The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1860-09-13
DOUGLAS & POPULAR sOvEREIG NTY.
Speech of Carl Schurz, of Wisconsin In
Hampden Hall, Springfield, Mass, Jan
uary 4, 1860.

Speech of Carl Schurz, of Wisconsin.--Il
Hampden Hall, Springfield, Mass, Jan
uary 4, 1860.
When great political or social prob
lens, difficult to solve aud impossible t,
put aside, are pressing upon the popula
mind, it is a common thing to see a var
city of theories fpriuging up, which pur
port to be unfailing remedies, aud TO eff
feet speed you're. Men, who look obly a
the surface of things, will, like bad ph ysi
clans, pretend to remove the disease itsel
BY palisting its most violent symptoms
and will astonish the world by their in
veDtive Ingenuity, no less than by theil
amusing assurance. But close sCruti.
ny will in most cases show that the rem
edies offered are but new iorus of old
mistakes.
OF all the expediepts which have been
Invented for the settlement OF the slavery
question, Mr.. Douglass doctrine OF popu
lar sovereignty is certainly the most re.
narkable, not oDly by the apparent nov
city of the thing, but By the poupous as
surance with which it was offered TO the
nation as a perfect and radical cure
Formerly, compromises were made be-
tween the two conflicting systems of la.
Dor. by separating them by geographical
lines. These compromises did indeed
produce Intervals of comparative repoee,
bat the war commenced again With re-
newed acrimouy, as soon as new bone
of contention presented itself. The sys-
TEN of compromises as whole proved a
failure Mr.. Douglass doctrine of pop
ular soveignty proposed 10 bring the two
antsgonistIc eiemeHt into iUmeGiate con
tact. and to let them struggle hand to
baod for the supremacy on the saUe
ground In this manner, be predicte
the slavery question would settle itself il
tbe smooth way of ordinary busice5s.-
lie teeued to be eopfient o:-sQccess; but
hardly is his doctrine, Ia tic shape Of g
law for the organization Of Territories,
put upon the statute book, when the strug-
gle grows fercer than ever, and the diff
culties ripen into a crisis. This does not
disturb him. lie sends forth manifesto
upon manifesto; and even during the State
campaign OF last fall, he mounts the ros-
&Ium in Ohio, in order to show what be
can do; and, like second Constantine
he points his finger at the great princi.
pie of popular sovereignty, and says to
his followers "ln this sign you will con
qusr." But the tendency o. evcnts ap-
peared unwilling to yield to bis prophecy
There seemed to be no charm iu bis com
man3; there was certainly 20 victoTy in
bis sign. He had hardly defined his doe.
trne more elaborstely thar ever before
when bis friends were routed every where
and even bis great party is Oh the point
of falling to pieces. The failure is mag
nifcently complete.
There certainly was something in bis
theories that captivated the masses. dc
not speak of those who joiued their polit
ical fortunes to bis, because they saw il
hiu uan who some day might be able
to scatter faVors aod pluBder around him
But there we're great many, who, Sc
duced by the plausible sound of the words
popular sovereignty. meant to have
found there some middle ground, on whicl
the rights of free labor might be protec
ted and secured, without exasperstins
those interested in slave labor. TheJ
really did think that two conflicting or
gauiEations of society, which are incom
pstitle by the nature Of things. might b
made compatible by legislative enact
sneuts. But this delusion vanished NJ
sooner was the theory put to praotica
test, when the construction Of the Nebras
ks bill becsme DO less matter Of fierce
dispute than the construction of the Con
stitution had teeG before. Is this pro
slavery. or is it anti-slavery it was ask
ed. The South found 10 it the right t.
plant slave lator in the Territories uncon
ditionally, and the North found in it th
right to drive slavery out of them. Eael
section of the country endeavored to ap
propriate the results of the Nebraska bill
to itself, and the same measure, wbicl
was to transfer the struggle from the ball
Of Congress into the Territories, transfer
red it from the Territories back into Con
gress; and there the Northern and th
Soathern versions of the Nebraska bill
fight each other with the same fury wit
which the Southern and the Nortber
versions Of the Constitution have Tough
each other before. What does the Con
stltution mean in regard to slavery Z
That question remains to be settled
What does the Nebraska bill mean p
This question depends upon the settle
ment of the former.
Of all men, Mr.. Douglas ought to b
the first to know what the true intent an
meaning. of the Nebraska bin and th
principle Of popular sovereignty is. He
said to be statesmen, and it must b
presumed that bis measure rests upon
positive idesj for all true statesmanshi hi
Is founded upon positive ideas.