Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1863-08-22

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spill the last drop Of their blood in th
cause ofthe their beloved South, p will sa
nothing. Everybody knows low the seces
stonists of North Carolina have kept tha
promise. Everybody knows that the lead
ers, with lew honorable exceptions, vii
neither tight nor negotiate.
What deplorable spectacle does tn
foregoing history present to our viewi T,
what desperate pass have they brough
us, and for What2 They say that they die
it because the North would give us NJ
| guarantee in-the slavery question. l haVl
before stated that no one of the Conven.
tiOns Of the seven States ever demanded
any guarantee whatever. Nay, they ever
refused to accept of any II their friends
of the. border States would procure it fol
them.
The Legislature Of North Carolina, at Ia
regular session in January, 1851, adopted
resolutions appointing Commissioners C
the peace Congress at Washington City
and also TO the Convention which assem-
bled at Montgomery, Alabama, in Febru-
ary, 1861, for the purpose of adopting q
Constitution and establishing Provisional
Government for the Confederate States OF
America. On the motion OF the Wri-
ter of THE, the resolution appointing
Commissioners TO Montgomery was amend.
ed 50 as to instruct them alto act only as
nediGtOrs, and use every effort possible TO
restore the Union upon the basis of the
CTitEe3den propositions a. modified by the
Legislature Of Virginia" The Commission
ers under these instructions were the Hon.
d. L. Swan, Gen. II. w. Ransom, and John
l.. Bridgers, Esq, who, upon their return,
submitted a report to his ExceIIency, Gov.
Ellis, which was by him laid before the
Legislature, and was printed amOnS the
legislative documents of that year, where
it may be consulted. In this respOrt they
say that they had the most ample oppor-
tu0ities Of ascerIaining public opinion on
the cotton States, and then add awe re-
gret to be constrained TO stale, as the re-
suit of our Inquiries, nude under such cir
cumstances, that only a very decided minor
Hy OF the community in these States are
at present, to entertain favorabIy,
any proposition of adjustment which looks
toward a reconstruction ~of our National
Union In this state of things We have
not deemed It our duty to attend any of
the secret sessions of the Congress. The
resolutions OF the General Assembly are
upon the table of the Congress, and haV-l
ing submitted them as a peace offering, we
would poorly perform the duties assigned
to as by entering into discussion which
would serve only to enkindle strife"
But it will be said that these guarantees
could not have been obtained from the
North. This admit to be true, and only
produce this piece of history to prove that |
whatever might have been obtained, moth
Lg would have been accepted. But the |
Congress Of the United States did pass by |
'he constitutional inaj0sity of two thirds |
he proposition reported ty Ar. Corwin,
rom the committee Of twenty six, TO so 1
imand the Constitution Gls16 / ) SeTDefrtaEs /
Slavery in the States. What stronger
guarantees could be giS WIZ ar as the |
states were concerned itWOuld be difficult
10 conceive. What then would have been
left to quarrel abOut2 The TerritOries.-i
During tho session of Congress which clos
ID on the 4th of March, 1861, acts were
passed to provide temporary Governments
or the three remaining new Territories,
o wit: Colorado, Nevada and Dacotah |
These acts contain no trace or indication |
IT the Wilmot Provis0, nor any other pro- |
libitiOn against the introduction of Slave
y, but on the other hand, expressly de-
Hare among other thiogs, that ''no law
hall be passed impairing the rights of
lrivate property; nor shall any discrimi-
Iation be made in taxing different kiuds of
property, but all property subject to taxa
ion shall be in proportion to the value of
he property taxed"
Now, when il is considered that. all
hree of these Territories are north oil
go 3O|, and that in the new Territory now
Wued by the United States south Of that
inc, Slavery actually eriSts and Is recognized
g the Territorial iGlO, the question may
7ell be asked: "Whst was there worth
uarrelling, much less fighting about ?''
Iere was a settlement Of the question In
be Territories made by a Republican Con-
ress, which gave the South all that up 70
he time Of the Charleston Convention che
ad ever asked, aud far more than she could
Ope to gain, in any event, by secessiOn-ti
indeed, / think it must now be apparent
hat secession, even it could have been
fected peacPably, would have been no
emedy for the grievances of which they
omplained. Nay, so far as any grievances
rising from failure to obtain Q return Of
ur fugitive slaves was concerned, ] think
must now be apparent that il would
ave been an aggravatiOn instead OfR REM
dy for the evil. think all calm aud dis.
assionate men everywhere, are now ready
D admit that it would have been far bet
sr for us to have accepted the terms
Gerel to us and preserved peace and the
iniOn, than to have plugged this once
appy county into the horrors Of this
war, which has spread . pail
yer the whole land-has brought mourn
lg into every family-has rendered hun
reds of thousands Of hearthstOnes desc.
filed the land with maimed aud
disabled, with widows aud orphans, and
quAlid pOVerty-bas crowded oar poor
Ouses and alnshOases-hass spOrted away
lany hundreds Of thousands ofIiyes and
lany hundreds Of millions of treasure,
My to End our institution for which they
rofess 70 have gone to war. in q Thousand
ines greater jeopardy than ever before
Such being the condition into which
hey have brought the countrv the oues-