Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1860-01-13

urcs among them are comparatively dihinS
Ne make no complaint because of the bounti-
appropriations by Congress for surveys and
!, .Gs,sas Of the coast, for the improvement of
,arbos, the erection of lighthouses. and the
;arious other purposes, in aid of the navisa-
inn and of the ocean but we do
.onpIain that while checrfully sustaining our
full proportion of the expenditures for these
for the benefit of one branch of the
NATIONAL wealth and enterprise, a suitable por-
ton of the national treasure is not expended
for the protection of another brancl-our
coIninerCe-riyaling i'll tonnage the
foreign of the United States,
its character equally national, and its protec-
ton equally essential to the common benefit
and advantage of all the States.
The time has arrived when the West will no
consent that her just demands upon the
Federal Government, for the protection OF her
great interests, shall be disregarded- She is no
longer a frontier and will not patiently be
treated as such. She is the heart of the Union,
the centre of its population, its production its
consumption. From the great living fountain
of her bound.ess resources the nation is enrich
ed and sustained, and upon them its prosperity
and power must always chiefly depend. New
er denying to any section OF the country It's
legitimate right in the administration OF the
government, the West will be r~esolute in the
assertion of her rights-consciouS Of her great
p%oiitical power, which will install her in the
control of the government alter the coming
national census, she will demand the Inaugural
ton of that broad, generous national policy
for guarding and promoting the enterprise and
industry of the country, which. while confer
ring its inestimable benefits upon the people
of all the other States. will secure II the az.
riculturai and commercial interests due devel-
opment ard those unobstructed and untaxed
outlets to the markets of the world, which
their necessities iInperativcly require, their
value will abnndAntly compensate, and the
dignity of the West demand shall be no lon
ger postponed.
Briefly, but in an especial manner, do I re-
gard it as my duty, 20 urf. you to invite the
immediate attention of Congress, to the I'M
p~or!ancc of its granting prompt and liberal
aid for improving the navigation at the Falls
of the Ohio river.
The necessity Of some more extended and
complete work than the Louisville and Port
land Canal, as now constructed, to cheaper
and facilitate the conveyance of property
around the Falls, is recognized by every per
son familiar with the navigation and trade of
the Ohio river. Owing to the insulficlency oil
the construction. of that work, and the con-
tracted size of its locks, it is estimated, that
more than onc-half of al the tonnage of the
Ohio and Mississippi rivers is prevented from
passing through the canal. The practical eff
feet is, to destroy the unity of the Ohio river
;s n great channel Of commerce, by dividing it
at tie Falls, and SO making the portion above,
IL tributary to the portion below them. The
consequent injustice and heavy p~ecuniary less
to every bralcil of industry above the falls, are
too obvious to need >rgum Mt. Nor does any
other interest, or any other section OF the
country derive any benefit from these results.
The serious delay from the obstruction to the
transportation of the millions of property tina,
annually pass through the canal, with the OK
c2s5ive tolls imposed upon it, infl!et a most
~grievous and unreasonable tax upon the in
dastry and enterprise, everywhere, that con
tribute, in any way, in making up the COM
mcrce of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
The subject, therefore, is not Of nero local
but of the highest national import.
The canal being virtually owned by tie
United States. although uominally the prop
crty of a private corporation, prevents any
improvement of it without her consent, ant
renders State legislation powerless for relief.
! cannot but express the hope, that this i'm
portant subject may receive the early and ia
vorab!e attention of the Legislature of the
several States bordering upon the Ohio river,
and of the other States interested in its navi-
CATION. md that they will unite with the Leg
stature of this State, in urging prompt and
liberal appropriations by Congress, for the
construction of such improvements around the
Falls, as will be best adapted to the present
and future wants of Western Commerce.
Firmly loyal to, the union of the States
reverencing it rs the precious legacy from the
Fathers of the Observation-Disclosures their
obligation as sacred to maintain its integrity,
and secure to the people of every section ct
the Confederacy the blessings it was intended
to confer, to defend the Constitution, which is
its bond, and to faithfully observe all of its
limitations and authorities, the pcopleo of Ohio,
accord to the citizens of the other States, all
the political and social rights which they
claim for themselves; and as they would
promptly and resolufely resist any attempt by
force, unlawful combinations or otherwise, to
disturb the enjoyment of their social rights or
ilnperil their social securities. so do they depre-
cate and unrcservedly condemn, any movement
or purpose, to invade the rights or to leopard
the peace of the citizens of other States.
But the Union is threatened, and the Con-
s~titution is assailed in the very citadel of its
life-the right of the majority of the people of
the United States 10 control the government,
being denied and efforts are not wanting to
defeat the great purpose of the government,
to extend and perpetuate the rights of freedom
by degrading the Union and the Constitution
into instruments for the propagation of slave
~
On the l5j ect of slavery, the people Of this
State occupy no equivocal position. They re-
ject the modern dogma, that slavery is essen
tial to republics, that such system must fail
without it, and that slavery must be exteaded
and perpetuated, to extend and perpetuate our
form of government but in opposition to it,
they have deliberately declared. that in their
Judgment, slavery is a pernicious wrong, and
that patriotism and humanity unite in demand
ing their resistance to its extension into any
free territory, now or that may be owned by
the United States. They deny the binding
authority of the dictum of the Supreme Court
of the United States, asserting y right of pro-
perty in one man over another, as a fundamen-
tai principle, and making the federal c~onstitu-
ton the instrument of rendering it universal
as not limited to the reach of the local power
which created the relation of master and slave;
but on the contrary, they declare that the idea
there could be property in man, was expressly
excluded from the Constitution, which con-
tains no such word lis slave or slavery in any
of its prov sions, and which in every clause,
construed, or that can be construed, us refer
rI,,or tn clD 1unr ~ Io ri, e ~, H.. 4.o - t4oAo