The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1861-02-09
TIE STATE OF THE NATIoN.
Letter From senator Crime,

Washington, Jan. %, 1861.
My DEAR SIR:
Your esteemed favor of the 18th inst.
has reached me.
There appears to be n very great misun-
derstanding in the public mind as to the
present condition OF affairs at the Capital of
the nation, and especially in relation to the
demands of the South upon the Union men
of the North. find that the impression
prevails quite extensively that the "Crit-
tenden proposition as it is called, is sim
piv re-establishmeut of the Missouri
Compromise line. This is very far from
the truth.
Mr.. Crittenden proposes to extend the
lice of Sc deg. 80 min. through to the Pa
cifc ocean, and to agree by Constitutional
provision to protect and defend slavery in
all of the territory of the United States
South Of that line. Nor is this all. lie
noC proposes that this protection to sldrery
shall be ertendsd 10 all territory that may
hereafter be acquired South Of that line
The sum and substance Of the whole
matter is that we are asked, for the sake of
peace, to surrender all of our cherished ideas
on the subject Of slavery, and to agree in
effect, to provide n slave code for the Ter
ritories south of So deg. 30 ,nin., and for the
Mexican provinces as soon MS they shall be
brought within our jurisdiction. 1t is de-
manded Of Us that we shall consent to change
the Constitution into n genuine pro-slavery
instrument, and to convcF: the Government
into a great slave-breedlug, slavery extend
ing empire.
Every man blessed with ordinary fore
.rb, I. ha Ia
and almost immediate consequences of the
adoption of this provision as a part Of the
Constitution. Ii would disclose itself TO be
the very reverse Of a measure Of peace
Raids would ut once begin upon the prov
inces of Mexico /: war would ensne: the an
nexation of Sonora, chihuahua. Cohahuila,
Nuevolson, Tamauipas, and other provinces
would follow they would be converted. at
the instant Of their acquisition, from free
into slave Territories, and ultimately be
admitted into the Union as Slave States
Much as love peace and seek to purchase
it, am not prepared to pay this price for
it.
Let no man in Iowa imagine for moment
that the Crttenden proposition Is for
mere restoration Of the Compromise line OF
1870. Itis simply and truly the application
OF the Breckenridge platform to all terri
tory nov acquired or hereafter TO be dc-
ouired South of SO deg. 80 min, and would
result. if adopted, in the acquisition and
admission of new Slave States for the os-
ten.ib!e purpose of restoring what is called
the equilibrium of the sections. The res
,ora,ion Of the Missouri Compromise line
has been offered to the disunlonisss and
consemptuouslv rejected. Their maxim is
s.rule or ruin"
confess that look with amazement upon
the course of the Northern sympathizers
with the disuuionists. Six years ago they
assisted to break down = compromise OF
thirty four years standing, and defended
,hsir action by what they claimed to be the
rich, of the people to determine for them
selves uha, should be the character OF their
own domestic institutions. There was much
plausibiIitv in their argument. They made
\ party creed Of it. Now. after the lapse
of SIX short wears. they have beeomeso pro-
slavery in their opinions that thay are viii
ing 10 ignore the past and recognize and
protect slavery in the very country which
they boasted that their own act had made
free.
: There are other provisions 10 The Crissen
den resolutions which to ny mind are wholly