The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1865-01-26
Speech Of Hon. ,. K. GrinncIl, Or
the slavery QuestfOn.

SPccCh u 1Ons - -. Or1nnelA, Oh
the slavery Question.
will detain the House but a few mo
ments, intending to divide my time with the
gentleman from Illinois, [Mr. Farnsworth. !
| regard this as q marked day in American
politics and American history. | am happy
to follow gentleman from slave State
and STAKEHOLDER too, I believe-lM Mr., King.
who advocates a constitutional amend .nent
whereby slavery may become extinct
throughout all the breadth of the land. /
rejoice that the State Of Iowa, whiehI have
the honor in part to represent upon this h,or
and is known by her forty thousand major
lty TO: freedom, has so homo rable neighbor,
so magnanimous. and SO able q philosopher
and statesman upon this floor.
Ii seems to me this is day Of great op.
portunities; great for the conservative Re-
publican who shall never more have to apol.
oglze Tor his votes, correcting his record ;
and great day for the Democrat, who may
now break the shack'es of party. and stand
forth with the great men and patriots in our
early history, and march on in the royal
highway of freedom for all nations Sir, this
is one ofthe days which makes the text for
volumes OF history big with the fate Of races
and an empire
Now, sir, as have nA to talk s1bout my
own consistency, having been, so far as
know, always an aboIitionist I am here to
say that do not enter into the discussion
of the simple propriety of this measure. No;
at the threshold deny that there can be
property in man. never believed in the
doctrine. My whole nature revolted at it,
and the reading Of books of law, volumes of
history, and of Gods word, never taught me
else than that the institution was bsrb.ric.
in defiance Of natural justice, and so shame.
ful in its p-etensions that in no State in this
Union has its legal existence been es,ablis
ed by any law. And here desire to ask
the gentleman from Kentucky, Mr.. Clay !
when he spoke OF the legal and constitutional
rights of his people, where he finds a law in
the State Of Kentucky, or in any pther slave
State, that establishes the system of African
slavery. 1t cannot be found Slavery is an
outlaw, and we are but proposing to execute
the criminal that has been an outlaw for gen.
erations in this country.
1t is well known that the British const; :
tutiol and the common law of England, and
the decisions Of the great juris,s Of England
were against the existence Of slavery in that
country. One John Hawkins was the first
to engage in the slavetrade in this country.
he planted the institution here. Did that
legalize slavery. Did he have from his
queen any authority 10 traffic in human be.
ings? None. How did slavery come to ex.
ist in the colonies? From whence came the
authority to hold slaves! From England ?
No. Did it come by colonial legislation p
No. How, then, came it in these States |?
BY brutal force. AS have already said, it
is not fodcd to be established by law in any
State, and must stand here as an outlaw
The great expoundsrs Of our Constitution
have sa.d that the Declaration of Independ
ence itself, proclaiming all men free and
equal, laid the cor ier-stone of our Confede.
racy, and that it is above all constitnt ions
and all laws. That is enough for me /; and
we are only tolerating here that which
should have ceased to exist long ago, and
spared as eivl war. Sir. il I bad my pref
erenc. | would rather see slavery wiped out
here by a legal decision, and announced by
a chief justice Lord Mansfield, trust
Ion the great principles of justice, rather
than by the tardy action of States.
| wish now to refer for a moment to the
statement made By the venerable gentleman
from Kentucky [Mr. Clay] that VIC are about
by this measure 20 deprivc his State of pie.
resentation in this Chamber. How is thata
They now have three fftbs representation
for their slaves; when the genius Of liberty
shall take possession of that State, aud the
votes Of the people shall have destroyed
slavery there, then their slaves will be count
cd as freemen. Instead Of decreasing their
representation, We augpentit.
But the gentleman asks, Wha. will you
do with our slaves? What shall we do with
them? All It seems to me there is some
thing due to those who have so long sup.
ported their masters certainly to be let alone.
Cannot they who have supported themselves
and their masters in the past take care Of
themselyess That, sir, is question which
we can well afford to leave unanswered
since the enslaved race are establishing
their manhood and fighting our battles.
The gentleman from New York rMr,