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