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TOWANDA:
totintoban Mornittp, rarrearst 2,18 W..
Letter trot Gen; Cass on the Priori*.
WasnrsaroN, Dec: 30th, 1847.
DEAR Sta g y 1 have received your letter, and stall
answer it as frankly as it was written.
You ask me whether I am Inl favor of the acqui
sition of Mexican territory, and what are my senti
ments with regard to the Wilmot Proviso.
I hive so ottenand so explicitly stated my views
of the first question, in the Senate, that it seems al
most unnecessary to repeat them here. As yon re
quest it, however, 1 shall briefly give them.
think, then, that no peace should be granted to
Mexico, till a reasonable - indemnity is obtained for
the injuries which she has done us. Thetenttorial
extent of this indemnity is,
,in the first instance, a
subject of executive consideration. There the con
stitution has placed it, and there 1 am willing to
leave it; not only because 1 hare full confidehre
in ifs judicious exercise; but because, in the ever
varying circumstances of a war, it wou',l be indis
creet, by a public declaration, to commit the coon
try toltiay line of indeinnity, which might otherwise
be enlarged, as the obstinate injustice of the ene
my prolongs the contest,.with it loss of blood and
treasure.
It sppears to me that the kind of metaphysiCal
magnanimity, which would reject all indemnity. at
the close of a blOody and expensive war. bmtiett
on by a direct attack upon our troops by the u.ijusr
acts of a scrie.s of years, is as unworthy of the
again which cre licF. as i• t< —ve: :••:: to lbc e ,, m .
mon +tense r.:•• 1:
duce,-but lig;e to oar . N .1.-ed
our present rein! , t.l e,
all c‘pectalion of col ,
governmenti-m-4.1 a.e ttgls 1 , .: t - i ) w
result, but for some Yazue , s iror'ik/
object, u birth escapes my pei,e , ta and most be
defined by those who assume this principle
of national intercommunication. All wars are to be
deprecated, at well by Mate:env as the phi
lanthropist They are great evils : but there are
greater evils than these. and submission to injustice
is among them., The nation which should refuse
to defend its rights and its honor, when assailed,
would soon have neither to defend and, when dri
ven to war. it is not by professions of disinterested
ness, and declarations of magnanimity, that its ra
tional objects can be best obtained, or other nations
taught a lesson of kabearance—the strongest secu
rity for permanent peace. We are at war with
Mexico, and its vigorous prosecution is the sur.4.
McKie of its speed) termination. ample indem
nity the stnetcguaranty acaiust the recurrence of
such injustice as provoked it.
The Wilmot Proviso has been before the coun
try some time. It has been repeatedly discussed
m in Congress, god by the public press. lam stronz•
ly impressed with the opinion that a great cha ,
has been going on in the public mind upon this sub
ject—in my own ss well as others ; and that doubts
are resolving themedves into conviction, that the
principle ft involvis•iliotild be kept out of the na
tional leglslatme, WA left to the people of the con
federacy in their respective local governments.
The whole sethiject is a comprehensive one, and
•
fruitful' of important consequences. It world be irk
timed to discuss it here. I shall riot assume the
important task: but shall coutihe my self to such ge
neral views, as are neeet-sarj to the tan ell - lib:Lem
of my opinions. •
‘Ve may as well- reg-r: ,-•enee of slavery
the Southern States aid w:4, her had been
* saved from as introduction. Rut there it is, and
not by the act of the present geneoation and tee
must deal u ith has .a areal pr.te , icAl question, In- other condition which our institutions and the hab
voicing the most momentous conseqoences e its of our society recognize. What would be Itio't
have neither the right nor the pow et- to touch it Congress should undertake to proscribe the terms
where it exists: and if wit hail both. their exercise, of mapri7L,e in Nevr York, or to regulate the antho.
by any means heretofore sugue.ted. might lea.' to situ of parent. over their children in Pennsylvania'
results which nowise man would willingly enema- And yet it would be as cam to seek one justifying
ter, and which no good man could contemplate the interference of the national legislature in the
without anxiety. cares referred to in the initial states of the Union
The theory of our nevemment pret.ppoes thai I speak here of the inherent Power of Congress, and
its various members have reserved to themselves do not touch the question of such contracts as may
the regulation of all subjects relating to what may i be forn n,.,3with new states-when admitted into the
he termed their internal police. They are sower- con kd emer ,
eau within their boundanes except in order to of
an
the oesnons
that
can agitate
Int,
those
give elect to the object of the l nion whether :best
which are merely sectional in their character are
concerreforegn nations. or the sex-co-al ~,t ates ;nem-
the
tno.„ dangerous .
and the marl to be depteent
selves. - Local iustitcurcat. if I max so speak. whe-
ed The
wanting
voice of him who, from his rinht
then the Y 'llave reference to slavery :o /3- other warn us. prnelanned to his conits
en men in h
relations, domestic or public are let. to local autho
r Address--that`- nonumeni of wisdOM for
ray, either original or derivative. Cone s es s has no
f
him, as I hope it will o safety to them—how much
right to say that there shall be no slavery in Geor-
we hail to apprehend from measures peculiarly erf
gia; nor is there any other human power but the - -
rropte ef those States re.pec , irc'‘ wh ic h e a u t feetin gl the g ec V a P"'" at Prim ins 1m nor meetly
change the relations existing therein . and they can The gave circumstances in which we are now
Diared male these words words of safe for I
say, if they will , we will have slaver) in the tor- •
am sallseed from all I have seen and beard here,
mer, and we will abolish it in tl , e latter.
. that a retssful attempt to engraft the principles
In various. respects the I**Tlif:rref, erffer terra tne
of the vathet proviso upon the legislation dims
States. Some of their rights are .nett ate, ancithey
govemOmit. and apply Om to new territory,
do not possess the peculiar anon!, ~tes of sovereignty .
shnlitti l inen . territory b e acquire d, wou ld seriously
Their relation to the general government is veryl effect pur tranquility. I do not ratffei myself to
impedeoly defined by the constantion ;
and it foresee or foretell the conseqcynices that u - ould en
will be- l ianau p o n Laami that in that itirrru- r ; ,, uiut acid believe there is good sense and
meet the only grant of ,ewer once them is • • • •them.
- feennzenolvo tbe eocmtry to avoid
conveyed 11 1 the f`hra , . • z•-• have the
b e• 1 I sin op 1.,-3gANI to the everce-e of
• - power to thspose of an - e 14,1 -e r . wl d
regu
linons. r - prnpory raj ,4rcti...,lA•:Jan by - Lor.gress over tint matter, and
b e t :* t h e I • i , ti l l I az; ci leaving to the people of any tern
is very` j ea ,, e to - 011ie:. may be hereafter actpased, this valour
"1
t° tn. .
it for Item-selves under the general prinei
elude ot the k-rant the xxliole vet
over pen , ons, as well as thin.: Tne plea of l the coastllnLinn- Beca=e ) .
the territory and other property." fairly consinict. .1• Ide mit . see in the Constitution any grant of
ed. relates to the public lands, as such. to arsenals, the tequisite power of Congress; and lam notdis
r.
dockyards, kuts L attips, and all the various kinds Puled fo extend a doubtful pre silent tierand
of property, which the Ruled States marina Trost neneingry---the essablisluxuss4 of tereitoriaistivense
doerse~ mentelwhen needede-learimlltrthi, inhatlitantrall
Bat surely thesinaplesottionty ti dispassof end ate ennaP!hl#e, with tEletWqlt
rusw/ate these, does art extend to the unlienied the-intlitanninnetzto•" ,4
power of I%islatfien: is the passage of all tiiiirs;in 2 Became I believe this Trufashre, if ,
Lai! , most general acceptance of the word ; eincb, would 'weaken, if not impair, the union dfitte States;
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,PUBMPED gYERY WEIgsDAy,: AT TOWANDA; BRADFORD• Cf)tfli . 7lr, Pg., BY:TR OqlE,
by Pie way, is very , carefully exclad . from the
--ftud,-indeed, if this were so, it Would render tal•
necessrey - another profisiou of. the constitution,
which grants to Congress the power to legislate,
with the consent of the States, respectively,over all
places purchased for the cf erection of forts, maga
zines, arsenals, dockyards, 4c.". These being the
',property' of the Uni ed States r if the power to
make "needful rules and rivtdations concerning"
them includes the general power offegislation, then
the grant of authority to regulate the "territory and
property of the United States" is unlimited, whet
ever subjects are found for its operation, and in its
/ exercise needs no auxiliarpnevisicm i . If, on the
other hand, it does not include such power of leg
islation over the "other property" of the United
States, then it does not include it over their " ter
ritory ;" for the same terms which grant the one,
grant other. " rerritery 7 is here clamed with pro-
perry, and treated as such; and the object was evi
'dently to enable the general government, as a pro
perty holder—which, kern neCestity, it must be--
to manage, preserve, and 4 ‘ dispose of " such pro
perty as it might possess, and which authority is
essential alinost to its being. But the lives and per
sons of our citizens, with the vast variety of objects
connected with them cannot be controlled I I any
authority, which is merely called in . o existent , * for
the purpose of making ru/in and regulations for the
disposition and management of property.
Such, as it appears to me, would be the construc
tion put-upon this provision of the constitution, Were
this ques:lon now first presented for consideration,
and not controlled by imperious circumstances.—
The orizinal oultnance•of the Conere.s of the con
plsscd in 1757. and whichwa; the onir
.1;- it.hie at :he of tae
pruvided a einii; lots frame of 7,,evern
mein of foe country north at Ohio, while in a terri
torial con:l:titan, and fir its eventual admission in
separxe sates into the tnion. And the persua
sion, that this ordinance contained within itself all
the necessary means of execution, probably pm
vented any direct reference to the subject in the
constitution, further than vesting in Congress the
right to admit the States formed under it into the
Union. However, circumstances arose, which re
quired legislation, as well over the territory north
.of the Ohio, as over other territory, both within and
without the original Union, ceded to the genecalgo
vernment: and, at various times, in more enlarged
power has been exercised over the Territorier—
meaning thereby the different territorial govern-
Ments—than is conveyed by the limited grant re
kited to. How far an existing necessity may have
operated in producing this Imbibition, and thus ex
tending. by 'rather violent implication, powers not
directly give -Lk I know not But certain it is, that
the principle of interference shoialil not be carried
beyond the neeessary implicatiOn which produces
It should be limited to die creation of proper
governments ter new countries, acquired or settled.
and to, then eeessary proviison for their eventual ad
mission into the Union ; leaving, in the meantime ; _
to the'people inhabiting them, to regulate their in-'
ienral i concems - in-,.their own way. They am just
as capable okdoing so, at any rate,as soon ;whear
politkal independence is Organized by adMission
into tile Union. During this temporary . condition,
it is hardly expedient to call into exercise a doubt
ful and invidious authority, which questions the in
tellige,nce of a respectable portion of our citizens,
and Whose limitation, whatever is may be, will be
rapidly appnaaclang its termmation,—an authority
which would give to Congress despotic power. un
- ,
'dor:trailed by the eonstittition, over most important
.cc:ion of our common country. For, if the re:a
t;ori or master and servant tuay be regulated or an
nihilated by its I.i.galtolt. so may the relation of
htmband and wife. of parent and child, and of any
,
. ,
EEEME
and wouldismr the seeds offetnre discord, and har
vest-of calamity:-
that such a proposition would succeed, would lead
to an immediate withholding of supplies, and thus
to a dishoWorable termination of the war. I think
no' aispassionate obaerver at the seat ofgOvernment
can doubt this.
4. If however, is this I am under a misapprehen
sion, I am under none in the practical operation of
this restriction if adopted by Congress, upon streak
ty of peace making any acquisition of Mexican ter-
Tito'''. Such a treaty would be rejected jag as cer
tainly as presented to the Senate. More than one
third of that body would rote against it, viewing
such a principle as the exclusion of the citizens of
the slaveholding states from a participation'- in the
benefita acquired by . the - treasure and ext . :mil:ma of
all, and which should be common to aIL lam , re
peating—neither -advancing. nor defending these
views. 'Thatbranch of the subject does not lie in
my tray, and I shall not turn aside to seek it.
In this asiteci. of the , snancr, the people of the
e Fs
United *awl ast choose between this restriction,
and the ferrite *al limits. They cannot have both .
and which th y will surrender mast depend upon
their representatives first, and then if those fail them,
upon themselves.
But after all, it seems to be generally concede I,
that this reitriction, if carried into effect, could not
operate upon States to be farmed of newly acquired
territory. The well known attributes of sovereign
ty, recognized by Cl 3 as belonging to the State go
vernments, - would sweep before them any such bar
rier, and would leave the people to express and ex
ert, their will at pleasure. Is . the object then, of
temporary exclusion for so short a period as tne du
ration ofTen-itorial governments, worth the price
at which it Would be purchased ?—or-the discord it
Would engender, the trial to which it would expose
uur Union, and the es as that would be the certain
consequences, let that trial result as it might ! As
to the course which has been intimated rather than
proposed, of en,,, ,, rafting such a restriction upon any
treaty of acquisition, I persuade myself it would
find but little favor in any. portion of that country..
Such an arrangement would render Mexico a party,
having a right to interfere with our internal institu
tions in questions left by the constitution to State
governments, and would inflict a severe blow up
on our fundamental principles. Few, indeed, I
trine, there are among us, who wonky:bus grant to
a foreign power the right to inquire into the coned•
Cation and conduct of the Sovereign States of the
Union: and it these are any, 1 am net among them,
l an.i never shall be. To the people of the country,
anderGud, now and hereafter, are its destinies com
mixed; and we want no foreign power to interro
gate us—Why have you done this, or why have
you left this undone Oar own dignity and the
principles of national independence repel such. a
pro Position.
But there: is another important consida ation,
which °vitt not to be lost sight of .in the investiga
tion of this suttee. The question that prepents
itself is not a question of increase but of the diffu
sion of slatery.-r—Whether its sphere be stationary
or,pmgressive its amount will be the same. The
rrieelkst 01 this restriction will not' add one to the
class of serritude, nor will its adoption give isle
dom to a single being who is now placed therein.
The same numbers wit! be spread over gm:tie:ter
ritory ; and so far as comprehension, with less abun
dance of the necessaries of life, is an evil, so fin
will that evil be mitigated
.. by transporting slaves to
a new country, arid giving them a largo space to
occaliy. I say this in the event of the extension of
slavery into any new acquisition. But can it go
there! This may well be doubted. All the des
criptions which reach us of the condition of Califor
nia and New Mexico, to the acqeisition of which
our efforts seem at present directed, uni:e in rep
resenting these countries as agricnhural
similar in their products to our middle states, and
generally unfit for the production of the great sta
ples, which can alone render slave labor valuable.
If we are not grossly deceived—and it difficult tti
conceive how we can bp—the inhabitants of thceis
regiorus, whether they depend upon their plows cir
their-herds,. cannot oe alaveholders. Involuntary
labor, requiring the investment of huge capital , caq
only be profitable when employed in the produc
tion of a few favored articles, confined by nature to
special districts and paying larger returns than the
usual agricultural products spread over more consid
erable portions of the earth.
In tho able letter of Mr. Buchanan on this sub
pro, not long since given to the public, he presents
similar ccarsideratiens with great Bove. Neith
ei," days the distinguished writer, " the soil, the cli.
mate, nor the production of California, south of 36,
deg.. 30 rain., nor indeed of any portion of it. north
,or south, is adapted to slave labor; and besides,
every facility would be there afforded bar the slave
to escape from his master. Such property would
be entirely` emotive in any patio' ti of Calikorhia.
morally impossible, therefore, that a majority
of die emigrants to that portion of the territory south
of 36 deg.3o min_, which will be chiefly composed
of oar citizens, will ever re-establish slavery with
in its limit&
• we acquire ternary beyor.3 the Rio
-Grande sad cast of foe Rocky Mountains, It is still
more impcwsible tlo a rnajorityofthe people amid '
ccrAc. at to re-estrthlA .rfortn. They are themsehea
a colored popalatioth amid =out them the tie to
does not Wong socially. to a degraded race."
ES
• • .x 4 l l Z.,
Or DExuiciinini - ilibii ilirt *TAMIL"
MM
EMU
"Ir. regard to Sew Mexico, east oldie Rio Gimle t
the question has already been settled by the admis
aiot•. of Texas two the Union.
With thi, !samara* Mr. 'Walker fititrelacides
hi•-lcmr wriiCea . in lAA. app she &ler-PDX'
of Terms, sod whietreeery •whitteprodneetiso fa
enrePe an itere7Jsion xtttn.the kobbentintt, us to
Irr‘t'M i l t l ce 'o:ri " 11 041- to 1 1 0sA ca40 - 14
Mat of-Abel r *WWI I .
Neva," anyeStr-sliroiloiri veineerrinll aoi "mkt
warmly became it isforbitideopyriri, - barbomfee
the colored twee there preponderates in the ratio of
ten to,one over the ,whites ; and holding'
.us • they
do, the government and most of the offices in their
possession, they will: not permit the enslavement Of
artY poition of the col red race, which makes and
executes the laws of te country."
~ The question, it will %i be therefore seen on ex
amination, does not regard the exclusion of slavery
where it now exists, lint a Prohibition against its
introdoction. where it does not exist, and where.
from thefeelings of the inhabitants, and the:laws of
nature," it is morally impossible," as Mr. Buchan •
an says, that it can ever re-establish itself. _
It augurs well for the rmanence of our confed
eration,. that during in an halls century, which
has elapsed since the . ishment of this i
gover
ment, many serious quotations, and some of the
highest importance, het agitated the public mind,
and more than once threatened the gravest conse
quences ; but that they have all in succession pas
sed away, leaving our institutions unscathed, and
our country advancing in numbers, power, and
wealth, and in all the other elements of national
prosperity, with a ra2idity unknown in ancient or
modem days. In dap of political excitement:
when difficult and date questions present them-,
selves for solution, there is one ark of safety for us;
and that is, an honest appeal to the fundamental
principles of our Union, and a stern determination
to abide its dictates. This course of proceeding
will iarry us cthrough many more, should many
more be destined to assail. The Wilmot Proviso
seeks to take from its legitimate tribbnal a ques
tion of domestic policy, having no relation to the
Union, as such, and to transfer it to another, crea
ted by the people for a special purpose, and foreirn
to the subject-matter involved in this issue. By
going back to our true principles, we go,ixack to the
road of peace and safety. Leave to the . people,
who will be effected by this question,' to aljust it
upon their own responsibility, and in their own
imanner, and we shall render another tribute to the
original principles of our government, had furnish
1 another guaranty for its permanence and prosperity:
I am, dear sir, tespectively your ob't servant.
A. 0. P. NicaioLsoN, Esc.,
u *lns Doroles Lurr.l"—What was the
origin and purpose of it ! We hear it frequently
spoken of as connecte:l _will) slavery, and as origi
nally reLstingto that subject. Nothing can be fur
ther from the truth. At the time that line was es
tabrished, slavery existed on both sides of 11. - A
brief account, of its on may be of some *emit
just at this fib's.
As early as the year 1682 a dispute anise be
tween William Penn and Lord Baltimore,i respect:
ing, the' construction of their respective grants, of
what now form the States of Pennsylvania, Dela
ware, and Maryland. Lord Baltimore claimed to,
and including the 40th degree north latitule ; and
William Penn, • mildly, yet firmly, resisting the
claim. The debateable land' was one degree or 69
Erglish miles on the south of Pennsylvania ; and
extending west as far as the State itself. The mat
ter 'was finally brought into the Court of Chancery
in England, and after tedious delays (it has always
been so.) on the 15th day of May, 1750, Lord
Chancellor Hirdwick made a decree, awarding
costs against . Lard Baltimore, and directing that
commissioners should be appointed to mark the
boundaries between the parties. The CClMlntSgian
era so appointed, met at Nevr-Castle, on the 15th
t day of IC orerriber, 1755, and not being able to
agree separated. After a further litigation and de
lay, the whole matter was . semled by the mutual
agreement 'between-the surviving heirs of the ongi
nal
In the year I:61, Mr. Charles Mason. of the ,
Rny-al Olrerratory, was sent to Pennsylvania, with)
all the needful astronomical s instruments to measure)
a degree of latitude. That duty be performed. and)
a ieport of his proceedings is to be found in ihei
Philosophical Transactions of the Royrd Society oil
London, for the year 1768.
This Mr. Mason and Jeremiah Dixon were ap
pointed to run the line in dispute, which appears
' . to have been done in conformity with the lard
Chancellor's decree. That is the famous a Mason
anif Dixon's Line," 'slid the boundary between
Pennsylvania on the south and Maryland en the
with.
Little did the actors in this matter itanl: that in
after times, the line . 6ariltilished with so much trou
ble and expense, would ever be connected with a
subjects calculated to shake a great nation to its
centre.
"Niszstrxrit Yzas.--The old Germans of OM
State and perhaps of other States, have a notion
that every nineteenth year has peculiar characteris
tivt, from which we understand. such as are farmers
who entettaiu it, are more or less governed in their
agricultural pursuits and operanona. The peculiar
ities attributed by them to what they denominate
the 'liineteenth Year," are an open wintiv during
which humenican plough through nearly the whole
season a protracted spring and a scarcity of snow
and tee. This year, or this season, they say is the
nineteenth year, the last being the year and season
of 1524. By reference to that year, it is remem
bered by old inhabitants that it was an open winter,
and that ice was so seance that Mr. Motive, unable
to lay in a <eel from this neiborhood, was glin
t pelied to sec ztre a quantity of the article from a du
: =ca. winch circumstanci . the importation of ice
to our city . , was then condered -r.ornethirg new
under the sma. - indicatiozs of the prent wean
that: far seem to favor this flexion of our worthy Gir
foams, and perhaps a seasonable hint to these inter
seed in either a cold winter and short spring, or str
open and mild winter and protracted spring, may
act be-skim
tasSau s it.—=Thia it made by wAttmetimeg-terth
erttqttal gas . saities'of thteeptisit sad 514 am; with
Par4e*AAllini"4o 2 - PIX 4 11 50 11
haasbas t aknadrapatafhweatit,aadassaititdaosab
a eats sin*. his aseeßeett tomato murales of
speech
, :
LEWIS CASS
"
rxe. - 1 4 1
: ~rogn ; ~Egr
to 1k Meeting is Sew- tort.
i
1. ttlb i r from lion; Job - n A. Dim.
. ' IVAsltniclt&, 17th lay, 113-18
Gmrt..ycat I recei'ved . severitl . days ago your,
favor of t•,e 'Oh inst., me To ntiend'and44-
dress a meeting of the Democracy of' the City of
New Y"ri, if the Paik, on tbe. 18th instant,' "for
the purpla , e of ratifying the nominaiiotrofflitartin
Van Buren for the Presidency, and of earitrßantiug
to the extno+n of free soil, soil of the perpetdatioti
of free tahor.o
hnve deferred answering
. 70r:titter to 141a
test•practilcable moment from a desirCto aecepTihe
invitation if in my power, witlainn neglecting my
public d ies—but I find it inipossible. Important
subjects oilegialation press on biith Houses of Con
gress ; ani3 I may, at any moment, be requiredt()
vote on 'omelet them.
In ; r e spect to the great questions on witieh sn
seep an inter e st is felt by youiselVes and those you •
iepresent,' l l have so recently expressed my opin 7
ion, in the most public manner, that any further
annunciations& k would be superfluous. It accords
entirely iiith your own ; and, much as I desire to
see this. . istracting question settled; I cannot ad
vocate oil acquiesce in any. adjustment of it, by
Which. sl ry will- be planted where it does not
nowt xits' t
' -
possibilityof
So I as there was maintaining I
the inte,, y cif the democratic party of New York
Which.
without s itting to a sacrifice of principle, my
efforts- were direetod in every proper way, to the
restoratio of ',harmony. Events too dearly hull- I
c t ite the h peleseness of its re-union. Under such
cimum , I cannot hesitate, for a moment. as,
to the con Of propriety and duty'. From the ra
dical deinocracy of New York I cannot separate;
their prin'iiples and measures are those for the
Maintenance of which I -have contended, side by
side, with - them in the political field. from the mo
-1 ment lei tered it. To introduce and preserve ant
i
i rid economy ;in the public expenditure ; to curtail
thb patrorta.ge of the federal government, or. in teb
er words, to diffuse political favor and not to cen
tralize it ;'to liberate industry, under all its forms,
from useles-s and oppr ess ive restraints; to narrow
the sphere of mono& and exclusive privilege ; tb
uphold the rights of free labor ; to maintain with
fidelity and good faith, *lithe compromises of the
ettnitution, by al:staining from all interference will
' the domestic concerns and relations. q . file people
of the and, at the tome time, to resist the
=tension of slavery to theleputfio of the territo
fy of the rittea States in which it-does not exist
4Zand ' y where it is prohibited; these are the
great bonen pnmensed by the position yon have ta
ken. I sltall continue my best efforts to•maintain
. it, satisfied as I am thin the public borr anifpros
perky are alike involved in your struts'.
• have never considered the demoeracy of New
York bound by the nominations at Baltimore. No
portion of the democracy of the Uniovican be.com
mined to the support of proceedings in which it has
had no part, or to a participation in which it has
been adniitted in such a manner as to deprive it of
all influence! upon the result I have,. therefore,
deemed it a maner, of entire discretion with the ra
dical denioerney of New Vett frottfitr the should
acquiesce! in' the proceeclingis referred to. They
have deemed ft due to their honor and their Fat
!this, as well as to the great principles, to make
a setparatei nondnation, and thus to sustain their de
i&the finn, nianiy,land dignified eannist
which t 4, trisemurected themselves from the;
ti la
more venom That nomination I shall alp
port as the one b e at in accordance wfththe princi
ples andkssct. es !have alluded to, and - ibe only one,
by which they can be full vindicated.
Oldie talents, firmness, nioderatian, private worth
and pubfre (=duct of Mr. Van Buren, and his great
experience ir. the affairs of government, ro one
can entertain la higher opinion than myself and I
shall give him my support, cheerfully and cordial
)y, as theistandard-beater of the New Fork demo
cracy in si great ontest fa': principle, and as a state*:
man who hai eared every official position he has
occupied lin the service of ' his country, and none
more than the highest.
I am, very respectfallyf •
tour aglow citizen,
I ,
JOHN A. DIX.
To Messis,Coeliiin and ohms, Committee.
Lotted Ikea 'Hsu. ][areas 31lieritesa.
Tirrniat, July I?, 1848 7 , i
Gentlertnen—Deeming my pers.onai attenticu to i
the duties of the office which 1 hold under the I
General Government ofparamormt obligation, I must
decline your hvitatiou to be present at your meet
tog ori Tway next
I will not however, on the - won t omit to de- L 1
dare myalq;ation for the principles far' which
you are coating. lam rot unaware ofthe ob:
loquy to which in the pr seat state of political par- i
ties, their advocates will be encored- But. the 1
principles itself; esare too iiktportitit to be, abort:
dotted hi t = Motives of pers. :mai convenience, or
political expediency.
, The provisions of our admirableamsfention, and
charactf , the illustrionsmen who formed it,
conspire show this while it protected the existing
rights of the idaveholdece, contemplated, no farther
extension of Slavery. In all theterritory belonging
to the C. ;Rate; at the adoption of the Constitution I
the subit4t of dal - cry was tir..-.ler legal regulation
And while each state retained in its sovereign and I
ipdeyseridt•nt ritaraeter. the reit toebolishor create '
• P i the orlon Oaf an the state:,: ?a conlederin , cm had
1 perem_ptcsily interd i cted it in ar. the ietrilmiL , , So
' that while new free istmer:tniett grow up and be
added to' :be 'Union,. irt those tetiito.:esi no new
I . •
elar.e*egkemila honed, excepthiihe .s - isiotiof
in chi we. mi ca this erimEsoterdictionpie..ahligi
half it:' - - i &binge ele . floofitift tam him
bete. - - ' O r ITIO* - 1 61 :) /e L lt S:fre * * 1
wi lt
. 4
pi , ,
~.411,0**),400,...w7 .
Wbatherthebreeeiteitikessiti
out goeenunti:it and the ordinance of 174117- T inteiner
fne aptconsaton of kreioa ten/tory ! hp* "no :neans
===l
=I
, r 4-4 *I
,4 , 1'..C.; •1!" 4
" H w y , .., - Nti
VAgfs- - '
~ iY`,~rr ~~.~,
ti ~y : ~
..: ~.y~.Y - i.rr ~
Eil
of An 4
%sepia have ":
-stithe.coinitgettcy existed whiete
eiltheiriptrott'litm, itfaturl he .
e they' would . have tiEllapteti. -it
t unreasonable presumption that
whir+ *t fleeted the ,beneficent
kitthi
Int Own.. what c . . •
is not, howovc..r, . •
the wise fortens;
provision fir.the ni
Itrestem territory ; rronlii :bavu'
or edually wise revilatipa for our
3rosided
- •
futuiq
kored f hare been found softie:of
onitgoverropent of exten-
The powers en
to' Warrant the Se.
bout our oriidnall4oB.
on- Alareholding and one :fret.
sure territories w
these,*rritoties
aide, hare been f
itanda iJie propo'
nned. Flow very ditleient now
'i;on between the staveholding
m:;iAdhaie done, StlaOUTWr
o.i?es frorzi what
ritoriat frmite , rcm
bed the same as at the adoption
of the constittition and the compact of 1787
In those acqui4d tenildries, slave`ry existed a
the time of the acquisitiOn, and was allowed of
continue afterwards.
.The inhabitant's being stave
holders when they; asked; for admission intothel . n•
ion, tonnes] comai utions authorizing theholdint 01
slaves T and weie tl us adnated.- And although large
portions of theie erritories Were Unsettled and of
1 .
course onoccnpiei by stare or civilized Man . ; pit;
slavery Wes-allow .1 to extend over a very large
portion of thee!: 1 I hope our .S , .6fttitettiri brethertf
will fin d po wan Of comity or liberality in *die
course which .w have adopted - towards titan. •
They have the 4ssion, nearly an exclusive one s
of much the larger port tinof ottrextensivff Aril and'
I
beautifnl domain.
We have recently added new territory of great
exietit, in which slay -ell- does not exist, and cannot
. . .
be iuiroducett bat y the action of our own ttorern -
merit. Shall a fro republic—a genuine democracy,
louncled upon the 'nripleslof onr declaration of
Inderkeinienee any rerofp, izintr ds it*bairi; the sett.
e ridcnt balls.. thar "ail men are creater! equal," arid
-are emlowed by 'astir creator with the unaliena
ble Terlits of life, liberty and the permit - of happi-
ness - author zero to hold insertitaile theirtello*
men I can neve
(ince such , a princii
be to intettolate
give mv•con=ent to it. To intro:
e in the democratic creed would'
article not only novel - but at
eiarticte in the creed. To makd
, . in any form and to an extent
1 , r is to introdOceorrnew lest ab•
war with every of
the support - of .4av
the tea of demo°
heretofore ineukated
herrent to all the
y.. lirotmst againgtdio adOp
theliOtrer of any man or body
by the democratic
tion of it, and d
such a test.
of men to ft4abl
served in the Sethoemtio rielet
. No.man has more- tiniformly.i
of the party. 1. clever -.Etted
rely men haie l
krn,gei than I hay •
obsetTed the tL.
ifrgate;s; riot ovoiti lama . the/
nin in oppostioo tii,1136
eandi
rding to the luisting usages
agzing its f4s 2 *
wdriot Jackson. *,
date nominated
White I recognized eiet influence
the party. But
enclailotis Di CatICI2SeS Or convene-
which the mom 2
and properly conducted, !hoold
they hate raty pouf to abipolatf
Gone, When fairly
have : 1 ilttny . th •
rs fromthe r persornal iitaponsic
IS the - mastrinery of party, mai
hands of intriguing and nue
the indirithed ro
bility. They are
too often tali into
principled yiptitk.
• their selEth and s
"Pruscims,
of-oor It .
I I-would not 'l.—,
.)
.Pica" is a time hassnreii ariont
ahrayslovern O eondfil:tt r
any moral or rehas principley
ental doctrines of demoemey,
man or - opal the reeMilinednr
Ilion of . ( Men. Nrorad not ivib
1)' would . not cote t`ora than wl.it
or any of tile tuna
tactile sake of an •
don Of mly more,
for a monarchist
would infringe th , consO i
utional right of the South.
1 ern States to the • - _ -"- - on of their peculiar insti.;
1 tutinns ; I would net vote fora man who &lothd all
vecese the intreducition of slaves into the free states ;
nor would I vote for aman who, either positively
or negatively, woilld aid or eticeurage the eitabslls.; .
hment of slavery iii free tcrritt'irits.
Parties ; to be sr.cees.shil, should be founded on i
broad 2ne genera,' PrineipTes. Sash is the dem
ocratic ocratle party. . principle - 5 which constitute its
Ifiannilation are ev r.- where true and - applicable to
ail men, and ca.l to prevail in all countries and
situations where uman beings are Renal. 'The
1
doctrines of Lbett -, o f the equal rights of all men,
and the fraternity I the whole human family form
, the broadest as. ell as the soundest basis upon
which any party rest . .
Tue recent ane4np to extend slavery over free
territory seems tolhe narrow and selfish as well as
unjust. It isclaiming peculiar rights and privileges
fora portion of the people, rm. - aim; in asection of
....mwrip
our country. It - requiring TIMEX. MILLIONS of cit—
izens to Ore up t ir - wis.he.s, opinions and interer.s
to the peculiar ions.of rusts carom mrsinum
rnorsaso. :It is Att. with darGer s to our political
itamitvitions and o t Linke. It i s forming a sedimirg
and . ' - Exuty--such as the Mumma'
Washington upon as to frown indignantly
.
upon. I . .
.
trail high\ respees,
yaw obedient sersant.
MARCUS MORTON.
I am; geall
_fluidly he does tak rik.aid Mrs.
al a temperance lecturer. " I
'• Dear me, ho
partinzton recent!
am alway's rejoic
far his elotioene
carriJge of my
be rno:e smomb
she o ipeci her
and ntver tool:
the
.. when he mounts the nostril
wanns me in every nerve am/
y— r verdigrea_se itself could no
han his hied toi4ae and
m-tarks with her cottima bandana
r eyes from the speaker 'infix%
on the stand.
of m:
of fief: MeV Ireee,sad
I . for fist ofhtoreetriffifg
!niatesifai..:ll4ackT. wiPeaete
I,; secate fihnself bats
Cutti ITI
most":isitfl
annosale
who =ratted
maw-
Can Geor;—
ezeonlivashe
PaseENAlgra
I. -corn env ofthe UnitoilEtam,
j••• • - of: the Continimiament of
was sco-nullica beith)l•ll,o
• :rake the erholerethitiarly
Vs
about ,
coooa--
EME
6 I
IMMO
who *se them to intheitlf
:son giN - es th, phileciOy
is . =- A rr.arriera manrsays i
but a bachelor has no pleas/