Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1861-02-27

| seems to have Overborne their reason, the
have rushed madly on, reckless of conse
| ouence. to themselves and others. AnC
| without stopping to refute the politlca
heresy of secession, under cover OF which
| they seek to shelter themselves, L conten
| myself with the declaration that L believe /
has no warrant in the Constitution of th'
| United States. / think, sir, that when oul
forefathers adopted our present form of Gov
i eminent, they intended that ii should be en-
| during, and were not guilty of the folly o.
4 leaving a reserved tight in any one o. the
4 States to destroy the very Government they
| ordained, and consequently every right which
/ was expressly delegated to 1t. L do believe
| however, in the sacred right OF revolution;
| and whenever any Government becomes op'
pressive to its citizens, 1t is as well thelT
right as it is their solemn duty to throw il
off. and establish such form of government
| as is consonant with their honor, liberty, and
interests This is the right our fathers exer-
cised when they threw of the yoke of British
domination and tyranny; and this is the word
they used to describe it. 1t is the boideT
and manlier word, and savOrs of the spirit OF
l776. l deny the constitutional right of any
State to secede from the Union, but affirm
the inalienable, inherent right of every free
man in it to revolutioniZe his government
whenever it becomes oppressive and destruc-
tive of the ends for which it was formed.
But, sir. in order to get at the true cause OF
the revolution now in progress in the Gulf
States it is necessary to revert to the initial
point Why this dissatisfaction among whole
communities in the South? Is there no cause
for it, or does it exist alone in the distemper-
ed imaginings of Southern gentlemen? Let
us arrive at correct diagnosis of this po-
litical disease; and, if possible, eradicate ct.
Northern gentlemen ask for specification OF
-, md nd AoR a
readiness to consider them. The differences
which exist between the two sections, in my
Judgment sir. consists. not so much in any
particular act of the Northern States, al
though | could enumerate many which are
yiolative both of the Constitution of the Uni
ted States and the rights OF property of citi-
zens of the Southern States, but in the fact
that an overshadowing and dominant party
has arisen in the free States of this Union,
the leading. vital, and controlling principle
of which is hostility to slavery, with the
avowed and openly declared policy that the
paramount domestic institution of the South
ern States shall be forever excluded from the
common Territories; and declares, in the
most deliberate and well-cOnsidered resolves
of both Conventions and Legislatures, that
slavery is a great moral and political evil,
and. as SUCH should be abolished wherever
the Federal Government has the power, I'M
der the Constitution, to do so; aud, with this
one idea of anti-slavery, as common party
yinculum, have nominated and elected a
President and Vice President of the United
States, both residing in free States; and have
succeeded in consolidating the entire North
in their support.
The free States with q system OF labor
dissimilar to that of the slave States, have
large majority in every department of the
Government; and the Republican party now
controls every free State in the Union-the
free States being nineteen, while the slave
States are but fifteen. This is new phase
in the politics of the country; and the slave
States. being the weaker. are at the mercy OF
the dominant section. This, sir, Ii the true
source of uneasinesS and distrust on the part
of the South. They know their weakness
and your power; and it is from the avowed
hostility of the dominant section to one of the
most cherished institutions of the weaker
section that this apprehension and anxiety
springs. And it is for this reason you see
southern men asking further constitutional
guarantees and more explicit recognition
of their peculiar institution-slavery-
the organic law of our Government.
And this brings me, sir, to the considera
| ton of the several propositions now before
| the House; and l shall discuss them liz the
| order in which they stand for our action
| First, the proposed amendments to the Con
| stitution. offered by Mr.. Crittenden in tn,
| Senate, and moved in this House by Mr.
| Clemens, of Virginia, as an amendment t.
! the propositions of the committee of thirty
three.
The first and most important of these pro
| posed amendments to the Constitution estab
fishes the old Missouri compromise line b,
constitutional amendment-the Suprem
Court having decided that it could not b
done by congressional enactment. Mr.. Speaker
in order that it may properly understan
and appreciate the present status OF the slave
~ question, as connected with the Territories
it is necessary that we shall take hurried
glance at our territorial policy since the for
nation of our Government, and see if we ca
deduce from any principles of equitable con-
promise, on which we can all honorably ant
consistently ACT, and settle our present differ
| ences.
| In 1888, when our treaty of peace wa
made with Great Britain. by which our Jude
pendence as a nation was secured to US, an
| acknowledged by that Power, no State nov
free owned one acre of land outside of its the
boundary as a State; nor did one of theI
cede to the General Government one foot
land The States now known as the slav
States of the Union, owned an aggregat
territory of 63S, 0l6 square miles; and til
States known as the free States an aggregat
| of territory of 169, 662 square miles-th
now slave States owning 46S. 354 squar
miles more territory than the now free State:
the slave States owning nearly four times a
much territory as the free States.
| Now, SIR, let me ask my northern brothe
how the slave States disposed of this vast de
main? Did they retain it with the view {
extending slavery into it, and upon the lde
of slavery extension, take control of tn
Government, to the entire exclusion OF GU
northern brothers, They might have don
il. The South was then strong, and 70
weak. Did they use their strength to retar
the growth of any of your material interest!
| No, sir. But with lavish and muuificen
hand they gave you of their abundance
Virginia alone giving to you 239 .55S squar
miles, and forever prohibiting slavery in i
thereby swelling your aggregate of territor
from log, 662 square miles to 400 ,220, and r.
dncing the aggregate of slave territor
from 638,016 square miles to 39S, ASS; fror
which generous cession you have since cree
ed the great States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinoi
Michigan, and Wisconsin. And yet, sir,
hear men of my own section on this floor, a
well as from the North, declare that th
whole force of the Government has hereto
fore been welded for the extension OF the il
stitution of slavery, and against the Nortl
Sir, il is grossly erroneous. and wholly III
sustained by the facts. :.
Blu. beg gentlemen of the North to TO
low me yet further in the investigation {
this question, to the next partition OF terrific
ryi for We have always, until the last acqu
sition-that under the treaty of Guadaioup'
Hidalgo-divided our territorial acquisition
between the North and the South. BY th
treaty OF Paris. made on the 30th day ,
April, ls0S, we purchased from the Covert