Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1862-04-24

States That is bis theory. He did not re
gard the bill iL itself a. Of no much moment
for l have already shown that IL can oper
ate upon comparatively few persons an,
cannot do any injury but he fcars that j
u part OF the policy Of the dominant party
cow controlling all the organs Of the Gov
ernrnent, to violate their pledges and inter
fere with slavery in the States. Let US se'
whether there is any ground for that fear
|o W the Republican party has been distin
guished for anything at all. it has been fo
its moderation, almost Its timidity. Ii ha
never assumed an affirmative policy on thi
question Of slavery si..ce its organisation :,
this hour---never. 1t has always been de
fensive. 1t never affirmed single proposi
ton Of a legislative character until this pro
position to abolish slavery in the District O
Columbia was brought forward, perhaps .,
a Republican measure, or will be voted fol
by the great body of Republicans. In The
whole contest in regard to Kansas, il wa
simply defensive. In the Lecompton con
troversy, and in all the controversies that
have occurred in regard to slaves and slav.
cry since the organization Of the Republi.
can party, it has been purely and simply 9
q defensive organization. Think the Ben
tor will find great difficulty in framing the
allegations for his Indictment 20 show that
this party ever proposed any Offensive Or az
gresslye measure in regard 70 slavery in the
dI ] have had the honor Of holding a seat
in Congress since the organisation Of the
Republican party, and !, know from obser.
vation here that this party, as political
organization, has never proposed any ag-
gressive measure 1t has always been de.
fensives It has stood here, with the pre-.
iudicss of the. people Of this District against
it, with powerful Democratic organization
against it, with strong caste in the South
ern States against it, always ON the defen.
sive, endeavoring to prevent the extension
OF slavery, aud to prevent the practical
overthrow Of prohibition which had been
framed by our fathers against the extension
Of slavery North and West Of Missouri.
do not know any measure on which it has
taken an aggressive position. H
Mr.. DAVIS. VIII the gentleman allow
me to make disclaimer? / did not intend
to impute against the Republican party that
line Of policy. i only intended to make
that imputatiOn against the Abolition party.
| trust that there is now line of separation
between the Republican party and the Abo-
lition party. '7l 's+7
Mr.. SHERMAN. Mr.. President, l
know it is easy 10 state distinctions of this
kind but in my experience our opponents
have generally denounced MS under what
ever name they chose to call us, and put uf
all in the same category. They do moi
draw very nice distinctions. As, for ex.
ample, the Senator from Massachusetts,
Mr.. SUMNER, as he has perfect right tc
DO, introduced series Of resolutions giyinf
his idea about the effect of the war upoI
the political status of the States, and ai
once those resolutions are seized upon a.
the dogmss Of the Republican party, and
We are denounced for them, although can.
did men must know that they are but the
emapation Of single individual who has
decided convictions this subject, and who
is far in advance Of any political orgsniza-
ton in this country. h H"l
""0 MEASURES OF CANCELLATION. ~
, Now, Mr.. President, in the platform Of
the Republican party, at Chicago, we
adopted q. resolution which declared in the
most emphatic language the rights of the
States. After Mr.. Lincoln's election, it was
manifest that we were in the face of civil
war; the plot Of these seceding traitors had
begun TO be developed. They had aided Us
in the election Of Mr.. Lincoln. Such men
as Keitt and that class of seeding oonspira.
tors in the Southern States, for the purpose
Of exciting the prejudices of the Southern
people, misrepresented the Republican
party, making it bugbear in the Southern
States, and then aided the Republican party
in gaining political victory. After having
accomplished that purpose they sought to
overthrow the Government because the Re-
publican party had succeeded. All this was
foreseen.i 1t was the anxious desire OF
nearly every man in Congress ut the last
regular session to avoid this civil war. We
in the Northern States thought it was in.
evitable, because we knew that no conces.
sion which we would dare to yield to them
would be satisfactory to this class Of people;
THAT g s ssy 1,fpasa ssl to :. s' as sSad
u prevent Il. We yielded and yielded, un
al yielding was d humiliation and shame,
When.I losk over the Journals Of the lsst
this policy Of eoncliation, l am almost sur
prised: Yet, sir, no sooner was Mr.. Lincoll
elected than South Carolina commenced
acts Of hostility against the Government oi
the Qnlt60 othItb. i 196r urbt mhtI6r Ol
complaint against the people of the North
ern States was that they had passed per
sonal liberty bills. In order TO set them 81
rest on that point, Q preamble and resolu
ton were eiatroduosd, into the House on tn.
18th Of December, 1850, which j will read
Whereas the Constitution Of the United STATES is IN
ssiys9ce tho duty Of all sood sndtswrablidPg citizens
.Rssoived, Thatws aepsscaie he spirii Of dhebsdi
to the Constitution wherever manifested, and thu
NJ sprhssly rsconnsnd the repeal Of all staiuiss incu
3eisarres conflicting with and in violation Of tbs
pursuance thereof" N''"'i 'N' -
Psgphss resolution, calling upon al the State
ttorepeal their personal liberty bills, wa
|Ipassedby q. unanimous yotei and the States
acting in the same spirit, did proceed to re
consider them, and, in SOME cases, repea
them, although they were shown 90 -be to
tah3 inefective; and for Ten years they. hal
never caused the escape of q single fugiiy
Then, When that was done, they com
! piained that Congress would interfere viii
slavery In the States. We had placed it il
orr platform that such WAS not our purpose
We had told them in all our. speeches tha
such was not our purpose. Still they pre-
tknded not TO- believe US. The conspiratof
did believe US; but they wanted to agitat
their people. In orderto put an end t
that complaint, q resolution was Introduce
Into the other House Of Congress BY me, .