The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1861-02-09
DEBATE ON THE UNION.


self to come mp to this great question and
pass through it, as sincerely believe we
shall pass through it; for although this
great controversy is not already settled, do
not, therefore, any the less calculate upon
and expect it viii be peacefully settled, and
eettled for the Union. I do not expect the
Union will be firmly re established in ninety
days but my confidence remains, that as /
have believed the passion and frenzy of the
hour can overturn this great fabric of Con-
stitutional Liberty and Empire in ninety
days, so have felt sure there will be time,
even after the expiration of ninety days, for
the restc ration of all that has been lost, and
the establishment of all that is in danger.
Secession or revolution on one side, and
coercion or defiance on the other, all to pass
away before the Union, is to become the
grand absorbing object of interest and affec-,
ton and duty on the part of the citizens of
the United States. A great many partisan
interests are to be suppressed, parfs plat
forms swept away, before. The Union is.
in danger, and If it is TO be saved, can be
saved, but it viii require but a. very short
time, if the Union does require to be saved.
for all these interests and platforms to dis
appear. You, everybody who shall oppose.
resist or stand in the way of the pFeserva-
ton of this Union, will disappear ike moths
on summer eve, when whirlwind of pop
uIar indignation arises that shall be excited
at it's full discovery that this Union is in
danger through faction, or even the i'm
practicability of one part.
Abiding to the question of slavery in the
Territories, which had been vital one for
twelve years at least, he said the admission
of Kansas settled all that was vital or i'm
portant in it, leaving nothing behind bat
the passions which the contest had engen-
dered. Kansas is in the Union, California
and Oregon are in the Union, and now the
same contest distracts this Union as before.
The extent of the Territories, after the ad-
mission of Kansas, is l,O63, 500 square
miles - an area twenty four times that
of the State of New York Twenty -four
States, such as New York, are yet to
be organized. Now, under what is accepted
by the Administration as judicial decree,
every inch of that territory is slave terri
tory. He spoke of the decree, not as he
accepted it, but as enforced by the existing
Administration. Over considerable por-
ton, the slave code made by the Govern
ment, created by Congress-. is enforced.
How many slaves are there in it ? Twenty
four African slaves He had followed this
thing in good faith, with zeal and energy.
but confessed he had no fears of slavery,
where in the peculiar condition of things
which has existed, slavery has succeeded in
planting only one slave upon every 400
square miles of Territory. This, then, has
ceased to be the practical question, but in
lieu thereof comes up the great vital and
fearful question: Union, or dissolution OF
the country, or no country! <1 -
Why, then. should we despair that great
people, thirty millions in number, will be
unable to meet the crisis? He had no fear
This is Confederacy. not an imperial Coy
eminent, nor the Government of single
State. Il is a Confederacy dependent upon
the consent of all its members and subject
to dissolution by their own action but that
assent is always to be taken by virtue Of
original assent, and held until, in the form
prescribed by the Constitution itself, and
III time and manner, and with all conditions
which the Constitution prescribed, those
who constitute the Union shall declare that
it shall be no longer. Thirty days, sixty
days, ninety days given US by the dis
unionists, may not be enough for their pol
icy and purposes. He trusted there might
be time enough for the policy and the pur-
pose, and the lovers of the Union. God
grant that it may be. If not, these contro-
versies will be settled just as our forefathers
foresaw when they framed the Constitution
by submission to the people of the United
States, in convention called according to the
forms of the Constitution, and manner pre-
scribed by law.
Mr.. Mason said After all else, the rec
ommendation of the Senator is battle
Blood, then, is to save the Union. The
Union Is broken. There is no Union in this
country.
NJ. Seward said he was not surprised that
the Senator from Virginia differed. The
Senator sees a discovered country. He
(Seward) saw returning reason, judgment
and harmony in the Union /; and the Sena-
tor from Virginia, is he ia the Union or out
of it? He had contemplated fighting, be-
cause he knew that treason, North and
South, might arm against the unionss
Mr.. Mason said he wanted to place before
the American people the fact, that the Sena-
tor proposes as a remedy, war. He has
presented the argument of tyrant-force
compulsion-as the only resort. He takes
no notice of communities claiming to have
resumed sovereignty, and are now com
pletely out of the Union. He wanted Vir'
ginia not to be hoodwinked by the cry o
g Peace l'' when there is no peace. Ht
trusted the good sense of the people, Norti
and South, to repudiate the counsels of thu
| Senator.
Mr.. Seward was amazed at the delusioI
of the Senator. He made a speech pacific
and fraternal /; the Senator makes it deciar
alton of war! He could see nothing bn
war, in a speech which simply PROPOSED
speaking for the Union, voting for tn
Union, giving money for the Union, and
Convention of constitutional form, and
only after all were exhausted. then stand b.
the flag, and if we must fall, to be wrapped
| in its folds. r,-
Mr.. Mason said he was speaking for Vir
GINA. She would never remain in the Con
| federacy, unless guarantees were effectuall,
made for the preservation of her rights. H
was not willing to submit the question &
the mass of the American people, but To
Constitution recognizes the people as peopt
of the States. - IN
i Mr.. Douglas desired peace and the naiE
4 tenance of the Union, but failed TO see any
thing in the action of the Senator from
Virginia to encourage the idea He wa
i pained that when the Senator from Penn