Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1861-12-23

aot lie treating our readers tailly t.
Withhold it from them. Phelps is un-
loubtodly cut out for great man. This
-tfcrt Of his settles that point conell-
,iyeiv. Ills construction Of Corstliu-
iohs law is novel ard betfays deep
III j. and mastery legal ernd ton. From
bis time forth mark his brilliant career.
Read bis proclamation
HEABorAR1zrs MrpDLrsrx BRIG.nE3
SIR ISLAND, MIS-, Dec. !, 1851.
- M Layai Cftzsn, u III Southwest.
Without any desire Of my own, but
contrary to NY private incinatlons, |
again find myself among you as Mill
tary officer OF the Government. a pro-
Ger respect for NY countrymen renders
lot out Of place that ! should make
known to you the motives and princi-
Pies ly which my command will be gov
efned.
Nc believe that every State that has
| becu admitted as a slave State into the
mon, since the adoption Of the Con
.,itation, has been so admitted in direct
! violation Of that Const tuition.
| We believe that the slave States which
.xistel, as such, at the adoption of our
Gonsti,ution, are, ly becoming partief
. that compact, under the highest OBJ
| cations Of honor and morality 10 abol-
| ii slavery.
Il is our conviction that monopolies
are - destructive a. competition is con-
sentative Of the principles aud yitalltics
| Of Republican Government; that slave
| dor is a monopoly which excludes free
TOT aud competition that slaves are
Kept in comparative idiencss and case IN
4 fertile hall Of our aralle national ter
r.tory, while free white la1olers, con-
an, u IN NTH g in numbers from Eu-
| rope, are c0niiucd 10 the other halt, and
alc # en distressed by want; that the
fo. labor II tic North has more need
Of expansion into the Southern States,
IRON which il is virtually excluded than
| slavery lad INTO Texas in 1916 that free
labor IS ess cntlal TO free institutions; that
these Institutions are naturally better
adapted and more congenial 10 the IN
elo-SaKon race than are the despotic ten
denotes OF slavery; and, finally, that
he dominant politleal principle Of this
| North American continent, so long as
the Caucasian race continues to flow in
apon rs from Europe, must needs be
hat Of free Institutions and free govern
mcnt Any distractions To the progress
al til foim Of government ia the
| United States mast inevitably be attend
ID with dianord and war.
slavery, from the condition ol . uni
| gefsaiIy recognized social aud moral
III, has become 1t length 2 political in
tpetion, demaAtieg political recognition.
1t demands rights TO the exclusion and
Al ihilation OF those rights winch are in
arei 10 Us BIZ the Constitution and We
aust choose between dem, which we
| wlll h,yr, for We cannot have both. The
| Constitution was made Tor lrccmen--
NJ TT slaves. Slavery, as a social evil,
i4ht Tor tine be tolerated ard endaI-
S; buf n 70. tel hesitation it be-
ONES ithperion- AID eSacung, control
n1, BIKE 4 dread necessity, Ill whom
| lcan ttuca have compelled 10 live un
- rs sway, hampeting their action aud
aus nnDcliIng our national progress.
s q Official last.tati II it could exist
rs ~ ordinate part only Of two forms
government, W: the deSpOtic am
tie free ana il could exist under free
-o,efnmont only where public senti-
rient, III the most unrestricted exercise
{ a robust freedom aiding to cxtrava.
saaee and centiousnoss, had swayed
the thoughts and habits OF the people
HeyeuI tie bounds and limits Of their
oua moderate constitutional provisions.
Il could exist under free government
only where the people in a period of un-
reasoning extravaganza had permitted
popular ciamor to overcome popular rea-
son, and hal attempted the inpossibiiiy
Il setting up, permanently, as political
institution, a social evil which is opposed
10 moral law.
BY reverting to the history of the past,
we find that one of the most destructive
wars on record, that of the French Re
volution, was originated by the attempt
TO give political character to an institn-
ton which was not susceptible of politi-
cal character. The Church, by being
endowed with political power, with its
converts, its schools, its immense landed
wealth, its associations, secret and open,
became the ruling power of the State,
aud thus occasioned a war of more strife
and bloodshed, probably, than any 9TH
CIR war which has desolated the earth.
Slavery is still less susceptible of po-
itical character than was the Church.
1t Is as fit at this moment for the lum-
Der room OF the past as was in 1893 the
monastery, the landed wealth, the ex.
elusive privilege, etc., of the Catholic
Church il france. 1t behooves US to
consider, as seli-governing people, bred
and reared, and practiced in the habits
OF government, whether we cannot,
whether We ought not, to revolutionize
slavery out Of existence, without the ne
cessity of a conflict OF arms like that OF
the French Revolution.
lndee |, We ieel assured that the mo.
ment slavery is abolished, from That mo-
ment our Southern brethren, every ten
Of whom have probably seven relatives
IN the North, would begin to elrerge
from a hateful dchrium. From that
moment, relieved from imaginary ter.
rors, their days become happy, and their
nights peaceable and free from alarm;
, the aggregate amount OF labor, under
, the new stimulus Of fair competition.