Newspaper Page Text
THE PERRYSBURG JOURME. 15Y S. CLARK. . VOL. 2. " Agriculture, Commerce, Manufactures." $1.50 In. Advance.. PE11IIYSBURG, WOOD COUNTY, OHIO, SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 1854. NO. 16. What Senator Douglas means by people of Territories governing themselves. Senator Douglas slated in one of his re-J fvut midnight speeches to a brass band of serenaders in this city, that he had spoken his share in favor of the Nebraska bill, audi ihat he did not intend to discuss the subject! injy more. Since then, lie. Ins in a de. three public speeches upon the prolific theme, and! to oil appearances intends to lire his Nebras-' ka gun as fat as he can load, until the wis -! doin of his winter's work is acknowledged liy 'lit1 country it' he lives so long. We ulno may trut'ifully say we have wriilen our share in opposition to the Ne-i braska bill; but al'ler the example of the Jv-nator save that we violate no promise we shall continue to discuss its iibomina-: iions until we bring them all to light, and! the authors of them to judgment. How! long that will be, it is impossible to say,! hut we expect to get through our work before the Senator gets through with his. The more we study the Nebraska bill, the more we are shocked by the enormity of its' provisions, some of which have thus far en- tirely escaped public animadversion; and the more clearly do we realize the motives. if its projectors in pushing it through with such precipitation, as to preent its receiv ing the consideration which such a nvasurf deserved, and which would have certainly led to its defeat. We d 'sire to call our readers' attention particularly to-day to the clause defining' lie terms of dtteciiship and the qualification if voters, whero will be found some pro visions lor which, we undertake to say, no, precedent can be found in American legisla- uou. noi even in wu; alien una seuuion laws il" President Adams. It is generally supposed that the Clayton iimendmenf, limiting the light of suffrage in the case of aliens to those who had resided! in the territory four years, was rejected, and: the. emigrants from abroad, who will consti-: ute. the bulk of the. population for the first! l w years, will at once be clothed with all tin privileges of citizenship in the new ter-; l itory. We quote the 23d clause of the Ne-j braska bill, (it is the 5th in the Kansas! bill,) to show the crroneousness of this im-i pressiou, and to direct attention to another: qualification attached to the lights of suf frage of American emigrants, of which few, we venluri to say, of the thousands now: making preparations to settle in the new territory have any idea. Sr.c. 23. And be. it further enacted, That, every free white male inhabitant ubove the! age of 21 years, who shall be an actual resi-' dent of saiu territory, and shall possess the qualifications hereinafter prescribed, shall bo entitled to rote ut the first election, and shall Ik: eligible to any oilice within the said ter ritory : but the qualifications ol voters, and of holding office, a; all subsequent elections, shall be such as shall be prescribed by the Legislative Assembly: Provided, that the! right of suffrage, and of holding office, shall be exercised only by citizens of the United State, and those who shall have declared on oath their intention to become such, and shall have taken an oath to support the Constitu tion of the United States and the provisions .it . at . t mi ) tins act: Ana provided jurinrr, inaino officer, soldier, seaman op marine, or any; other person in the army or navy of the! United States, or attached to troops in the! service of the. United States, shall be allowed to vote or hold office in said territory, by reason of being on service therein. -; By this provision every one may vote at the first election, but after the first election, the legislature prescribes the qualifications of voters, with a proviso that prevents them from doing it, and limits them to the quali fications prescribed by Congress. These qualifications are citizenship, natural or acquired, and an oath to support the Con stitution and the Nebraska Dill. . The declaration of intention referred to, is that mentioned in the naturalization acts, and the oath to support the Constitution is I j i ! ! ! j l that taken at the. end of a five years' resi dence after a declaration of intention. None but citizens those who are born in the country, or, by a five years' naturalization, have become citizens swear to the Consti tution. The Judges who will be appointed will unquestionably so hold, and exclude all! others from polls. But the most insulting provision in thisja section, and the most intolerable provision in th. whole, bill, is that which makes it and; the Constitution of equal sanctity ; which: compels every man who presents himself at; polls to vote, or us a candidate for office,: to support the Nebraska bill ; and which re-! quires him to devote himself to the propaga- tion oi slavery betore lis is allowed to ex-witness ercise the inalienable right of a freeman. This is the first time an American citizen nas ever ueen required to xahe an oam id; support an act of Congress ; it is the first time suffrage and office were ever made dependent upon such an oath ; it is the first nine me extension oi slavery nas ueen raised to the level of a constitutional duty. I he operation of this qualification will be to exclude from the polls and from office, in the territories, nearly every man who goes there from the free States. It will dis-1 h-ancliise nearly every member of every ein-; igrant association that has yet been formed, place the entire political power of the-whelming in the hands of slave-holders or; slavery'propagandists : for no others will or can take the oath required by the terms of tms act- It will also exclude from the polls and from office for five years, every foreigner who may reach the territory after the first! election day. As the great bulk of the future settlers of! Nebraska will be foreigners and emigrants! the free States, it is obvious that so far from governing themselves, the inhabitants! the territory will hate comparatively nothing to do with making or administering! me jaws win:n un-y uvu reqmreu iu vuey . siicu is me- cnarauier 01 me oiu which oen-1 ator Douglas informed the brass band, whom he addressed the other night at the St. Nicli-Uie olas, was based upon the right of the people; to govern themselves. Y . live, rost. gueui wR-insriies. ir. i. ium, i ; i I , i ' J u puiie,, ill wuja-. of our rights under the! Constitution of the United States, when Massachusetts sought by legal The DiH-JOur citizens, guilty . oth-r offence than the color of their skin, s imprisoned in Southern ports, in viola- no are mil tion. we believe , constitutional means to test their rights un der that sacred instrument, vhen she sent one of her most eminent citizens, Hon. Sam uel Hoar, clothed with her official dignity of the agent of a sovereign State, to appeal, in their own courts of justice, before their own judges, all know how she was treated by South Carolina. The halls of justice of that State were, closed against us. Our rights un der the Constitution, admitted by a South Carolina judge, were refused us, and our agent was driven by mob violence out of the State. In doing this, South Corolina was sustained by nearly every southern press, now so swift to heap their vituperations upon us. But now, when southern gentle men come to us and claim rights under the same constitution, which grate harshly upon our moral and religious feelings, when, un der circumstances the most aggravating, we keep dow n as a community, the rebellious promptings of our hearts, and execute the odious law, the very pains taken to assure that execution are distorted into a reproach. How much more of this is it to be expected that human nature will be able to endure. Boston Atlas. A number of southern senators are said to have declared that they would oppose any treaty for the settlement of the fishery ques tion, or for the establishment of reciprocal trade with Canada, unless it shall contain a clause for the surrender of fugitive slaves. Of course the British government will con sent to no 6uch treaty stipulations. The Facts Compactly Stated. At the recent nominating State Conven tion in Vermont, the Hon. J. Meacham, whose, speech on the repeal of the Missouri Compromise was one of the best made in Con gress, transmitted a letter to the Conven don in 'which he recapitulates the facts in the passage of the Nebraska bill in so clear manner that we cannot deny ourselves the i pleasure of laying it before our readers: Warhtvp-tov Mv 31 1RM j feel anxious that some one of those men, abler than myself to de the scribe the scenes of the Nebraska struggle, should be in your Convention. And yet, I j know that it is impossible for even an eye- to give an exact impression of the ; contest. The alternation of hopes and fears i0f the phalanx that so long resisted the needless, and unauthorized, and infamous j violation of plighted faith, can never be 1 given ! The Missouri Compromise is repealed ! un you ask how it was done 7 I will tell Ivou. i 1. Without the request, and against the wish of everv man who petitioned Congress on the subject. 2. By crowding out of place all the most important business of the session, and j crowding in a measure to which an over arid majority of the people "were op territory posed. j 3. By bringing I do not say bribing to its support, through Executive influence : arid patronage, men who acted against their 'own declared judgmentsand the known j will of their constituents, 4. By trampling under foot the ttules of ! the House of Representatives, made in ac- cordance with the Constitution, and thus violently depriving the minority of their le from gal rights and just privileges. 5. By refusing to allow the people to e of press their decision on the question, lest as Senator Petit of Indiana declared the peo- pe should letuse It I10W, Or tor years to come, and perhaps lorever. I if the ivill of the people had been obeyed Act could not have passed. If it had taken its legal place in the order of business, Ilt could not have passed. If the Executive sed its the . . , , - :y ... ucc" wuwieu, ji couia not : lt could not nave passed. it the Execut ofP"'er had not, uiKighteously, interposed lnfl,enceV C!Id n0t .Pt Iff Rules f te House, and the rights of 1 1,..- 1 The Missouri Compromise, therefore, Tvas repealed, not only without authority and without law, but in known and acknowl edged violation of both ! The Missouri Compromise being repealed, the question of Slavery is re-opened in all the Territories of the Union. The Baltimore platform being violated by all parties except Northern Whigs, it will not be expected that that body of men will any longer be held by the fragments of a broken and abandoned truce. In this posture of affairs, I trust that the Whigs of Vermont, holding the first State Convention since the passage of the Nebras ka bill, will take ground wisely and firmly, that 1. There shall be no more territory ac quired by the funds of freemen, unless on the express condition that Slavery shall be for ever excluded from it. 2. That on no condition shall another slave State be added to the Union. 3. That Slavery shall be wiped out of every part of the republic, except where shielded by positive municipal law. I hope the Whigs of Vermont will take that position, not only for themselves, but for their children after them ; and when they have taken it, that they will nail their colors to the mast ! j J i J 1 ; I ; I ! : I j J. MEACHAM. as called, claims to be a lineal descendant of Americus Vespucius, is yet a resident of Ogdensburg, N. Y., and occasionally appears on the street. Slavery in California—Prospect its Establishment. tablishment. Two years ago a law was passed by the California Legislature granting one year to the owners of slaves carried into the terri tory previous to the adoption of the Consti tution, to remove them beyond the limits of the State. Last year the provision of this liaw was extended twelve months longer. We learn by the late California papers that a bill has just passed the Assembly, by a vote of 33 to 21, continuing the same law in forct until 1855. The provisions of this bill embrace slaves who have been carried to California since the adoption of her Consti tution, as well as those who were there pre viously. The larse maioritv bv which it the discussion, indicate a more favorable state of sentiment in regard tn ihr' Vitrei s slaveholders in California than we supposed ciisieu. ine xviississippian. The act here reioiced over estahliqtioj !Sla very in California as thoroughly as th. heart of a slave-breeder could desire. Of course, it. is flagrantly unconstitutional ; but jhow will that help its poor victims? Do you suppose that the gigantic swindle. Sham Democracy, which elected a Legislature to do so wicked an act, is not equally potent in the choice of its Judiciary ? If you do jyou are easily duped. It is just as easy to sustain wicked laws as to pass them, when the supposed interests of unnrincmlerl men - l WJL are to be promoted thereby. Only in anti- siavery, aroused and guided by a FreePress, is there any protection against such crimes as that above recorded. Slavery would in time insinuate itself into Vermont if it were not for concerted, persisted resistance to it. A San Francisco paper is giving portraits of the men who comnose. thp nrespnt Imt. f - -" j-, ;lature of that State, giving only initials. uui panning tnem so that all who know may recognize them. Here is on-j of their biog raphies, condensed : IT C :U-J U' 1 1 .1 r i jinisued his uoyiiooa in penectin? himself m every existing vice at Natchea-under-the-Hill, Miss., whence his father sent him to an inland brother to reform. Here he seduced a cousin of his own age (eigh teen,) and she, disgraced and ruined, fled with him to New Orleans, where he lived awhile by gambling, and finally migrated with her to San Francisco. Here he flourish ed awhile as a blackleg, but finally his luck turned he was cleaned out and at last sold out his paramour cousin to a luckier gambler for money. She refused to be trans ferred, when he beat her brutally over the head, until he left her motionless, insensi ble, and as he supposed dead on the floor of" their lodging ; when he ran away to an in terior county, and set up for a politician. He was successful, as his presence in the Legislature attests! Such characters abound in all newly settled regions where time has not been given for educing social order from chaos. Shall we confer on such, the power of imposing Slavery on unborn generations N. Y. Tribune. The N. Y. Times has a correspondent at Jackson, Miss., who communicates what follows, touching the filibuster movements in that quarter : "They say that Gen. Quitman and staff are now in New Orleans: that thevhuvA the forces enlisted which they deem to be necessary; that two ships with arms and ammunition have. been for some time in the Gulf, and that $700,000 have been obtained, that many merchants and wealthy men in New Orleans, who have hitherto held aloof, now favor the enterprise and will give it their support. It had been decided, says a man who came up from New Orleans this morning, to do nothing until 81,000,000 had been procured, and that Gen. Quitman and another man had about concluded to mort gage their estates to make up the sum imme diately. Soule has exceeded his instructions, no doubt, it is thought, by agreement, in or der, in some way, to further the plan."