The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1861-02-06

no human goodness or wisdom can at pres
ent chang. They understand the danger Of
tampering with slaves, and the frightful con .
sequences that might arise from an unguari
ded expression in their presence calculated
to excite unkind feelings towards their mas I
ters-since they are in your hou ses, and
nurseries, as well as on your farms and plan
tations-and could so easily, with grain of
virulent poison dropped in food or a well,
destroy whole famil;e and communities and
our people would be no more likely to excite
temper productive of surh a result than the
people of your own States. You have sla-
very in your midst; and how you can dis
pose of it God only knows. But while YOU
retain these people, you must provide for
them as best you can; humanity and Chris
tianty both demand this at your hands,
And when you do this in good faith, with
out violating the common laws of humanity
and the principles of Christianity, you are
not hated by any one anywhere. 1t is only
when you hold them for the sordid purposes
of gain, ignoring their common claims to the
sympathy of the human family, that it be-
comes odious and hateful; it is when you
Extensively thrust it upon us as great good
to be desired and extended and perpetuated
by all the powers of the National Govern
ment, that it excites loathing among the
people of the North Now, if it shall appear
that you have wantonly excited this opposi-
tion to slavery, it will follow that you have
no just cause to dissolve the Union on that
account. This brings me to the considera-
ton ofyour next demand. ..-. .5.. n
g. You demand that the free States shall
so modify their laws as to permit you to hold
slaves within their Jurisdictions, for purpos-
es of transit and temporary sojourn; that is,
to tolerate and protect slavery because your
convenience and interest require it. You
demand that the free States shall conf,r on
your citizens privileges that are not confer
red on their own. l inquire here, again,
what reciprocity there is in such claim p
| ask on what principle of international law,
or international intercourse, you can put
forth such demand-that one sovereignty
shall confer on the citizens of another SOW
ereignty rights which it denies to it's own
people? We were told the other day, by
the Senator from Virginia, Mr.. Mason that
gentlemen of the South feel humiliated at
being restrained by confederates in the
Union from passing through their territories
with slaves, and commanding their services
during temporary stay,-attempting the
first, their property is confscated, as in the
Lennon case; attempting the latter, they
become felons that such laws manifest a
malignant hatred of the South, which re-
quires total separation, or the repeal of
these laws, and other satisfactory guaran-
tees to be promptly rendered by the free
States. -. ... -... .....
This is, to say the least, not very mod
est demand. Taken in its length and breadth
and depth, it is this /: that eighteen free Stats
shall each promptly agree that the slavehold-
ing laws of the slave States shall be extend
ed into their Jurisdictions respectively. They
must agree that the slave States shall not
only enact laws for the government of their
own people at home, but that they shall en-
joy the right to dictate laws to the people of
the free States also; that is, that Missouri
shall be permitted to dictate laws for Iowa :;
Tennessee for Illinois; Virginia for Penn
sylvania; South Carolina, Georgia, and Lou
isiana for New England. 1t is by such rea-
soning as this that secession justifes itself
on this floor. .... - ... .......
7. The next demand to which shall al
lude is that the equality of the States should
be recognized by the Federal Government
Now, sir, that each State in the Union is ex-
actly equal, and shall remain exactly equal,
to every other State in the enjoyment of her
right to make her own laws, and regulate
her own domestic institutions within her
own limits, everybody admits; but l inquire
in what other sense is this claim to equality
true? 1t is said that we are confederation
Of equal States; and that this equality must
be maintained Where are the States equal
under this confederation? Do they have an
equal voice in the election Of President |?
Certainly not. New York casting thirty
votes, and Iowa but four, and Florida three.
Are they equal in the other branch of Con-
gress Not at all. You may say that they
are equal on this floor but in what sense
are they equal ? Do they vote by States
here? Not at all; each Senator has one
distinct vote, and the two Senators from each
State are often divided so that a bill may
pass this body with the approval of but one
of the States of the Union, if the Senators
from the other thirty-two States should
chance to be equally divided Nor are States
represented in the Federal courts.
Then what becomes of this claim OF the
equality of the States under the Constitution?
They arc equal at home /; that is, they are
equal in the enjoyment ofa common right to
regulate their own domestic affairs, subject
to the Constitution and laws of the United
States, and in no other sense and it seems
to-day that Senator'S on the other side of the
Chamber perceive the truth of the allegation,
as is manifested in the enlarged demands
made for changes in the Constitution to in
crease the power of minorities.
But you say that you are denied, by the
theory oc the policy of the Republican party,
euuality in the Territories But the States