Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-01-25
IMPORTANT LETTER.
Lieut.. Maury to Gen. w. G. Harding,
rcoNoLuprp.1

IcoNoLUDED.1
Parties in struggling for power have divided the
country by geographical lie. The people and
the government have recognized 1t and have become
\ sectional The Constitution never contemplated
| a1ch a thing: and whether We would have it so or
not. wa cannot ignore the fact that that instru-
taent was never frsmed 10 meet the requirements of
any such state Of things and that consequently it
no longer answers as it is, the purposes Of the
ton.
Ought the Nortb-can the North, consistent with
her seisrespect and il fsirness, consent to o divi
sion of the Territories into two States Ia Rice
They sre the common property; they belong as
much to South Carolina as to Massachusetts, Do
the Northern States want room? So does the South
| De they want their descendants to grow, and to
spread, to occupy the waste places in this new
world and to becomes the great nation of iii So does
the South. The two together capable Of making
the 'gredtest SORT of nation. This know for
have tried it and found il 80. The greatest nation
the world ever saw, is in the lsins Of the American
people Divide them into two nations, and we shall
have instead Of one glorious nation, two halbrseds,
dWarfed in size and stunted in their proportions.
| However the national future may be, fair dealing
aud justice all in favor of such division; the
more SO, since by cousenting toit the North would
make step which she alone can make, towards re-
storing peace ald harmony to this now distracted
country.
But how is it with regard to the restoration of
the balance of power in the Senate, SO fer as to en-
able the South to protect itself there against the
tyranny of sectional and popular msjorites ?fOr Of
ali tyranny that Of numerical and sectional maj ori
| ties has the hardest heel Can the North, having
acquired fairly under the Constitution the power to
make the laws the right to interpret them and to
! execute them-censent. without sacrifice of dig
nity to yield to her sister States being 1.-THE mi
nority, the negative power of protection IN the ma
| tional legislature? -..... ...-.,.-L. l-. -4
1t would i'll become the dignity OF The self-res-
pect of the people on either side of this unhappy
! geographical line to ask Of the other anything
which they themselves, if sides and conditions we're
reversed, would not be ready and willing TO grant.
Suppose the North the sggrieved section-what
| would be her tone? Let us see -
used to read in my spelling book in Tennessee,
that q lawyer could discover great difference be-
tween the Of the farmers goring his OK, and
the case of his bull gOring the farmers OK But in
varying the conditions, by supposing the North and
the South to change places, and the Southern bull
to have gored the Northern OK, do not seek to
bring the case home to men who, Ike
the lawyer can only see one side. make the case
for all fair-minded men-for mon Of the golden rule
in public rs well as in private sfsirs-for true ps
triots with honest minds and hearts, and plain IN
deretaoding everywhere, North and South.
1t is the Northern bull, We say, that has gored
the Southern OK That's the real case. And now
that the North has hastily and from q one-sidsd
view like tie lawyer in the spelling book, laid down
the law let u.s. like the farmer in the fable, confess
a mistake and say it's the Southern bull that has
gored the Northern Let us suppose thst the
measures and the policy which the Federal Govern
meut has thought proper 10 adopt had. instead OF
epcours gipg foreign immigration, from Europe and
disoOuTaging the importation Of negro slaves from
ebFosd. been reversed--toF there is nothing In the
Constitution 10 have prevented il = Let us there
fore suppose that the policy With raFsrd free ana
slave immigration hal been exactly the reverse.
Now, I do not say that it the design of tbosa
who iuaugursted this policy and adopted these
~ I l. ~ Al.
power in her hsEds Bat whether it vas SO intended
or not, the North from being numerically the
weaker section, is now the stronger; she has the
population and the power that enable her under
the Constitution 30 control tse Government if her
people SO will it-snd it lis evident that she would
lot have sqursd this power, at least uo to this
moment, had The general government, ms cad Of go
dsposing Of the public lands as it has doue-ip- |
stead Of framing its naturalization laws IS il has
done, and doing other things to encourage Euro |
psan gra,ieu-thought proper to discourage |
thst, and foster the African slave trade.
Suppose then, as have said the policy had been |
instead of encouraging free immigration, to ercour-
age the importation of ssves,-thst instead Of
lag annually, for the last forty years free immi-
grants enough to make Safe Of, landed on our |
shores we had had the importation of hundred |
thousand slaves two eyeryyear These slaves would
have gone South, and into the Territories, as the
immigrants (mostly) have gone North, ana into the |
Territories. ..s#.
In the course of time, as in 1920, The statesmen |
Of the North, we will suppose, began to discover |
that under the policy the sceptre in fair way
to depart from their hsnds.-that the Southern peo
pie with their slaves were occupying the Terrific
res and planting colonies 10 the West which in the
of time would be sure to be knocking at the
doors of Congress for admission into the Union SIS
slave States Suppose the North 10 have called |
flr compromise, and the Missouri line to have /
been drawn, but with every thing reversed.
This line reversed in its conditions, would |
have set fcrih--let it be supposed-that there
should be none but slave States South of 36e 30I.
but that North of this line there might or might
not be slavery, as the settlers should ssyf
To run The parallel fairly for the completeness Of
the illustratos, will ignore all isotheImsl lines
and supposs the African like the European. capable
of going into all lstitudes. With this imaginary
but reversed Missouri Compromise the North is
supposed to have remained content for many years,
es the South did with the real one; but finally she
discovers that slavery was going all over the Terri
tories-that her citizens were shut out frsm them,
that the slave States had become p9pulous aud |
more numerous than the free that they have
arrayed themselves sectionally against her,-that
they have formed party upon sectional grounds, -
that they have proclaimed the conflict between
slave and free labor to be "irrepreesible; and
that they have elected President pledged against
the admission of another free State into the Union
What, say, would our brethren of the North say
10 discovering that the constitution by
to such condition.
They would say: The FEDERAL Government, as il u.s.
he's ceased TO operate fairly betVes the sections Hhcs
plosedhe General Government Nth the management Of
all its machinery in the hands Of sseon; the Terri
tories have 6sen ICON BIZ cur Uolor and Jouh Nth our
money c,U Nth theirs, and our present status
are cannot hope acih children or our chIdren's
children TO occupy them. And our Northern brethren
would further ssy-or have mistaken their spirit
and chsracer-RooM AND JUSTICE, EQUALITY AMONG
THE STATES AND OUR RIGHTS, IN THE UNION IF WE
MAY, OUT OF IT IF WE MUST.
That would be their language and it would be-
come them as freemen.
The wrongs that have been done must be righted,
and the Constitution under which we are to live as
one people must be so altered and amended-the
North would further ssy-ss not only to restore to
us fairly snd fully all rights and privileges bat
there must be in onr hands the means of protecting
ourselves against any further Pncrosohmenis of a
tyrsnncal and sectional msj 1rity in the National
Legislature.
katatis n,utandis: What the North in the supposed
case would demand Of the Southern bull, the South
in the real case expects of the Northern beast.
The introduction Of this new balsnce-Theel into
the federal machinery may complicste it Somewhat,
and make its workings a little cumbrous. But tho
driving wheels of the locomotive necessary;
they serve to make the railway machinery more
complicated, bat they sre necessary. Without them
there could be no locomotive with its train. Nei-
Their can thoTe be aDy Union without this rev bal
snce wheel however constructed, in the CoDstitu-
tion, however amended CT altered
There are other sdjps'a5Dts which though the
S3ufh has no idea cf Insisting upoB, et, as we sre
ovarhsuling tic federal machinery, they might SIS
well be mentioned. The Constitution was the work
Of very WISE and very graat and good men; there
be many who have such reverence for it hist they
thipk it almost irrtvercBt 10 talk about am 2ndng
it. But those who framed it we're men. the work
of whose hands, admirable though it aud is,
yet like all human contrivaucss. could not be per
feet
The Observatory ia fitted with some Of the most
exquisite and beautiful iRstrumen's--the work of
msstsr miads and cunning hands; but use them IS
viii, they will now ard then get little out of
order and require re-aJjustment With cowpsrs-
lively rude hsRds, alter this bslsnee-ehange
thst cNuntcrpeise--touch screw here, and add 3
mske-weight there, and the machine works just as
''gaod as new" ar.--
SO it is with amendments to the Constitution:
Those who framed it consult ed invention and con-