St. Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1845-1863, 1862-04-10
LEONARD TOWN. Md THURsDAY * MORNING 1862

Congress could not abolish slavery in the
District Of Columbia without violation OF
the public faith" - =
"The Federal Government was the creation
ofthe States Of the Csrsederaey. and the great
objects of lis creation and organization were SO
iYrm NOR: p:rse. a..oa, egisbliah as,ies. a.
e0minon defenee and general welfare
"Aptay thsae punciPles. then, to an inter
feres,ee by Coserees with slavery in the nis-
trsctoS Cnlosubia. Such action, TO be rctstic,
must be in accordance with some one Of those
grea. objects and il will be the duty o: the
committee, in as concise a manner Al possible,
to show that it would iaot be IN accordance with
either Of them.
''First, then, as to rhe District itself.
'sIt has already been shown that any inter.
ference, unsolicited by the inhabitants of the
District, Cannot establish justice, or promote
the cause Of justice withIn it, but directly the
reverse. No greater degree Of slavery exists
here now than d,d EXIT when the Constitution
was adopted, and then the inhabitants Of the
Dis, rict were citizens af ,hs1 States Of Mary.
land and Virginia, and had q voice in the adnp-
ton Of that Instrument. Surely their subse-
quent tnnsfer to the jurisdiction Of Congress.
made in nifty with that Constitution,
could not deprive them Of the protection to
which they were entitled by these grea, leading
PRINCIPLES oft. On the contrary, they had ev-
cry right to expect that Congress would "es-
'tahlish justice. as TO ahem, IN strict compance
with the great charter under which it acted, and
by which il 10 forbidden to interfere with their
rights Of priv ate property without their consent
or in any ~ay to affect injuriously their domes-
tic institutions. OF those Institute ons, slavery
was and is the most important and any at
tempt on the part Of Congress, acting the
local Legislature Of the District, to abolish it
would not only be impolitic. bu, IN act ofgross
injustice and oppression"
"They have also shown that the abolition Of
slavery here, SO far frtm tending to ENSURE do
messic tranquility would have direct tenden-
cy 70 produce domestn: discord and violence,
and servile war, in all she slaveholdIns S,afes.
As these consequences. then, would follow such
action in reference 20 the States, your commit.
tee need not say that, instead Of providing for
'the common defence ty u, Congress would be
called upon 'to provide for the common defence
ia eonseqsenee gift, ard to an extent which can-
not now be foreseen.
"The same provision which enjoins ii on the
Federal Government, To 'gnaraniy to..earh State
a republican form Of 60 vernment. and to aid and
protect each State against domestic violence,
evidently implies the t0rrela:ive obligation to
take no step Of which the direct and inevitable
tendency would be 10 overthrow the Stnse gov
ernmenis, and to invsls them in widespread
scenes Of misery and dosolation: Ia one word,
If 1t be the duty OF Congress. as it most clear
ly 10. TO support and preserve the Constitution
and the Union, then il is manifest that il is
bound TO avoid the adoption Of any Legislation
which may lead to their destruction
"We have sind that the scheme Of general
emancipation is ImprartlcabIe. The slightest
reflection mus, satisfy every candid mind or' the
truth Of this assertion.
"Admittins tha, tn. Federal Government
has right to act upon th's matter, which /;
clearly has not, it cer,a,nly never could achieve
such AL operation WITHOUT full compensation to
the owners. And what would probably be the
amount required The aggregate value Of all
that species Of property is nn; less probably
than SIO0. .000.0OO: And how Could such
an amount be raised Will the people Of this
country ever conSeh; TO the imposition Of on
pressi:e taxes, that the proceeds may lie APP
Piled 10 the purchase Of slaves The idea is
prepnsterous AMI not only that. but il is s,s-
cepiiiIs Of demonstration. that even If un ,ann,,-
al appropriation Of $40 ,000, 900 were actually
applied to the purchase and transportation Of
slaves, the whole number would no, he sensl-
bly, diminished at the e, pira,ion of half n cen.
ton Of the race. Burden the Treasury as we
might, it would still be AN endless ex pen Sc and
an imierminal'le work. And this view Of the
subject surely is sufficient of itself to prove
that ofall the srliemes ever p ojecied by fana,i-
cism, the idea of universal emancipation is the
mos, visionary and impractcable.' .
Would it contribute to tic wealth or
grandeur or happiness of our country p
On the contrary. would it not produce con-
sequences directly tn, reverse? Are not
slaves unfit for freedom; VIGOROUSLY ig-
norant. servile, and depraved? And
would any rational man have them instan.
transformed into freemcn, with
all the rights and privileges Of American
citizens? Are they capable of under
the nature Of our Government. or
exercising judiciously sisgls political
right or privilege? Nay. would they even
he capable n earning their own livelihood
or rearing their fansii.s independently By
their own ingenuity aud industry. What,
then. would follow from their Liberation
but the most dcplon,blc state Of society
with which any civilized country was exer
cursed How would vice and inmorali-
ty and RIGHTEOUSNESS overrun the land -
How many jails and penitcntiaries, that
now seldom hold a prisoner, would be
crowded tu suifocation! How many fertile
fields. that now yield regular and abun.
dant harvcsts, would lie unoccupied and
dcsolatc. How would the foreign CON-
merce Of the South decline and disappear
How many thousands of scancn, Of whom
southern agriculture is the very life.
would he driven for support To foreign
Aud hos large portion "f
the Federal revenue. derived from fcr-
eign commodities exchanged for southern
products. wovld be lost forever to this
And. in addition to all
this. what would be the condition Of south
ern society were all the slaves emanci,.a-
ted? Would the whites conscut that the
blacks should be placed upon full foot
ing Of equality with them Unqucsfion-
ably not. Either the o,e class or the 9th
er would be forced to enigratc. and in either
case the whole region Of the South would
be scene Of poverty and ruin. Or. wha,
is still more probable. sLe blacks would