BY GEO. W. BOIYIAY NEW SERIES. . SPEECH 0 S£Wofi j DELIVERED LY THE exited STATE* SENATE, KOMHI, BE-j HfER Btii. THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. j The Senate resumed -thej|onsich ;aiion of tbt? following order, submitted by Mr. Fitzpatrick j on the 2d instant: j Ordftil, That the mossace ar.ri acromnnnyipg i ilor uin ruts be printed, and that fifteen thau-uiiti ad. I ditiona! copies be prititeil ley the u-e of the ber.ate. i MR. BIGLER, —Mr. president, I had not an- J ticipated the renewal of the slavery discussion ; at this early d*y of the session ; indeed, sir, I j had hoped thai this thread worn topic would j be permitted to sleep at least lor a short season i after the Presidential struggle. Like the Sen- j afor front Louisiana, I fell quite happy in this j belief: but it is otherwise. The President in! his closing message deemed it proper to put his j views on the subject of slavery agitation on rec- ' ord,and tlie Senators on the other side have a- ; vailed themselves oi'jiie occasion to open up the entire field of controversy. 1 for one have desired to avoid it, and ef 6yld not have said one word had it not been for the frequent and point ed reference made to the character of the late Presidential canvass in my own Slate hv the Senators from Ohio and Massachusetts. Hono- ! rable Senators on the other side, whilst d. pre- I eating the course of the President, in discussing the subject, readily concluded to follow his ex- ! ample. Lamenting the use of sentiments on his part which they deem unger.eroor, if not j unjust towards their party, their principles arid the tendencies of their measures, they indulge to a still greater extent in- the practice them- ! selves. Condemning what they are pleased to j regard as a wnnt of official courtesy to this de- ; part merit of the (imernment and to a targe j cla-s of the people, they promptly violate all ! these rule.,' in the Severity of their q*n criti- j dsnis. Rwn the Senator from Maine, so dis-' tinguishcti f>r the propriety of his '• language, ; has spoken of the President as an unworthy ; son of a free State; and the Senator from Ohio i has bi-en still more severe. But those exhihi- tions only furnish another evidence of the fa!- iiiiility of our nature, and show how difficult it is for evvn the bust -of us to refrain from -the.! others. Such things, however, aie not uncom mon. Very many teachers in morals, politics, and even religion, ntt-Hy fail in the practice of the wise and holy precepts which they lay down for the observance of others. Hot, sir, I do not intend to circumscribe my self in what little I have to say by complaints against the course of others. I think itie Pres ident was rigl.t in expressing his views as he done; and, of course, Senators have a right to criticise the act. Hut I cannot agree that this act of the Presi dent is unprecedented. If I am not mistaken President Jackson discussed the quest: n of a rational bank in such a manner as to correct the misrepresentations of the political oppo nents. President Polk discussed the qm-stion of war with Mexico in the same spiri'. It is the right and duty of the President to inform Congress of the state of' the Union; and en tertaining (he views he doe s - as to the danger ous tendencies oi th doctrines of certain polit ical parties in the country, the obligation on the present Executive to communicate his ap prehensions became imperative. Senators may scout and til.seard tin- rearming <>t that officer, fnit they should remember that President P. ash ingtun, even in his early day, fe It required to warn the people against the 'anger. tenden cies of geographical patties in our country, ami efforts to array one section of the country a gainst another : and that Th< mas Jefifison com- j pared this sectional agitation So the star!line a larin of a fire-hell in the night. Nor, sir, will exceptions to the language used hy the Presi dent serve to break the force of the overw helm ing argument in support of what he regards a he true policy of (lie nation. ! agree, sir, that the criticism of the action of a large class of! •his fellow-citizens hy the President, and the j condemnation of the tendency of such action,! however strongly qualified in prot> c.tiveg of the : motives of the actors, is a most delicate task, and should only he performed on great occa sions; but the President has confined his stric turpsto partisan leaders—men seeking political power by means that would hazard the peace of the country, and I think that the people will a- • gree that they deserve the rebuke. But, sir, it is not my purpose to defend the President. This lias already been done with mnre ability than 1 command. This much I will say, however—now that he is near the end of his term of office, and when mv motives cannot be misunderstood—that I believe tfiat time and experience will prove the wisdom of most of his measures, and that the day is not far in the future when the purity and patriotism cf iiis motives will be acknowledged hv all. But, sir, Senators have been endeavoring to determine what questions have been settled by the result of the Inle election, 6orne taking ex ception to the definition as given by the Pres ident: and on this point 1 have a word to say. I am quite sure, sir, that one great fact set tled by tlie result is. that James Buchanan is to be President for four years from the Ith of March next, and that John C. Breckinridge w ili he Vice President tor the same period. Anoth er still more potent fact is, that the principles of the Democratic party, as defined at Cincin nati, and expounded bv Mr. Buchanan—the most prominent feature being that the people of the States who go Into the Territories, shall en- j joy the rigid to determine the charnctei of their j own local institutions in their own way, inclu- j ding that of'domestic slavery—ate it> be in the t l' year 186.1. Another fact,' as distuic' !v ? "li'i is, that the modern and u.i- ; party, against vvldcb.jhr !)• -: mobracy contended, has been found in a minor- | rty in t went y-j hive out of the thirty-one States,; and has been jvjrCted its the Union by a popu- ] far majority of hot less than one million three hundred and seven! y-iive thousand, being a mi nority of more thati all the votes cast for either j candidate; and in a minority to the northern j States alone of near two hundred thousand. | Another is, that tlie modern American or Know . Nothiftg party, with its intolerant dogmas ofj faith, and against which the Democracy also : contended, hay been repudiated in thirty out of the thirty-one States, and by a popular majori ty of over two millions. But the result seems to be misunderstood e ven by Senators. The Senator from New Hampshire lias evidently not liked the returns of the election well enough to look at them, or he would not claim a large majority for the Republicans in eleven Stales, when tin* figures show that they were in a minority in all but eight. He certainly ought to have known that j there was a popular-majority again;' Mr. Fre mont in New York of over forty-live thousand, I and in Ohio of eh-ven thousand, and in -lowa c.f one hundred and fifty thousand. He and other Senators seem tote under the impression that ; their party cam.- very near carrying all the free' I States!. The Senator from Ohio said, the other 1 day, that they wouid have done so, had the is sues been fairly put oi\ the Democratic side. | The Senator from Maine said I hey would have succeeded had the vote been a fair one. Why, sir, the figures indicate differently. Out of 4ti0,000 votes in Pennsylvania their candidate received hut 1-17,147, leaving him in a minori ty of moreti.au 165 000, fie was also in a minority of 43, fifth in New Jersey, 4.6,089 in Indiana, 46,615 in Illinois, and -"from the returns we have from California, he has not received more than one fourth of the popular vote in that State, claimed to he Iris own. Whatever consolation and encouragement they can draw from such figures I leave them to enjoy. They certainly cannot claim fellowship with the Fill more vole, for Mr. Fillmore was himself a morsg the first to denounce them as a sectional i party, attempting to maintain doctrines and j practices that would must certainly dissolve the r Union. Hot they deny that their party is sectional, I and make the charge of sictronaiism against ! the Democracy. Well, Mr. President, I shall j -net consume much lime on this issue: It*},, rim ! •■f.ffc.*' Republican He not a * < j-ar:y, I tinnal. 1 cannot conceive what character :stics or practices of a sectional party the Republican party lacks. l>th < f their candidate-! were :'.in; one section of the !. nion, they w ere uom ! mated by delegates from the same section, and , , tliey received all their votes in that section. ' In fifteen of the States, did'-ring from the oth | <*ts only as to one !<>cal institution, their party S made no .serious attempt to get votes, hut they ; emi .ivored to gain p.w-rbv exciting prejudice j and passion in the popular mind in their own section against a local institution of the other. How else could von constitute a sectionaPparty? !It is section:;!, and it is useless !■r Senators to i den* it. It is jii t the kind of organization { which the greatest and best man who ever lived , i,i our country anticipated with ahem. But it i- farotlierwi.se with the Democracy, j One of our candidates was from the North, ami I the other from the South. They were non ina ! ted bv delegates fiorn all the r tales, and were I voted" lor in all the State... The | arty declared j principles and policy acceptable to the whole I lami I v of States. Those principles could be j expounded alike in a!!, and orators from tlm i North and the South met daily on tin- same I platform to d-> so. A constant theme was the I ninalTtv of the States, the constitutional rights of ail, and the necessity for fraternity of feel ing amongst the people of all. How idle am: , fallacious the charge of sectionalism against j such a party 1 But. Mr. President, the Senator from Ohio, j in the course of the delate the Other (lay. in ' sUj.j 'tt of the charge, that the democracy in tie North had not stood up fairly and fully to j the issue between the parties, remarked: '•Jo the State of Pc-nnsy h ania, in a'l the j Democratic mass meetings for Prcsi lent that 1 i know anything about, there was inscri: ed in: great letters upon tiieir banners, 'Buchanan, Breckinridge and free Kansas and their ora tors proceeded to show that Mr. Lurhcuait was safer upon the subject of freedom in Kansas than j any other candidate. ]n the same connection, the Senator from 1 Massachusetts stated that, to his personal know!- , edge, "Public meetings were called of persons in favor of 'Buchanan, Breckinridge, and live Kansas.' I have read these caiis. 1 have in mv p o c >ion one of them, which was issued in the State of Pennsylvania. There are oth ers tn possession of members of this House an ' the other. Throughout the whole canvass in i these very States the issue was blinked." Meetings were called in favor of "Buchanan, i Breckinridge, and free Kansas:" and banners'i j were borne in the canvass hearing the insetip : tiom,— I "Buchanan, Breckinridge, and free Kan sas !" Weil, .Mr. President, this is no very grave charge after all. 1 see no cause of alarm in it. I must confess, however, to some sur prise, at the sweeping statement of the S. na loi from Ohio, that in all the Democratic meet ings in Pennsylvania, of which lie had any knowledge, he discovered the peculiar banner jof which he had spoken. Such banners may j have been numerous certainly there were some, for the Senator saw them ; hut I cannot remember to have seen any, though 1 certainly witnessed quit- as much of the canvass in Penn sylvania as he did. His opportunities at Dcra FRIDAY MOUSING, BEDFORD, PA. DEC. 2S, 1856. I ocratic meetings, it seems to me, must have been limited. I can hardly imagine how he got to such a meeting, or how he found the opportuni ty to Bcrutinize Democratic mottoes. I am rcjuite certain he was not invited to our meet ings, and 1 know the Senator too well to be lieve that he would go where he is not wel come. He said he endeavored tr) enlighten the Democracy on certain points. That was kind on his part : but, doubtless, Mr. President, on the receipt of the election returns the Honora ble Senator concluded that hi; had failed in t-M i twk* Again, and in the same connection, he tr tnarki j : "Thousands, yea, hundreds of thousand- of | votes were given fir the successful candid.rt.jt : on the hypothesis that what was inscribed -en their banners, and what fell from the lips of their orators waf!ru>'." Why, certainty, Mr. President ! Who ever doubted it % Who has impeached the truth of the Democratic Speeches and Democratic mot toes '! There is no hypothesis about the#. They give expression to great and immutrde (ruths - and it way, as (lie Senator says, through the agency of such means that we achieve# success. But, Mr. President, it is evident thy | Senator, in making his developments atyrnt tf# | banners, expected to damage'the Democracy ojS ! Pennsylvania in the estimation of their bretl|- j ren in the South ; lot in this he will fail, 't i.e. 1 Announcement of his own presence at a Deni : rcratic meetir.g, however, is a circumstance fay mire alarming and omiuous. There is no tell* 1 irig u'ha! fiil-dl'influence it may exercise. % think our Southern friends will agree that ip | was a more dangeious presence than the ban : tiers. But, Mr. President, suppose all the meeting# , in Peitnsy Ivfinia bod been calß-d as stated by : toe Senator from Massachusetts, and the bait! nersheen as described by the Senator frqwi Ohi | what of it? What reli-recce should be de-ju-f | cible from such a fact ? It would certainly fu.*4 n.isfi no evidence that the issues between tlni | Democratic and liy>tJrJicau parties had not : iieeii fairly met on our part. Indeed, it is very, singular that a circumstance of this kind should; have ever attracted the attention of Senators 4 it indicates great want of material for the hi— ; cussion of their side. 1 know of. but one meet-' irig that was called in the manner stated, by the J Senator from MassachusgtUi. Thai was in j'ot ter county. Ihe autliots of that can uum>ties|g int-nded to indicate their wish that Kansai should become a free State ; but this- l ,ct do 'im not warrant the conclusion that they Congress jiossessed the power to con fto I "thgyj* qi) ion, ! , itHng tip >mce of tie- p 'V-'* ! er, that it V.'ouM' !ie wise fb eifetci .e'j't, I wpM ri'"4 v. r; c i; * .... --- i ■ f*r^i" ..TTT'i ;7T ir! v i infiut id, from ftie Wei,- kiH wn s-'ntiuieiits of tiie speakers who i r firesent, that they advocat d nothing more nor less f! an the right of tie* people, the i*>na file citizens oi the Tenitory, to settle the que dion as thev pleased, am! denying the right and wis dom of Congri s.-iona! int•■ferenc •. Mr. Wade. Will the Senator permit me to ask him a miestion Mr. Bigler. Certainly. Mr. Wade. The Senator seems p* rfecllv fa miliar with the opinions of Mr. Buchanan on this sutjert. Now, I wa it to luiaw whether those banners were inscribed es they were in accordance with the declaiod will oi Mr. Bu chanan. Is he favorable to making Kansas a 3 i free State ? Mr. Bigler. As ti the fust proposition, whether those banners were prepared in accor dance with the wiyhoi Mr. Buchanan, 1 cannot answer. Th • Senator has taken notice, certain ly, that I stated distinctly T saw no such ban ners. Mr. Wade. I understand the Senator to ad mit that there was one such banner at sonte huge D irooratic meeting. II there was one admitted pi hahlv there were more. Mr. Bigler. It is immaterial how many there were. Ido nor intend to fall back on that' point. As lor t!>- views ol iNir. Buchanan, | Iheylhey an' doubt I' S : just those of the Democratic partv, as declared in their platform. VVe in- I tend that the people who :i to the Territories i shall decide the question of slavery for them- t selves : and i have no donht that, with the most i of the Northern neople, lie would jireler to see t Kansas a free State, hut denies the right of Con- t gress to interfere. 1 Mr. Wade. Does Mr. Buchanan believe t ' that the people of a Territory, white in a Ter- t . ritorial State, have the power to exclude sla- .* j very ? 1 Mr. l'igler. Does the Senator from Ohio i ' wish to present the constitutional difficulty ; that has been raised here frequently, in regard t to the power of the Legislature ola Territo- ! '}'• „ ! Mi. Wade. I want to know what Mr. Bu-s j cha mill's opinions are in regard to the consti-s ! tutional ditiicuity which lias been so oiten ( spoken of. Mr. Bigler. T cannot answer the Senator as' to Mr. Buchanan's views of the constitutional t question. I ran give my own, il lilt Senator -i willing to hear them. r Mr. Wade. Well, let us have your opin-t | ions, if YOU please. * M;. Bigler. It is no new proposition thai the i Senator from Ohio has presented. Jt has beent ; here ta (lire, and discussed In-fore: and I havec ! endeavored, at least upon one occasion, to maker ! invself in •• stood, i here can he no difler-c • ence of opinion as to what tlie Kansas-Aebras-i U bill means. Its terms are explicit. It con-, fers up .11 the people ot the Territory all tnei law-making power which Congress possesses v ■ under lite Constitution. If the authority dele-f gated he sudicient, tlie people have a law-mak-v ing power equal to any question. i his a. point, however, as to the meaning of the Con-c stitution of the Cnited States. My construc tion of that instrument certainly ' s of very ii!-l tie importance, but still I am willing to expressj it. lam of opinion that the people through r ■ - , -j% * Freedom cf Thonglit and Opinion. their local legislature have that power. I ar rive at this conclusion, because I can see but two sources of law-making power for a Terri tory—the one, Congress, arid the other, the peo ple. I hold that, when Congress has confened upon the people <d a Territory ail the law-mak ing power which it possesses Under the Consti tution, the power is complete in the people, equal to the question of domestic slavery, or any other subject: but this is a legal question, and I for one should be gratified to see it deci ded. Mr. Wade. The reason why I asked the question, and wished the Senator's opinion up on the subject, w as, that, towards the close of the last session, the Senator from Illinois, (Mr. Tri whuff,) in an amendment to a pending bill, proposed to declare what was the true intent and meaning of those peculiar words in the Nebraska-hill ; namely, that it was intended that the people, through their Territorial Leg islature, should have the power to piohilit sla very in the Territories. Upon that propositi >n, if I am not mistaken, the bei.aior voted in the negative. ' Mr. Bigler. Mr. President, every member oi this body understands that subject very well. The Senator from Illinois upon tlie other side did offer that proposition, as an amendment to what is known as the Toombs bill. He offered this bill, which was not germane, arid I should not have voted for it, however I had believed in its truth. It was out of place when offered to a b.! 1 where tlie question did not properiv a rise. But, not or.iv that, sir: a vote in the Senate of the United States, to decide a judicial question, was agreed on all hands to be unne cessary, i! not improper. 1 declared my views on that occasion, and 1 voted against the amend ment. Why, Mr. President, who in the North has ever pretended to advocate the establish ment of slavery in Kansas? No man : no one, oi alt theoratoia whom 1 have met in the can vass, whether from (lie South cr North, hid any such thing. Their uniform doctrine was, that the people, through a proper law-making pow er, should cat rv out their own views. Bui it is obvious that the object of this de bate, on tiie i art of Senators on the olio .• side, is to make the impression iri the country that W" have not aclm ved v ictory on a fair and fu 11 discussion of the main point at bstie, and • thus revive the sinking hop. s of tlnir follow ers. Mr. Wade. Will the gentleman allow me to ask him one question, lie is not so explicit as J could wish. j Air. High r. The Senator can proceed. Mr. Wad.-*. The gentl-onon has just stated jlhat he is tor leaving the question of freedom fin the Territories to he decided by the people t the Territories as Ihev please. In the nest TTfT-afir, lie- t-r:> trv UUTf* I.*Tl COTIsnTOf! .rtiirq'OCS tiori to be decided by the courts. 1 do not un derstand how he reconciles these two ideas. Mr. Bigler. 1 did not raise a constitutional question. Th' re is one, and let it be decided, 1 am claiming that the people have that pow er. Air. Wade. Then, why talk of devolving it on the couits? \\ uy is it improper (or us to declare that we mean to exercise the power, if we have it ? Air. ikgler. You can raise the question, and have it decided. As the Senator fiom Ohio claims the entire power to be in Congress, he must :<e perfectly satisfied that the entire j on er ha.; been delegated to the people. Sir, 1 cannot sp. Uk ot (he-canvass in Indiana or Illinois, tor 1 was not in those States: but of <• w Je sey ami Pennsylvania I can speak: and in these States I know that the issues were met boldly and broadly. In the whole range of my obs'-rvati us and reading, I cannot call to mind an instance where a public speaker or a Democratic newspaper demurred to the Demo cratic doctrine on the slavery question as enun ciated at Cincinnati. Indeed, it was the beau ty arid fore of this bread doctiine that enabled t.ie Democracy to withstand the varied and potent element of prejudice and passion em plovetj (),) the ' tiler ide. But, Mr. President, the honorable- Senators from Chio and Massachusetts are evidently un happy, because ol tlie term "free Kansas" in conn, tin with a Democratic meeting. 3 hope it has not taken these Senators till now to dis cover that the Democracy are the advocates of real ir. < riom lor Kansas—that kind of freedom which our fathers achieved in the conflict with the lores ol Ceerge 111. Me art- jor leaving the people ol Kansas Bee to make their own in stitutions, and are, then fore, for free Kansas.— '1 lie Kejiu; bran party, on the other hand, talk most ah. ui freedom in Kansas, but distinctly propos tl at. as to the white p.op.nlation, the exercise of lht ir judgment shall not he entirety free. We say Kansas will he fiee when her people do as they please as to their domestic in stitutions. Tiie Republicans not so : Kan sas will he free when tier people obey their dictation as to a portion of those institutions.— They propose to enslave the will of the people by dictating what tin y shall do. We leave them to the dictates of their own judgment.— They say we are foi negro slavery in the Ter ritories; this we deny. We say, they propose to enslave the will of the white people to some extent,and that they cannot dispute. Herein is the difference. In this connection, and in this way, we talked about "free Kansas" in the canvass for Piesident, but 1 never heard a Dem ocratic speaker suggest that Kansas should not come into the I ni n, whatever her decision might he, nor did 1 ever hear a speaker on the other side who expressed a willingness to see her admitted unless she decided in accordance with his views on the subject. The Senator from Maine, the other day, declined to sav w hat he w .nld do in such a contingency. The Senator from Ohio, however, with less reserve, declared as follows : '■Union or no Union, corne what rnav, I be lieve it to he the s< tt!t d purpose of tlie northern people to limit slavery to theStata in which it now exists." Many, very many of the Republican speak- • ers in the North took this ground boldly, and made it the basis of appeal for votes for their candidate. The Senator from Massachusetts says that the members of the House who voted for Mr. Dunn's bill last session were called pro-slavery men in the canvass. I never beard any such allegation. It is true, that in reply to the charge so constantly made by the Fremont par ty, that the Democrats were seeking to extend slavery, we said that the only attempt that had ever been made to increase slavery by act of Congress was that of the Republican members of the H ease who voted lor Mr. Dunn's bill.— This we did say ; and because that bill proposed to maintain slavery in Kansas up to the year 1858, and provided thai children born of slave; parents in the Territory, and sold in the mean time to a slave State, should be slavis for life, and holding as we did that tlie increase of sla very can only be brought about by the increase of the number of beings in bondage, we did maintain that Mr. Dunn's bill was virtually to increase slavery. Mr. Trumbull. Will the Senator from Penn ' sylvania allow nu to interrupt bin. for a mo- . ; im-nt ? Mr. Bigler. No sir. I beg the Senator from Iliioois to excuse me, if he pleases. I find that if I yield to further interruption;; toy speech will he much longer than I intended. Air. Trumbull. I wished to cor:-.ct the Sen ator in in yard to that bill. Mr. Bigler. It was the practice of the Fre mont party in the canv.es to charge the De mocracy with seeking to increase slavery, and we" availed nnselves of the facts I have slated in retort. So far from looking to the increase of slavery bv act of Congress, I know of no means by which such a work con id be accomplished, except through the recommencement of tin .have trade, and no one would entertain such an idea. But the .Republicans in the House, holding that slavery has no legal existence in (he Territory of Kansas, voted t>. recognize rm! '■ maintain it till 18-3, and to provide that the issue of slave parents, if sold to a slave State in meantime, should be slaves for life, virtually 1 attempted, according to their own doctrine, to increase the number of slaves by act oi Con- . si r*ss. Many persons are in the ha it of confounding the increase of s'avei v with its territorial ex tension ; and some, doubtless, voted the Repub lican ticket, bec.it'.- " they believed that the in to' iti..n of slavery as to Kansas, was to retard j | the growth of the institution. Were I a ci'.i •/.'■n of Kansas, with my present impressions, T 1 should vote against the establishment of s!a --' vt ry ; but in doing this, I would fee! that J was 1 not doing anything, to pjevenV the increase of • tti'>nu;i.:.. r of- I'av.-s, or to improve their "con r!i --' dition. To scatter the slaves over a great area I u ill (! ) tin m good ratherti.an harm, and to re strict the institution to its present limits will • not afl'ect ti.e increase cf the number of slaves lor a century ; for it will, in mv judgment, re quire all of that period to fill up the unoccu pied territories in the slaveholuing States. In i Texas alone, are over ntr.etv millions of act es iof virgin soil untouched by the implements of , th • agiiculjurist, rich and easy of cultivation, favored. !>y a genial climate. The number ei slaves in that Stale Co not equal one to every .-(juaie n i!e i>f tenitorv. How, af'.< r all, then, do the practical and direct consequences involv . Ed in this angry controversy diminish as we j approach their.; and how like mountains on a plain do they I >:n up as we recede IT m them? : And how painful the conviction that there are j tiiose amotigst us, found in widely seperated communities, who talk seriously of breaking up | the Government for causes so insufficient. The horn.iable Senator from Maine, [Mr. Fessenrion,] whilst lamenting and describing I the prejudicial influence of slavery upon the physical improvement of the States where it : exists, upon their growth in population, com merce, trade, and agriculture, remarked as lul -1 lows : ! "1 do not look upon this question as a ones lion of States. The Stales, as political corpora tions, have a direct interest in the Territories. I do not rec gnize the State of Virginia, or tin* State of Texas, as a State, as having a particle ; ol interest in them : nor the State of Maine, nor the Stale of Massachusetts, nor New York, nor any other free State. It is a question with tile* people of the L nited States." Now, Mr. President, if the Slates in their corporate capacity 1 ave no interest in the ques tion of slavery in the Territories, then why do, s the Senator, and those who act with him, insist that the States shall control the ques tion through the representatives of tin ir sover eignty on this floor? I agree that the States, jas such, have no direct concern, and that the people of* the United States who go to the r ritories are niost interested : and for that reason they should be allowed to determine whether they will have the institution or not. The peo ple who emigrate to the Territories are not on ly the most interested, but thev are most com petent, and have the best right to decide. The people of his State and mine exercised that right, and they deny it to ihe people of those '■Bates who mav goto the Territories? The Democracy contend for, but the Republicans jdenv this right. They sav that Congress shall : pre-judgp and decide tlie question ; that those who are not in the Territories rnt'.-t be permitted to control the question. The power to shape this domestic institution in Kansas, tor instance, shall he found everywhere else except in the , Territory I The Democracy say that those who go to Kansas shall make its institutions : the Re publicans say not so, but the people who do not go to the Territory, through their Representa tives in Congress, shall decide whether slavery shall exit there or not; that those who have no interest there, who know nothing of the soil and climate, shall be the umpire.— And here is the vital issue between the par ities; this was the issue put and decided in the ! •j last contest for President. The Senator has a fERAS, $2 I # ER VfiAH. VOL XIV. NO. 17. right to claim much consideration for his supe rior intelligence, but i can scarcely believe that t<e is willing to claim for himself And Ins consti tuent? superior judgment, patriotism, ami sove reignty, ov, * r those enterprising and hardy pio neers who haw gone into that country to fell tl>e idlest, cultivate the soil, to d eve lope its na tural resources, advance the arts of peace, the ends of civilization, and finally, and very short ly, to add another member to our happy confe deracy. Tie Senator concedes the right of the people of a State to have s'aveiy or not. Are not the people of a territory just as u ise as those of a State? Why should they enjoy a less measure of sovereignty? Is the sovereignty re served ibrihe IT. S. Government to the people not as good for a citizen of a territory as for hiin who resides in the Stale? Is not the jrolitic.ut status of the latter equal in every particular to that of the firmer? Most certainly. Then why not j ermil the power which all agree is conclusive in a State to operate in a teriilory? Thus it is seen the guardianship which the Se nator would set up can, at most, only exist do ling tlie territorial probation of a State. So soon as the people become a Sta'e. congressional i-Tack] s will be severed. What I mean is Ibis: that the people, when a State, will have the right to change the local policy as often as they pleas-, and no power on earth can interfere.— Sh u!'.! Kansas o me into the Union as a Iree State, it will be perf-rtly competent for the people afterwards to est a! fish slavery, and vice 7. Thus it is seen -bat this absorbing and angry controversy, which at times seems to menace the p>ace .! 'the country, if not the ex istence of the government, is quite limited in its practical effects. If the rule of decision by po • alar will he a slave; v rule as alleged by seme, how are we to get clear of it? it makes the ve ry foundation o{ our whole Republican system. It underlies th e institutions of each and all of the State?: it is very essence of true repub- I aniin: it is neither m re nor less than self government. Rut, Mr. Po ddent, I d ny t! at it is a policy or rule to lavor the extension of slavery. Those who make the allegation know better. The vast emigration to the territories fr.901 the northern Stut">-, sustained bv a constant accession from ali j rts of the vuiid, cannot favor the propa gation of slavery. Why, the Senator from Maine has told us what we know to be true, that the owners of slave in the T . S. do not nu:nb'-r half a mi!'! v., whilst those who have no slaves count not h.-s ''..an twenty-five mil lions. How then, I wouid as!;, are the five hundred thousand to rival the twenty-five mii- I; ns in the occupation of the territory, to say nothing of emigrants froru other countries who come here almost invariably with strong pre- negro slavery] The idea is pre-, postefous. The accusation" Tias Be eh made to u l serve partisan ends, and not because the ex terisi a of slavery was feared. For one, I think tids i"d■ of adjustment a safe, wise and just : on", it respects the constitutional rights of the }>• p!e or" ii.e souih, whilst it imposes no re trie'.i ns upon the judgment and feelings of ii.i.se i the north. It will at no very distant day relit ve the country from the dangerous controversy. i . I.:;!! not charge that '..'if II publican speak ers-arid w r iters do r.ot coin* up to their plat form. I allege tin l i . verse, and the facts prove I. e uibgat. :i. At.> .s* ilit yto slavery, they i i only cor.. *up to, but went far beyond it.— The pre.-:-, the j i , ;.nd the rostrum, in the mlere-!.: ol t!ii- fans' in the north, vented un quahied h nuiji ia'.ieii against the institution wherever found. lis pr• judicial effects upon the growth and pro-peiity of the country, its w: ngN ami i.ggn -.-ions, i u. nrj ations and op pressions, and the hardships endured by the poor Af. ican, \.; e their constant and favorite themes. Ami it is idle for S -natots to pretend t at the aisuini .its:f Republicans were coufiu ej to the mere qt. :joi. .-t the extension of* sla very ii.to the Territories: or th.it the lights of the institution u here it now exists were spoken of in ; rrms of ev.-n tiie c -Ides' toleration. ]t was dssct:.->e;l in its political, moral, social and in even its Christian as; ■ it; ami almost univer sally in such manner a> to excite the bitterest ;..o ;ud:e s against it ami the A'at> s where it ex ist-. d. Just such sentiments were uttered as were best calculated to alienate tiie feelings of the people of one section of the Union front those of another. It d< es nt become them, then, to complain that ilie democratic party did r. t nit el the issues. They made far more by fanning t! - unholy flames of ration and preju dice, and by invectives of transient iy occurring events in Kansas, and personal difficulties be tween members of Congress, which had no ne cessary connection whh tire real issues, than we could possibly have gained by evasion, had we so desired. We met the issues, and we met them fairly, and to attest the truth of this, and that which I have asserted against the opposi tion, I could produce speeches and newspaper writings almost without number, hut 1 imagine that it is unnecessary to offer them here. Who, I would ask, ever heard of a Republi can speaker upon the stump tempering his de nunciation against slavery by expressing his re gard for tlie constitutional rights of the slave holding Stall s, or lor live feeiiugs of these who held slaves? Some may have done it, but 1 had not the pleasure of hearing them. Jt is true that when driven to the wail, they would admit the right of the States to have such an institution, but the admission was so made as to generally leave the impression that, in some way or other, the institution was to be every where abolished through the agency of the re publican party. Senators ir ay qualify and ex plain, and lay claim to entire loyalty to the : tit'. :; n and the I'nioti—they may discard Garrison, Philips, Spoouer, and ail of that school of disunionists, as much as they phase; but no man in the north could fail to discover that a considerable portion of the opposition were led to believe ihat something more was to be ac complished by their success than the mere inhi bition of slavery in the territories. They con-
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