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About The Oregon Argus. (Oregon City [Or.]) 1855-1863 | View Entire Issue (April 11, 1857)
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IIANDItll.lX, PONTI-.fJX, III.ANKH, CAIUW, Clltcn.AliH, I'AMl'IIUT.WOKK Vol. II. OIIEGON CITY, OK EG ON, ATKIL 11, 1857. No. 52. are paw, umeu at the nplwn of the puUnher, and other kindu, done to order, ou short notice. THE OREGON ARGUS, rini.imif.D KVKr mtukuav mohm.mi, BY WILLIAM L. ADAMS. INAUGURAL ADDRESS Of President Buchanan. Felloie-Cltizem : I appear before you lhis day to tako the solemn ontb that I will faithfully execute the office of Prcsi. dent of the United State, end will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend tho Constitution of tho United Stales. In entering upon this great office, I most humbly invoke tho God of our fa thori for wisdom nnd firmness to execute its high nnd responsible duties in such a manner as to restoro harmony and the an cient friendship among tho people of the Doveral States, nnd to preserve our free in stitutions throughout many generations. ConWucod thnt 1 owe my election to the inherent love fur tho Constitution nt.d the Uui'in which ntill nnimutcs the heortj of ino Amorican people, lot me earnestly ask thoir powerful support in sustaining nil just ineaitures calculated to perpetuate i hew, the richest political blessings which J leaven has ever bestowed upon any nation. Having determined not to becomo t can didate (or re-election, I shall have, no mo. nive lo influence my conduct in adminis tering the Government, except the desire ably and faithfully to serve my country, anil to live in the grateful memory of my countrymen. We J'.ive recently , passed through a Prcsideulial contort in which tho passions of our follow. citizens were excited to the highest degreo by questions of deep and vital importance ; but whsn tho poplo proclaimed their will the tem pest at once subsided, and all was calm. The voice of the majority speaking in the manner prescribed by the Constitution was heard, and instant submission followed. Our own country could alone huvo exhib ited so grand nnd striking a spectacle, of the capacity of man fur self government. What a happy conception, then, was it fur Congress to apply this simple rule, that tie will of tho majority shall govern. As to the settlement of tho question of domestic slavery in the I emtorips, Con gross is neither to legislate slavery into any Territory or Siaio, nor to exclude it therefrom, but lo leave the people thereof perfectly free to form nnd regulate their domestic institutions in tln-ir own way, sub jectonly to the Constitution of the United tSlates. As it uulural consequence, Con gress lias also prescribed that when the Territory of Kansas shall ho admitted as a Stale, it shall be received into the Union 'with or without slavery, as their Constilu 'lion may proscribe at the time of their ad mission. A difl'urcnt opinion has arisen in regard to the time when tha people of a Territory shall decide this question for themselves. This is hnppiiy a matter of but Utile practical importance, nnd besides it is a judicial question which legitimately b'dungs to the Supreme Court of the Uni ted Slates, beforn whom it is now pending, nd will, it is understood, bo speedily and finally settled. To their decision, in connection with nil good citizens, 1 shall chwerfully submit, whatever this may bo, though it has been my individual opinion that under the Nebraska-Kansas Act the appropriate period will be when tho number of actual resi dents in the Territory shall justify the for mation of a constitution, will) n view to its admission as a Slate into the Union. Out, be this as it may, it is the imperative anH indispensable duty of the Government of the Uuited S:ates to secure to every rest dent inhabitant tho free and independent expression of his opinion by hia vote. This sacred right of each indivi dual must be preserved. This being accomplished, nothing can be fairer than to leave the people of a Territory free from all foreign interference to decide their own destiny for themselves, subject only to tho Constitution of the Unite I States. The whole territorial question being thus settled upon tho principle of popular sov ereignty a principle ns ancient as free government itself everything of u practi cal nature has been decided, and no other question remains for adjustment, because all agree that, under the Constitution, sla very in the States is beyond the reach of any human power, except that of the re spective States themselves wherein it ex ists. May we not then hope that the long agitation of this subject is approaching its end, nnd that the geographical parties to which it has given birth so much dreaded by the Father of his country will speed ily become extinct ? Most happy will it be for the country when the public mind shall be diverted from this question to oth ers of more pressing practical importance. Throughout tho whole progress of this ag itation", which has scarcely known any in termission for more lnan twenty years while it has been" productive of no positive good to any huma'n bei.?. t has been the prolific source of great evils .' the mas ter, to the slave, and to the whole coC.'Hryi it fcs alienated and estranged the people of the sister Statea from each other, and has even seriously endangered the very ex istence of the Union nor has the danger yet entirely ceased. Under our system there is a remedy for all mere political evils, in the sound aense and sober judgment of the people. Time is a great corrective. The political subjects which but a few years ago exci'td and exasperated the public mind, have passed away and are no nearly forgotten but this question of domestic ilavery is of far greater importance than any mere political question, because, should the agi tation continue, it may eventually endan ger the personal safe'y of a large portion of our countrymen where the institution exists. J that event no form of govern ment, however admirable in itself, howev er productive of material benefits, can compensate for the lof of peace and do mestic security around the family alter. Let every Cmon-Ioving man, therefore, xerthia best influence to suppress this tg-.tauos, wh.cb, s;a:e. the recr,t J-j lion of Congrcki, is without any legitimate object. It ia an evil of the timos that men have undertaken lo cslculnto the mere material value of the Union. Reasoned estimates have been presented of the pecutiiury prof- ii and local advantage which would ro suit lo different States and sections from ill dissolution, and of the comparative injuries which such nn event would inflict on other States and sections; even depending to una low and narrow view of tho mighty question, all such calculations nre at fault. iho bare rcfeienoe lo a siniilo considers- lion will bo conclusive on this point. We at present enjoy a free trnde throughout our extensive and expnnsivo country, such as the woild never wituessed. This trad is conducted on railroads and cnnnls, on no ble rivers and arms of the sea, which bind together the North nnd the South, the East and the West of our Confedorncy. Annihilate this trade arrest its free pro- gress by tho geographical lines of jealous and hostile States, and you destroy the prosperity and onward march of the whole and overy part, and involve all in ono com mon ruin. Dut such considerations, important ns they arn in themselves, sink into insignifi. ennce when we reflect on the terrific evils which would result from disunion to every portion of the Confederacy to the North not more than lo tho South to the East not more lhan to the West. These I shall not attempt to portrny, because I feel an humble confidence that the kind Provi dence which inspired our fathers with wisdom lo frame the mast perfect form of government nnd union ever devised by man, will not sutler it to perish until it shall lmve been peacefully instrumental, by its cxampk in tho extension of civil . ... i i ... .i ii mil religious libeny inrougnoui me woriu. Next tt in importance lo the maintenance of Constitution and Union, is tho duty of tho preserving the Government free fiom the taint or even tho suspicion of corruption. Public virluo is the vitnl spirit of Repub lics, and history proves that when this has decayed, ar.d the Iova of money bos' usurped i s place, although the form of free irov'jrnmrnl mny remain lor a season, the substance has departed forever. Our present financial condition is with out parnlM in history. No nation has ever before been embarrassed from too large a surplus in its Treasury. This al most necessarily gives birth to extravagant legislation. It produces wild schemes of cxpendnures and hegels a race of fpecula tors and jobbers, whose ingenuity is exer ted in con'riving end promoting expedients to obtain the public money. Tho party through its official ogonts, whether wright fully or wrongfully, is suspected, and the character of the Government sniF.-rs in the estimation of tho people. This is in itsell a very great evil. The national mode of relief from this cmbarrnssmi nl is to appropriate the sur plus in tho Treasury to great national ob jects for which a clear wnrtant can be found in Hie Constitution. Among these I might meution the extinguishment of the public debt; a reasonable increase of the navy, which is at present inadequate to the protection of our vast tonnage afloat now greater than that of nny oiher na tion as well as the delcnce of our exten ded sea coast. It is beyond all question the true principle that no more revenue ought to be collected from the people than the amount necessary to defray the expenses of a wise, economical and efficient admin istration of the Government. To reach this point it was necessary lo resort to a modification of Iho term, and this has been accomplished in such a man ner to do as little injury as may have been practicable to our domestic manufactures, especially those necessary for the defences of the country. Any discrimination against a paiticulnr branch for the purpose of ben efiting favored corporation", individuals, or interests, would have been unjust to the rest of the community, and inconsistent with that spirit of fairness nnd equality which oiiffht to euvern in the adjustment of n revenue tariff; but the squandering of the public monej sinks into compara tive insignificance, as a temptation lo cor ruption, when compared with the squander ing of the public lands. ' No nation in the tnle of time has ever been blessed with so rich nnd noble nn in heritance as we enjoy in tho public lands. In administering this important trust, while it may be wise to grant portions of them for the improvement oi the remain der, yet we should never forget that it is our cardinal policy to reserve these lands as much as may be for actual settlers, and this at moderate prices. We shall thus not only best promote the prosperity of the new States by furnishing them a hardy and independent race of honest and indus trious citizens, but shall secure homes fur our children and our children' children, as well as for those exiles from foreign shores who may seek in this country to im prove their condition, and to enjoy the bi?'ings of civil and religious liberty. Sunh ti;!"rants have done much to pro mote the growth and prosperity of the country. They have proved laiiniui w'u in peace and in war. After becoming citizens, they are entitled under the Con stitution and law to be placed on perfect equality with native born citizens, and in this character tbey should ever be kindly recognized. I lie federal Constitution is a grant from the States o Congress of cer tain soccific powers, and tho question whether this grant shall be liberally or strictly construed, has more or less oivmea nolilical rarties from the beginning. With out entering into the argument, 1 desire to 3tate at the commencement of my Adminis tration, that long experience and observa lion have convinced me that a etrict con .rmptinn a( iL tower3 of the Govern ment is the only one, as well a the only ...r ihonrv of the Constitution. " J . ... j.t.ri Whenever in our past oistory. oououm lu our psv uuuii "- powers have been exercised by Congress, thev hits cever failed to prsduw i"jun - ous and unhappy consequences. Muny such instances might be adduced, if this : wore the proper occam'on. Neither ia it I necessary for tho public service lo itrain j the language of the Constitution, beenuse all tbegrcnl and useful powors required for a successful administration of the Gov ernmcnt, both in peace and in war, have been granted either In express terms or by the plainest implication. While deeply convinced of these truths, I yet consider it clear that under I he war-making power, Congress may appropriate money toward the construction of a military road, when this is absolutely necessary for ibedefenteof anybtateor lorntory of the Lmon against foreign invasion Under the Contilution Congress has power lo declare war, to raiso and support armies, lo provide and maintain a navv, and to call forth the militia to rspeal in vasions, i nus endorsed in an ample man ner with the war-making powor, the cor responding duty is required that the Lul led States hball protect each of lluin (i he States) against invasion. How is it poss ible to all'ird this protection to California and our Pacific possessions, except bv means of a military road through the territory of Iho tinted Slates, over which men and munitions of war may bo speedily trans ported from the Atlantic Slates touieot and repel the invader. In case of a war with a naval power much stronger lhan our own, we should then have no other available access to tha Pacific coast, because such a power would instantly close the route across the Isthmus of Central America. Il ia impossible to conceive that while the Constitution Las expressly required Congress to defend all the States it should yet deny to them by any fair construction the only possible means by which one of these States can be defended. Besides, tho Government ever since- its nrigin has been in the constant practice of constructing military roads. It might also be wise to consider wheth er the lore for the Union which now ani mates our fellow -citizens en the Pacific coast, may not be impaired by our neglect or refusal to provide for them in their re- rrioteand isolated condition tho only means by Which iho power of the States on this side of the Kocay mountains can reacn them in sufficient time to protect thorn from invasion. J forbfar for the-present from expressing en opinion s to the wisest and most economical mode in which tho Government can lend its aid in nccom plisliing this great nnd necessary work. I believo that many difficulties in the nay which now appear formidable will in a crcnt degree vanish, ns soon as the near est and best route shall have been saiitfac- torily ascertained. It may be right that on this occasion I should make some brief re marks as to our rights nnd duties us a member of the great family of nations. In our intercourse with them there are some plain principles approved by our own experience from which wo should never de part. We ought lo cultivate peace, com merce and friendship w ith all nations, and i his not merely os the best means of pro moting our own material interests, but in a spirit of Christinn benevolence toward fellow men wherever their lot may be cast. Our dipbinacy should be direct aud frank; neither seeking to obtain more nor accept ing less than is due. Wo ought to cherish a sacred regard for the independence of all nations, and nevor attempt to interfere in the domestic concerns of nnv, unless this shall be imperatively required by the grcnt law of self-preservation. . .. ... i l o avoid entangling alliances has been a maxim of our policy over since tho days of Washington, nnd its wisdom no one will attempt to dispute. In short we ought to do justice in a kindly spirit to all nations, and require justice in return, it is your glory, that while other nations have extended their dominions by the sword, we have ntiver ncquired any terri tory except by fair purchase, or, ns in the case of Texas, by the voluntary dctermin- lion of a brave, kind and independent peo ple lo blend their destinies with our own. Even our acquisitions from Mexico form no excpiion. Unwilling to take advan tage of the fortune of war against a sis ter Republic, we purchnsed these possess ions under a treaty of peace for a sum winch was considered at the time a lair equivalent. Our psst history forbids that we shall in the future acquire territory, unless this be sanctioned by the laws of justice and honor. Acting on this principle, no na tion will have a right to interfere or lo complain if, in process of events, we shall still further extend our possessions. Hith erto in ail our acquisitions, the people un der the protection of the American flag have enjoyed civil and religious liberty, ns well as eaual and iust laws, and have been contented, prosperous and happy. Their trade witli the rest of the world has rapidly increased, and thus every commercial na tion has shared largely in their successful orocrress. I shall now proceed to take the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution, .... . . , . , , r-.- while humbly invoking me oiessing oi u vine Providence on this great people. JAMES BUCHANAN. (fJ-A horse died in Barre, Mass., at the advanced ageof43 years and 8 months. fcT The parent who would train up his child in the way he should go, must go in ik. 1,a n,i'd train ud his child. Ex- --j - . ample before precept. 05" It is enough to make one shudder to read the printers' advertisement for a boy of "good moral character," when it is well known tbey intend to make a "devir of him ! fcr Thera is a vouner lady in town so modest that she had a young man turned . - . - .' i 'sotted. wind had By tht Republican Committee apfKiinteJ by te Albany Lonvf niton of rtb. II, 1837. Te tna Yours at Ortoi Upon tho undersigned Las duvolved tha responsible duty of addressing you upon such matters as are of much importance to those who are interested in the prosperity of the country and the perpetuity of the Union. Wo entertain no doubt but what tho great innta of the citizens of Oregon are loyal lo the Union and lha Constitution, and chorish nn honrst desiro to support such political principles as are beat calcu lated to perpetuate the one and prescrvo inviolate the other. His to such men who are really honest at heart, and impelled in political action by a desiro to serve their country in giving hor a wise and whole some administration, that wo, your peers in the great political family of our com nion ancestors, humbly bog to present a few considerations. If you ennnot at once accede to nil that we claim for ourprinci plea, we crave I he charily to believe us honest in our convictions, and we shall bo h.tppy indeed if we but secure your attcn tion to a calm and dispassionate investiga tion, unbiassed by political prejudice and uninfluenced by political associations. It ia unnecessary perhaps to state that the present is the most important epoch in the history of our Government. National pol itics have within the last three years as sumed an entirely new aspect. Old political parties have either become extinct or laid by old issues, and entirely remodeled and recont'.ructed platforms, aud gone before the people upon new issues. While the old Whig parly ia dead, tha Democratic party has practically adopted at least one half of her creed upon the Tariff question, and, in the passage of appropriation bills by the U. S. Senate for improving rivers and harbors over President Pierco's veto, as also from assurances given by Mr. Buch anan to tho people of California of Exec utive influenco in favor of the Pncifle Rail road, we arc justified in the conclusion that this party has repudiated the old strict construction doctrine, and adopted such in terpretations of tbo Constitution as give to the General Government full power to construct such internal improvements as are clearly of a national advantage. The questions of Bank, Tariff, nnd consti tutional construction, which once made up the prime issues between the two grcnt po litical parties, nre no longer matters of po litical controversy : nil political parties, so fur ns they are committed, holding pretty much the same views upon all such ques tions of national policy. Entirely new issues have been made up( creating entirely new political parties. The present American or Know Nothing party is as unlike tho old Whig organization ns the modern Pierce and Douglas democracy is unlike the de. mocracy of Jefferson, Jackson, and Monroe. To be sure, this modern party, whilst it has repudiated the principles of tho old Democratic parly, has nn advantage over tho American party in having adopted the old name. Nevertheless, il is a new party, for although it retains the old name, neither Jefferson nor Jackson, wete they now liv ing, could becomo members of it without nn entire chnnge of principles. Of course then the old political parties nre now all entirely out of the way, nnd are succeeded by new organizotions, effected by 'the springing upon tho people of new Issuos. Judging from the unwontod warmth which characterized the last Presidential cam paign, and the deep anxiety manifested as to the result, wo might safely conclude that the now issues are of a highly impor tant character. The campaign conflict seemed, for the first limo in the tistory of the Government, to threaten the safety of the Union ilsclf, and the final result of the great political question which has been pre cipitated upon the Amorican people by the violation of the Missouri Compromise, will most unquestionably decide the fate of this Government. The destruction of this Compromise which since 1820 had been revered by all statesmen and respected by all citizens North and South, as possessing the sacredness of a constitutional enact ment, has plunged the nation into the same slavery agitation which Clay and his com patriots thought they had finally settled by a perpetual compromise enactment, at the time the North mado strong objections to the admission of Missouri into (he Union in 1820. The repeal of the Compiomise measures, after the South had derived her share of the benefits accruing therefrom, was a gross injustice to the North, and time bas fulfilled the prediction of such men as Houston, Bell, Benton, and other Southern men, that it wnuld reopen tb slavery agitation te as to convert the na. tion into a " great boiling cauldron." As much at it is denied lo Northern localities by men who are ignorant of lha character and objects of tha Kansas-Nebraska biil, i thing capable of a clearer dcroonstra. I u,. sla-ery extension measure. In the lsn - gunge of Bcnlou, it was designed to weld the South together as a unit for polit'c d purposes, In the hope that enough Northern electoral voles could be secured by govern ment patronage to control the President ia elections fur some time to come. The re sult of this bold stroke on tho part of the last administration of course mado slavery extension the parnmotint issue, and, in breaking down tho old political parlies by rendering ancient political principles of mi nor importance, it has crcatoJ two great political parlies, which have joined is.nio upon the question which overshadows all others. The Nebraska party, which num bers in its ranks as leaders the most ultra slavery-extension men of tho South, who openly declare their hostility to Iho Union, has taken the name of tho democratic party, while the great opposing party, which numbers nmong its ranks tho conservative portion of the old parties, who still ndhero to the principles of JcflVrson and Wash ington, nnd nre in favor of restoring peace to tho Government by putting a final qui etus upon the slavery agitation, is called the Republican party. Toward just such nn issue have wo been drifting slowly since the agitation in the famous Continental Congress of 1774, which roaultcd in the adoption of a resolution denouncing tho slavo trade. In 17S7 the anti-slavcry cx lention sentiment was sufficiently strung to consecrate to free labor all the territory north-west of tho Ohio river included ia the limits of Jefferson's ordiunnce of '87. Whilo several of the original thirteen Statea Lave abolished slavery since- the Constitution was adopted, not a single slave Slate has ever been admitted since, except upon some weighty consideration that was considered ns of sufficient value to oflsett the evils inflicted upon the Union by an alliance with her in her obnoxious character, or without violent opposition. Kentucky, in order to get into the Union, threatened an alliance with the Spaniards incase of being refused admittance, nnd North Carolina and Georgia refused to cede to the United States the territory now embracing Tennessee, Mississippi, and Al abama, oxcept on condition that slavory should be tolerated therein. In 1708, when Congress organized a Territorial government for Mississippi, although she was precluded by articles of compact with North Carolina and Georgia from prohib iting slavery, yet Congress did legislate against tho introduction of slaves from abroad. The Convention that formed tho Con stitution of the Uuited States left the dif ferent States with entire control over tho foreign slave trade for twenty years, giving to Congress the power to nbolish it culirely at the and of this time. Iu 1800 the Gen eral Government, which up to ibis time had left the control of it with the States, now passed an act imposing a fino of 81000 with a forfeiture of the vessel for each person imported as a slave contrary lo the laws of any of the States. In 1808, wheu the time had arrived when Congress had full control over tho matter, it passed an act imposing fines upon all persons engaged in fitting out a vessel to bo used as a sla ver, and imposing fine, imprisonment, and forfeiture of vessel, upon nil persons con cerned in importing slaves from foreign countries. New acts were passed in 1818 and 1819 of a more stringent character, but in 1820 an act was passed declaring the slavo trade piracy and punishable with death. Louisiana, which was organized into a Territorial government in 1804, was poopled with slaveholders, who wcro residents of tho country nt the time it was ceded to tho United States by tho French in 1803. Slavery was tolerated in this Territory by Congress as an net of justice to the old residents who were there ns set tlers at the time the country was ceded to us. Ia 1803 the Territory of Indiana, embracing what now forms Michigan, Illi nois, Wisconsin, and Indiana, memorialized Congress for a removal from lhat Territory of the restriction contained in the ordi nance of '87, complaining of a want of immigration and a great scarcity of labor ers. John Randolph, chairman of the committee in Congress to whom the me morial was referred, made a report adverse to the prayer of the petitioners, as it was considered unwise and unsafe to impair a provision wisely instituted to promote the happiness and prosperity of the people, and added that the inhabitants of Illinois would at no distant day find ample remu neration for a temporary deprivation of slave labor, in a heavy immigration of free laborers. ILw that prediction hat been i verified, let the present population of j 3,454,006 inhabitants, potseseiug property to tha amount of 8839,739,518, answer. In tha sama year (1820) thnt Congress de. clared the slave trade piracy, Missouri was admitted into the Union as a slave State. The obstacles that were thrown in ihe way of her admission by the North gave rise to an agitation which, in tha judgment of many cf our statesmen, threatened the stability of the Government. The agita tion was finally quelled by the adoption of tho Compromise line ns a final settlement of the whole question. All prominent statesmen of all political parlies treated it and spoke of it as a finality, a permanent, inviolable compact, which was under no circumstances to be disturbed. To bo sure, in 1837 the Missouri Senators, by enlit-ting the chairman of lha judioinry committee in thoir favor, got a bill re ported for the annexation to Missouri of the Platte Purchase, a small section lying north of the Compromise line, and the bill was passed through the inattention of men who from somo cause failed to see in it tho dangerous precedent it has since proveJ to be. Every step thai had been lakon by tho Government from the time of the de nunciation of iho slave trade by the Conti nental Congress of 1771 down to the en tire prohibition of it In 1820, met with violent opposition iu some portions of tha South, nnd South Carolina even threatened to sreede from the Union upon the ground of nn infringement by the U. S. Govern ment upon ''State rights." Tho General Government, in all its legislation for sev enty years showed a strong tendency to enrry out tho wishos df the founders of tha Government, who looked upon the institu tion of slavery ns n great national calamity, lo bo tolerated whoro it existed, but who shaped tho Constitution and all their legis lation so as to prepare the way for its gradual extinction nnd final removal by tho States that had control over it, and tha fond hope was often expressed by Jefforsnu and his compeers that such would eventu ally be the case. In nil this salutary legislation, from the time of tho passaga of the ordinance of '87 to the act of 1820 branding the slave Hade ns piracy, as nlso the passage of the Missouri Compromise in the same year, down to solemnly reaffirming the same in the net of 1850 establishing and confirm ing the northorn and western boundary of Texas, tho General Government met with strong opposition from South Carolina. Her representatives, together with a few oiher ultra Southern men, have persist ently urged that aluvery-extension and its necessary adjunct the slave trade were all embraced in the bill of Stnto rights, an iu fi ingemcnt of which by the General Gov ernment justified a dissolution of the Union. Under this conviction, a few Southern man have on sovcral occasions prior to the pas sogn of the Kansas-Nebraska bill in 1834, introduced resolutions into Congress ad. milling the riht of slaveholders to carry what tho lawj of their own States recog nized as property into all the Territories, and disclaiming any power in Congress to legislate slavery out of the same. In 1838 Win. C. Rives of Virginia offered the fol lowing resolution in tho U. S. Senate, which it will be seen embraces precisely the prin ciples of the Kansas-Nebraska bill : "Resolved, That any interference with the subject of slavery, ill the Territories of the United States, in which it mny exist, is inhibited by all the considerations in regard lo the rights and interests of the inhabitants of the said Territories, the se curity of tlie slavehoMing States, and the danger to the Union, which are mentioned in tho preceding resolution, as forbidding any interference with, or action on the sub ject of slavery In tho District of Columbia; nnd for tho further reason that the people of those Territories, when admitted into tho Union ns States, will be exclusively entitled In decide the question of tho exist ence of slavery within their respective limits for themselves." The resolution was defeated, Calhoun, Rives, Roane, and a fow other Southern men voting for it, while a heavy majority of Sonntors voted nguinst it, prominent among whom was James Buchanan. In 1847 Calhoun again presented Ihe matter, In what I'enlon termed his -Tiro-brand res olutions," at tha timo the Oregon bill was before the Senate. The resolutions shared the same fate with that of Rives' in 1839. Tho long-cherished hopes of these South ern fire-eaters were fully realized in the violation of tho Missouri Compromise and the passage of the Nebraska bill in 1854, under the administration of Franklin Pierce. The slavery-extension fraud which wss practiced upon the people by the passage of that act, was sought to be covered up under tho pleasing title of "popular aov eroignty." The bill when examined will be found to be nothing but slavery sover- eignty. U nder that bill, the people ot toe Territories nre allowed no privileges, aside from the slavery question, that they did not enjoy before. Congress still claims th right of leg'ulating for them, the President appoints the Territorial officers, aod, in Kansas and Nebraska, the Governor are -not only ihe creatures of the President, but they have the ve'o power. Even upon the subject of slavery it ia not yet decided that the citizens of a Territory are sov ereigns previous to the time of a State or ganization, When the Kansas-Nebrask ; till was put upon its passage, the origin: t,f Douglas) was frequently interre ( t0J M to his opinion upen this joint. R