Year: 1859

DOUGLAS AT MEMPHIS, TENN-Judge Doug
las made speech at Memphis, on the Doth Of
November, which we find reported in the
Memphis Avalanche. We make an extract
from it, in which he alludes to the position
taken 10y him in his Freeport speech. He
said:


Several gentlemen have called on me, and
asked me what | meant or thought by this
doctrine of popular sovereignty, as enunca-
ted in my Freeport speech in Illinois. mean
that | stand 10y the Constitution as our ia
theirs made it; by the constituted authorities
as they exist; by the decisions OF the Supreme
Court rs they are pronounced. Applause. J
BY the decision in the bred Scott case, it will
he found by reading Chif Justice Ganey's
decision, that slaves are decided to be prop
erty on an equal footing with other proper
ty, and that consequently the owners of that
species of property have the same right to
take it into a Territory as the owner of any
other property. (Cries of good" and great
applau,e) The Illinois Democracy accept
that decision as the authoritative exposition
Of the Constitution, and on that point con-
cur. ("Good.O Now, the question arises,
what is the condition Of that property after it
gets into the Territory? You in the slave
holding, and we in the free States, whatever
our occupation may be, have an interest in
knowing what our legal rights are when We
get there. | believe | said in Freeport that
when you get into the Territory with your
property on an equal footing with all other
property, it is all subject to the local law for
its protection, without reference to the d'-
fercnt character of it. If you 90 there with
your horses and your mules, whether they
shall be taxed or exempted, is question for
the Territorial Legislature. If you go there
with your dry goods, whether you shall sell
without license or be compelled to get Ii
cense, is question for the local legislature.
lfyou go there with your liquor, the manner
OF your selling it is question to be deter
mined by the local laws You may say you
do not think it just for them to discharge one
species of business for the benefit of another,
but how are you going to help il? l do not
wish to mislead you by these views. If you
are wise YOU wont be misled but will think
for yourselves. If your slave property Is not
subject to the local law for its protection,
what protection have you got for it? Sup
pose the local legislature do not make any
slave laws at all, suppose they do not pass
any law furnishing remedy for the violation
of your rights, can you hold your slaves to,
day? Non.action is exclusion The omis-
sion to furnish law protecting protecting
property amounts to practical exclusion Is
there any lawyer. any well inform d man
who will controvert this proposition? Now,
suppose the local legislature refuses to make
law to protect your property, how are you
going to compel them to do it? Perhaps they
will make it, and perhaps they will not. l
will tell you when they will and when they
will not Whenever a Territory has eli
mate, soil, and production making it the iu-
terest of the inhabitants to encourage slave
property, they viii pass a slave code and give
it encouragement Whenever the climate,
SOIL and production preclude the possibility
of slavery being profitable, they will not per
init it"