Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1861-01-25

main ever all Its sources WOuIu not at
tSeh to the seeding States, it would at
least seriously conflict with]the free en-
joyment of opposing rights, and eventu-
ally lead to dissensions, il not war, be-
tween the States directly interested in
the navigation of that great highway to
the world $ commerce.
The Constitution makes body polite
Of all embraced within its jurisdiction
To dismember it, is so far to destroy it.
1t constitutes Union, and separation
is war against it. Secession and Union
are Incompatible ideas. The attempt to
assert the right attaching to both as con-
sistcnt with the same Constitution is
mere absurdity; the one is but the mega
tive Of the other, and they cannot be re
! conciled.
But the discontents which have grown
up between the States may and ought
to be reconciled
The fugitive slave law provides for
the execution of'a duty imposed by the
, Constitution Unfortunately itcontains
! clauses insulting to the Just pride 1.ad
to the. conscience OF the .sectjt,n Of
the country. on which it is brp:doht to
bear. 1t is difficult to execp..,s a law re-
voting to the public opip'.lon where it
is to operate. Yet this Jaw has been ex-
ecuted BY the. Federal officers, no,twith-
standing, and undssr an honest admins
tration It may laEe full effect. If the
clauses offspEsiye and derogatory to those
who are ,1eqdired to execute it be re-
peale6,, there is no doubt the personal
liberty. laws, which obstruct its proper
! execution, if any such there be, passed
rom whatever motive, would be repealed
or essentially modified, This ought to
! be done. The obnoxious features Of the
| fugitive slave statute were inserted at the
instigation Of the Representatives from
States not ip terested in its execution, and
| plotting to defeat it, that the States for
whose benefit it was passed might be in
cited to join in schemes Of breaking the
Union, which is now ,manifestly the OBJ
ject Of those that make the clamor about
/ the obstruction of the Fugitive Slave
Act to Justify secession. The States
really wronscd. if any, by the legisla-
tiop of the Free States, ara loyal to the
| Union, and does not urge their wrongs
to overthrow it. But those who. have
+! plotted tie fatal measure. create disafec-
ton in the loyal States by throwing
themselves into the breach to defend
their rights, ana calling aPoa them for
! support, zsgz,.. Essz 3
The comfy shown by the patriotic
d1egislatures and other official represen-
tatives of the States of Kentucky and
/ Tennessee to the State of Ohio, by their
/ visit to this Capital last winter, and the
/ frank, conciliatory and magnanimous
temper they displayed would justify the
Legislature of Ohio in invoking the Free
States to repeal all laws, if any such
there be, contraveulng the rights which
their fellow-citizens of the South Justly
claim under the Constitution, and rely
on future Congress, if it be not done
by the present one, for the abrogation
of whatoEer.is obnoxious in the Fugitive
Slave Act, and for such amendments of
itas will fully protect the liberties of
thezcitizens of the Free States.
a like conciiiatory course would be
expected of the Southern States, by the
repeating of such OF their laws as con
trayene the constitutional rights of the
citizens, Of the Free States With less,
the citizens of the Free States will not
be satisfied They claim, and will insist,
upon all their constitutional rights in
every State and Territory of the Con-
federacy. These they cheerfully accord
to the citizens of the Southern States
| Determined to do no wrong, they will
not contentedly submit to any wrong
Unawed by threats, they demand the
employment of all the constitutional
powers of the Federal Government to
maintain and preserve the Union. Re
iecting the whole theory of State seces-
sion, as in palpahle violation of the Con-
stitution they cannot consent to the ex-
ercise Of any power under, its sanction.
The integrity of the Union, it's oneness
and indiyisibility, must be preserved.
In the Union they will be as serupu-
lousiy careful to protect the rights of
the Stare as Of the Free States. Nay,
more Conscious of their power, and
regarding the Union--a peaceable and
fraternal Union-ass the noblest legacy
they can bequeath to their posterity,
they ygwil clleerfullys yield everything to
their brethren Of the South that may
not disturb the harmony of the Consti-
tuition, and that may be consistent with
right, justice, humanity and the demands
of Christian civilization. But with
treason against the Federal Government
they have no terms of compromise to
make, none to accept. Against that,
they demand the enforcement of the
, laws .saia > .,.E -i
Il pufposely avoid attaching any i'm
portance to the only other threatening
conflict; that relating to the establishing
of slavery in the femaining territory of
the United States, as all must see that
that is settled by<a decree more potent
than Legislative enactments or judicial
decisions. The opinion declared by the
Supreme Court, as claimed by the South,
opens these territories to slavery, and
Territorial Legislatures invite It, bat the
laws of nature, which operate on slave
production, combined with its laws which
regulate emigration, intcrdiet the exis-
tence of slave iustitntionssin the elevated
regions now to be settled. The Kansas
experiment, made under the most favor
able circumstances fer the South that
can exist. is conclusive on, this subject.
IF this were not enough, the oyerwhelm-
ing pualic opinion pronounced in the
late Presidential election must produce
the conviction, that the slavery question,
as connected with the remaining Terri
tory of the United States, is forever set
tied, and that the slopes Of the Rocky
Mountains, East and West, are reserved
exclusively for free institutions.
l. As member of the Confederaey,
Ohio hoao vital ;ntaroct in ;fa ,,-aoar,,a