platform, whilst yagiligs yary against the
slack Repobiieahs; They contended that
the people OF The Territories had "A ff,ht to
control sslaveryssa sas.o they saw proper, and
might exelp,ie it from, the Territories alto
gether.- They admitted that the. Supreme
Court wasEthe proper arGiter, and lis drcis.
ions must be final aid conclusive. They
denied. hhowerer,. that, this quest ION, had
been properly before ihe Ceuri jn,the, Dred
Scott, case, or decided by the Court,
This is fair statement of The two sets of
resolutions reported by tho Committee and
their differentl ntlc6nsirnctions' byt the North
ern q nd Southern wings of the -Demoeratie
partya In adopting the, minority. report.
which the Convention did, and on account
Of which lite South Carolina delegation left
the Convention,s Z saw no comprothisel OF
principle, whatever, or any nbs,Nlonmeut
OF doc,rincs whichwe had coniendcd, Tor in
The last Presidential canvass, Which had
carried us triGmrhantly through TO victory.
We still gave tile same construction to the
same platform, and were, further, strength
m trnc fi.,t, lxyt ka 4 sf
the; supreme Court II, we could stand on
the Cincinnati Platform four years ago, be-
fore It had received the construction Of the
Courts, thought That we might do so now
with that construction in our favor. 1t is
true the Northern Democracy ouQlt to
hnye yielded to the opinion OF. the Court
aud our construction of the Cincinnati Plat.
form. Theyiwould have done So, hut for
the consequences ut home, in lthcir eivilwa
with ther rBhck Republicans But surely,
their not doing so did not change the rrin.
ciples Of the platform. or our rights under
tile Federal Consultation to carry ouroslayes
intosthe Territories and keep them there in
spite Of Congressional or Territorial legisIa.
tioh, Why, then, should We have made IL
a mattesof 50 much Importance us to break
up the great Democratic party. aud dcstrov
the only hope left us of elcciing u Demo-
cratic PRESIDENT, and crushing cut tue Blnck
Republican party D.. Er,. r1,# ....5 ~-..s
The Northern Democrats did not offer or
wish to deprive Us, by any resolution or ex
precision OF opinion, of ogr construction Of
the platform adopted. We were Welcome
to entertain il stiii, and they desired % have
the same liberty of urging eir CONSTRUCTION
IN the Presidential contest. They sajd inc.
yitable defeat would follow if they endorsed
'onr construction, and certain victory if thev
did not. Ifthey had urged on us the 'ndnp.
tion Of their constru ction, ms we did on them
the adoption of ours. there would have heen
good grounds for, the Southern members
leaving the Convention. But this they ne
yer attempted.
The South Carolina delegation voted for
every resolution of this odious minority re.
port, except the first, caffirmine the Cinein.
natl Platform, which they had unanimously y
adopted four years agol Yet. her delegates
went out of the Convention Not because
there was any thing ir. the platform otiec.
ionable to them or the State. hut because
the Convention refused to adopt n resolution
constituting the platform ns we Ray it should
he construed, aud as the Supreme Court has
construed it! Whether the Northern De
fnoeraey construed ,isplatform one wnv oI
the other, il does not in the slightest infect
our constitutional rights as 10 Carrying
slaves into the Territories and keeping then
there.
1t is said In all the newspapers Of SoutI
Carolina, and ptoclaimed IN ali the pu bl'C
meetings in the State, tn at the seeding de l.
egatcs were forced outl OF the Charleston
Convention, because the minority report,
adopted by the Convention. acknowledged
The damnable heresy Of Squatter Sovereign.
tyl Now, is there n word of truth in this
assertioni Do the minority resolutions con
tain or cmbody any thing Of this doctrine
Not a word In proof of this Isuppose Tho
authority of Mr., Yanccy, the gallaAt leader
of the seeding members, ought,to be con
elusive. lie declares, in his great speecl
before the Charleston Conventions, that tlt
Cincinnati Platform, which had then not
been reaffirmed and adopted by the Couve
iion, did not conntenance the doctrine o
SgmRtter Sovereignty in any way whatever
This is his language: "H foit6rs thdt mi,
dtiol, ia r&asop. nor i,, tie letter or spirit OF
tie .CiRcinpai Platform" Can language
bemoro explicit Than this? He,had already
proved hy an able arguments tbenbove con.
chisioh,' Which may he reahid puges nine
and tea sf his printed speech. f7 Again, Mr.
Saueey Gays in emphatic Language " No.
Sir, M. Uoualds 3ocfyBe is at ,car ,oih tht
rights Of Southern citizens, 6oM un3tr The
Constitution aud under tie Cincinnati PAT
form" This is trWeyasd the Supreme Court
of tire u United Stntes has so Jrcided in one
of the ablest opinions eyer deliYered by any
court. ....,...,... ~ =
We'll, then, IN there is no foundation for
this Sqaatter Sovereignty, ain the letter or
spirit of, the Cincinnati Plat FORM" Why
should we hive ;brpken1up the Charleston
Convention and the National Democratic
party, because that platform WAS rcoilirmed
By the Convention without dotting an ] or
crossing a TT II is strange--it Is passing
strnneei But 10 Dny be said that although
there is nothing "ie tho lettersor spirit oi
the Cineinnsi platform y, count cnaneing
,Squa.ter Sovereignty, yet Mr. Douglas aud
his friends put that construction on it. II
We we're bound by. that construction, and
notify the construetioh, Of the Supreme
Court, there might be come force In it.. Ev-
cry expression Of the human intellect may
be difierently construed by different persopS
The Word of God, even, has been very diff.
fereptly. construed by different religions
sectS !s this any reason for casting aside
the Bible and causing the various religious