The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1864-06-02


provision was understood at the time Of the
adoption Of the Constitution But it soon
became apparent. The Shareholders having
succeeded in obtaining The pr,vilege nf hav !.
ing their 50 called property represented,
soon became sensible Of its v,lue They
began to appreciate the political advanta.
ges Of the concentration Of the share Of Fed
eral power belonging to their respect We
f, States in the hands of masters, instead nf
having it distributed equally among the
male adults Of the whole po,ulatfon. 81
When the representatives Of the slave.
holders took their seats in Congress they
found themselves united by common par
amount ntinterest. The representatives Of the
non slayeho!ders, on the contrary, having
no surh common bond Of union. were divi.
ded among themselves on manv qnestions
Proflting by these divisions the slave State
representation earlv acquired the ascend,
ency in the national councils To retain
this ascsndenov. il became necessary to dis
courage ali schemes Of emancipation hy
State authority. This explains the reason
why only two States have passed acts Of alb
ol,tion since the organization Of the present
National Government. whereas, batre that
period. six States IA district Of one Of
which has since heen erected into a separ-
ate State,) had abolished Slavery within
their limits. and Congress had prohibited
its existence within the northwestern terri.
tory, out Of which the four states Of Ohio
Indiana, Michigan and Illinois haye since
been erected.
But it was enough to repress the fisposi
ton in favor of abolition in the States. 1t
was necessary to make the General Govern
ment itself the patron of the detestable in
sti.ntion G
The first step toward this end was To in,
duce Congress to pass an act continuing in
force the laws Of Virginia and MARYLAND.
within the district caiad by those States
for the seat of the National Government.
This act embraced all the provisions Of the
State slave code. and Of course at once en-
grated the svstern of Slavery shonld never
exist under the legislation Of Cong-ess It
was also plain transgrrssion of the letter
and spirit OF the Constitution. which not
only did not confer on Congress anv pow
or TO establish nr continue Slavery nv law.
but expressly declared that no person should
he deprived of liberty without due legal
process
A more signal proof of this growing as
tendency # the Slaveho'd'ng interest. and
ofthe perversion Of the National Admins
'ration to the purposes Of the slavefelder,
was exhibited few years afterward in tie
purchase of Louisiana from France. Unon
the acquisition Of that territory, the Con-
areSS. instead Of emalating the example of
the Congress of17sT, and the consecratinc
that vast region to impartial liberty; instead
of Fastening to redeem the pledge wh'cn
the nation had given to the world hv the
the adoption Of the ordinance that Slavery
should never be extended beyond its exist
ing State timits-tiid not seruple tn provide
for the continnence Of Slavery therein hv
legislative enactment in shameless vioation
of good faith anil con <titu,innal obligation.
Several slava States have since bean crea-
ted ont ofthis territory. and the represen.
tatives Of slaves from these Sta.as. chosen
bv masters have taken their seats in Con.
-ress bv the side Of the renrescntatives Of
non shareholders from the free States.
The precedent Of acquiring territory for
rhe purpose Of extending the limits Of Slave
ry was thus established It was not sur
prising. therefore. that ii should be followed
up when occasion required bv the purchase
of Florida from Spain. and bv a fresh ont
rage on the Constitution bv the continuance
/ and extension Of Slavery in that territory
by legislative provision.
These successive violations Of the Com
stitution. resulting in prndigious exten.
sion of the limits. and in an ENORMOUS az
| cession to the power of Slavery, attracted
little attention from politicians, who con
suited their interests in rivaling each other
in devotion to the slave power A few
phiianthropi>ts and statesmen NAV have
mourned over the progress If an evil which
they dared not openly and manfully op.
pose
At length, however the pnblic mind vas
excited by the claim of Missouri, which was
mart octha c;ctr;ot .a.,,;.nl 49, :. m 4.
be admitted into the Union as a sleveholi.
ing State. This claim was resisted. The
advocates Of IN. restriction AMI the friends
of the extension of Slavery divided the coun
trv. The struggle was severe. IN .he re-
snlt, however. victory declared itself on the
side of the slavehnldcrs. and Missouri was
admitted as slave State. Since the termi-
nation Of this contest. until very recently.
there has been m organized opnosition to
slavery. The political parties of the coun
try have submitted to the sway OF the slave
power, and the taint "f pro-sieverv has fas.
tened itself upon every department OF the
National Administration.
fhVs we see that the original e-yor OF
providing for the psrnsl representation of
slaves, which amounts {, the same hing as
comforting peculiar political ppver on mas.
teFs, has led To encroachnent after encroach
ment. ami aggression after aggression. until
tho true construction the Constitution has
been subverted. 1t is now boldly cl lined
that the Constitution guarantees property in
men, and that Slavery Is national institu