The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1861-01-16

sionally 1t must doubtless happen that an
offender sgaiRst the local bws and the local
policy Of one State will escape punishment
BY seeking refuge in another State. This
fortune, however, bsfalls all coierminous
States, and has not been found to entail Sc.
rious mischief, or to d. turb the harmony Of
their peaceful relations. Besides, II is in.
finitely better that en- offender should occa.
sionally escape, than that d State shsuld be
| obliged to recognise and enforce the laws of
another jurisdiction Inconsistent with be;
own policy, and contrary to the general
usagss OF mankind. Every rule must be
more or less imperfect, but the one which
has seemed to me 10 be contemplated by the
Constitution ITSELF is, perhaps, IS faultless
as any that could be devised. II accords
with the principle Of natural justice, the OBJ
legations of good neighborhood, and the
comfy of nations, while ol the same time,
it respects the sovereignty of the State, and
secures the citizen his just measure of pro.
tscien.
! Such sre the considerations that deter.
mined my action in regard to the acquisitions
; referred to. Had | been clothed with the
legal authority, would have promptly sur
rendered the sccuosd parties. But my sense
OF duty, fortified by the long established
practice of this Department, did not permit
me to treat them as mslefactors for the pur.
poses of extrGdition. / therefore dsciasd
to surrender them.
You assemble at period Of extraordinary
interest to the country. For eighty years
the people OF the several States OF the Con-
federacy have lived in peace with each other.
Fraterna ties have bound them together,
and fraternal off ees have been mutual!y dis
chsrgod to their mutual prosperity and hap.
! piness. During this period the nations pro-
gress has been uninterrupted. The great
purposes of its formation have 6een in
steady progress of consummation. The
wise policy by which, for the most part, it
has been governed, in chefishing our re.
sources and in cuitivaiag peace with all the
world, has elevated our character abroad
and confirmed our prosperity at home
From people feeble in numbers and re.
sources at the beginning, We have become
one of the leading powers Of the world. In
agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and
vIation, in all the useful arts, we are in
the front rank OF nations, while the iDfuonGe
Of cur civil institutions, touaded on the con
sent of the people OGd recognizing the
. equality Of all mon before the law, and their
inalenable rights to life, liberty and the
pursuit of happincss is modorating the dss
potisms Of other governments and arousng
, the oppressed nationslties of the world to
; the assertion of their rights. At homs the
! Republic has given to its citizens sn extent
t of prosperity and happiness not enjoyed by
any othsr people, while abroad the title il
conrsrs Of American citizen is q nober Gre.
f Dental than vas that of the Roman citizen
T when tho Ce 'ars ruled.
, But great, prosperous, ard powerful as is
the Republic, at peace with all nations, and
the deserved object OF universal admiration
it is now threatened with immiaent perilt
2 from internal dissensisns. The public tran.
qu li,y il seriously disturbed. The patriot
!, ism OF the country is justly alarmed. The
! unity OF the Government 10 deuisd. Doc.
times su5vsyaive Of its existence are boldly
advocated and r1.ja the besis of State aG
ton. Under the pretended right of State
10 secsda from the Confederacy at its plea
sure, in peace or war, constituicnal liberty
is imperiIed, revolution Is meditoteJ, an
treason is justified.
We may we'll pause to inquire why these
disccnten;s, these hostile dcmonstr ations
against the Federal Government.
Ambitious mon in Republics who find
aims thwarted by the regular and peaceful
workings Of government, always seek pre-.
texts TO disturb its easy progress, however
prosperous. Party, sectional, personal pre-.
iuices, ihe growth of dversites in local 10.
stitutions, habits, and pureuits ere seized on
by such men to create hostilities between
the various classes of a country, strongly
united by a common interest, but whose
union gives them a grandeur too imposing
to be grasped by mslcontents who, without
merit to reach the highest suIhority in o
great commonwealth, would reduce it to
fragments TO become masters in a part
Such conspirators never disclose the secret
motives OF their discontent, but fabricate
preteEces for dissatisfaction among the mas.
oes they would mave, by appeals to their
pride, their jealou5y, their eavy, quickened
by narrow, mistaken, yet honest patriot
ism for the locality OF its birth, which from
pacu!Grity ia domestic Institutions, hgs lost
the vantage ground Of superior political in.
A1ence, once held in !he Confederacy.
Tho vast disp.0 pCgli0naie Increase Of po-
! Utica power OF the free States over that OF
the slave States, especially of these whsre
the wealth flows iTota an Industry and
speries Of agriculture which expeis the wh.s
race, and aCcumuates another fatal to all
progress, has created preponierance in the
Northern Western, and Middle Ssstes which
he's secured to them the permsnen. control
Of the goVernmen'.
During the first forty.esht years Of .be
! - Lad ;ts f. IL
part, from the great heart beating in is
central regioG. Except the two frym
assachusetts, all its Presidents may be
said to have been Virsinia Presidents, for
Jackson and Van bur6n were chosen through
her il fluence. Daring the Administration
OF the elder Adams, her etar dominated over
The Ccngroesionel ccuncils in the person Of
Vice. President jefferson. During that of
the second, it rose again in in both branches
of Congress through the prestige impaired
to her CHndid9'e, JscksoU by the command.
ing eloquenCe oil her SenGtors and Repre-.
senlatiyes.
Throughout the almost half century of
Republican rule, under the auspices of Wiz.
ginis, the free States were not merely con-
tent, bat with the exception Of a paroxiem
q owing cut of the commercial difficulties
contrived by Great Britain, dssipSted by the
war she provoked, and the momentary pauic
quieted by the Missouri Compromise give II
that jealous support which rendered this
era so hsppy and prosperous for ths whole
} country. Slavery, the anomaly in our Ia.
: sti,utioD, was looked upon throughout this
period ns distressing exc.esceace, the
, 'esut OF the yoke We had worn in Our in
. fancy, and which the strength of cur Consti
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