Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1861-02-14


SD to our father on the old place. We have
!O;Tt right and joint possession to this land with
on We have not left our possession. We are as
Inch at home with these slaves and the horses, as
Inv With your oxen and apprentices. Mr.. North re-
Niles. if you want your negroes to work on this |
and YOU must set them free, or / will set them |
free, The sons of Mr. South, say, if you do, we
will do as much harm to you. So here aries the
question
The Supreme Court decides that neither of these
partieS have gone'from home; they are tenants in
common; and the same rights of property that EACH
had at and in their first homes they retain when |
they meet on the new purchase the condition of
which, after the said joint purchase must be mixed
and must assmilate itself to the condition. rights
and interes: of its joint owners. But suppose an
honest impartial neighbor should come up while
the quarrel progressed between the parties, and
they would agree to leave the matter in dispute to
him: he would not likely decide that the negroes
were free; he would more likely advise them to
divide their new lands as nearly equal between
them as they could and each stay with his own
persons and things on his own side But if told
the court common to both parties had decided that
this cannot be done constitutonally, the neighbor
would then likely advise the parties to make friends
get on friendly and peaceably with their persons
and things until the members Of the family marry,
and settle new farms or plantations these newly
purchased lands, and then let these new families
determine each for itself about these slaves Just as
MI NoTtu anu MT. SOuIn originally Qld Tor them
selves an0 their families The question then comes
to this agree? Is it possible that the sons
Of American fathers cannot agree in this trifing
matter? If not then we have lost the spirit of our
fathers What did they do? When they framed
the Constitution nearly all the States owned slaves
did not They recognized and generously
provided for the rights of all in these then States as
to slavery and every other matter They provided
in their common organic law that if slave ran
away from his master into a free State he should
be returned. More than that, they agreed, by way
of compromise, and to form Union with slave
States to let the African slave trade be kept open
for twenty-one years. That is what they did
When North-C Carolina granted to you Tennessee it
was put expressly in the bond that slavery should
not be abolished by Congress in that Territory
That is what our fathers did. What pray you,
would they do If they were here in places to-
day? Why, they would settle this question i'm
medIatelv. They would not 60 to dinner before
they had settled it. They never would have broken
up this Union rather than do what request of you
to do; never. When the country comes to under
stand this and looks back upon what our fathers
did, this Congress will be disgraced for not having
settled this question satisfactorily, and that too,
speedily. Strip it of all the misrepresentation and
exaggerations which have been improperly crowd
ed around it to create sectional jealousy and hatred
and it becomes one so simple and plain, that were
the plain honest masses here that assume to
represent, they would settle it before the going
down of another sun.
Now, Mr.. Speaker, | want to refer to the propo-
stion of the committee of thirty-three. | am not
disposed to look behind their action to what this
member or that member of the committee may have
said The country will make up its Judgment on
the report itself What do they recommend? To
let the bred Scott decision alone. They say in ST.
lence 20 the South, you have got that bred Scott
decision in your favor; it gives you your slaves and
your right to hold them in all the Territories North
and South; but we have got the power to secure
free settlements and fair decisions in the Territories
and we will take care of the northern territory
selves. We leave you the southern territory under
circumstances which will enable you to establish
slavery there if you could do it under any cir
cumstances. We leave the bred Scott decision
touched uncontradicted and without criticism, by
making no reference to it in the compromise. Take
your southern territory, under the compromise of
1850, and under the bred Scott decision, and with
the protection and the ri ht to for your slaves
which it declares, and do Just what you please with
it.; and we will take the territory north of the Mis-
souri, line just in the same way we ask no prohibit
ton anywhere in any territory. You cannot make
that north of Sc deg and 80 min. slave territory
and therefore nothing for the bred Scott de-
cision. But do you take the southern territory,
with the bred Scott decision; take it now, whilst
the status of slavery is upon it fixed by territorial
law, and make a slave State out of it if you can
We ask prohibition of slavery north of that line.
We trust to climate, soil, and productions. If any
of your negroes come over into our territory, the
few that come, or are brought may remain until
the people of the Territory, in forming State
sttution, shall otherwise determine. If [ am not
mistaken, and think cahnot be, in my conStruc
tion there is no other its face. think this pro-
position may be safely accepted by the South. 1t
not only applies to the territory that have,
but it applies also to what ever may have
would Eave southern men think of it.
But 1t is said that there men in the North
who make war upon the bred Scott decision. | ask,
al.
was denounced by political party? Our
Democratic friends talk now much about standing
by the decisions of the Supreme Court. | think |
noticed that at Charleston little resolution was Of
fered committing the Democratic party to be bound
by the decisions of the Supreme Court on all con-
sttutional questions; but 1t did not get many votes
1t comes with i'll grace / respectfully submit from
the Democratic party to be preaching about stand
ing up to the bred Scott decision, when you cannot
to-day get them to pledge themselves that the Su-
preme Court, even the present court, is to be the
arblter on all questions arising under the Consttu-
ton. They never have done They denounced
the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of the
United States Bank and although they had Cen
era jackson in the Presidency other Presidents OF
the faith, and had the control of almost every
State government they never tried to amend the
Constitution in that respect or to take away the ef-
feet Of that decision; never The Republican party
very improperly follow bad example which was
set for them; but, imagine, with no better success
Experience, under the decision, will not require its
reversal. tell you it never will be done tell
you gentlemen, that, in my opinion, the more that
is understood by gentlemen of the North and South
the less inclined will they be to disturb it. 1t was
well said by the gentleman from Virginia. (Mr. Mill
SON it was a decision, mark you, connected with
this Kansas troube-that it gave to the North the
kernel and to the South the hull and that is about
the whole of it
Now, Mr.. Speaker have presented these consid-
erationS, hoping thereby to get us in proper frame
of mind and disposition work for the peace of this
country, because desire to do my duty, and my
whole duty, while L in the Union; and if | an
forced to go out of it, 1 may be also enabled to do
my duty then. tell gentlemen that if in spite of
all the efforts of wise and good men, the State from