VOLUME S7. NEW SERIES. SPEECH OF BOIU. L DOIiCUS, Delivered iu (lie I. S. Senate, Jan. 3d, IS6L Mr DOUGLAS having given a history of the slavery question, continued as follows : In view ol these facts, I feel authorized to reaffirm the proposition with which I commen ced my remarks, that, whenever the Federal Government has attempted to control the slave ry question in our newly-acquired Territories, alienation of feeling, di-cord, and sectional strife have ensued ; and whenever Congress has re frained from such interference, peace, harmony, and good will have returned. The conclusion I draw from these premises is, that the slavery question shoulJ be banished forever from the Halls of Congress and the arena of Federal pol- 1 ltua by an irrepcalable constitutional provision. I have deemed this exposition of the origin and progress of the slavery agitation essential to a full comprehension of the difficulties with which we are surrounded, and the remedies for the evils which threaten the disruption of the Re public. The immediate causes which have pre cipitated the southern country into revolution, although inseparably connected with, and flow ing from the slavery agitation, whose history I have portrayed, ate to be tound in the result of the recent presidential election. I hold that the election of any man, no matter who, by tbe American people, according to the Constitu tion, furnishes no cause, no justification, for the dissolution of the TJuion. But we cannot close our eyes to the fact that thp southern people have received the result of that election as fur nishing conclusive evidence that the dominant party of the North, which is soon to take pos session ot the Federal Government under that election, are determined to invade and destroy 'heir constitutional rights. Believing that their domestic institutions, their hearthstones, and rlipir family altars, are all to be assailed, at least by indirect means, and that the Federal Gov ernment is to be used for the inauguration ot a line of policy which shall have for its object the ultimitp extinction of slavery in ail the States, old as well as new, South as well as North, the southern people are prepared to rush wildly, madly, as I think, into revolution, disunion, war, and defy, the consequences, whatever they may be, rather than to wait for the development of events, or submit tamely to what they think is a fatal blow impending over them and over all they hold dear on earth. It matters not, so far as we and the peace of the counliy and the fate of the Union are concerned, whether these apprehensions of the southei n people are real, or imaginary, whether they are well founded or wholly without foundation, so long as they be lieve them and are determined to act upon them. The Senator from Ohio, (Mr. VVaiie,) whose speech was received with so much lavor bv his political friends the other day, referred to thpse serious apprehensions, and acknowledg ed his belief that the southern people were la boring under the conviction that they were well founded. He was kind enough to add that he did not blame the southern people truch for what they were doing under this fatal mis apprehension ; but cast the whnle blame upon the northern Democracy : and referred especial ly to his colleague and myself, for having mis represented and falsified the purposes and poli ce of the Republican party, and for having madt the southern people believe our misrepre sentations! He does not blame the southern ppople for acting on their honest convictions in resorting to revolution to avert an impending but imaginary calamity. No ; he does r.ot blame them, because they believe in the exis tence of the danger ; yet he will do no act to undeceive them ; will take no step 10 relieve their painful apprehensions ; and will furnish no guarantees, no security against the dangers which they bei-eve to exist, and the existence of which he denies ; but, on the contrary, he demands unconditional submission, threatens war, and talks about armies, navies, and milita ry force, for the purpose of preserving the U nion and enforcing tiie laws ! I submit wheth er this mode of treating he question is not cal culated to confirm the worst apprehensions of the southern people, and force them into the most extreme measures of resistance ! I regret that the Senator trom Ohio, or any othtr Senator, should have deemed it consistent with his duty, under present circumstances, to intioduce partisan politics, and attempt to man ufacture partisan capita! out oi a question in volving the peace and safely of the country. — f repeat what I have said on another occasion, that, if I know myself, my action will be influ enced oy no partisan considerations, until we shall have rescued the couotrj' from the petils which environ it. But since the Senator has attempted to throw the whole responsibility ol the present difficulties upon the northern De mocracy, and lias charged us with misrepresen ting and falsifying the purposes and policy of the Republican party, and thereby deceiving the southern people, I feel called upon to repel the charge, and show that it is without a shadow of foundation. No man living would rpjoice more than myself in the conviction, it I could only be convinced of the fact, that I have mis understood, and consequently misrepresented, th<" policy and designs of the Republican party. Produce the evidence and convince me ol my error, and 1 will take more pleasure in making the correction and repairing the injustice than I evpr have taken in denouncing what I be lieved to be an unjust and ruinous policy. With the view of ascertaining whether*! have misapprehended or misrepresented the policy and purposes of the Republican party, J will now inquire of the Senator, and yield the floor for answer : whether it is not the policy of tris party to confine slavery within its pres ent limits by the action of the Federal Uovern ir.enU Whether they do not intend to abolish and prohibit slavery by act of Congress, not withstanding the decision of the Supreme Court to (he contrary, in all the Territories we now WJM'oth (fowttf. possess, or may hereafter acquire? Whether / he and his party are in favor of returning to j their master the fugitive slaves that may escape? In short, I will give the Senator an opportuni ty now to sav Mr. WADE. Mr. President Mr. DOUGLAS. One other question, and I I will give way. Mr. WADE. Very well. Mr DOUGLAS. 1 will give the Senator an ! opportunity of saying now whether it is not; the policy of his party to exert all the powers of the Federal Government under the Constitu- ! tion, according to their mterpretation of the in- j strument, to restrain and cripple the institution of slavery, with a view to its ultimate extinc- j tion in all the States, old as well as new, south ; as well as north. Are not these the views and purposes of his 1 party, as proclaimed by their leaders, and un- 1 derstood by the people, u speeches, addresses, sermons, newspapers, and public meetings?— Now, I will hear his answer. Mr. WADE. Mr. President, al! these ques tions are most pertinently answered in the; speech the Senator is professing to answer. I j have nothing to add to it. If he will read my j speech, he will find my sentiments upon all! those questions. i Mr. DOUGLAS. Mr. President, I did not j expect an unequivocal answer. I know too well I I fiat the Senator will r.ot deny that each of these interrogatories do express his individual policy ! and the policy of fbe Republican parly as he understands it. 1 should not have propounded the interrogatories to him if he had not accused me and the northern Democracy of having mis represented the policy of the Republican party, and with having deceived the southern people j by such misrepresenlations. The most obnox ious sentiments I ever attributed to the Repub lican party, and that not in the South, but in j northern Illinois and in the strongholds of Abo- j litionism, was that they intended to exercise the ! powprs of the Federal Government with a view to the ultimate extinction of slavery in the sou thern Slates. I have expressed my belief, and . would be glad to be corrected if I am in errror, ! that it is the policy of that party to exclude slavery from all the Territories we now possess j or may acquire, with a view of surrounding the j slave States with a cordon of abolition States, and thus confine the institution within such nar- i row limits that, when the number increases be- < vond the capacity of the soil to raise food for j their subsistence, the institution must end in j starvation, colonization, or servile insurrection.! I have ufien exposed the enormities of this pol- : icy, and appealed to the people of Illinois to know whether this mode of getting rid of the e- j vils of slavery could be justified in the name of j civilization, humanity, and Christianity ? I ; have often used these arguments in the stron- j gest abolition portions of the Nortn ; but never j in the South. The truth is, I have always been very mild and gentle upon the Republicans' when addressing a southern audience, for it seemed ungenerous to say behind their backs, ! and where they dare not go to reply to me, ! those things which I was in the habit of saying j to their taces, and in the presence of their lea- i tiers, where they were in the majority. But inasmuch as I do not get a direct answer from the Senator who makes this charge against | the northern Democracy, as to the purposes of j that party to use the power of the ultimate ex- | tmclion of slavery in the States, 1 will turn to ! the record of their President elect, and see what ! he says on that subject. The Republicans have j gone to the trouble to collect and publish in j pamphlet form, under the sanction of Mr. Lin- ! coin, the debates which took place between him : and myself in the senatorial canvass of 1858. j It may not be improper here to remark that j this publication is unfair towards me, for the j reason that Mr. Lincoln personally revised and corrected his own speeches, without giving me an opportunity to correct the numerous errors in mine. Inasmuch as the publication is made, under the sanction ol Mr. Lincoln himself, ac companied by a letter from him that he has re vised the speeches by verbal corrections, and thereby approved them, it becomes important to show what his views are, since he is in the daily habit of referring to those speeches for his present opinions. Mr. Lincoln was nominated tor United Stales j Senator by a Republican State convention at Springfield, in the year 1858. Anticipating j the nomination, he had carefully prepared a ! written speech, which he delivered on the oc casion, and which, by order of the convention, j was published among the proceedings as con taining the platform of principles upon which j the canvass was to be conducted. Moie im- j portance is clue to thisspeeq£ than to those de- \ livered under the excitement of debate in joint | discussions bv the exigencies ol the contest.— ] The first few paragraphs which I will now read, 1 mav be taken as a fair statement of his opinion I an( i feelings upon the slavery question. Mr. : Lincoln said : "Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Con-; vention, if we could first know wiiere we are j and whither we are tending we could better ; judge what to do and how to do it. VVe are now far into the filth year since a policy was initiated with the avowed object and confident promise of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agita tion has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented. It is my opinion, it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. A bouse divided against itself cannot stand ! 1 believe/ this Government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. Ido not expect the Union to be dissolved—-I do not ex pect the house to fall—but Ido expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the I belief that it is in the course of ultimate extir.c --j tion, or its advocates will push it lorward, till it shall alike become lawful in all the States, old as well as new, North as well as South." BEDFORD, PA., FRIDAY MORNING, JUNE 7,186 L | There you are told by the President elect j that this Union cannot permanently endure di vided into free and slave states: thr.t these ! States must all become one thing or all j become the other; that this agitation will I never cease ufttil the opponents of slavery . have restrained its expansion, and have | placed it where the public mind will be satis | fied that it will be in the course of ultimate ex tinction. Mark the language : "Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it?" VVe are now told that the object of the Re | publican party is to prevent the extension of slavery. What did Mr. Lincoln say ? That | the opponents of slavery mus first prevent the further spread of it. But that is not all.— i What else must the yjdo! "And place where the public mind can i rest in the belief that it is in the course of ul timate extinction." The ultimate extinction of slavery, of which j Mr. Lincoln was then speaking, related to the Slates of this Union. He had reference to the 1 southern States of this confederacy ; for, in the ! next sentence, he says that the States must all become one thing or all the other—"old as well j as new, north as well as south"—showing that | he meant that the policy of the Republican par ! ty was to keep op this ag'itation in the Federal | Government until slavery in the States was j placed in the process of ultimate extinction.— ' Now, sir, when the Republican committee have published an edition of Mr. Lincoln's speeches containing sentiments like these, and circulated it as a campaign document, is it surprising that trie people of the South should suppose tiiat he was in earnest, and intended to carry out the | policy which he bad announced ? I regret th- necessity which has made it my j duty to reproduce these dangerous and revolu : tionary opinions of the President elect. No I consideration could have induced me to have done so but the attempt of his friends to de nounce the policy which Mr. Lincoln has bold ly advocated, as gross calumnies upon the Re publican party, and as base inventions by the northern Democracy to excite rebellion in the southern country. I should like to find one Senator on that side of the Chamber, in the con fidence of the President elect, who will have the hardihood to deny that Mr. Lincoln stands pledged bv his public speeches, to which he < now refers constantly as containing his present opinions, to carry out the policy indicated in the speech from which I have read. I take] great pleasure in saying, however, that i do i not believe the rights ot the South will mate-! rially suffer under the administration of Mr. Lincoln. I repeat what I have said on anoth er occasion, that neither he nor his party will have the power to do any act prejudicial to southern rights and interests, if the Union shall be preserved, and the southern S'ates shall re tain a lull delegation in both Houses of Con gress. With a majority against thern in this bodv and in the House of Representatives the}' can do no act, except to enforce the laws, with out the consent of those to whom the South has confided her interest, and even his appoint ments tor that purpose are sulject to our advice and confirmation. Besides, I still indulge the hope that when Mr. Lincoln shall assume the high responsibilities which will soon devolve upon him he will be fully impressed with the necessity of sinking the politician in the States man, the partisan in the patriot, and regard the obligations which he owes to bis country as paramount to those of his party. In view of these considerations, I had indulged the fond hop* that the people of the southern States would have been content to remain in the U nion and defend their rights under the Consti tution, instead of rushing madly into revolution and disunion,as a refuge lrom apprehended dan gers which may not exist. But this apprehension has become wide-spread and deep-seated in the southern people. It has taken possession of the southern mind, sunk deep in the southern heart, and filled them with the conviction that their firesides, their family altars, and their domestic institutions, are to be ruthlessly assailed through the machinery of the Federal Government. The Senator from Ohio says he does not blame you, Southern Senators, nor the southern people for believing these things ; and yet, instead of doing those acts which will relieve your apprehensions, and render it impossible that your rights should be invaded by Federal power under any Admin istration, he threatens you with war, armies, military force, under pretext of enforcing the laws and preserving the Union. We are told that the authority of the Government must be vindicated ; that the Union m ist be preserved ; that rebellion must be put down ; that insurrec tions must be suppressed, and the laws must be enforced. I agree to al! this. lam in favor of doing all these things according to the Consti tution and laws. No man will go further than I to maintain the just authority of the Govern ment, to preserve the Union, to put down re bellion, fo suppress insurrection, and lo enforce the laws. I would use all the pow*-is confer red by the Constitution lor this puipose. ifut, in the performance of these important and del icate duties, it must be borne in inind that those powers only list be uspd, and scch measures employed, as are authorized by the Constitution and laws. Things should be called by the right names ; and facts, whose existence can no ; longer be denied, should be acknowledged. Insurrections and rebellions, although unlaw ful and criminal, frequently become successful revolutions. The strongest Governments and proudest monarchs on earth have often been re i duced to the humiliating necessity of recogniz ' ing the existence of Governments de facto, al though not de jure, in their revolted States and ; provinces, when rebellion had ripened into suc sessful revolution, and the national authorities have been expelled from their limits. In such cases the right to regain possession and exact obedience to the laws remains; but the exer cise of that right is war, and must be governed Freedom of Thought and Opinion. by the laws of war. Such was the relative condition of Great Britain and the American colonies for seven years after the declaration of independence. The rebellion had progressed an.! matured into revolution, with a Govern ment de facto , and an army and navy to defend it. Great Britain, regarding the complaints of the colonies unfounded, refused to yield to their demands, and proceeded to reduce them to obe-' dience ; not by tbe enforcement of laws, but by military force, armies and navies, according to the rules and laws of war. Captives taken in battle with arms in their hands, fighting against Gieat Britain, were not executed as traitors, but held as prisoners of war, and ex changed according to the usages ol civilized natioos. The laws ol nations, the principles of humanity, of civilization, and Christianity, de mauded that the Government de facto should be acknowledged and treated as such. While the right to prosecute war for the purpose of reducing the revolted provinces to obedience still lemained, vet it was a military remedy, and could only be exercised according to the estab lished principles of war. It is said that, after one of the earliest en gagements, the British general threatened to execute as traitors all '.he prisoners he had taken irrbattle ; and that General Washington replied that he, too, had taken some prisoners, and would shoot two for one until the British gen eral should respect the laws of war and treat his prisoners accordingly. May divine Provi dence, m His infinite wisdom and mercy, save our country from the humiliation and calami ties which now seem almost inevitable. South Carolina has already declared her independence of the United States ; has expelled the Federal authorities from her limits, and established a Government de facto, with a military force to sustain it. The revolution is complete, there being no man within her limits who denies the authoi ity of her government or acknowledges allegiance to that of the United States. There is every reason to believe that seven other States will soon follow her example ; and much grqjuid to apprehend that the other slavehold ing States will follow them. Haw are we going to prevent an alliance be tween these seceding Stalps by which they may establish a Federal Government, at least de fac to, for themselves ? If they shall do so, and ! expel the authorities of the United States lrom their limits, as South Carolina has done, and others are about to do, so that there shall be no , human being within their limits who acknowl es a]leglance to tl.o UsiUd o'ares, DOW a r e ' wt £' mg to enforce the laws ? Armies and na vies can make war, but cannot enforce laws in this country. The laws can be enforced only by the civil authorities, assisted by the military as a posse comitatus, when resisted in executing ' judicial process. Who is to issue the judicial j process in a State where there is no judge, no ; court, no judicial functionary ? Who is to per- : kirrn the duties ol marshal in executing the ' process where no man will or dare accept office ? Who are to serve on juries while evprv citizen i s particeps crimiais with the accused ? How are you going to comply wrth the Con stitution in respect to a jury trial, where there are no men qualified to serve on the jury ? I agree that the laws should be enforced. I hold that our Government is clothed with the power and duty of using all the means necessary to the enforcement of the laws, according to the Constitution and laws. The Presideut is sworn to the faithful performance of this duty. Ido not propose to inquire, at thrs time, how far, and with what fidelity, the President has per formed that duty. His conduct and duty, in this regard, including acts of commission and omission, while the rebellion was in its incipi ent stages, and when confined to a few individ uals, present a very different question from that which we are now discussing—after the revo lution has become complete, and the Federal authorities have been expelled, and the Govern ment de facto put into practical operation, and in the unrestrained and unresisted exercise ol all the powers and functions of Government, local and national. Jlre we prepared for war ? I do not mean that kind of preparation which consists of ar- j mies and navies, and supplies and munitions of war; but are we prepared IN OUR HEARTS for war with our own brethren and kindred? I confess lam not. While I affirm that the Con- j st it tit ion is, and was intended to be, a bond ol ; perpetual Union ; while 1 can do no act andj utter no word that will acknowledge or coun- ; tenance the right ol secession ; while I affirm ! tht right and duty of the Federal Government , to use all legitimate means to pnlorce the laws, ' put down rebellion, and suppress insurrection, i I will not meditate war, nor tolerate the idea,; until every effort at peaceful adjustment shaH have beefi exhausted, and the last ray of hope shall have deserted the patriot's heart. Then, and not till then, will I consider and determine j what course my duty to my country may re- ! quire me to pursue in such an emergency. IN MY OPINION WAR IS DISUNION, CER-; TAIN, INEVITABLE, IRREVOCABLE. I; AM FOR PEACE TO SAVE THE UNION. Nor do I sympathize at all in the apprehen- j sions and misgivings I hear expressed about co- j crcion. We are told that inasmuch as our Gov ernment is founded upon the will of tbe people, or the consent ol the governed therefore co ercion is incompatible with republicanism.— Sir, the word government means coercion.— There can be no Government without coercion. Coercion is the vital principle upon which all Governments rest. Withdraw the right of co ercion, and yoj dissolve your Government. If every man would perform his duty and respect the rights of his neighbors voluntarily, there would be no necessity lor any Government on eaitb. The necessity of government is found to consist in the fact that some men will not do right unless coerced to do so. The object of all government is to coerce and compel every man to do his duty, who would not otherwise per ] form it. Hence Ido not subscribe at all to this doctrine that coercion is not to be used in a free Government. It must be used in ail govern ments, no matter what their form or what their principles. But coercion must always be used in the mode prescribed in Ihe Constitution and laws. I hold that the Federal Government is, and ought to be, clothed with tbe power and duty to use ail the means necessary to coerce obedi i ence to all laws made in obedience to the Con -1 stitution. But the proposition to subvert the de facto government of South Carolina, and to reduce the people of that Slate into subjection to our Federal authority, no longer involvesthe question of enforcing the laws in a country within our possession, but it does involve the question whether we will make war on a State which has withdrawn her allegiance and ex pelled ir authorities, with a view of subjecting her to our possession for the purpose of enforc ing our laws within her limits. We are bound, by the usages ol nations, by the laws of civilization, by the uniform prac tice of our own Government, to acknowledge the existence of a government de facto so long as it maintains its undivided authority. When Louis Phillippe fled from the thione of France, and Lamartine suddenly one morning found himself at the head of a provisional Government, I believe it was but three day/until the Amer ican minister recognized the Government de facto. Texas was a Government de facto, not recognized by Mexico, when we annexed her; and Mexico was a Government de facto , not rec ognized by Spain, when Texas revolted. The laws of nations recognize Governments de facto where they exercise and maintain undivided sway, leaving the question of their authority de jure to be determined by the people interested in the Government. Now, as a man who loves the Union and desires to see it maintained for ever, and to see the laws pnforced, and rebel lion put down, and insurrection suppressed, and order maintained, I desire to know of my Union-loving friends on the other side of the Chamber how tbey intend to enforce the laws ?n the seceding States, except by making war, conquering them first, and administering the laws in them afterwards. In my opinion we have reacheo a point where disunion is inevitable, unless some compromise, founded upon mutual concessions, can be made. I prefer compiomise to war. I preler conces sion to a dissolution ef the Union. When I avow myself in favor of compromise, I do not mean that one side should give up all that it has claimed, nor that the other side should give up everything for which ft has contended. Nor do I aoU any lo mmo to ms standard; but I simply say that I will meet every man half way whio is willing to preserve the peace of the country, and save tke Union from disruption upon principles ot compromise and concession. In my judgment, no system of compromise can be effectual and permanent which does not banish the slavery question from the Halls ot Congress and the arena of Federal politics, by irrepealable constitutional provision. VVe have tried compromises by law, compromises by act of Congress, and now we are engaged in the small business of crimination and recrimination as to who is responsible for not having lived up to them in good faith, and for having broken faith. J want whatever compromise is agreed to placed beyond the reach of party politics and partisan policy, by being made irrevocable in the Constitution itself, so that every man that holds office will be bound by his oath to sup port it. There are several mode*in which this irrita ting question may be withdrawn from Congress, peace restored, the rights of the States main tained, and the Union rendered secure. One of t hem—one to which I can cordially assent— has been presented by the venerable Senator from, Kentucky (Mr. CRITTENDEN.) The jour nal ol the committee of thirteen shows that I voted for it ID committee. I am prepared to vote for it again. I stiall not occupy tune now in discussing the question whether my vole t4| make a partition between the two sections, in stead of referring the question to the people, will be consistent with my previous record or not. Tbe country has no very great interest in my consistency. The preservation of the U nion, the integrity of this Republic, is of more importance than party platforms or individual records. Hence 1 have no hesitation in saying to Senators on all sides of this Chamber, that 1 am prepaied to act on this question with refer -1 ence to the present exigencies of the case, as if I had never given a vote, or uttered a word, i or had an opinion upon the subject. Why cannot you Republicans accede to the re-establishment and extension of the Missouri ; compromise line? You have sung peans enough • in its praise, and uttered imprecations and cur : scs enough on my head for its repeal, one would ] think, to justify you now in claiming a triumph : by its re-establishment. If you are willing to give up your party feelings—to sink the parti ; sar> in the patriot—and help me to re-establish ! and extend that line, as a perpetual bond of peace between the North and the South, I will promise you never to remind you in the future of your denunciations of the Missouri compro mise so long as I was supporting it, and of your praises ol the same measure when we removed it from the statute-book, after you bad caused it to be abandoned, by rendering it impossible for l us lo carry it out. I seek no partisan advan tage ; 1 desire no personal triumph. lam wil ling lo let hy-gones be by-gones with every man who, in this exigency, will show by his vote that he loves his country more than bis party. At first, I thought your reason lor declining to adjust this question amicably, was that the Constitution, as it stands, was good enough, and that you would make no amendment to it. That position has already been waived. The great leadf of the Republican party, (Mr. SEW ARD,) by the unanimous consent of his lriends, brought into Ihe committee ot thirteen a propo- WHOLE NUMBER, 2953. VOL. 4 NO. 43. sitioo to amend the Constitution. Inasmuch, therefore, as you are willing to amend the in strument, and to entertain propositions of ad juslment, why not go further, and relieve the apprehensions of the southern people on all points where you do not intend to act aggres sively ? You offer to amend the Constitution, by declaring that no future amendments shall be made which shall empower Congress to in terfere with Slavery in the States. Now, il you do not intend to do any ether act prejudicial to their constitutional rights and sa'ety, why nnt relieve their apprehensions, by inserting in your own proposed amendment to the Constitution, such further provisions as will in like manner, render it impossible for you to do that which they apprehend you intend to do, and which you have no purpose of doing, if it be true that you have no such purpose? For the purpose of removing the apprehensions cf the southern people, and for no other purpose, you propose to amend the Constitution, so as to render it impossible, in all future time, for Con gress to interfere with slavery in the States where it may exist under the Jaws thereof.— Why not insert a similar amendment in respect to slavery in the District of Columbia, and in the navy-yards, forts, arsenals, and other places within the limits of the slaveholding States, over which Contypss has exclusive jurisdiction?— Why not irtrert a similar provision in respect to the slave trade between the slaveholding States? The Southern people have more serious appre- on these points than they have of your direct interference with slavery in the States. If their apprehensions on these several points are groundless, is it not a duty you owe to God and your country to relieve their anxiety and and remove all'causes of discontent ? Is there not quite asrnuch reason for relieving their appretiensions upon these points, in regard (0 which they are much more sensitive, as in re spect to your direct interference in the States, where they know and you acknowledge, that you have no power to interfere as the Consti tution now stands? The {act that you propose to give the assurance on the one point and per emptorily refuse to give it on the others, seems to authorize the presumption that you do in tend to use the powers of the General Govern ment for the purpose of direct interference with slavery and the slave trade everywhere else, with the view to its indirect ellects upon slavery in the States ; or, in the language of Mr. Lincoln, with the view of its "ultimate ex tinction in all the States, old as well as d north as well as south." If you had exhausted your inge nuity in de vising a plan for the express purpose of in creasing the apprehensions and in&araing the prssions of the southern people, with the view of driving them into revolution and disunion, none could have been contrived better calcu lated to accomplish the object than the offering of that one amendment to the Constitution, and rejecting ali others which are infinitely more important to the safety and domestic tranquill ity of the slaveholding States. In my opinion, we have now reached a point where this agitation must eiose, and all' the matters in controversy be finally determin ed by constitutional amendments, or civil war and the disruption of the Union are inevitable. My friend from BAKER,) who has addressed the Senate for the last two days, will fail ip his avowed purpose to "evade" question. He claims to be liberal and conserv ative,and I must confess,that he seems the most liberal of any gentleman on that side of the Chamber, always exceptiog the noble and pat riotic speech of the Senator from Connecticut, (Mr. DIXON;) and the utmost extent to which the Senator from Oregon would consent to go, was to devise a scheme by which the real question at issue could be evaded. I regret the determination, to which 1 appre hend the Republican Senators have come, to make no adjustment, entertain no propositions, and listen to no compromise of the mailers in contoversy. ® I fear, from all the indications, that they are disposed to treat the matter as a party question, to be determined in caucus with reference to its effects upon the prospects of their party, rather than upon the peace of the country and the safety of the Union. I invoke their delib erate judgment whither it i%not a dangerous experiment, for any political party to demon strate to the American ppople that the unity of their party is dearer to them than the Union ot these States. The argument is that the Chica go platform having been ratified by the people in a majority of the States roust be maintained at all hazards, no matter what the consequence to the country. I insist that tbey are mistaken in the fact when they assert that this question was decided by the American people in the late electiou. The American people have not decided that they preferred the disruption ot this Government, and civil war with all its horrors and miseries, to surrendering one iota of the Chicago platform. If you believe that the people are with you on this issue, let the question be submitted to the people on the pro position offered by the Senator from Kentucky, or mine, or any other fair compromise, and I will venture the prediction that your own peo ple will ratify the proposed amendments to the Constitution, in order to take this slavery agita tion out of Congress, and restore peace to the country, and insure the perpetuity of the Un ion. Why not give the people a chance ? It is an important crisis. There is now a different issue presented fronr. that in the presidential election. 1 have no doubt that the people of Massachu setts, by an overwhelming marjority are in la vor of a prohibition of slavery in the territories by an act of Congress. An overwhelming majority of the same people were in favor of the instant prohibition ot the African slave trade, on moral and religious grounds, when the Constitution was made. When they found that the Constitution could not be adopted and the Union preserved.without surrendering their
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