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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Address to The People of the United States, by No Author Given.
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<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40698 ***</div>
<p class="h2">ADDRESS</p>
<p class="center">TO THE</p>
<p class="h2">PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES,</p>
<p class="center">TOGETHER WITH THE</p>
<p class="h3">PROCEEDINGS AND RESOLUTIONS</p>
<p class="center">OF THE</p>
<p class="h2">PRO-SLAVERY CONVENTION</p>
<p class="center">OF MISSOURI,</p>
<p class="center">HELD AT LEXINGTON,</p>
<p class="center">JULY, 1855.</p>
<hr />
<p class="cnobmargin">ST. LOUIS, MO.</p>
<p class="cnomargins">PRINTED AT THE REPUBLICAN OFFICE.</p>
<p class="cnotmargin">1855.</p>
<hr class="hr2" />
<h2>ADDRESS.</h2>
<h3>TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES.</h3>
<p class="indent">We have been appointed by a Convention of citizens of Missouri,
mainly representing that portion of the State lying contiguous
to the Territory of Kansas, to lay before you some
suggestions, upon a topic which vitally concerns our State, and
which, it is believed, may to a serious extent affect the general
welfare of our country.</p>
<p class="indent">We propose to discharge this duty by a concise and candid exposition
of facts, touching our condition, and its bearing upon
Kansas, accompanied with such reflections as the facts naturally
suggest.</p>
<p class="indent">That portion of Missouri which borders on Kansas contains,
as nearly as can now be ascertained, a population of fifty thousand
slaves, and their estimated value, at the prices prevailing
here, is about twenty-five millions of dollars. As the whole
State contains but about one hundred thousand slaves, it will be
seen that one-half of the entire slave population of Missouri is
located in the eighteen counties bordering on Kansas, the greater
portion of which is separated from that Territory by no natural
boundary, and is within a day's ride of the line. This part
of our State is distinguished by an uniform fertility of soil, a
temperate and healthful climate, and a population progressing
rapidly in all the elements that constitute a prosperous community.
Agriculture is in a most flourishing condition, and the
towns and villages which have sprung up, indicate a steady progress
towards wealth, refinement and commercial importance. Nor
have the higher interests of education, religion and science, been
neglected; but common schools, and respectable institutions of a
higher grade, and churches of every Christian denomination, are
found in every county. The great staple of this district is hemp,
although tobacco, and corn, and wheat are also largely produced.
The culture of hemp has been found profitable,—more so than
cotton in the South; and this fact, with the additional ones, that
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page4" id="page4"></a>[pg 4]</span>
almost every foot of land within the counties alluded to, is wonderfully
adapted by nature to its production, in greater quantities,
and finer qualities, and at smaller cost, than in any other State
in the Union, and that the climate is such as to permit the growers
of this article to reside on their estates, will readily explain
and account for the unexampled growth of the country. Already
it constitutes the most densely populated portion of our State,
and its remarkable fertility of soil, and general salubrity of climate,
with the facilities for outlet furnished by a noble river,
running through its midst, and two great railroads, destined soon
to traverse its upper and lower border, will render it at no distant
period, if left undisturbed, as desirable and flourishing a district
as can be found in the Mississippi Valley.</p>
<p class="indent">An idea has to some extent prevailed abroad, that Missouri
contained but a very small slave population, and that the permanence
of this institution here was threatened by the existence of
at least a respectable minority of her citizens, ready and anxious
to abolish it, and that only a slight external pressure was necessary
to accomplish this purpose. We regret that this opinion has
to some extent received countenance from the publication and
patronage of journals in our commercial metropolis, evidently
aiming at such a result. Without, however, going into any explanation
of political parties here, which would be entirely foreign
to our purpose, we think it proper to state, that the idea above
alluded to is unfounded; and that no respectable party can be
found in this State, outside of St. Louis, prepared to embark in
any such schemes. In that city, constituting the great outlet of
our commerce, as well as that of several other States and Territories,
it will not seem surprising that its heterogeneous population
should furnish a foothold for the wildest and most visionary
projects. St. Louis was, however, represented in our Convention,
and it is not thought unwarrantable to assume that the resolutions
adopted by this body have received the cordial approbation
of a large and influential portion of her citizens. Other counties,
besides St. Louis, outside of the district to which our observations
have been principally directed, were also represented
by delegates; and had not the season of the year, the short notice
of its intended session, and the locality where the Convention
was held—remote from the centre of the State—prevented, we
doubt not that delegates from every county in the State would
have been in attendance. Indeed, a portion of the upper Mississippi
and lower Mississippi counties are as deeply, though less directly
interested in this question, as any part of this State; and
their citizens are known to accord most heartily in the sentiments
and actions of Western Missouri. Even in the south-west part
of our State, from the Osage to the borders of Arkansas, where
there are but few slaves, the proceedings of public meetings indicate
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page5" id="page5"></a>[pg 5]</span>
the entire and active sympathy of their people. From the
general tone of the public press throughout the State, a similar
inference is deducible, and, we feel warranted in asserting, a
very general, if not unanimous concurrence in the principles
adopted by the Lexington Convention. Those principles are embodied
in a series of resolutions appended to this address, and
which, we are happy to say, were adopted with entire unanimity,
by a body representing every shade of political opinion to be
found in the interior of our State. These facts are conclusive
of the condition of public sentiment in Missouri. The probabilities
of changes here in reference to the question of slavery, are
not essentially different from what they are in Tennessee, or Virginia,
or Kentucky. In relation to numbers, a reference to the
census shows that Missouri contains double the number of Arkansas,
nearly double the number of Texas, and about an equal
number with Maryland.</p>
<p class="indent">These facts are stated with a view to a proper understanding
of our position in reference to the settlement of Kansas, and the
legitimate and necessary interest felt in the progress and character
of that settlement. Previous to the repeal of the Congressional
restriction of 1820, by which Missouri was thrown into an
isolated position in reference to the question of slavery, and
made a solitary exception to a general rule, her condition in regard
to the territory west of her border, and yet north of the
geographical line which Congress had fixed as the terminus of
Southern institutions, was truly unenviable. With two States on
her northern and eastern border, in many portions of which the
Constitution of the United States, and the Fugitive Slave Law,
passed in pursuance thereof, were known to be as inefficacious for
the protection of our rights as they would have been in London
or Canada, it was left to the will of Congress, by enforcing the restriction
of 1820, to cut Missouri off almost entirely from all
territorial connexion with States having institutions congenial to
her own, and with populations ready and willing to protect and
defend them. No alternative was left to that body but to repeal
the restriction, and thus leave to the Constitution and the laws of
nature, the settlement of our territories, or, by retaining the restriction,
indirectly to abolish slavery in Missouri. If the latter
alternative had to be selected, it would have been an act of
charity and mercy to the slaveholders of Missouri, to warn them
in time of the necessity of abandoning their homes, or manumitting
or selling their slaves—to give them ample time to determine
between the sacrifice of fifty millions of slave property, or seventy
millions of landed estate. Direct legislation would have been
preferable to indirect legislation, leading to the same result, and
the enforcement of the restriction in the settlement of Kansas
was virtually the abolition of slavery in Missouri. But Congress
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page6" id="page6"></a>[pg 6]</span>
acted more wisely, as we think, and with greater fidelity to the
Constitution and the Union.</p>
<p class="indent">The history of the Kansas-Nebraska bill is known to the country.
It abolished the geographical line of 36 deg. 30 min., by
which the limits of slavery were restricted, and substituted a constitutional
and just principle, which left to the settlers of the territories
to adopt such domestic institutions as suited themselves.
If ever there was a principle calculated to commend itself to all
reasonable men, and reconcile all conflicting interests, this would
seem to have been the one. It was the principle of popular sovereignty—the
basis upon which our independence had been
achieved—and it was therefore supposed to be justly dear to all
Americans, of every latitude and every creed. But fanaticism
was not satisfied. The abolitionists and their allies moved heaven
and earth to accomplish its defeat, and although unsuccessful,
they did not therefore despair. Out-voted in Congress, receiving
no countenance from the Executive, they retired to another theatre
of action, and, strange to say, they prostituted an ancient and
respectable Commonwealth—one of the Old Thirteen—to commence,
in her sovereign capacity as a State, with the means and
imposing attitude incident to such a position, a crusade against
slavery, novel in its character, more alarming in its features, and
likely to be more fatal in its consequences, than all the fanatical
movements hitherto attempted, since the appearance of abolitionism
as a political party in 1835. They originated and matured a
scheme, never before heard of or thought of in this country, the
object and effect of which was to evade the principle of the Kansas-Nebraska
bill, and in lieu of <i>non-intervention by Congress</i>,
to substitute <i>active intervention by the States</i>. An act of incorporation
was passed; a company with a capital of five millions
was chartered; and this company was authorized to enlist an
army of mercenary fanatics, and transport them to Kansas.
Recruiting officers were stationed in places most likely to furnish
the proper material; premiums were offered for recruits; the
public mind was stimulated by glowing and false descriptions of
the country proposed to be occupied, and a <i>Hessian</i> band of
mercenaries was thus prepared and forwarded, to commence and
carry on a war of extermination against slavery.</p>
<p class="indent">To call these people <i>emigrants</i>, is a sheer perversion of language.
They are not sent to cultivate the soil, to better their
social condition, to add to their individual comforts, or the aggregate
wealth of the nation. They do not move from choice or taste,
or from any motive affecting, or supposed to affect, themselves or
their families. They have none of the marks of the old pioneers,
who cut down the forests of Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, or
levelled the cane brakes of Tennessee and Mississippi, or broke
up the plains of Illinois and Missouri. They are mostly ignorant
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page7" id="page7"></a>[pg 7]</span>
of agriculture; picked up in cities or villages, they of
course have no experience as farmers, and if left to their unaided
resources—if not clothed and fed by the same power which has
effected their transportation—they would starve or freeze. They
are <i>hirelings</i>—an army of hirelings—recruited and shipped indirectly
by a sovereign state of this Union, to make war upon an
institution <i>now</i> existing in the Territory to which they are transplanted,
and thence to inflict a fatal blow upon the resources, the
prosperity and the peace of a neighboring State. They are <i>military</i>
colonies, planted by a State government, to subdue a territory
opened to settlement by Congress, and take exclusive
possession thereof. In addition to that <i>esprit du corps</i>, which of
necessity pervades such an organization, they have in common a
reckless and desperate fanaticism, which teaches them that slavery
is a sin, and that they are doing God's service in hastening its
destruction. They have been picked and culled from the ignorant
masses, which Old England and New England negro philanthropy
has stirred up and aroused to madness on this topic, and
have been selected with reference to their views on this topic
alone. They are men with a single idea; and to carry out this,
they have been instructed and taught to disregard the laws of
God and man; to consider bloodshed and arson, insurrection,
destruction of property, or servile war, as the merest trifles, compared
with the glory and honor of seducing a single slave from
his master, or harboring and protecting the thief who has carried
him off!</p>
<p class="indent">That such a population would be fatal to the peace and security
of the neighboring State of Missouri, and immediate destruction
of such owners of slaves as had already moved to the
Territory of Kansas, is too clear to admit of argument. A
horde of our western savages, with avowed purposes of destruction
to the white race, would be less formidable neighbors.</p>
<p class="indent">The colonization of Kansas with a population of this character
was a circumstance which aroused attention, and excited alarm
among our citizens here, and those who had already emigrated to
Kansas. Could any other result have been expected? Did sensible
men at the North—did the abolitionists themselves, expect any
other?</p>
<p class="indent">Missouri contained, as we have seen, one hundred thousand
slaves, and their value amounted to fifty millions of dollars. Had
these fanatics who pronounced slavery an individual sin, and a
national curse, ever yet pointed out any decently plausible scheme
by which it could be removed? The entire revenue of our State,
for ordinary fiscal purposes, scarcely reaches five hundred thousand
dollars, and the abolition of slavery here would involve the
destruction of productive capital estimated at fifty millions of
dollars, or a taxation upon the people of five millions of dollars
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page8" id="page8"></a>[pg 8]</span>
annually, which is the legalized interest upon this amount of capital,
besides the additional tax which would be necessary to raise a sinking
fund to pay off the debt created. The Constitution of Missouri
prohibits the Legislature from passing laws emancipating
slaves, without a full compensation to their owners; and it is
therefore apparent, that ten-fold the entire revenue of the State
would be barely sufficient to pay the interest upon a sum equivalent
to the actual moneyed value of the slaves, without providing
any means to extinguish the principal which such a debt would
create. We omit altogether, in this calculation, the impracticability
and impolicy and cruelty to both races, of liberating the
slaves here, with no provision for their removal, and the additional
debt which such removal would create, equal, in all probability, to
that occasioned by their mere emancipation. It would seem then,
that the merest glance at the statistical tables of our State, showing
its population and revenue, must have satisfied the most sanguine
abolitionist of the futility of his schemes. If the investigation
was pursued further, and our estimate was made to embrace the
three millions and a half of slaves now in the southern and
south-western States, and the billions to which our computation
must ascend in order to ascertain their value in money, this anti-slavery
crusade, which presents itself in a form of open aggression
against the white race, without the semblance or pretext of
good to that race for which the abolitionist professes so much regard,
and which stands so much higher in his affections than his
own, is seen to be one of mere folly and wickedness, or, what is
perhaps worse, a selfish and sectional struggle for political power.</p>
<p class="indent">It is a singular fact, and one worthy of notice in this connexion,
that in the history of African slavery up to this time, no government
has ever yet been known to abolish it, which fairly represented
the interests and opinions of the governed. Great Britain,
it is true, abolished slavery in Jamaica, but the planters of Jamaica
had no potential voice in the British Parliament. The
abolition of slavery in New England, and in the middle States,
can hardly be cited as an exception, since that abrogation was not
so much the result of positive legislation, as it was of natural
causes—the unfitness of climate and productions to slave labor.
It is well known to those familiar with the jurisprudence of this
country, and of England, that slavery has been in no instance
created by positive statutory enactment, nor has it been thus abolished
in any country, when the popular will was paramount in
legislative action. Its existence and non-existence appears to depend
entirely upon causes beyond the reach of governmental action,
and this fact should teach some dependence upon the will of
an overruling Providence, which works out its ends in a mode,
and at a time, not always apparent to finite mortals.</p>
<p class="indent">The history of some of our slaveholding States, in relation to
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page9" id="page9"></a>[pg 9]</span>
efforts of this character, it would seem, ought to be conclusive,
at least, against those who have no actual interests involved, and
whom a proper sense of self-respect, if not of constitutional
obligation, should restrain from impertinent interference. Virginia
in 1831, and Kentucky more recently, were agitated from
centre to circumference by a bold and unrestricted discussion of
the subject of emancipation. Upon the hustings and in legislative
assemblies, the subject was thoroughly examined, and every
project which genius or philanthropy could suggest, was investigated.
Brought forward in the Old Dominion, under the sanction
of names venerated and respected throughout the limits of the
commonwealth—well known to have been a cherished project of
her most distinguished statesmen—favored by the happening of a
then recent servile disturbance, and patronized by some of the
most patriotic and enlightened citizens, the scheme nevertheless
failed, without a show of strength or a step in advance towards
the object contemplated. The magnitude of the difficulties to be
overcome was so great, and so obvious, as to strike alike the
emancipationists and their adversaries. The result has been, both
in Virginia and Kentucky, that slavery, to use the language of
one of Kentucky's eloquent and distinguished sons, and one, too,
of the foremost in the work of emancipation, "has been accepted
as a permanent part of their social system." Can it be that there
is a destitution of honesty—of intelligence—of patriotism and
piety in slaveholding States, and that these qualities are alone to
be found in Great Britain and the northern free States? If not,
the conclusion must be, that the difficulties in the way of such an
enterprise exceed all the calculations of statesmanship and philosophy;
and their removal must await the will of that Being,
whose prerogative it is to make crooked paths straight, and justify
the ways of God to man.</p>
<p class="indent">We have no thought of discussing the subject of slavery.
Viewed in its social, moral or economical aspects, it is regarded,
as the resolutions of the Convention declare, as solely and exclusively
a matter of State jurisdiction, and therefore, one which
does not concern the Federal Government, or the States where it
does not exist. We have merely adverted to the fact, in connexion
with the recent abolition movements upon Kansas, that
amidst all their fierce denunciations of slavery for twenty years
past, these fanatics have never yet been able to suggest a plan for
its removal, consistent with the safety of the white race—saying
nothing of constitutional guarantees, Federal and State.</p>
<p class="indent">The colonization scheme of Massachusetts, as we have said,
excited alarm in Missouri. Its obvious design was to operate
further than the mere prevention of the natural expansion of
slavery. It was intended to narrow its existing limits,—to destroy
all equilibrium of power between the North and the South,
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page10" id="page10"></a>[pg 10]</span>
and leave the slaveholder at the will of a majority, ready to disregard
constitutional obligations, and carry out to their bitter end
the mandates of ignorance, prejudice and bigotry. Its success
manifestly involved a radical change in our Federal Government,
or its total overthrow. If Kansas could be thus abolitionized,
every additional part of the present public domain hereafter opened
to settlement, and every future accession of territory, would be the
subject of similar experiments, and an exploded Wilmot Proviso
thus virtually enforced throughout an extended domain still
claimed as <i>national</i>, and still bearing on its military ensigns the
stars and stripes of the Union. If the plan was constitutional
and legal, it must be conceded that it was skillfully contrived, and
admirably adapted to its ends. It was also eminently practicable,
if no resistance was encountered, since the States adopting it
contained a surplus population which could be bought up and
shipped, whilst the South, which had an interest in resisting, had
no such people among her white population. The Kansas-Nebraska
law, too, which was so extremely hateful to the fanatics,
and has constituted the principal theme of their recent denunciations,
would be a dead letter, both as it regarded the two Territories
for which it was particularly framed, and as a precedent to
Congress for the opening of other districts to settlement. The
old Missouri restriction could have done no more, and the whole
purpose of the anti-slavery agitators, both in and out of Congress,
was quietly accomplished. But the scheme failed—as it deserved
to fail; and as the peace, prosperity, and union of our country
required it should fail. It was a scheme totally at variance with
the genius of our government, both State and Federal, and with
the social institutions which these governments were designed to
protect, and its success would have been as fatal to those who
contrived it, as it could have been to those intended to be its victims.</p>
<p class="indent">The circumstance of novelty is entitled to its weight in politics
as well as law. The abolition irruption upon Kansas is without
precedent in our history. Seventy-nine years of our national life
have rolled by; Territory after Territory has been annexed, or
settled, and added to the galaxy of States, until from thirteen
we have increased to thirty-two; yet it never before entered
into the head of any statesman, North or South, to devise a plan
of acquiring exclusive occupation of a Territory by State colonization.
To Massachusetts belongs the honor of its invention, and
we trust she will survive its defeat. But, she is not the Massachusetts,
we must do justice to her past history to say, that she was
in the times of her Adams', her Hancocks, and her Warrens; nor
yet is she where she stood in more recent times, when her Websters,
and Choates, and Winthrops, led the van of her statesmen.
Her legislative halls are filled with ruthless fanatics, dead to the
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page11" id="page11"></a>[pg 11]</span>
past and reckless to the future; her statute books are polluted
with enactments purporting to annul the laws of Congress, passed
in pursuance, and by reason of the special requirements of the
Constitution; and her senatorial chairs at Washington are filled
by a rhetorician and a bigot, one of whom studies to disguise in the
drapery of a classic elocution, the most hideous and treasonable
forms of fanaticism; whilst his colleague is pleased to harangue a
city rabble with open and unadulterated disunionism, associated
with the oracles of abolitionism and infidelity—a melancholy
spectacle to the descendants of the compatriots of Benjamin
Franklin!</p>
<p class="indent">No southern or slaveholding State has ever attempted to colonize
a Territory. Our public lands have been left to the occupancy
of such settlers as soil and climate invited. The South
has sent no armies to force slave labor upon those who preferred
free labor. Kentucky sprung from Virginia, as did Tennessee
from North Carolina, and Kansas will from Missouri—from contiguity
of territory, and similarity of climate. Emigration has
followed the parallels of latitude and will continue to do so,
unless diverted by such organizations as Emigrant Aid Societies
and Kansas Leagues.</p>
<p class="indent">It has been said that the citizens of Massachusetts have an undoubted
right to emigrate to Kansas; that this right may be
exercised individually, or in families, or in larger private associations;
and that associated enterprise, under the sanction of
legislative enactments, is but another and equally justifiable form
of emigration. Political actions, like those of individuals, must
be judged by their motives and effects. Unquestionably, emigration,
both individual and collective, from the free States to the
South, and, <i>vice versa</i>, from the slave States to the North, has
been progressing from the foundation of our government to the
present day, without comment and without objection. It is not
pretended that such emigration, even if fostered by State patronage,
would be illegal, or in any respect objectionable. The wide
expanse of the fertile West, and the deserted wastes of the sunny
South, invite occupation; and no man, from the southern extremity
of Florida to the northern boundary of Missouri, has
ever objected to an emigrant simply because he was from the
North, and preferred free labor to that of slaves. Upon this
subject he is allowed to consult his own taste, convenience, and
conscience; and it is expected that he will permit his neighbors
to exercise the same privilege. But, no one can fail to distinguish
between an honest, <i>bona fide</i> emigration, prompted by choice
or necessity, and an organized colonization with offensive purposes
upon the institutions of the country proposed to be settled.
Nor can there be any doubt in which class to place the movements
of Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Societies and Kansas Leagues.
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page12" id="page12"></a>[pg 12]</span>
Their motives have been candidly avowed, and their objects boldly
proclaimed throughout the length and breadth of the land. Were
this not the case, it would still be impossible to mistake them. Why,
we might well enquire, if simple emigration was in view, are these
extraordinary efforts confined to the Territory of Kansas? Is
Nebraska, which was opened to settlement by the same law, less
desirable, less inviting to northern adventurers, than Kansas?
Are Iowa, and Washington, and Oregon, and Minnesota, and
Illinois and Michigan, filled up with population—their lands all
occupied, and furnishing no room for Massachusetts emigrants?
Is Massachusetts herself overrun with population—obliged to rid
herself of paupers whom she cannot feed at home? Or, is Kansas,
as eastern orators have insinuated, a newly discovered paradise—a
modern El Dorado, where gold and precious stones can
be gathered at pleasure; or an Arcadia, where nature is so bountiful
as not to need the aid of man, and fruits and vegetables of
every desirable description spontaneously spring up?</p>
<p class="indent">There can be but one answer to these questions, and that
answer shows conclusively the spirit and intent of this miscalled
and pretended emigration. <i>It is an anti-slavery movement.</i>
As such it was organized and put in motion by an anti-slavery
legislature; as such, the organized army was equipped in Massachusetts,
and transported to Kansas; and, as such, it was met
there and defeated.</p>
<p class="indent">If further illustration was needed of the illegality of these
movements upon Kansas, we might extend our observations to
the probable reception of similar movements upon a State. If
the Massachusetts legislature, or that of any other State, have
the right to send an army of abolitionists into Kansas, they have
the same right to transport them to Missouri. We are not
apprised of any provisions in the constitutions or laws of the
States, which in this respect distinguishes their condition from
that of a territory. We have no laws, and we presume no slaveholding
State has, which forbids the emigration of non-slaveholders.
Such laws, if passed, would clearly conflict with the
Federal Constitution. The southern and south-western slaveholding
States are as open to emigration from non-slaveholding
States as Kansas. They differ only in the price of land and the
density of population. Let us suppose, then, that Massachusetts
should turn her attention to Texas, and should ascertain that the
population of that State was nearly divided between those who
favored and those who opposed slavery, and that one thousand
votes would turn the scale in favor of emancipation, and, acting
in accordance with her world-wide philanthropy, she should resolve
to transport the thousand voters necessary to abolish slavery in
Texas, how would such a movement be received there? Or, to reverse
the proposition, let it be supposed that South Carolina, with
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page13" id="page13"></a>[pg 13]</span>
her large slaveholding population, should undertake to transport a
thousand slaveholders to Delaware, with a view to turn the scale
in that State, now understood to be rapidly passing over to the
list of free States, would the gallant sons of that ancient State,
small as she is territorially, submit to such interference? Now,
the institutions of Kansas are as much fixed and as solemnly
guaranteed by statute, as those of Delaware or Texas. The laws
of Kansas Territory may be abrogated by succeeding legislatures;
but, so also may the laws, and even the constitutions, of Texas
and Delaware. Kansas only differs from their condition in her
limited resources, her small population, and her large amount of
marketable lands. There is no difference in principle between the
cases supposed; if justifiable and legal in the one, it is equally
so in the other. They differ only in point of practicability and
expediency; the one would be an outrage, easily perceived,
promptly met, and speedily repelled; the other is disguised under
the forms of emigration, and meets with no populous and organized
community to resent it. We are apprised that it is said, that
the Kansas legislature was elected by fraud, and constitute no
fair representation of the opinions of the people of the Territory.
This is evidently the excuse of the losing party, to stimulate renewed
efforts among their friends at home; but even this is refuted
by the record. The Territorial Governor of Kansas, a
gentleman not suspected of, or charged with partiality to slavery
or to its advocates, has solemnly certified under his official seal,
that the statement is false; that a large majority of the legislature
were duly and legally elected. Even in the districts where
Governor Reeder set aside the elections for illegality, the subsequent
returns of the special elections ordered by him, produced
the same result, except in a single district. There is, then, no
pretext left, and it is apparent, that to send an army of abolitionists
to Kansas to destroy slavery existing there, and recognized
by her laws, is no more to be justified on the part of the
Massachusetts legislature, than it would be to send a like force to
Missouri, with the like purposes. The object might be more
easily and safely accomplished in the one case than in the other,
but in both cases it is equally repugnant to every principle of international
comity, and likely to prove equally fatal to the harmony
and peace of the Union.</p>
<p class="indent">We conclude, then, that this irruption upon Kansas by Emigrant
Aid Societies and Kansas Leagues, under the patronage of
the Massachusetts legislature, is to be regarded in no other light
than a new phase of abolitionism, more practical in its aims, and
therefore more dangerous than any form it has yet assumed. We
have shown it to be at variance with the true intent of the act of
Congress, by which the Territory was opened to settlement; at
variance with the spirit of the Constitution of the United States,
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page14" id="page14"></a>[pg 14]</span>
and with the institutions of the Territory, already recognized by
law; totally destructive of that fellowship and good feeling which
should exist among citizens of confederated States; ruinous to the
security, peace and prosperity of a neighboring State; unprecedented
in our political annals up to this date, and pregnant with
the most disastrous consequences to the harmony and stability of
the Union. Thus far its purposes have been defeated; but renewed
efforts are threatened. Political conventions at the north
and north-west have declared for the repeal of the Kansas-Nebraska
law, and, anticipating a failure in this direction, are
stimulating the anti-slavery sentiment to fresh exertions, for abolitionizing
Kansas after the Massachusetts fashion. We have
discharged our duty in declaring the light in which such demonstrations
are viewed here, and our firm belief of the spirit by
which they will be met. If civil war and ultimate disunion are
desired, a renewal of these efforts will be admirably adapted to
such purposes. Missouri has taken her position in the resolutions
adopted by the Lexington Convention, and from that position
she will not be likely to recede. It is based upon the Constitution—upon
justice, and equality of rights among the States.
What she has done, and what she is still prepared to do, is in
self-defence and for self-preservation; and from these duties she
will hardly be expected to shrink. With her, everything is at
stake; the security of a large slave property, the prosperity of
her citizens, and their exemption from perpetual agitation and
border feuds; whilst the emissaries of abolition are pursuing a
phantom—an abstraction, which, if realized, could add nothing to
their possessions or happiness, and would be productive of decided
injury to the race for whose benefit they profess to labor.
If slavery is an evil, and it is conceded that Congress cannot interfere
with it in the States, it is most manifest that its diffusion
through a new territory, where land is valueless and labor productive,
tends greatly to ameliorate the condition of the slaves.
Opposition to the extension of slavery is not, then, founded upon
any philanthropic views, or upon any love for the slave. It is a
mere grasp for political power, beyond what the Constitution of
the United States concedes; and it is so understood by the
leaders of the movement. And this additional power is not desired
for constitutional purposes—for the advancement of the
general welfare, or the national reputation. For such purposes
the majority in the North is already sufficient, and no future
events are likely to diminish it. The slaveholding States are in
a minority, but so far, a minority which has commanded respect
in the national councils. It has answered, and we hope will continue
to subserve the purposes of self-protection. Conservative
men from other quarters have come up to the rescue, when the rights
of the South have been seriously threatened. But it is essential
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page15" id="page15"></a>[pg 15]</span>
to the purposes of self-preservation, that this minority should
not be materially weakened; it is essential to the preservation
of our present form of government, that the slave States should
retain sufficient power to make effectual resistance against outward
aggression upon an institution peculiar to them alone.
Parchment guarantees, as all history shows, avail nothing against
an overwhelming public clamor. The fate of the Fugitive Slave
Law affords an instructive warning on the subject, and shows that
the most solemn constitutional obligations will be evaded or
scorned, where popular prejudice resists their execution. The
South must rely on herself for protection, and to this end her
strength in the Federal Government cannot be safely diminished.</p>
<p class="indent">If indeed it be true, as public men at the North have declared,
and political assemblages have endorsed, that a determination has
been reached in that quarter to refuse admission to any more
slave States, there is an end to all argument on the subject. To
reject Kansas, or any other Territory from the Union, simply and
solely because slavery is recognized within her limits, would be
regarded here, and, we presume, throughout the South and South-west,
as an open repudiation of the Constitution—a distinct and
unequivocal step towards a dissolution of the Union. We presume
it would be so regarded everywhere, North and South.
Taken in connexion with the abrogation of that provision of the
Constitution which enforces the rights of the owners of slaves in
all the States of the Union, into which they might escape, which
has been effected <i>practically</i> throughout nearly all the free States,
and more formally by solemn legislative enactments in a portion
of them, the rejection of Kansas on account of slavery would be
disunion in a form of grossest insult to the sixteen slave States
now comprehended in the nation. It would be a declaration that
slavery was incompatible with republican government, in the face
of at least <i>two formal recognitions</i> of its legality, <i>in terms</i>, by
the Federal Constitution.</p>
<p class="indent">We trust that such counsels have not the remotest prospect of
prevailing in our National Legislature, and will not dwell upon
the consequence of their adoption. We prefer to anticipate a returning
fidelity to national obligations—a faithful adherance to
the Constitutional guarantees, and the consequent prospect—cheering
to the patriot of this and other lands—of a continued
and <i>perpetual</i> UNION.</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">WM. B. NAPTON, <i>Chairman</i>.</span><br />
<span class="i0">STERLING PRICE,</span><br />
<span class="i0">M. OLIVER,</span><br />
<span class="i0">S. H. WOODSON.</span><br />
</div>
</div>
<hr class="hr2" />
<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page16" id="page16"></a>[pg 16]</span></p>
<p class="h2">PROCEEDINGS</p>
<p class="h3">OF THE</p>
<p class="h2">PRO-SLAVERY CONVENTION,</p>
<p class="h3">HELD AT LEXINGTON, MO.</p>
<hr />
<p class="indent">The Convention was called to order by Judge Thompson, of
Clay county, and on his motion Samuel H. Woodson, Esq., of
Jackson county, was called to the chair; and on motion of E. C.
McCarty, Esq., Col. Sam. A. Lowe, of Pettis county, was appointed
Secretary.</p>
<p class="indent">On motion of Col. Young, of Boone county, Resolved, That a
committee of one delegate from each county represented in the
Convention be raised, to select and report permanent officers for
the Convention, and to select a committee who shall prepare resolutions
and other business for the action of the Convention.</p>
<p class="indent">In accordance with the above resolution, the following gentlemen
were appointed said committee:</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">J. W. Torbert, of Cooper county,</span><br />
<span class="i0">Major Morin, of Platte "</span><br />
<span class="i0">W. M. Jackson, of Howard "</span><br />
<span class="i0">S. Barker, of Carroll "</span><br />
<span class="i0">A. G. Davis, of Caldwell "</span><br />
<span class="i0">J. S. Williams, of Linn "</span><br />
<span class="i0">E. C. McCarty, of Jackson "</span><br />
<span class="i0">Austin A. King, of Ray "</span><br />
<span class="i0">Edwin Toole, of Andrew "</span><br />
<span class="i0">D. H. Chism, of Morgan "</span><br />
<span class="i0">A. M. Forbes, of Pettis "</span><br />
<span class="i0">A. G. Blakey, of Benton "</span><br />
<span class="i0">Thomas E. Birch, of Clinton "</span><br />
<span class="i0">G. H. C. Melody, of Boone "</span><br />
<span class="i0">Sam. L. Sawyer, of Lafayette "</span><br />
<span class="i0">C. F. Jackson, of Saline "</span><br />
<span class="i0">Wm. Hudgins, of Livingston "</span><br />
</div>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page17" id="page17"></a>[pg 17]</span></p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">C. F. Chamblin, of Johnson "</span><br />
<span class="i0">W. H. Russell, of Cass "</span><br />
<span class="i0">John Dougherty, of Clay "</span><br />
<span class="i0">Joseph Davis, of Henry "</span><br />
<span class="i0">Capt. Head, of Randolph "</span><br />
<span class="i0">John A. Leppard, of Daviess "</span><br />
<span class="i0">Wm. H. Buffington, of Cole "</span><br />
</div>
</div>
<p class="indent">On motion of Mr. Russell, of Cass county, Resolved, That the
delegations from the different counties furnish the Secretary of
this Convention with a list of delegates from their counties.</p>
<p class="indent">On further motion of Mr. Russell, of Cass county, permission
was given to the committee on resolutions, &c., to retire and draft
resolutions, to report as soon as practicable.</p>
<p class="indent">On motion of Mr. Field, of Lafayette, a committee, consisting
of Messrs. Field, of Lafayette, Bayless, of Platte, and
Boyce, of Ray, was appointed to wait upon Messrs. D. R. Atchison
and A. W. Doniphan, and invite them to address the
Convention.</p>
<p class="indent">Mr. Moss, of Clay, offered the following resolution:</p>
<p class="indent">Resolved, That all persons who are present from the different
counties, although not appointed as delegates by their several
counties, be considered as delegates to this Convention.</p>
<p class="indent">Mr. Peabody, of Boone county, moved to amend so as to read,
That all persons from the different counties of the State, friendly
to the object of this Convention, be considered as delegates.</p>
<p class="indent">Pending which question, on leave granted, Mr. Field, of Lafayette
county, from the committee appointed to wait on Messrs.
D. R. Atchison and A. W. Doniphan, made their report, stating
that those gentlemen declined addressing the Convention at the
present time.</p>
<p class="indent">On motion of Mr. Bryant, of Saline, the Convention adjourned.
to meet at 2 o'clock, P. M.</p>
<hr />
<h3>EVENING SESSION.</h3>
<p class="indent">The Convention was called to order by the President, when, on
motion of Mr. Slack, of Livingston, the resolution offered by Mr.
Moss, of Clay, together with the amendment offered by Mr. Peabody,
which was pending when the Convention adjourned, was laid
on the table.</p>
<p class="indent">On motion of Mr. Field, of Lafayette, Major M. Oliver was
requested to address the Convention, and to give his views on the
different subjects now agitating this country, and which would be
brought before this Convention; which he was proceeding to do,
when the committee on resolutions, &c., asked leave to make
their report, which was granted.</p>
<p class="indent">
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page18" id="page18"></a>[pg 18]</span>
The committee then, through their Chairman, Hon. A. A.
King, submitted the following report:</p>
<p class="indent">The Committee to whom was assigned the duty of designating
permanent officers for this Convention, beg leave to report the
following:</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">For President, Hon. W. G. Wood, of Lafayette county.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">For Vice Presidents, Hon. J. T. V. Thompson, of Clay Co.</span><br />
<span class="i4">Hon. John J. Lowry, of Howard "</span><br />
</div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Secretaries, Hon. Samuel A. Lowe, of Pettis county,</span><br />
<span class="i4">L. A. Wisely, of Platte "</span><br />
</div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">For Committee on Resolutions,</span><br />
<span class="i4">Major Bradley, of Cooper county,</span><br />
<span class="i4">Dr. Bayless, of Platte "</span><br />
<span class="i4">B. F. Willis, of Clinton "</span><br />
<span class="i4">S. A. Young, of Boone "</span><br />
<span class="i4">Wade M. Jackson, of Howard "</span><br />
<span class="i4">Martin Slaughter, of Lafayette "</span><br />
<span class="i4">Stephen Stafford, of Carroll "</span><br />
<span class="i4">W. B. Napton, of Saline "</span><br />
<span class="i4">W. S. Pollard, of Caldwell "</span><br />
<span class="i4">W. Y. Slack, of Livingston "</span><br />
<span class="i4">J. S. Williams, of Linn "</span><br />
<span class="i4">G. D. Hansbrough, of Cass "</span><br />
<span class="i4">Sam. H. Woodson, of Jackson "</span><br />
<span class="i4">James H. Moss, of Clay "</span><br />
<span class="i4">M. Oliver, of Ray "</span><br />
<span class="i4">D. C. Stone, of Henry "</span><br />
<span class="i4">Robert Wilson, of Andrew "</span><br />
<span class="i4">B. W. Grover, of Johnson "</span><br />
<span class="i4">John S. Jones, of Pettis "</span><br />
<span class="i4">John A. Leppard, of Daviess "</span><br />
<span class="i4">A. G. Blakey, of Benton "</span><br />
<span class="i4">John Head, of Randolph "</span><br />
<span class="i4">W. H. Buffington, of Cole "</span><br />
</div>
</div>
<p class="indent">The committee also offered the following resolution, which was
adopted by the Convention:</p>
<p class="indent">Resolved, That to ascertain the sense of this Convention on all
propositions submitted for its action, each county represented
shall be permitted to cast the same number of votes that it is entitled
to cast in the Lower House of the General Assembly of
this State.</p>
<p class="indent">On motion of Col. Young, of Boone, a committee, consisting
of Messrs. Young, of Boone, Napton, of Saline, and Russell, of
Cass, was appointed to wait on the President, Hon. W. T. Wood,
and escort him to the chair.</p>
<p class="indent">On motion of Dr. McCabe, of Cooper, the Convention took a
recess for one hour.</p>
<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page19" id="page19"></a>[pg 19]</span></p>
<p class="indent">The Convention was again called to order by the President,
Hon. W. T. Wood, when the following gentlemen appeared as delegates,
and took their seats:</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Andrew Co.</i>—Robert Wilson and Edwin Toole.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Benton Co.</i>—A. G. Blakey.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Boone Co.</i>—Saml. A. Young, Dr. Peabody, Dr. Thomas, Col.
G. H. C. Melody, Sterling Price, Jr., and James Shannon.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Caldwell Co.</i>—W. S. Pollard, David Thomson, Wm. Griffey,
Albert G. Davis.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Carroll Co.</i>—S. Barker, S. Stafford, W. J. Poindexter, R. H.
Courts, C. Haskins, H. Wilcoxen, Judge Thomas, Hyram
Willson.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Cass Co.</i>—Wm. Palmer, J. F. Callaway, F. R. Martin, J. G.
Martin, T. Railey, J. T. Thornton, C. T. Worley, W. H.
Russell, S. R. Crockett, T. F. Freeman, C. Vanhoy, G. D.
Hansbrough, S. G. Allen, H. D. Russell, J. T. Martin.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Clay Co.</i>—J. T. V. Thompson, John Dougherty, A. W. Doniphan,
J. G. Price, D. J. Adkins, W. E. Price, W. McNealy,
J. H. Moss, J. H. Adams, G. W. Withers, T. McCarty, E.
P. Moore, J. M. Jones, L. A. Talbott, R. J. Lamb, J. Lincoln,
W. D. Hubble, T. M. Dawson, H. L. Rout, R. H.
Miller, J. A. Poague, L. W. Burris, S. R. Shrader, G.
Elgin, H. Corwine.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Cooper Co.</i>—J. W. Torbert, J. K. Ragland, Wm. Bradly, H. E.
Moore, Geo. S. Cockrell, Thomas S. Cockrell, Horace W.
Ferguson, R. Ellis, J. K. McCabe, Jacob Alstadt, H.
Tracy.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Clinton Co.</i>—John Reed, B. F. Williss, C. C. Birch, M. Summers,
T. E. Birch, J. T. Hughes.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Cole Co.</i>—W. H. Buffington, R. R. Jefferson, J. C. Rogers, C.
Eckler.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Chariton Co.</i>—W. S. Hyde, S. J. Cortes, L. Salisbury.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Daviess Co.</i>—B. Weldon, J. A. Leppard.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Howard Co.</i>—J. J. Lowry, S. Graves, W. Payne, R. Basket,
M. Taylor, B. W. Lewis, H. Cooper, J. B. Clark, R.
Patterson.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Henry Co.</i>—D. A. Gillespie, Jo. Davis, D. C. Stone, R. T.
Lindsay, H. Lewis.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Jackson Co.</i>—S. H. Woodson, W. M. F. Magraw, W. F. Robinson,
W. Easley, E. C. McCarty, N. R. McMurry, J. A.
Winn, T. M. Adams, N. M. Miller, W. Ellis, E. McClanahan,
John McCarty, J. M. Ridge, J. R. Henry, Col. J. M.
Cogswell, Jno. Hambright.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Johnson Co.</i>—Hy. Ousley, S. Craig, N. W. Perry, W. Marr,
W. L. Wood, W. L. Barksdale, C. F. Chamblin, J. M.
Fulkerson, Reuben Fulkerson, W. P. Tucker, P. Manion,
W. Kirkpatrick, B. W. Grover.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page20" id="page20"></a>[pg 20]</span></p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Lafayette Co.</i>—F. C. Sharp, W. K. Trigg, O. Anderson, S. L.
Sawyer, A. Jones, R. N. Smith, W. T. Field, W. M. Smallwood,
Dr. G. A. Rucker, (a Committee to cast the vote.)</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Livingston Co.</i>—A. T. Kirtly, A. Craig, W. Hudgins, W. Y.
Slack, W. F. Miller, W. O. Jennings, J. D. Hoy.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Linn Co.</i>—J. S. Williams.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Morgan Co.</i>—D. H. Chism.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Pettis Co.</i>—J. S. Jones, Saml. A. Lowe, A. M. Forbes, G. W.
Rothwell, Geo. Anderson, T. E. Staples.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Platte Co.</i>—D. R. Atchison, Jo. Walker, G. W. Bayless, T.
Beaumont, D. P. Wallingford, Hy. Coleman, E. P. Duncan,
Jesse Morin, P. Ellington, Sr., Jesse Summers, A. B. Stoddard,
Thomas H. Starnes, J. C. Hughes, Jno. H. Dorriss,
F. P. Davidson, L. A. Wisely, H. B. Ladd.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Randolph Co.</i>—Judge Head.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Ray Co.</i>——A. A. King, B. J. Brown, Col. Bohannan, M. Oliver,
Major Boyce, Judge Branstetter, Dr. Chew, W. Warriner,
D. P. Whitmer, Dr. Woodward, S. A. Richardson, Major
Shaw, Dr. Garner, A. Oliphant, T. A. H. Smith, G. J.
Wasson, Judge Carter, J. E. Couch, G. L. Benton, J. P.
Quisenberry, S. J. Brown, J. S. Shoop, J. S. Hughes, D.
D. Bullock, Dr. Stone, Judge Price, W. Hughes, C. T.
Brown, O. Taylor, M. C. Nuckolls, J. H. Taylor, R. Winsett,
J. P. Taylor, D. Harbison, Dr. Buchanan, W. M.
Jacobs, Wm. Murry, Col. Smith.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Saline Co.</i>—W. B. Sappington, C. F. Jackson, O. B. Pearson,
T. R. E. Harvey, J. H. Irvine, L. B. Harwood, V. Marmaduke,
M. Marmaduke, J. H. Grove, Robert Grove, A.
M. Davison, W. B. Napton, J. W. Bryant, T. W. B.
Crews, F. A. Combs, M. W. O'Banon, Jas. Coombs, H. C.
Simmons.</p>
<p class="indent">Mr. Withers, of Clay, offered a series of resolutions, which
he asked might be read and acted on by the Convention.</p>
<p class="indent">Mr. Jackson, of Saline, objected to the reading and moved
their reference to the Committee on Resolutions.</p>
<p class="indent">Previous to the vote on said motion, Mr. Withers withdrew the
resolutions, and then, by leave of the Convention, the resolutions
were handed over to the Committee.</p>
<p class="indent">The President being notified of the presence of Gov. Sterling
Price, in the house, on motion of Dr. Lowry, of Howard, appointed
Messrs. Lowry, of Howard, and Shewalter, of Lafayette,
a committee to wait upon him and invite him to a seat within the bar.</p>
<p class="indent">Mr. C. T. Worley offered the following resolutions:</p>
<p class="indent">Resolved, That it is the sense of this Convention, that no
valuable purpose whatever will be subserved by debate, but on the
other hand, will most certainly lead to heated and unprofitable
excitement; therefore,</p>
<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page21" id="page21"></a>[pg 21]</span></p>
<p class="indent">Resolved, That from henceforward, we will proceed on all
propositions submitted to a direct vote.</p>
<p class="indent">Mr. Jackson, of Saline, moved to lay the resolutions on the
table, which motion was carried.</p>
<p class="indent">On motion of Mr. King, of Ray, the Convention adjourned
till to-morrow morning at eight o'clock.</p>
<hr />
<h3>SECOND DAY.</h3>
<p class="right">FRIDAY MORNING, 8 o'clock.</p>
<p class="indent">The Convention met, and was called to order by the President.</p>
<p class="indent">Owing to the absence of Mr. Lowe, one of the Secretaries, on
motion of Col. S. A. Young, of Boone, L. J. Sharp, of Lafayette,
was appointed to act in his place.</p>
<p class="indent">On motion of J. W. Bryant, of Saline, the proceedings of yesterday
were ordered to be read.</p>
<p class="indent">It being announced that other delegates had arrived from different
counties, the following named gentlemen appeared and took
their seats in Convention:</p>
<p class="indent">F. Walker, of Howard, Dr. E. C. Moss, of Pettis, P. T. Able,
Esq. of Platte, and George T. Wood, of Henry. Messrs. J.
Loughborough and George F. Hill also appeared and took their
seats as delegates from St. Louis county.</p>
<p class="indent">Dr. Lowry, of Howard, moved that the President appoint a
committee to wait on President Shannon, of Boone, and invite
him to address the Convention on the subject of slavery.</p>
<p class="indent">A motion was then made to lay Dr. Lowry's motion on the
table, which, being voted upon by counties, resulted as follows:</p>
<p class="indent">Yeas—Cass, Daviess, Henry, Johnson, Ray, Cole, Clay.</p>
<p class="indent">Noes—Andrew, Boone, Caldwell, Carroll, Cooper, Jackson,
Lafayette, Livingston, Linn, Morgan, Pettis, Platte, Randolph,
Chariton, St. Louis, Saline.</p>
<p class="indent">Dr. Lowry's motion was then put to the Convention, and on
motion of C. F. Jackson, of Saline, the rule to vote by counties
was suspended. Dr. Lowry's motion was then adopted by the
Convention: whereupon the President appointed Dr. Lowry, of
Howard, and Major Morin, of Platte, said committee.</p>
<p class="indent">S. L. Sawyer, of Lafayette, announced that the Committee on
Resolutions was ready to report.</p>
<p class="indent">The report being called for, the Committee proceeded to report,
through their Chairman, Judge Napton, of Saline, the following
preamble and resolutions:</p>
<p class="indent">Whereas, This Convention have observed a deliberate and apparently
systematic effort, on the part of several States of this
Union, to wage a war of extermination upon the institution of
slavery as it exists under the Constitution of the United States,
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page22" id="page22"></a>[pg 22]</span>
and of the several States, by legislative enactments annulling acts
of Congress passed in pursuance of the Constitution, and incorporating
large moneyed associations to abolitionize Kansas, and
through Kansas to operate upon the contiguous States of Missouri,
Arkansas and Texas; this Convention, representing that
portion of Missouri more immediately affected by these movements,
deem it proper to make known their opinions and purposes,
and what they believe to be the opinions and purposes of the whole
State, and to this end have agreed to the following resolutions:</p>
<p class="indent">1. That we regard the institution of African slavery, whether
relating to its social, moral, political or economical aspect, solely
and exclusively a question of State jurisdiction, and any agitation
of this question in the Congress of the United States, or in States
where it has no existence, with a view to affect its condition, or
bring about its destruction, is a direct and dangerous attack upon
the reserved rights of the several slaveholding states, and is an
impertinent interference in matters nowise concerning the agitators,
and, if persisted in, must sooner or later destroy all harmony
and good feeling between the States and the citizens thereof, and
will finally result in a dissolution of the Union.</p>
<p class="indent">2. That the resolution on the part of several of the northern
and western non-slaveholding States, never to admit another
slaveholding State into this Union, is substantially a declaration of
hostility to our Federal Constitution, and avows a purpose to disregard
its compromises; and implies a threat of continued aggression
upon, and ultimate destruction of slavery, under whatever
sanctions it may exist.</p>
<p class="indent">3. That the diffusion of slavery over a wider surface tends
greatly to ameliorate the condition of the slave, whilst it advances
the prosperity of his owner; and the admission of new slaveholding
States into the Union, by maintaining to some extent an equilibrium
between the conflicting influences which now control the
Federal Government, is the only reliable guarantee which the
slaveholding minority have for the protection of their property
against unconstitutional and oppressive legislation by the non-slaveholding
majority, now and hereafter destined to be in the
ascendancy.</p>
<p class="indent">4. That we cordially approve the recent act of Congress, for
the settlement of Kansas and Nebraska, and the act of 1850,
popularly known as the Fugitive Slave Law.</p>
<p class="indent">5. That the incorporation of moneyed associations, under the
patronage of sovereign States of this Union, for the avowed purpose
of recruiting and colonizing large armies of abolitionists
upon the territory of Kansas, and for the avowed purpose of
destroying the value and existence of slave property now in that
Territory, in despite of the wishes of the bona fide independent
settlers thereof, and for the purpose, equally plain and obvious
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page23" id="page23"></a>[pg 23]</span>
whether avowed or not, of ultimately abolishing slavery in
Missouri, is a species of legislation and a mode of emigration
unprecedented in our history, and is an attempt, by State legislation,
indirectly to thwart the purposes of a constitutional and
equitable enactment of Congress, by which the domestic institutions
of the territories were designed to be left to the exclusive
management and control of the bona fide settlers thereof.</p>
<p class="indent">6. That these organized bands of colonists, shipped from Massachusetts
and other quarters under State patronage, and resembling
in their essential features the military colonies planted by
the Roman Emperors upon their conquered provinces, rather than
the pioneers who have hitherto levelled the forests and broke up
the plains of the West, authorize apprehension of an intent of
<i>exclusive</i> occupancy, and will necessarily lead to organized resistance
on the part of those who, under the Constitution and
laws of the United States, have equal rights to possession; and
whilst we earnestly deprecate such results, we are justified in advance
in placing their entire responsibility upon those who have
commenced the system, and are the aggressors.</p>
<p class="indent">7. That we disclaim all right and any intent to interfere with
the bona fide independent settlers in the Territory of Kansas,
from whatever quarter they may come, or whatever opinions they
may entertain; but we maintain the right to protect ourselves and
our property against all unjust and unconstitutional aggression,
present or prospective, immediate or threatened; and we do not
hold it necessary or expedient to wait until the torch is applied to
our dwellings, or the knife to our throats, before we take measures
for our security and the security of our firesides.</p>
<p class="indent">8. That the eighteen counties of Missouri, lying on or near the
border of Kansas, with only an imaginary boundary intervening,
contain a population of about fifty thousand slaves, worth, at
present prices, twenty-five millions of dollars; and this large
amount of property, one half of the entire slave property of the
State, is not merely unsafe, but valueless, if Kansas is made the
abode of an army of hired fanatics, recruited, transported, armed
and paid for the special and sole purpose of abolitionizing Kansas
and Missouri.</p>
<p class="indent">9. That this convention and the people they represent, and the
State government of Missouri, and the entire people thereof,
should take such measures as to them appear suitable and just
and constitutional, to prevent such disastrous consequences to
their security and prosperity and peace; and confidently relying
upon the sympathy and support of the entire South and South-west,
whose ultimate fate must inevitably be the same with theirs,
and confidently relying also upon the conservative portion of the
North, they respectfully appeal to the good sense and patriotism
of the entire North, to put down such fanatical aggressions as
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page24" id="page24"></a>[pg 24]</span>
have hitherto characterized the movements of Emigrant Aid Societies,
and leave the settlement of Kansas and the regulation of
its domestic institutions to be controlled as the settlement and institutions
of our other territories have been, by those impulses of
self-interest and congeniality of feeling on the part of settlers,
which, by the natural laws of climate and soil, will, if undisturbed,
invariably determine the ultimate condition of the Territory.</p>
<p class="indent">10. That a committee of five be appointed to draw up and publish
an address to the people of the United States, setting forth
the history of this Kansas excitement, with the views and action
of our people thereon, in conformity with the principles and positions
of the foregoing resolutions; and that printed copies of
the same, with a copy of these resolutions appended, be forwarded
by the Secretary of this Convention to the Executive of
each State in the Union.</p>
<p class="indent">After the reading of which, Judge Napton proceeded to address
the Convention in support of the resolutions.</p>
<p class="indent">Judge Napton then read the following resolution, as recommended
by the Committee, to the Convention:</p>
<p class="indent">Resolved, That in view of the acts of the legislature of the
State of Massachusetts, and other Northern and Western States,
practically nullifying the Constitution of the United States, and
the laws of Congress relating to the rendition of fugitive slaves,
and in vindication of the Constitution, and for the purpose of
preserving the integrity of the American Union, we recommend to
the General Assembly of Missouri to pass such retaliatory measures,
discriminating against the sale of the productions or manufactures,
or material of commerce, whether of importation by
them or of the production of said States, within this State, as they
may deem proper for that purpose, and that such measures shall
be made operative as long as the offensive legislation above referred
to continues on the statute books of those States.</p>
<p class="indent">Mr. Withers, of Clay, moved the adoption of the resolutions
as reported by the Committee, and the vote being taken by counties,
resulted in their unanimous adoption.</p>
<p class="indent">On motion of C. F. Jackson, of Saline, the vote upon said resolutions
was then taken by the house, standing, which resulted
in their unanimous adoption.</p>
<p class="indent">A motion was then made to adopt the resolution recommended
by the Committee to the Convention.</p>
<p class="indent">Mr. Torbert, of Cooper, offered the following amendment:</p>
<p class="indent">"Insert after the word 'manufactures,' the words, or materials
of commerce, whether of importation by them or of their production;"
pending which the Convention adjourned till 2 o'clock,
P. M.</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page25" id="page25"></a>[pg 25]</span></p>
<h3>EVENING SESSION.</h3>
<p class="indent">The Convention met and was called to order by the President.</p>
<p class="indent">Major Morin, of Platte, from the committee appointed to wait
on President Shannon, reported that President Shannon would
address the Convention at any time, at the pleasure of the Convention.</p>
<p class="indent">Mr. Torbert, of Cooper, withdrew the amendment offered by
him this morning to the resolution recommended by the Committee,
and offered the following substitute:</p>
<p class="indent">Resolved, That in view of the acts of the State of Massachusetts,
and other northern and north-western States, practically
nullifying the Constitution of the United States, and the laws of
Congress relating to the rendition of fugitive slaves, and in vindication
of the Constitution, and for the purpose of preserving
the integrity of the American Union, we recommend to the General
Assembly of the State of Missouri to pass such retaliatory
measures as may not be inconsistent with the Constitution of the
United States, or the State of Missouri, discriminating against
the sale of the productions, manufactures, or goods and merchandise
of any description whatever, of said States, within this State,
as may be deemed proper for that purpose, and that such retaliatory
measures shall be made operative as long as the offensive
legislation above referred to continues on the statute books of
those States.</p>
<p class="indent">Col. J. B. Brown, of Ray, moved to recommit the original
resolution, together with the substitute, to the Committee on
Resolutions.</p>
<p class="indent">The previous question was called for and sustained by the Convention.
On this, the President decided, the effect was to require
a direct vote on the adoption of the substitute as offered by Mr.
Torbert. From this decision an appeal was taken by Gov. King,
of Ray, and the decision of the Chair was sustained by the vote
of the Convention. The vote then being taken on the substitute,
it was adopted.</p>
<p class="indent">Mr. Withers, of Clay, offered a set of resolutions to the Convention
for adoption; whereupon a discussion arose, pending
which Mr. Withers withdrew his resolutions.</p>
<p class="indent">Col. T. M. Ewing, of Lafayette, presented to the Convention a
letter from Gov. Metcalf, of Kentucky, which being read, on motion
of J. B. Clark, of Howard, was entered upon the record, and
made a part of the proceedings of this Convention.</p>
<p class="right">FOREST RETREAT, KY., July, 1855.</p>
<p class="hangindent"><i>Gentlemen of the Committee</i>:</p>
<p class="indent">Allow me to acknowledge the receipt of your kind favor of the
21st ult., inviting me to meet in Convention at Lexington, Mo.,
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page26" id="page26"></a>[pg 26]</span>
on the 12th inst. Your letter having been addressed to me at Carlisle,
instead of Forest Retreat, Kentucky, delayed its reception
a few days, in consequence of which this reply may not reach you
in due time for your meeting. It would indeed afford me great
pleasure to meet you on that patriotic occasion. But, the delicacy
of my health at present, although it has not cut off all hope
of ultimate recovery, is such as to forbid me from attempting the
journey to Lexington.</p>
<p class="indent">If I am not ungraciously and unfairly treated by my friends of
the Louisville Journal, a <i>second</i> letter of mine must by this time
be published in that paper, intended as a reply to their editorial
commentary upon the <i>first</i>—the one referred to in your postscript.
My first letter that appeared in the Journal, had been elicited by
one previously received from a friend in that place, whose pleasure
it was to hand it over for publication, to the editor of that
paper; and it was published accordingly, with a long editorial
commentary, in which, although kind and even generous enough in
a <i>personal</i> point of view, they did not fail, <i>politically</i>, to give
<i>Old Stonehammer</i> a right severe pelting with their ingenious and
hard-twisted sophisms, intended to cast <i>great blame and all sorts
of dishonor</i> upon the southern section, for having supported the
Nebraska bill, &c.</p>
<p class="indent">Believing myself, that the North had redeemed itself from the
disgrace—the dishonor of having disregarded its constitutional
obligations in refusing to admit Missouri as a State, except upon
the condition of <i>restriction</i>, <i>north of</i> 36° 30', and not then,
except by a few votes from that section—the most of whom were
condemned and prostrated by their constituents respectively, who
at that time denied that the few truant votes of the North constituted
a bargain on their part, or placed that section under any
legal or moral obligation to abide by it, I was induced in my feeble
way to vindicate the voters, North and South, who supported
the Nebraska bill. It is true, that in 1820 the southern section
yielded to the glaring imposition of restriction, rather than keep
Missouri any longer out of her constitutional right of admission,
that being the only alternative presented by the North for the time
being. But, did not all the parties know full well that no power
was lodged in that Congress to repeal, alter or modify any one of
the constitutional rights of succeeding generations? Was it not
well understood by all, that the Federal Convention alone had the
right to fix upon the line of 36° 30', or upon any other line?
and just as well known that the Union would never have been
formed if such an alternative had been presented to our illustrious
forefathers of that Convention? If in 1820 Congress had the
power to legislate upon the subject at all, by what means has the
same body been deprived of the right of legislation upon the same
subject in 1855?</p>
<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page27" id="page27"></a>[pg 27]</span>
To put any other construction than this upon the intention or
designs of the Congress of 1820, would, to my mind, amount to
an imputation of great arrogance on the part of that body, in the
assumption of power not conferred upon it. Admit the right of
a subsequent Congress to alter or obliterate the line of 36° 30',
and let this latter <i>compromise</i> be sustained, together with the Fugitive
Slave Law, and all will be well for the future. Repeal
these acts, and we shall soon hear of retaliation in other forms
than described by Mr. Calhoun, which God forbid. But, pardon
my brevity, and allow me to refer you to my forthcoming letter,
expected in the Louisville Journal, for my further views touching
this question.</p>
<p class="indent">With many sincere thanks for your kind invitation, allow me
respectfully to subscribe myself your honored and ob't servant,</p>
<p class="right">THOS. METCALF.</p>
<p class="indent">Messrs. T. M. EWING, WM. SHIELDS, WM. T. WOOD, F. A.
KOWNSLAR.</p>
<p class="indent">P. S.—It is my intention to visit Missouri, if I can once more
recover my health so as to justify the undertaking; and in that
event will certainly call on my Lexington friends of the Committee.</p>
<p class="right">T. M.</p>
<p class="indent">Mr. F. A. Kownslar, of Lafayette, offered the following resolution,
which was adopted:</p>
<p class="indent">Resolved, That the peace, quiet, and welfare of this and every
other slaveholding State, as also a regard for the integrity of the
Union, require the passage, by the respective State legislatures,
of effective laws, suppressing within said States the circulation of
abolition or freesoil publications, and the promulgation of freesoil
or abolition opinions.</p>
<p class="indent">Mr. Graves, of Howard, moved that the Convention take a recess
of fifteen minutes, and then re-assemble to hear the address
of President Shannon. Motion sustained, and Convention took
a recess.</p>
<p class="indent">The Convention re-assembled.</p>
<p class="indent">President Shannon came forward and delivered his address,
after which Col. Anderson, of Lafayette, moved that the President
appoint a committee to wait on President Shannon, and request
a copy of his address for publication.</p>
<p class="indent">Col. S. A. Young moved to amend said motion by the following:
That a committee be appointed to wait on President
Shannon, and request a copy of his address for publication, and
that the speech be published in connexion with, and as a part of
the proceedings of this Convention.</p>
<p class="indent">Pending which motion, the Convention adjourned till 8 o'clock,
to-night.</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page28" id="page28"></a>[pg 28]</span></p>
<h3>NIGHT SESSION.</h3>
<p class="indent">The Convention met, and was called to order by the President.</p>
<p class="indent">Col. Anderson explained his motion made previous to adjournment,
and Col. Young withdrew his amendment; whereupon a discussion
followed, when F. C. Sharp, Esq., of Lafayette, offered
the following resolutions:</p>
<p class="indent">1st. Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention are hereby
tendered to President Shannon, for his able and patriotic address
delivered before us.</p>
<p class="indent">2d. That President Shannon is hereby requested to furnish a
copy of his address to this Convention for publication; and the
Convention hereby expresses the desire that he will deliver his
address in as many counties in this State, as his duties will
allow.</p>
<p class="indent">Pending the discussion of these resolutions, Mr. Sharp withdrew
his resolutions and offered the following:</p>
<p class="indent">Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention are hereby tendered
to President Shannon, for his address delivered before us,
and he is hereby requested to furnish a copy of the same for
publication.</p>
<p class="indent">And the vote being taken by counties, the resolution was
adopted by the following vote:</p>
<p class="indent">Yeas—Boone, Carroll, Cooper, Howard, Jackson, Johnson,
Lafayette, Livingston, Pettis, Platte, St. Louis, Ray.</p>
<p class="indent">Noes—Cass, Clay, Clinton, Daviess, Saline. Two other counties
voting in the negative.</p>
<p class="indent">(The minutes of the clerk upon taking this vote being imperfect,
the vote by counties cannot be given with certainty.)</p>
<p class="indent">Mr. Cook appeared as a delegate from St. Louis, and took his
seat in the Convention.</p>
<p class="indent">On motion, the Convention adjourned till 8 o'clock, to-morrow
morning.</p>
<hr />
<h3>THIRD DAY.</h3>
<p class="right">SATURDAY MORNING, 8 o'clock.</p>
<p class="indent">The Convention met, and was called to order by the President.</p>
<p class="indent">The President announced the following named gentlemen, to
compose the committee to draw up and publish an address, as
required by the tenth resolution:</p>
<p class="indent">Hon. W. B. Napton, of Saline county, (Chairman;) Hon. M.
Oliver, of Ray county; Gov. Sterling Price, Col. Sam. H. Woodson,
of Jackson county, and Hon. A. A. King, of Ray county.</p>
<p class="indent">The President also announced the following committee, to procure
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page29" id="page29"></a>[pg 29]</span>
and superintend the printing, under the action of this Convention,
as required by the resolution of Mr. Peabody:</p>
<p class="indent">Wm. Shields, Edward Winsor, and Charles Patterson.</p>
<p class="indent">It is also made the duty of said last mentioned committee, to
call on President Shannon, and obtain a copy of his speech for
publication.</p>
<p class="indent">Col. S. A. Young rose and informed the Convention, that he
had information that a letter had been received by a member of this
Convention, Mr. Field, from a distinguished politician, advising
and urging him, that unless certain resolutions were adopted by
this Convention, to secede from the Convention and break it up in
a row; and he wished this matter investigated, and the facts
properly brought out.</p>
<p class="indent">Mr. Field required of Col. Young to give the name of the distinguished
politician who had written the letter, and whether he
referred to him.</p>
<p class="indent">Objection was made to the Convention hearing anything further
of the matter complained of by Col. Young.</p>
<p class="indent">The President decided that Col. Young was out of order, there
being no proposition before the Convention.</p>
<p class="indent">Mr. Moss, of Clay, moved that the Convention proceed to inquire
into, and investigate the matters charged by Col. Young.</p>
<p class="indent">Gen. Clark moved to lay the motion of Mr. Moss on the table.</p>
<p class="indent">Mr. Field desired to make an explanation. He had called for
the name of the author of the letter; did not get it; could not
get him to say he was the member of the Convention alluded to,
as having received the letter, but, from rumor, supposed he was
the Field alluded to, and Maj. J. S. Rollins the alleged author of
the supposed letter. He had a private letter from Maj. Rollins,
which, amongst other things, spoke of this Convention and its
objects, but in terms of approval—giving his opinions and views
in strict accordance with the platform of, and principles adopted
by, this Convention, and denied that there was one word of truth
in the charge that Maj. Rollins advised a secession from the Convention,
or to break it up in a row in any contingency. He said the
letter of Maj. Rollins was at his office, and, although a private
letter, any gentleman who desired could see it; that he had intended,
if the investigation proceeded, to show it in Convention,
and appealed to a number of members of the Convention who had
seen the letter, to say whether he had not given a true statement
as to its contents.</p>
<p class="indent">Col. Doniphan, Mr. Sawyer, Mr. Grover, and Mr. Moss, who
had seen the letter, confirmed the statement of Mr. Field, as to the
contents of the letter.</p>
<p class="indent">Col. Young acknowledged himself satisfied, and expressed his
gratification that the rumors on the street to Maj. Rollins' prejudice
were so fully proven to be false and groundless, and said his
<span class="pagenum"><a name="page30" id="page30"></a>[pg 30]</span>
object in bringing this matter up was to do but an act of justice
to his friend and neighbor, Maj. Rollins.</p>
<p class="indent">The motions to lay on the table and for investigation were
withdrawn.</p>
<p class="indent">On motion, the thanks of the Convention were tendered to the
President and other officers of the Convention, for the faithful
manner in which they had discharged their duties.</p>
<p class="indent">On motion of Maj. Morin, of Platte, a vote of thanks was
tendered to the citizens of Lafayette, for their kind hospitality.</p>
<p class="indent">On motion, it was Resolved, That the proceedings of this
Convention, together with the address to be prepared by the committee
appointed for that purpose, be published in pamphlet form;
that a committee of three be appointed by the Chair, to superintend
their publication, and that a contribution be made by the
delegates to this Convention and others present, to defray the
expenses of said publication.</p>
<p class="indent">Resolved, That ten thousand copies of said proceedings and
address be published, and that they be distributed to every part
of the State, by the publishing committee, in such manner as may
be practicable and advisable.</p>
<p class="indent">On motion of Mr. Staples, of Pettis, the Convention adjourned
<i>sine die</i>.</p>
<p class="right">WM. T. WOOD, <i>President</i>.</p>
<div class="poem">
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">L. A. WISELY, } <i>Secretaries</i>.</span><br />
<span class="i0">L. J. SHARP, }</span>
</div>
</div>
<hr class="hr2" />
<div class="tnote">
<h2>Transcriber Notes:</h2>
<p class="indent">On page 5, "manumiting" was replaced with "manumitting".</p>
<p class="indent">On page 9, "statesmanshp" was replaced with "statesmanship".</p>
<p class="indent">On page 9, "he ways" was replaced with "the ways".</p>
<p class="indent">On page 16, "Resolved, that" was replaced with "Resolved, That".</p>
<p class="indent">On page 17, "Johnson county" was replaced with two quotation marks.</p>
<p class="indent">On page 17, "Davis" was replaced with "Daviess".</p>
<p class="indent">On page 17, "Cass County" was replaced with "Cass county".</p>
<p class="indent">On page 18, "W Y. Slack" was replaced with "W. Y. Slack".</p>
<p class="indent">On page 19, "H. D. Russell" was replaced with "H. D. Russell".</p>
<p class="indent">On page 19, "Clinton Co" was replaced with "Clinton Co.".</p>
<p class="indent">On page 19, "Jackson, Co." was replaced with "Jackson Co.".</p>
<p class="indent">On page 19, "J. M," was replaced with "J. M.".</p>
<p class="indent">On page 19, "Manion." was replaced with "Manion,".</p>
<p class="indent">On page 20, "Ray Co" was replaced with "Ray Co.".</p>
<p class="indent">On page 20, the comma was removed after "Mr. C. T. Worley".</p>
<p class="indent">On page 27, "upon t" was replaced with "upon it".</p>
</div>
<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40698 ***</div>
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