'^r?', Glass. Book. ^nmunicated the Jjccompton constitution to this House, he goes still further, saying: "It has been solemnly adjudged by the highest 'judicial tribunal known to our laws, that slavery 'exists in Kansas by virtue if the Constitution of ' the United States. Kansas is, therefore, at this ' moment, as much a slave Slate as Georgia or South ' Carolina." In 1854, when the f?^ mise was undrr considerate ultra southern ground. They declared in the body of the Kansas-Nebraska bill ihat it is " The true intent and meaning of this act not to 'legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor 'to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people ' thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their ' domestic institutions in their own way, subject only 'to the Constitution of^e United States." We all remember tlftit this clause was inserted in consequence of the disputes in regard to this doc- trine of popular sovereignty. General'Cass and his northern friends contended" that slavery is a local in- stitution, and that it exists nowhere except under the sanction of posiiivcT^w ; while the southern uitraists contend ihat slavery exists as a matter of right in all the Territories. In 1854, the Democratic party de- termined not to be embarrassed by this question, and accordmgly inserted the above declaratory clause in the Kansas-Nebraska bill. It will be seen that the Democracy has been steadily gravitating southwardly for nine or ten years past, until it at length stands squarely upon the South Carolina platform. In 1J<47, the northern wing of the party voted for the Wilmot proviso. In 1«48, they wheeled about and denied ihe right of Cong-ess to abolish slavery in the Territories ; but declared it to be the inalien- able right of the people inhabiting them to admit or exclude slavery at their pleasure, either by their Territorial Leg-islatures, or in the formation of their State constitutions. In 1850 to 1854, this right was fiercely contested by the South, and the party was induced to take a neutral, or doubtful, position; in 1855-6-7, the repugnance of the slave interest to " squatter sov> reignty" grew intense, and the party yielded still further; in J858, they throw off all dis- guise, and openly avow that the Constitution carries slavery into all the Territories of the Union, and that no man can be a Democrat who denies this proposi- tion. I can conceive of but two further steps in this down- ward progress. The first of these is, to declare in favor of reopening the African slave trade; and the second is, to get up another Dred Scott decision in f ivor of the right to cany slavery into the free States. We know that the revival of the slave trade is earnestly demanded by th" more active spirits of the South. The Govern ir of South Carolina had recom- mended it to the attention of the Legislature; and in Louisiana the Legislature, or at least one branch of it^ the other, however, has rejected it by two votes — has , rT) ■within a few weeks past, passed an evasive act for the revival of the tratHc in slaves, under the name of ap- prentices, or hired laborers. Indeed, it is stated in the newspapers that the trade has t>eeii actually revived, on the coast of Mi sissi] pi, iu defi iice of the United States liws, which brand it as piracy. I have little doubt that the trade might be SLicce-ssliilly carriid on without the formality of a repeal of the laws pr.i- hibitinjr it, for we all know tho alacrity of the Piesi- deut in efl'orts to conciliate the South. In Kansas we have seen him trample on law and justice ; violate his pledges, and give countenance to the most iijfimous irauds, by turning out of office Governors and S creta- ries who would notconnive at them. How preposter- ous, then, the idea that the President would higgle at the allowance of the slave trade, or put himself to in- convenience in the enforcment of an unpopular statute of fifty years' standing! The ^lave trade may there- fore be regarded as practically re-established; but there is Treason to believe tliat rhe South will demand its legal recognition, and the exjTerience of the last few y^ars Woulji lead 'to the expectation thtit the Democratic parti \\\\\ adi pt the ArVican slave tnule- as ^ piffpk in "it^iatfonu. ,Tn,e*next national con- vention of the party is M> meet.at Ci'aileslon, South CaroliB'a.in 18S0, for the pui'pose of nominating a candidate ffir the FrcbidPncy, and the time and place will be eminently fitting lor the insertion of the ebony plank. The doctrine that the Constitution carros slavery into the free States has also found favor with tlie leading members of the party.' There are those who insist that the Dred Scott decision covers this ground ; and aii:ong this number is^he ' ffic al org.iu of the Government, the Washington Un-on. That p.ipirr, on the ]7thof NoviMiibtr iasufdistinctly a>Strted the right of the slavehoMers to carry their slaves into the free States, and to remain with them as long as they think proper, any law of tho.^e States to the contrary notwithstanding. The >outh will ere long insist upon this right, and we gray expect to see the Democratic party adopt it into its creed. I have said that the JJemocracy have but two more steps to take in their downward career; but there is Still another demand wh ch the South will hold in reserve: the right to reduce the poor whites of the country, and the laboring classes generally, includ- ing mechanics, to s:avery. 'this proposition has been boldly advanced in the South. Leading editors, politicians, and preachers have espoused it; and the other d«y it was proclaimed in the Senate; Chamber. The time may come when they may aiteii pt to re- duce it to practice. Why should they hesitate? They pronounce free societies a failure— an uiibuccessiul experiment made in western Europe and norhe^n America in comparatively modern times -wh le the whole experience and practice of mankind, f. oni the earliest ages, attest the utility and neces.>-ity of sla- very. It has become a cardinal doguia with the leaders of southern opinion, that slavery is the nat- ural and proper condition of the laboring classes, without reference to the color of the skin or nature of their employment. The nor. hern Democracy aie now the faithful allies of this white-slavery party of the South, and stand read}' to assist them in CiTiy- ing out every practical measure. I c.tn conceive that the leaders of the parly in the free S.ales will be greatly embarrassed by this question, when they shall be called upon to make an explicit avow 1 of the doctrine ; but it must bj rememb.red that i. um- bers of them have already indirectly taken ground in favor of white slavery ; for whoever quotes the Bible in favor of slavery, is the advocate of white slavery. The slavery instituted and regulated by the Mosaic laws was white slavery; the nations sur- rounding the land of Canaan, whom the Israe iies were authorized to enslave, were white men, Cauca- sians ; and, in a later age, the servants whom Paul commanded to obey their masters were white ser- vants. Whoever, therefore, resorts to the Bible for arguments in support of slavery, stands committed in favor of the right to enslave his white fellow- citizens. In tracing the downward career of the Democracy in the pursuit or "jiopular s ve eigntv," it is but just that 1 should admit, as 1 do with pleasure, that a considerable wing of the [larty has at length awak- ened to a consciousness of the ''base uses" to which their energies have been applied. They begin to see, at the eleventh hour, that they have done worse than stand uU the day idle. The nonest Democracy of the iNorth really supposed that the propagandists of slavery were in earnest when they avowed them- selves ready to "leave the people perfectly free to form their institutions in their own way." But the history of the struggle in Kansas has at length opened their eyes, it ought to have had that etftct sooner, and would h-.ve Uone so but for the infatua- tion of prejudice and the pride of partisanship. Sir, [ will not latij;ue the committee by going into a minute recital of the events of the Kansas history. A brief reference to them will be sufficient fur my purpose. The first territorial election totk place in March, 18ii5. Wo all know how it was conducted. About five thousand men, in uulilaiy array, marched over the line from the State ot iMissouri, " with dri;nis beating and banners flying," dispersvd tliemselves through the several counties or eleeton disiricts ; drove the peaceable iiihabiianis Irom the pulls, and cast an overwhelming vole fer men of tlie;roun par- ty — many of thciii, like their Ciustiiuents, citizens of Missouri. In a few ii.stanci s protests were made by actual residents against these vioUnt proceed- ings, and the Governor, Heeder, r. jecied the returns, and gave the ceriiticates of election to free-Siato men. But, in most cases, the leign ot terrwr established by the rutfian invaders was si complete that no one dared to make a proiest ; and, as a con^e(|uence — •though not a legitimate conse (Uence — the nillian in- truders secured a large m.ijority of the Legislature. The " Legislature" thus thrust upon the people of Kans s by violence and fraud, assembled in July. 'I'hey adopted, atone fell swoop, the whole body of laws of the btate of ilissouri, contauied in a large volume of Several bundled pages, with such indecent haste, and with so little regara to what the book con- tained, that they neglecied to erase " St ite of Mis- souri," vvlure it oceuri'ed in the titles of the several acts, and insert "Terriiory of Kansas" in its place. The consequence was, that they were compelled to the ridiculous expedient of passing a tupplemeniary act declaring that where the erai "State of Mis- souri" occurs, "Territory of Kansas" must be under- stood. Among the laws pasised by this model Le- gislature, were the following. I am not aware whether they were partly borrowed from the State of Missouri, or wiiether they or.giuaied entirely wiih tue ruffian Legislature. Tliey appear, however, to be, at least in part, original : "Sec. 11. If any person print, write, introduce ' into, publish, or creulate, or cause to be i ronght 'into, printed, written, published, or circulated, or ' shall knowingly aid or assist in bringing in o, 'printing, publishing, or circulating, unhin th:S ' Territory, any b lok, paper, pam hlet, magazine, ' handbill, or circular, containing any siatemeuis, ar- 'guments, opinions, sentiments, doctrines, advice, ' or innuendo, calculated to promote a disorderly, dan- ' gerousor rebellious dijatlection among ihe slaves in ' this Territory, or to induce such slaves to escape from the service of their masters or to resist their ' authority, he shall be gudty of a lelonv, and be ' punithed by imprisoiimeutand hard labor for a teim ' not less than five years. "Sec. \'i. If any free persoji by speaking or by ' writing, assert or maintain that persons have not ' the right to hold slaves in this Territory, or shall introduce into this Territoiy, print, publish, write, civculale, or cause to bo introduced into this Tcrrv ;oty, writtfn, printed, publi&hed, or circula'ed in this Territory, any book, pajjer, m.ia:az'ne, panip]ilet, jr cinulrir, coniain iig : ny denial of thi.^ right of persons to hold slaves in this Territory, such person shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and punished by imprisonment at hard labur for a tsrm of not less than two years." And further providing, thut no person "cmiscipn- ously opposed to holding slaves" shall sit as a juror 1 the" trial i.if any cause fciunded on a breach of the ir going law. The}' furth-'r provided, ttiat all of- cers and att rneys t-hould be sworn not only to sup- ort the Constituiion of the United States, but also I support and sustain the organic law of the Terri- iry, and the fugitive s'ave laws ; and thai any per- )n ofifermg to vote shall be presumed to be entitled I vole uni 1 the contrary is shown ; and if any one, hen required, shall refuse to take an oath to sustain le fugitive slave laws, he shall not be permitted to ate. They removed all obstacles to voting at future eciions on the \r.ir' of non-residents, b)' providing lat whoe^'er should p ly a poll-tax and claim resi- iuce for tiie time b"ing, should be a qualified elec- >r. No length of time was made a necessary part r the qualiticat on, aud the consequence was, that iiy MifSourian who could ; fford the expense of a de across the line, and the payment of a small oil-tax, was legally qualified to make laws and in- ;itutions for Kansas It was known that the citi- ius of the free Siates could not avail themselves of le privilege, in consfquence of the great distance Uervening. No one would dream of traveling five ) fifteen hundred miles for the purpose of casting a ote. Even Iowa could afford no aid to the free- tate cause, under this convenient electoral law, nee the western portion of it is, or was at th^t time, hiiost un nhabited. Such Wfis the " perfect freedom," and " popular jvereignty" enjoyed by the people of Kansas at leir first election. Their second election, in ISofi, took place under le " laws" passed by this Legislature, which make . a felony to discuss tiie very questions at i sue be- iveen the parties ; and dislranchise all wi)o wou d ot take an oath to support laws which they hekl iu bhorrence. It is the height of tyranny to compel a lan to swear to support a particular statute as a audition upon which he is to exercise the elective •anchiso. Have citizens no right to doubtand doi y le constitutionality of 1 iws ? And must American reemen stultify themselves, or be d sfrauchised ? 'he idea is abhorre it to evrry man who is not a ty- ant or a slave at heart. Tt is "the es-^etice of tyranny. What would South <^aroIina think of such a test- atn in regard to a protective tariff. - She once de- lared such a tariff unconstitutional and void. Sup- ose the Co gross of that day. a,t the recommenda- on of General Jackson, had pa. The free-Staie party had now become too strong to be overawed by rufBaii invaders from Missouri; and, as a c insequence, the slavery des^jeradoes were com- pelled to resort to new tactics. In the first elect'on, of March, 1855, their reliance was upon force. They scarcely condescended, at that stage of the struggle, to perpetrate frauds, except such as were as bold and barefaced as the violence which accompanied them. In ISoii, their relative strength was considerably im- paired, and firce and fraud were united; while in 1857 their weakness was so conspicuous, that they abandoned force, except in a few localities, and relied almost exclusively upon the most despicable fraud and perjury. The ruffians have been coni])letely transfirmed into knaves; and the people, who have grown too strong to be kept down by force, are to be cheated of their rights by the forgery of t lection re- turns, and the perjury of officials. We all recollect how the consummation of this crime was prevented by the integrity of Governor Walker and Secretary 8lanton, in the rejection of the Oxford and McGee county frauds ; and we all know the reward they received at the hands of President Buchanan. For doing whit any Inmest man would have done, Governor Walker was denounced by the pro-slavery press of the country in the moHuuraea^- '.ured terms, and was censured and frowned upon by 'the Administration, until self-respect compelled him to resign. Secretary Stanton, partly for his own par- ticipation with Walker in the rejection of the Oxf rd frauds, and partly for calling an extra session of the free-Stale Legislature, has been unceremoniously dis- missed. Two more elections remain to be noticed. I allude to those of the 21st December and the 4th of Janu- ary. The first of these elections Avas called by the Lecompton conspirators in order to gloss over their treasonable work by tricking the people into its adop- tion. Instead of submitting the whole constitution to the popular vote, which would Ivtve been the most easy and natural, as well as the only fair and legiti- mate jiroceeding, they submitted a single clause for the people's ratification or rejection, on condition of their voting for all the other clauses. Can any good reason be offered for this discriminatioi? Have not the people the same right to vote f t or against the whole constitution that they have to vote upon a part of it? Sir, the members of the convention bad the frankness to tell why they declined to submit the whole constitution. They acknowledged that they withheld it because they were aware that ihe people would vote it down ; and incredible as the fact may seem, the official organ of Mr. Buchanan— the Wash- ington Uniini— had the coolness to justify them on that ground! Sir, call you this Democracy? No, sir; no. sir; it is the essence of whatever is mean, odious, and tyrannical. Every honest man will detest the vile hypocrisy which attempts to cloak its despotic purposes under such disgu'ses. The terms of this pretended submission of the sla- very clause to the popular ratification required that all who voted at all, whether for ( r against the sla- very clause, must vote for the constitution. Tbey must vote "'for the constitution with s avery," or " for the constitutii n without slavery." Is it not clear that the objeet of the convention was to extort an endorsement of the constitution from those who were opposed to it, or compel them to refrain from voting? This dishonoruble expedient originated in the same spirit with that which originated the test oaths — a desire to disfranchise all who were opposed to slavery and to the rule of the usurpers. iS'o con- scie.itious opponent of the constitution co'ild vote at all ; and the result was that the border ruffians and Federal stipendiaries had everything their own way. But, sir, the question of the existence of slavery was really never submitted to the vote of the i)eople at all. The pretended submission only amounted to this: shall Kansas exclude the further introduction of slaves ? A separate clause ofthe cot:stitution guar- anties a perpetual right of slaveholders in the slaves already in the Territory, whatever might be the result of the vote upon the clause submitted for their rati- fication ; and the vain attempt is made to bind future gi^nerations for all time to the maintenance of slavery. The people are permitted to alter their constitution after the year 1864, provided that the clause sccuiing a perpetual r'ght to bold slaves is never to be touched. Such, sir, is the "popular sovereiguty" which Wr. Buchanan wishes secured to the people of KansasI They may exclude the introduction of more slaves, pr-'vided they will vole for the perpetuation of the slavery already in existence, and the perpetual right to buy, sell, and breed Irom the stock already on hand ! They may even alter the c 'nstitution after the .year lSi\i, priii'ided that this sacred right of holding, buy- ing, selling, and breeding from those in the Terri- tory at the time of its admission into the Union, is never to be intei-fered with ! Sir, I should have held the Lecompton convention and th« Administration in more respect if they had adhered to their first res- olution, which was, n"t to submit the constituiion, or any ])art of it, to llie popular vote. Tyranny awakens our abhorrence, but fraud and jugglery excite con- tempt. The convention ordered another election to take place on the 4th of January, under this Lecompton constituiion, for State oihceVs, State Legislature, and a men, ber of Congress; and in the mean time the newly elected free-State Legislature met in a Cjlled session, which proceeded to order an election to take phvce siso on the 4th of JauHary, upon the question of ratifying or rejecting the constitution. We have heard the result of this election. More than ten ifiousand freemen of Kansas c^'st tbeir votes against tlie constiiuliou in all its parts; while on the 21st December only six thousand voted f<.r the constitu- tion with slavei'v; and of these it hus been ascer- tained that full)' half were fraudulent. We have, tliere- fore, ten thousand against the constitution, and ihree thousand fir it; and ytt, in the face of these indis- putable facts, the administration of Mr. Buchanan, backed by what is called the Democratic party, are endeavorina: to force Kansas into the Union under the Lecompton constitution. !Sir, the history of the worst ap;es of the world will furnish no more glaring invasion of the rights of a free people. The j)arti- lion of Poland and the subjugation of fTiingary by the despots of Russia and Germany, were not more flagrant acts of tyranny. As to the election, on the 4th of January, for State officers, State Legislature, and member to Congress, we are not permitted 1o know the result to this day, jn any reliable auihority. The president of the con- s^enion, who is, at the same time, surveyor general 3f Kansas — a Federal oflicial, who holds his place at ;he pleasure of the Administration — was authorized bv the convention to receive and count the votes, and declare the result. In concert with the Administra- ;ion, and doubtless by its command, he has held bick ;he certificates of election in order to be ready for jny emergency. If the prospect seems fair that Kansas is to be admitted into the Union under the Lecompton constitution, without serious opposition, jve are given to understand that the pro-slavery party :ias triumphed. If, on the other hand, the ftite of ;he swindle grows doubtful, we hear intimations ;hrown out, through the organs of the Administra- ;ion, that the free-Stite candidates are to receive the ;ertificates. We have recentl_y seen in the news- oapers a letter from Calhoun, stating that he has such nformation from the Territory as will induce him ;o give the certificates to a majority of fiee-Stnte ■nen. But his information is unotficial. He has not leurd from Governor Denrer; and the fraud once Mnsummattd here, it is not at all improbable thnt i he official count might foot up quite ditferently. It s to be remarked, also, that this letter, whicfi will Dave toe way f;ir a few doubtful northern votes, says lot a word, about the State ofScers, and member of Hongress. Sir, I have no faith in this letter. I will not be- ieve that the majority has been given to the free- Mcite party, until I hear it on undoubted authority rom Kansas. This knavish juggle, this thimble- " gging, has been continued too long to impose upon he public. I regard the Administration as being equally re- jponsible with Calhoun for the outrageous violation )f all law and precedent, all justice and decency in his matter. He is their creature, holding a high and valuable ottlce at their hands ; and he would not have lared thus to trifle with the rights of Kansas if be lad not been encouniged in it by his official supe- "iors. The Admisti-ation is determined on securing .wo more United States Senators to bolster up their ottering despotism, and the whole history of their nreer proves that they will scruple at nothing — yes, sir, literailv nothing — which may secure success. Such, Jlr. Chairman, has been the history of ' popular sovereignty" under the administraiions of Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan. They have 'held the word of promise to the ear, and broken it ;o the hope." They never intended that the people should be "perfectly free" to form their own insti- ;utions, unless they should include slavery among ;hem. If the people had been unanimous for slavery, here would have been no interference on the part of he Federal Government, because there would have leen no necessity for it; but as the most uumistaka- >'e indications were given that a majority of the jerple were opp^'sed to slavery, and if hft to them- ielvea would exclude it, ail the power and influence of the Federal Government have been employed to defeat the popular will, not by a legitimaie use of executive influence, but by stimulating rutfianism, murder, fraud, and perjury; by the appointment of the most notorious murderers and scoundrels to office, and by putting arms into their hands with wliich to murder and rob the free-State men. The Government is the creature of the slave power. A Senator, in the other wing of the Capital, has had the frankness to admit that the South has ruled the country almost from the origin of the government. Sir, nothing could be truer; and I with humili^itioa confess that th-' southern supremacy has never been so complete under a southern President as it has been under the last and present Administraiions, when northern men have nominally presided at the White House. The present incumbent of the presidential office is reporti:d to have said, many years ago, that, if he had a drop of Democratic blood in his vein^ he would let it out. I am not aware that the fact%'as ever tested by a resort to the Sangrado practice; but the history of his life has superseded all necessity for surgery. He clung to the old Federal party until it broke down, and then unceremoniously marched ovf-r to the enemy. From that time forward we have seen him trimming between the extremes of Norlh and South, until he ascertained that the slave interest predominated in the Democratic party. From the date of that discovery he at once threw himself into the arms of the slavery propagandists ; and to-d ly his position is more ultra southern than that of Mr. Calhoun was at the day of his death. And the his- tory of his Administration, particularly with refer- ence to Kansas, has removed every suspicion that he has either honest Democratic blood or northern blood in his veins. St, he beionsrs to the genus Dough- face—a name invented by John Randolph, of Roanoke, to characterize the northern champions of slavery ; and that term implies the absence of blood of aiiy kind. The position of the Republican party with refer- ence to "popular sovereignty," or the right of the people of a Territory to make their own laws is, in my view, the only one compatible with the con- stitution and with common sense. We hold that territorial sovereignty is subordinate to Federal au- thority; that it is absurd to suppose that the first handful of men — five hundred or five thousand who arrive in a Territory like Kansas, of more than a hundred thousand square miles, have an exclusive right to fix its fundamental laws for all time, with- out the consent of Congress. They have no rio-ht for instance, to form a State government, and t(rde- fine its boundaries, without the consent of Congress. Common sense dictates that Congress shouliT first pass an enabling act, setting forth the number of luhabitants requisite to Ibrm the State, the territorial extent of the State, and its boundaries. Can there beany question on this point? May five hundred ruen erect themselves into a State, wiih an area of five hundred thousand square miles? The idea is utterly preposterous; but admit the principle of territorial sovereignty, and this conclusion follows. But while we insist upon the right of Oongre.-s to legislate for the Territories, we admit that this right may be waived The people of the Territories uTay be invested with the privilege of making laws for themselvi^s, as Kansas has been; and we insist that they shall enjoy the right thus guarantied to them bv the organic act, without executive intermeddling. We deny their right to come into the Union when- ever they think proper, and on any terms, but we admit their right to present themselves tor admis- sion. The Republican party has been the bulwark of practical popular sovereignty in Kansas since the organization of the territorial government; and we hail with joy the recent demonstrations of a large wing of the Democracy in favor of this principle. 6 We extend to tbem the right hand of fellowship, and sh;ill be happy to c^-operate with thorn in any meas- ures for vindicating' the perlbct freedom of the people in the formation of their own institutions in their own way. Sir, if the GrOTernment were placed in the hands of honest and fair men, I should have little a|)pre- hension of seeing- slavery extended, even without a resort to congressional "prohibition There was a time when the tendency wasto expand slavery fiister than freedom, but that time is past. Atihep riod of the organization of the Government ihere were twelve States of the Union which tolerated slavery, and only one from which it was excluded. In six of those Staffs slavery was an interest of prims im- portance; and neiirly the whole territory of th» Union lay contiguous to them. New England and New York had no frontier Territories bordering on them- and only Pennsylvania, of all the States then coi^'-iratively, now entirely fiee, had a direct outlet into the wilderness beyond its west-rn borders. In ronsequence of this st4te of things, and cf the pecu- liar nature of slavery, we have seen Kt^ntuoky and Tennessee spring into existence before Ohio; and from that time forward down to 1850, slaverv spread more rapidlv and widely than freedom. Since that period, the' tables have been turned. Dp to 1850, the number of free and slave States was equil. Cali- fornia turned the scale in favor of freedom ; and now we have no less than three more free States ready for admission into the Union. One of them we have seen a party which styles itself Democratic, with a northern President at' its head, attempt to smuggle into the Union under a slave constitution, concocted by corrupt Federal officials and other U'^scrupulous ruffians; but every man in the country knows that Kansas is practically free, and determined to remain so. Sir, nothing caii prevent Kansas from becoming a free State of the Union in twelve months or two vears, together with Minnesota and Oregon. Of the' fifteen slave States, Delaware is one, with not more slaves in it than are to be found on some of the largest plantations of the South. The people are anxiously looking about them for the means of removinfj the last vestige of the institution ; and we may set^Delaware down as prictically free. Mis- souri, too, is one of the fifteen slave States. Her slave population is considerable, but her white popu- lation is ten times more numerous; her territory is as large as Great Britain, and the tide of white im- migra'nts now flowing into the State is rapidlv dwarf- ing the relative importance of slavery. It is be- lieved that its actual strength will for the same reason decline, the slaveholders bein j- induced to immigrate South with their slaves, by disgust and irritition at the marked chinge in publ'c sentiment which has n suited from the influx of white population. As an index of the rising free sentiment in that State, I might point to the presence, in this House, of the dis'tinguished Representative from St Louis. He will doubtless have sympathizing colleagues in the next Congress. Maryland is another of the fifteen slave States. It is now" in a false position. It has no use for slaves in any point of view. It is a commercial and manu- facturing, as well as agricultural State. It lies in the latitude of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and has no more need of negn slaves than those States. Its slave population has been declining for fifty years. It had more slaves when the first census was taken, in 1790, than at the last, in 1S50; and in the mean time, its white population has increased several fold. It has a city of two hundred and fitty thousand in- habitants, which, in fifteen or seventeen years, will number half a million. That city, and the whole tier of northern counties, are nearly rid of slavery, and are becoming averse to the institution. They embrace three-fourths of the population of the State, nnd are growing every day more and more conscious of their strength. It is not to be credited that a barbarous and worn-out institution will be permitted to fetter the energies of such a population many years longer. Sir, I have pointed to the fact, that at the time of the formation of the constitution, nearly the whole of our western Territories, lay contiguous to the southern States, while only a portion of one northern State was in actual contact with them. I rom north- ern Virginia, on the fortieth parallel of l.ititude, down to the line of Florida, the South was bounded west- wardly by vacant territories stretching to the Pacific ocean. The Nor h then literally had no West, ex- cept the strip of land between the northern lim- o Virginia and Lake Erie. Now, how ch .nged! The free States are now in close proximity to nearly every foot of valuable territory in the Union ; while the South has, in the progress of events, been shut otf from it. We h^ve twelve degrees of western front, commencing with the southern boundary of Kaiisjis and running up to the forty-ninth parnllcl. This in- cludes and secures to us beyond contingency, all the territory east of the Kocky Mountains, except a strip about two hundred miles wide, west of Arkansas, which has been dedicated to the Indian tribes. Be- yond the Rocky Mountains we have California. Ore- gon, and Washington Territories; in a word, the whole Pacific coast. Utah and New Mexico are cold, mountainous, or desert regions, and hold out no strong inducements to emig ants from any quarter; but are entirely unsuited for slavery. They are to become the great breakwater of the emigrant tide, and are destined at no distant day to turn it back upon Jlissouri, the Indian Territory, Arkansas, Ken- tucky, and, in a word, upon the whole northern tier of slave States. The fertile region o less than ten thousand slaves. That State is, therefore, more likely to re- ceive a fr endly invasion of Free-Soilers from the North than to send out a pro-slavery invasion into the adjacent Territory. The cotton region of Arkansas lies in its southern and southeastern portions, and the slave population is chiefly confined to these sections. If cotton and sla- very will not flourish in the northern and western parts of this State, how unlikely that they will suc- ceed bettff in the higher and colder regions west of it, to which the Indians have been assigned! Mr. Chairman, the South owed its rapid develop- ment, or I should more properly say, its diflfusion and consequent increa'^e in 'ihe number of St.ites, in the commencement of our national career, to the riiiaous ettects of slavery upon the soil. Slave la- r is fitted only for agriculture. Slaves are kept ignorance as a nocessary police regulation : and, a utcessary consequence, the}' are only qualified • the cuai'sest common labor. They will not excel even ihe rudest species ot mechanical or nianu- iluriug labor ; and are utterly unfitted, by iguo- ice, by iho absence of motives of inierest, and by ,nt (/t integrity of character, for the more iut^e- )us operations of art, for trade commerce, and bu- less. The cijmmunity, therefore, which holds a It, a third, or iwo-thirds of the population in slave- can never compete with a Iree community. It is if a man shoulil attempt to run a racewiib one of i legs splintered, or to wrestle with the right arm and. It is lor this reason that we see but a few \'ns and villages in the slave ^Itates, compared ill wliat we hiid norih (jf Mason and IJixon's line; It the cities, except on the iiurihern border, where very has nearly disappeared, are few in number, i dwarfed m appearance. Even agriculture ilself, :auue it is the almost only occupation of society, ars a languid and thrililess aspect. L'owusand citico are essential lo agricultural pros- ■ity. They furnish a domestic market for whal- 'V ihe earth produces; for grain and vegetables, beef, mutton, poultry, and eggs, and for a thou- id things -which would otherwise be usele.-s. very starves out the towns and cities, wears out th^i 1, aua leaves nothing to improve or recuperate it, ;ept at a very heavy expense and inconvenience. e consequence is, that the slaveholder, alter a ien or twenty years, finds it necessary to abandon worn-out plantation, and move further, in search lew lauds ; and hence it is that slavery has here- ire advanced so rapidly. Its weakness and worth- iness, as a system of labor, have been the cause ts temporary increase of political power in the federacy. iut, S1I-, the spirit of progress and improvement i invaded even the sUve region ; and within fif- a years, but more especially within ten years. South has greatly improved its conditicm by the structiod of railroads, and other facilities of iibporiation and travel. The effect has been to ng- the farmer ueai er ttie market, to diversify em- yiueut, and lo give unwonted aciivity to town L country. But the legitimate development of Soutti has tended to hinder its expansion. The ;umented demand for labor in the old States has eked eiiiigratiou, and we see Virginia, Maryland, I the CaroUnas improving as fast, or nearly as fast, he newer States of the t)outhv\est. Texas, which an immense fertile territory, wilh five times as cti soil adapted to slavery as Virginia, has disap- nted the hopes of the South ; and apprehensions in to be felt that the western hall of it will be iropriated by the Fiee-Soilers. Should tbis take ce, it may be attributed as much to the internal elopmeni of the old slave States as to the efater- 56 of the Free-Soilers. he most feasible remedy which the South has, refore, against the encroaching tide ot white la- , is the return to her ancient lethargy and in- erence -to the value of internal improvements, her abandon her railroads, and ce^se to build re, let her burn down her factories and work- ps, and lynch or destroy every steam-engme, 1 she will soon see revived that great element of political power, the compulsory dispersion of her lulation over the plaius of Texas, and the forma- 1 of new slaves States. A return to this policy Y Secure to her the Indian Territory, if not Kau- itself. L diti'erent, law has controlled the destiny of north- population, ihe free States were originally ^r. Ihe luiports of the South, as well as the ex- ts, prior to the Revolution, were greater than se of tne North. The South, then, as now, pro- ;(id the rich staples of commerce; the North , produced nothing which was not grown equally cheap in Europe, except, perhaps, lumber and fish, whieb were exchangca for such iiritish manufactures or colonial products as they could attbrd topurcha.--e. The South, it is true, had no couamerce, because that was in the hands of the merchants of England. English ships brought their cargoes to the very doors of the planters, without the intervention of ail American iiierchant, in many cases; a fact which illustrates the utter absence ot commerce in the American colonies. Genertil Wast ington was in the habit of thus dealing directly with the Londou im- porter. The planters had, however, much more to ex- change for the luxuries and comiiirts of Europe than the poor farmers of the North. Thj South exported everything valuable which she produced, and im- ported everything which she consumed, except necessary food. Nearly everything worn, and every article of furniture was imported. Eveu brickjj to build houses wore imported from England. The friends of slavery are in the habit of pointing to the large exports of the South— they can no longer point to its large imports— as evidence of the supe- rior wealth of that section. They export everything valuable which they produce, and impoit, either from Europe or from the North, everything except neces- saries which they consume; and this, sir, is the ground of their boasted wealth, independence, and civilization ! I am amazed, sir, that a moment's re- flection has not taught them the contrary. Is it not clear that a country which produces only the ravv^ materials of commerce, which only cultivates the ground, is in a condition of colonial dependence? touch, sir, is the toudiiion of the South. She pro- duces the bulk of our exports, andj'et she has never, at an}' period of her history, exported them. Even when a majority of the exports was made from south- ern ports, the trade was carried on by northern or European ships and seamen, liut for some years past ihe South has fallen behind the Ivorih in the amouut of exports. The imports have always been iu northern hands. The JSorih sends its sliipri to New Orleans and Charleston, transports their cotton, tobacco, sugar, and rice, to Europe, and brings back return-cargoes of merchand se to iNew York, Boston, and rhiladelphia; and from these points the South is supplied with foreign or northern manufactures. Sir, the condition of the South is strictly one of colo- nial depeudence. She produces the very staples of coinmeice; she has tine harbors, fine timber for ship- building; iu a word, every, material element of com- merce; but they are ot no avail. The ignorance and' barbarism of slavery have doomed her to an inferior and dependent condition. The colonial history of New England and other northern States is a history of severe and heroic struggles with primeval nature. They had none of the advantages which the South enjoyed. They produced nothing which was not grown to equal ad- vantage in Europe, with the exceptions of lumber and fish. The people had little to export, and there- fore little to buy with. They were compelled to resort to their owti ingenuity tor the supply of their wants ; and hence arose those diversihed employments of agriculture, commerce, aud the mechanic arts, which have coiiferred wealth aud independence upon the free Stales. Eveu their superior education and liter- ature may be traced to this humble origin — to the necessity of ministering to their own wants. The wealthy slave proprietors were able to educate their sons at Oxford or Cambridge, and therefore neglect- ed, iu a great measure, the establishment of schools and colleges at home. The northern people, too poor to imitate the example of their southern neigh- bors, but being imbued with the love of knowledge, s,et about building institutions of learning on this side of the Atlantic, and the establishment of com- mon schools for all classes. The result has been to oster a universal love of learnings among the people, to found institutions of learning wliich command the respect of the civilized world, and a literature which, in litile more than two centuries from the date of the first settlement at Plymouth Rock, begins to take i-ank by the side of that of the mother countrj. Hir, "this diversity of employment, which is an es- sential element of civilization and progress, had its germ in the poverty of the northern colonies, and it is now the glorv and streni^th ot the empire. It has kept j)opulation more at home, and caused the accumula- tion of large masses in cities and towns. ISince the Revolution, the incidental, and sometimes direct, protection, exi ended by the Federal Government to manufactures, has tended to promote this diversity of employment and concentration of population. The propagandists of slavery should, above all other peo- ple, auvocate the protective policy ; since its effect is to prevent the emigrating tendency of northern populat on, which has thwarted their efforts to carry slavery into Kansas. But it is a singular fact that the policy of the iSouth hiis tended more to the spread of free institu- tions than oui- own northern policy has done. Sir, what has that southern policy boen . . ., has been to break down, or keep down, our mmulacturiug system, by withholding the protection which is es- sential to its existence. Free-trade has never been literally adopted in this country ; and we have there- fore to conjecture its fulUfi'ects upon our mechanieal and manufacturing interests. But I think the free- trade theorists will agree with me that it would j)ro- duce a general dispersion of the noriheru town popu- lation. It would augment the tide of western and southern emigration, and till up the Territories with its free white laborers. The present revenue tariff' has been in operaiion a dozen years. ^V'e have seen its effects. They have b;en only less potent than free- trade. It has cripp'ed our manufactures, jrevented the erowth of manufacturing towns in the old States, and sent our people out in search of new homes in the Far West. California, in the latitude of V,rgiuia and the Carolinas, has been njade a free State. Kan- sas, m the same latitude, has been rescued from the jaws of slavery. We have at the same time f mud a surplus for the peopling of J\linnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Nebraska, and are now proposing to oust slavery from Missouri. But, sir, another southern measure has removed an obstacle to the ascendency of free laboi- and free institutions in this Republic. I allude to the repeal of the Missouri compromise. While that compromise existed, there was a tacit understanding that ihe line of thiriy-six degrees thirty nnnutes was to be the boundary line between slavery and freedom. But, sir, the line has been effaced ; and the friends of freedom, after an arduous struggle, have succeeded in placing their right to all territory north of that line on a foundation more enduring tuan the isother- mal theories of Governor Walker, or the plighted faith of the slave power. By its free-trade pulley, the South has imposed upon the North the ntcessity of emigration, and, by the repeal of the Missouri compromise line, they invite us into their territorial heritage. We have lost nothing by your bad faith; and, in the name of the free people of the countr)', of all parties and sectioos, I ihaiik you for the act, though not iwr the motive which prompted it. We will take you at your word. We will go into your goodly land and possess it ; once yours by compro- mise, but now as much ours as yours by your bad faith. I am the advocate of a protective tariff", and I think the present tariff ruinoMsly low; but if you think it too high, reduce it, and estHblisii free-trade. The effect will he to injure us of the older States, of Pennsylvania, of Mew England, New York, New Jersey, and Ohio ; but what we lose in wealth and prosperity the North will gain in political power. Break up our factories ani workshops, and our popu- lation will emigrate to the western Territories, crowd out si very, and make free Siates of thtm. Our population will invade Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and Virginia, and transform them into free States. Commerce, too, will be unduly stimulated, thus afl'iirding additional facilities to European emigrati( n to this country ; and we ma}'' expect to see an influx of hveorsix hundred thousand per annum, who will be joined to the army of northern invaders of your soil. WASHINGTON, D. C. BIJELL & BLANCHARD, PRINTERS. 1858. HBRARY OF CONGRESS 016 085 202 1 ^■a ^- k