Newspapers / The Charlotte Democrat (Charlotte, … / Jan. 1, 1861, edition 1 / Page 2
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WESTERN DE MO CE AT, OHAELOTTE, N. O. For the Wetter n Democrat. PUBLIC MEETING IN LINCOLN. A highly respectable portion of the citizens of Lincoln and Gaston counties exhibited their patri otism bj uniting in council on the present political crisis, at Rock Hill School-House, in Lincoln county, on Dec. 25, 18G0. On motion of Col. D A Lowe, the meeting was organized by calling Dr S X Johnston to the ! Chair and appointing Jaa Kincaid as Secretary. The Key S J Hill being present, opened the ! meeting witn lervent and appropriate prayer to God Almighty for his blessing and protection. The Chairman then explained the object of the ! meeting, ana in an able and patriotic address ot some length advocated the necessity of prompt and energetic action. A Committee consisting of the following gen tlemen, was appointed to draft resolutions for the action of the meeting, viz: Col Geo Kincaid, Col D A Lowe, .Monroe Kincaid. Andrew Ryburn, Col John Nixon, John Davis, llobt Edwards, Thomas liozzel and William Conncl. The committee re tired, and after a short absence returned and re ported the following preamble aud resolutions: Whereas, Several of the Northern States have nullified the Constitution by their personal liberty bills; and whereas, Abraham Lincoln, a Black lie publican and the author of the "irrepressible con flict" has been elected to the Presidency by a purely sectional vote and stands on & platform whose fundamental principle is war against the institutions of the South. Therefore Resolved, That as Southern men, inheriting 'from our ancestors the principles of liberty and equality, we caunot, with justice to ourselves and posterity, submit to the practical effects of an Administration which seeks to degrade us in the iUnion and deprive us of the dearest rights of ifreemen. dissolved, That we are in favor of a convention of the people of our State, to determine the neces sary course to be pursued in securing our rights in the Union if possible, but out of it if necessary. Resolved, That there remains among the re served rights of the States the right of secession whenever it is deemed that the solemn compact which binds us together has been broken, either by the dictates of a " higher law" or a corrupt subversion of its principles. Resolved, That we prefer to leave the Union with our sister States of the South, rather than be a contemptible minority in au Abolition Republic. The meeting was then addressed by the chair man, Dr S X Johnston, and the llev S J Hill, in favor of the resolutions The resolutions were then unanimously adopted. On motion of Col 1) A Lowe, the Western Democrat and the Weekly State Journal were rc- spectfully requested to publish these proceedings. The meeting then adjourned. SIDNEY X. JOHNSTON, Ch'n. James Kincaid, Sec'y. for the Western Democrat. UNION MEETING IN MECKLENBURG. According to previous notice, a large and re spectable number id the citizens of Mecklenburg county, assembled at Wallis' Steam Mills on Friday, the 21st December, for the purpose of cou- " ferring up the great question which is now destroy ing the peace of our country and threatening the 'very existence of our American Union. On motion of J II Gillespie, the meeting was organized by calling It L DeArmon to the Chair and appointing T A "Wilson and D F Dixon as Secretaries. By request, J 11 Gillespie explained the object of the meeting in a few very appropriate remarks. uen o a xoung oeing eaueu lor, responaeu in a very eloquent and patriotic address, which was 4i3Llli;U t al.ll IIJill &VU (ILttlillUU. The following gentlemen were then appointed a !il ... .1 " XV I. -a! T I "I Ml T commuiee lourait resolutions : o iw vjiuespic, jno McAuley, Jas Query, John Davis, Thomas Kerns, John N Wallace and Wm Barrett, sr. During the absence of the Committee, Col B W Alexander addressed the meeting in his usual sensible and appropriate style. J R Gillespie, chairman of the committee, re ported the following preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously adopted: Whereas, Some of our Southern States being dis affected towards the General (lovernnient, in conse quence of the persistent hostility of the North against our peculiar rights and institutions, and the election of purely sectional men to the offices of President and Vice President; ami whereas, a rupture of our glorious irovernmeut is inevitable. unless the conservative stiirit. which we hope is in every State more or less, be ' aroused to iUs proper position to animate the popular nund in all of it3 patriotic duties, to rebuke with h firm and deliberate hand, all faction, from whatever source it may arise, to maintain the constitution ns it was when handed to us by our immortal fathers from the touch of fanatical abolitionism on the one hand and the in terpretation thereof of the secession school on the other hand: and with the issue before us, ''Union or Disunion," we do declare and resolve, 1st. That we sadly deplore the event which has placed a sectional man to preside over our country for lour years from the 4th of March next. Hut we feel that he has been elected according to the forms of the constitution, and as good and loyal citizens, we should acquiesce, so long he remains a constitutional Presi de nt. 2d. That we have entire faith in the ability of the -constitution to correct present evils or prevent any future aggression that nifly arise, if its injunctions are .strictly obeyed. Hut ia this dark hour of our political trouble, we know no "'thcr anchor that will moor us into peaceful harbor. If the Executive arm should prove recreant to it? trust, we appeal to the legislative; if this fails, we appeal in stronger terms to the judicial powers, (tli3 grand palladium of our institutions;) aud if this becomes sectional in dissensions, we invoke the spirit of our revolutionary fathers to fire our hearts aud nerve our arms for the revolution without delay. 3d- That it Ts our du'y as patriots and Lot as parti zans to look into this matter with an impartial and un prejudiced eye. That we do feel that the perpetuity of the Union is paramount in importance if not superior to the claims of ambitious men whose intrigues are too notorious to be mistaken. 4th. That, we, as North Carolinians, do not dictate to others, but ak fraternally an intercourse of opinion in council and deliberations from all slave States, believ ing that we have a coitv ion interest, and believing that their destiny is ours, we ask for a union of stntiuieut. "Behold how good- and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity," Ou motion of (Jen Young, the following resolution waa adopted: Resolved, That the State of N C cannot be an Indiff erent ?pectntor to cum nt events, and that the same Proridence which has ever directed her action, now re quires that she call her wisest and most prudent coun cillors in convention (uot before the 15th of May.) in order that she may be prepared to assert her position and her rights in any emergency, and that she may afford to her citizens that protection juid security which eventually may not be found under the aegis of a gen eral government of the States. The proceedings were ordered to be published in the Charlotte papers, and also that a copy be sent to our 'members of the Legislature. R. L. DEARMOX, Cb n. D. F. Dixox. T. A. Wii.sok, See's. MEETING IN CLEAVELAND COUNTY. On Tuesday, 11th of Dec, being the week of 'Superior Court, a large number of the citizens of 'Cleaveland, irrespective m former political opin ions, assembled in the Court House in Shelby to :give some expression of their sentiments and feel ings on the great -and vital subject now agitating the public mind. C C Durham, Esq., was cnlled to the Chair, and Dre T Williams, J W Tracy and Jno T Miller, j were appointed Secretaries. J The Chairman in a few and pointed remarks, explained the object of the meeting; when, on J motion of II Cabaniss, Esq , a Committee consist- i ing of H T Schenck, II Calniss, Wm Love, Dr 1 Tracy and Jno Nicholson, was appointed to draft ' Resolutions for the consideration of the meeting. j The Committee reported through IMaj Cabaniss the following Resolutions, viz: Whereas, We, the people of the county of ' vvivuveiauu. teu wuu rpgrei auu borrow wiai. ae- , cording to the forms and provisions of the United Sfn(o ii..i,m f.TnAsiir. ant it : i, i rn i i :.u . i i. i have been electedto preside over the destinies of "'illions of people, with a commerce and naviga the people of thelUnited States for the next tour : hlch. exPlo,re every sea, and with agncultur- years elected by a purely sectional party, whose principles arc nosuie to me entire interests or me South a party that declares that theirs is a higher law than the Constitution of the United States; and "whereas, a large proportion of the States of this Federal Union declare that they will not be governed by the National Legislature, and openly, by their authority, have violated the same, and set these laws at open defiance, and say that they mock when our fear cometh," therefore, Resolved, That we have lost our equality in the Union, and now claim and demand our indepen dence out of it. Resolved, That we urgently request our Sena tor and Representatives now in the Legislature, to use their best efforts to call a Convention of the be oursued bv our beloved Carolina in this present ! critical condition of political affairs Resolved, That we cordially endorse that part of Gov. Ellis' Message on the subject of our Fed eral Relations. Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States, as entered into by our fathers, was a com pact for the benefit of all the States ; and as that compact has time and again been broken by a large number of Northern States, we no longer regard it as binding upon the people of North Carolina or any other .Southern State. Resolved, That we believe that any State has a right to withdraw from the Union at any time wheu its own safety and necessity demand it, and its people are to be the judges thereof. Resolved, That in the event of any Southern State withdrawing from the Union and the Gen eral Government attempting to coerce or drive back that State or States by force, we pledge our selves, as true Carolinians, living near King's Mountain, to resist said movement in every possi ble and honorable way; and, if necessary, will go to the help of our sisters with willing hearts and ready hands. Resolved, That these proceedings be sent to the Charlotte Democrat, Charlotte Bulletin, and State Journal for publication; and that the papers of North Carolina friendly to the cause of secession be requested to copy. Resolved, That copies of these Resolutions be sent to our Senator and Representatives in the Legislature. In presenting the Resolution, Maj. C. made a truly patriotic speech, which was wartnlv received said he presentation of these Resolution for the calm and diffnified consideration of his fellow citizens and fellow-countrymen, was one of the most solemn acts of his life, and felt that as South ern freemen whose principles were devotion to right and resistance to wrong were forced to a declaration of our rights; and that we. the people of Cleaveland county, .living in the shades of yonder mountain, fKingV) memorable and glorious in the annals of our country's history, would main tain them at all hazards. The meeting was addressed by AW Burton and A G Waters, Esq., of Cleaveland, and David Coleman, Esq., of Buncombe, in favor of secession. Wm Lander, Esq., of Lincoln, also addressed the meeting and endorsed the resolutions. PUBLIC MEETING" IN CABARRUS. At a meeting of the citizens of Cabarrus county, held at the courthouse in Concord, on the 15th Dec, without respect of party, On motion hi Col J M Lon?r. Dr E R Gibson was appointed President, and Wm Johnson and Joseph O Pharr, Secretaries. On taking the Chair, the President made some appropriate remarks explanatory of the object of the meeting. Whereupon the following gentle men were appointed by the Chair to prepare Reso lutions for the action of the meeting, to-wit. : Col J M Long, R Barringcr, Epq., IIurh S Pharr, Thos White, R W Allison, Joseph Misenheimer. James Williford, W G Weddincton, Col Wm A Weddington, John Fisher and Solomon Fisher. During the absence of the committee, the meet ing was very appropriately addressed by Dr C A Alexander and ol D Coleman. The committee reported the following resolu tions, which, after some eloquent and patriotic re marks by R Barringcr, Esq., and Col Long, were unanimously adopted. 1. Resolved, That the people of Cabarrus have ever cherished a strong attachment for our Federal Constitution and National Union as the main pil lar of our extraordinary prosperity and hnppiness as a nation, and if the Government can be sus tained in the spirit in which it was formed, we would still cling to it as the best security of our peace at home and safety abroad. 2. Resolved, further, That it is now painfully manifest that a long series of angry political strifes betweeu extreme sections of the Union and a number of unauthorized aggressions and uncon stitutional acts on the part of the North towards the South, have unalterably alienated the two people from each other, and rendered a dissolution of the Union almost inevitable. Therefore 3. Resolved, That while we trust in the Provi dence of God, that His hand may stay the progress of events and save the Government, we neverthe less regard it as our highest duty for our own de fence and protection to our people and ourselves to meet the dangers that now threaten us, at any sacrifice of blood and treasure. 4. Resolved, That to this end the Legislature now in session, and the people generally, by vol- Our ancestors not only taxed themselves, but all untary action, should proceed at once to put the the taxes collected from them, were expended State in a position of defence as regards ila mili- amongst them. Had they submitted to the pre tary, financial and commercial arrangements, and i tensions of the British Government, the taxes col that the Legislature should call a Convention of ! lectcd from them would have been expended in the people in order that North Carolina may lift her warning voice to the North, and at the same time arrest the precipitate action of the South. Resolved, finally, That if the States of the North do not speedily manifest a sense of return ing justice to those of the South, and all the un told evils of disunion must come, on them be the responsibility. We ofthe South must stand justi- fied before the world and at the bar of God. for fighting in defence of our rights. A common in- j Southern States are not only taxed for the benefit terest; a generous sympathy; the honor of our name; : of the Northern States, but after the taxes are col strong attachments " to the land of our birth, and ! lected, three-fjurths of them are expended at the the homes of our choice;" all fix our destiny; and i North. This cause, with others connected with as one man, the South must and will unite to resist ! the operation of the General Government, hs aggression to maintain her independence and to i made the cities of the South provincial. Their prevent the horrors of civil war, by threatened ' growth is paralyzed: whilst they are mere suburbs emancipation, ' attempted insurrection, or other j of Northern cities. The agricultural productions lawless interference with our domestic institutions. E. R. GIBSON, Pres't. Jes. PaiXR, Wm.'Johxstox, See's. THE ADDRESS TO THE SOUTH. The Address of the People of South Carolina assembled in Convention, to the People of the SlateJiolding States of the United States. It is seventy-three years since the Union be tween the United States was made by the , Consti tution of the United States. During this time, their advance in wealth, prosperity and power, i has been with scarcely a parallel in the history of the wor,,d: The great object of their Union was external ueience iroui me ajrirressious ui more; i n .1. . : x , , . i - ... i powerful nations; which object is now attained, from their mere progress in power. Thirty-one al productions which are necessary to every civi lized people, command the friendship of the world. Rut, unfortunately, our internal peace has not grown with our external prosperity. Discoutent and contention .have moved in the bosom of the Confederacy for the last thirty-five years. Dur ing this time, South Carolina has twice called her people together is) solemn Convention, to take into consideration the aggressions and unconstitutional wrongs perpetrated by the people of the North on the people of the South. These wrongs were sub mitted to by the people of the South, under the hope and expectation that they would be final. Rut such hope and expectation have proved to be vain. Instead of producing forbearance, our ac- quiesce nce-hus only instigated to new torms ot ag i and outrage; and South Carolina, again n rrcsi?ion ana ot assembling her people in Convention, has this day dissolvftd her connection with the State consti tuting the United States. The one great evil, from which all other evils have flowed, is the overthrow of the Constitution of the United States. The Government of the United States is no longer the Government of Confederated Republics, but of a consolidated Democracy. It i: no longer a free Government, but a despostism. . It is, in fact, such a Govern ment as Great Briuiu attempted to set over our fathers; and was resisted and defeated by a seven years' struggle for independence. The Revolution of 177G turned upon one great principle, self-government and self-taxation, the criterion of self-government. Where theintcvests of two people united together, under one govern ment, are different, each must have the power to protect its interests by the organization ol the Gov ernment, or they cannot be free. The interests of Great Britain and Colonies were different and an tagonistic. Great Britain was desirous of carry ing out the policy of all nations towards their Colonies, of making them tributary to her wealth and power. She had vast and complicated rela tions with the whole world. Her policy towards her North American Colonies was to identify them with her in all these complicated relations; and to make them bear in common with the rest of the Empire, the full burden of her obligations and ne cessities She had a vast public debt; she had an Asiatic policy, which had occasioned the accumu lation ot her public debt; and which kept her in continual wars. The North American Colonies saw their interest?, political and commercial, sacri ficed by such a policy. Their interests required that they should not be identified with the burdens and wars of the mother country. They had been settled under Charters which gave them self-government; at least so far as their property was con cerned. They had taxed themselves, and had never been taxed by the Government of Great Britain. To make them a part of a consolidated Empire, the Parliament of Great Britain determin ed to assume the power of legislating for the Col onies in all cases whatsoever. Out ancestors re sisted the preteusion. They refused to be a part of the consolidated Government of Great Britain. The Southern States now stand exactly in the same position towards the Northern States that our ancestors in the Colonies did towards Great Britain. The Northern States, having the ma jority in Congress, claim the same power of omnipo tence in legislation as the British Parliament. "The General Welfare," is the only limit to the legislation of either; and the majority in Congress as in the British Parliament, are the sole judges of the expediency of the legislation this "General Welfare" requires. Thus, the Government of the United States has beeoine a consolidated Govern ment; and the people of the Southern States are compelled to meet the very despotism their fathers threw off in the Revolution of 1776. The consolidation of the Government of Great Britain over the Colonies, was attempted to be carried out by the taxes. The British Parliament undertook to tax the Colonies, to promote British interests. Our fathers resisted this pretension. They claimed the right of self-taxation through their Colonial Legislatures. They were not repre sented in the British Parliament, and, therefore, could not rightly be taxed by its legislation. The British Govemment, however, offered them a rep resentation iu Parliament; but it was not sufficient to enable them to protect themselves from the ma jority, aud they refused the offer. Between taxa tion without any representation and taxation with out a representation adequate to protection, there was no difference. In neither case would the Colonies tax themselves. Hence, they refused to pay the taxes laid by the British Parliament. And so withlhe Southern States, towards North ern States, in the vital matter of taxation. They are in a minority in Congress. Their representa tion in Congress is useless to protect them against unjust taxation; and they are taxed by the people of the North for their benefit, exactly as the peo ple of Great Britain ' taxed our ancestors in the British Parliament for their benefit. For the last forty years, the taxes laid by the Congress d' the United States, have been laid with a view of sub serving the interests of the North. The people of the South have beeu taxed by duties ou imports, not for revenue, but for an object inconsistent with revenue to promote, by prohibitions. Northern interests iu the productions of their miucs and manufactures. There is another evil, in the condition of the Southern towards the Northern States, which our ancestors refused to beir towards Great Britain. ! other parts of the British Empire. Tliey were ful- ly aware ot the enect ot sucn a policy in impover ishing the people from whom taxes are collected, and in enriching those who receive the benefit of their expenditure. To prevent the evils of such a policy, was one of the motives which drove them on to Revolution. Yet this British policy has been fully realized towards the Southern f rr r 1 ' States, by the Northern States. The people of the of the South are the basis of the foreign commerce of the United States; yet Southern cities do not carry it on. .Our fioreigu trade is almost annihila- ted. In 1740 there were five ship yards in South Carolina, to build ships to carry on our direct trade with "Europe. Between 1740 and 1779 there were built in these yards twenty-five square rigged vessels, besides a great number of sloops and schooners, to carry on our coast and West India trade. In the half eentury immediately preceding the Revolution, from 1725 to 1775, the population of South Carolina increased seven-fold. No man can for a moment believe that our an cestors intended to establish over their posterity exactly the same sort of government they had overthrown. The great object of the Constitution of the United States, in its internal operation, was doubtless, to secure the great end of the Revolu tion a limited free government a government limited to those matters only which were general and common to all portions of the United States. All sectional or local interests were to be left to the States. By no other arrangement would they obtain free government, by a Constitution common to so vast a Confederacy. Yet, by gradual and 'steady encroachments on the part of the people of the North, and acquiescence on the part of the South; the limitations in the Constitution have been swept away, and the Government of the United States have become consolidated, with a claim of limitless powers in its operations. It is not at all surprising, whilst such is the character of the Government of the United States, that it should assume to possess power over all the institutions of the country. The agitations on the subject of slavery are the natural result of the con solidation of the Government. Responsibility follows power; and if the people of the North have the power by Congress "to promote the general welfare of the United States," by any means they may deem expedient why should they not assail and overthrow the institutions of slavery in the South' They are responsible for its continuance or existence, in proportion to their power. A ma jority in Congress, according to their interest and perverted views, is omnipotent. The inducements to act upon the subject of slavery, under such cir cumstances, were so imperious as to amount almost to a moral necessity. To make however their nu merical power available to rule the Union, the North must consolidate their power. It would not be united ou any matter common to the whole Union in other words, on any constitutional sub ject for on such subjects divisions are as likely to exist in the North as in the South. Slavery was strictly a sectional interest. If this could be made the criterion of the parties at the North, the North could be united in its power, and thus carry out its measures of sectional ambitiou, encroach ment & aggrandisement. To build up her sectional predominance in the Union, the Constitution must first be abolished by constructions; but that being done, the consolidation of the North, to rule the South, by the tariff and slavery issues, was in the obvious course of things. The Constitution of the United States was an experiment. The experiment consisted in unit-ill" under one government different peoples, living in different climates, and having different pursuits of industry aud institutions. It matters not how carefully the limitations of such a Govern ment be laid down in the Constitution its succes-s must at least, depend upon the good faith of the parties to the constitutional compact, in enforcing them. It is not in the power of human language to exclude false inferences, constructions and per versions in any Constitution; and when vast sec tional into rests are to be observed, involving the appropriation of countless millions of money, it has not been the usual cxpeiicnce of mankind that words oa parchment can arrest power. The Constitu tion of the United States, irrespective of the interposi tion of the States, rested on the assumption that power would yield to faith that integrity would be stronger than interest and that thus the limitations of the Constitution would be observed. The experiment has been fairly made. The Southern States, from the com ir.euccmeut of the Government has striven to keep it within the orbit prescribed by the Constitution. The experiment has failed. The whole constitution, by the constructions ofthe Northern people, has been absorb ed by its preamble. In their reckless lust for power, they seem unable to comprehend that seeming paradox that the more power is given to the General Govern ment., the weaker it becomes. Its strength consists iu the limitation of its agency to objects of common inter est to all sections. To extend the scope .of its power over sectional aud local interest, is to raise up against it opposition and resistance. In all such matters, the General Government must necessarily be a despot ism, because all sectional or local interest must ever be represented by a minority in the councils ofthe Gen eral Government having no power to protect itself against the rule of the majority. The majority, con stituted from those w ho do not represent these section al or local interests, will control and govern them. A free people cannot submit to such a government. And the more it enlarges the sphere of its power, the great er must be the dissatisfaction it must produce, and the weaker it must become. On the contrary, the more it abstains from usurped powers, and the more faithfully it adheres to the limitations of the Constitution, the stronger it is made. The Northern people have had neither the wisdom nor the faith to perceive, that to observe the limitations of the Constitution was the only way to its perpetuity. Under such a government there must, of course, be many and endless "irrepressible conflicts" between the two great sections of the Union. The same faithless ness which has abolished the Constitution of the United States, will not fail to carry out the sectional purposes for which it has been abolished- There must be conflict; and the weaker section of the Union can only find peace and liberty in an independence of the North. The repented efforts made by South Carolina, iu a wise conservatism, to arrest the progress of the General Government in its fatal progress to consolidation, have been unsupported, and she has been denounced s faithless to the obligations of the Constitution, by the very men and States who were destroying it by their usurpations. It is now too late to reform or restore the Government cf the United States. All confidence ia ihe North is lost by the South. The faithlessness of the North for half ceutury, has opened a gulf of separation between the North and the South which no promises nor engagements can fill. . ' .. It cannot be believed that our ancestors would Iiavo assented to any Union whatever with the people of the I North, it the feelings and opinions now existing among them had existed when the Constitution was .rained. There was then no Tariff no fanaticism concerning ne groes. It was the delegates from New England who proposed, in the Convention which framed the Consti tution, to the delegates from South Carolina and Geor gia, that if they would agree to give Congress the pow er of regulating commerce by a majority, that thev would support the extension of the African Slave Trade for twenty years. The idea that the Southern States would have to pay that tribute to their Northern con federates, which they had refused to pay to Great Brit ain, or that the institutions of African slavery would be made the grand basis of a sectional organization of the North to rule the South, never crossed tae imagina tion of our ancestors. The Union of the Constitution whs a union of slaveholding States. It rests on slaverv by prescribing n Representation in Congress for three fifths of our slaves. There is nothing in the proceed ings of the Convention which framed the Constitution t show that the Southern States would haffe formed any other Union; and stiU less that they would have formed a Union with more powerful non-slaveholding States, having a majoi ity in both banches of the legis lature of. the Government. ' Thy, were- guilty ofno such folly. Time and the progress of things have to tally altered the relations bet ween the Noithern and Southern States, since the Union was established That identity of feelings, interests and institutions wlmh once existed, is gone. They are now divided between agricultural .and manufacturing and comifcer ical States between slaveholding and non-slavehold-ing States. Their institutions and industrial persuits have mad them totally different peoples. That equali ty in the Government between the two sections of the Union which once existed, no longer exists. We but imitate a policy of our fathers in jdisaolvino- a ; union with non-slaveholding confederates, and seeking a confederation with slaveholding States. P Experience has proved that slaveholding States cannot be safe in subjection to non-slaveholding States. Indeed, no people can expect to preserve its rights and liberties, unlesg these be ia its own custody. To plun der and oppress, where plunder and oppression can be practised with impunity, seems to be the natural order ofjthings. The fairest portions of the world elsewhere have been turned into wildernesses; and the most civil ized and prosperous communities, have been impover ished and rained by anti-slavery fanaticism. The peo ple ofthe North have not left us in doubt as to their designs and policy. United as a section in the late Presidential election, they have elected as the exponent of their policy, one who has declared that all the States of the United "States must be made free or slave States. It is true, that amongst those that aided in his election, there are various "shades of anti-slavery hostility. But if African slavery in the Southern States be the evil their political combination affirms it to be, the requi sitions of an inexorable logic must lead them to eman cipation. If it is right to preclude or abolish slavery in a Territory why should it be allowed to remain in the States? The one is not at all more unconstitutional than the other, according to the decisions of the Su preme Court ofthe United States And when it is con sidered, that the Northern States will 60on have the power to make that Court what they please, and trt the Constitution never has. been any bar rier whatever to their exercise of . power what check can there be, in the unrestrained coun sels ofthe North, to emancipation? There is sympathy in association, which carries men along withont prin ciple; but when there is principle, and that principle is fortified by long-exUting prejudices and feelings, as sociation is omnipotent in party influences. In spite of all disclaimers and professions, there can be but one end by the submission of the South to the rule of a sectional anti-slavery government at Washington, and that end, directly or indirectly," inns fee the emancipa tion of the slaves of the South. The hypocrisy of thirty years the faithlessness of their whole course from the commencement of our union with them, show that , the people of the non-slaveholding North are not, and can not be, safe associates ofthe slaveholding South, under a common Government. Not only their fanaticism, but their erroneous views of the principles of free govern ment, render it doubtful whether, if separated from the South, they can" maintain a free government amongst themselves. Numbers with them is the great element of free government. A majority is infallible and omni potent. "The right divine to rule in Kings," is only transferred"to their majority. The object of all Consti tutions, in free popular Governments, is to restrain the majority. Constitutions, therefore, according to their theory, must be most unrighteous inventions, restrict ing liberty. None ought to exist; but the body politic ought simply to have a political organization, to bring out and enforce the will ofthe majority. This theory may be harmless in a small community, having an identity of interests and pursuits; but over a vast Confederacy, having various and conflicting in terests and pursuits, it is a remorseless despotism. Iu resisting it, as applicable to ourselves, we are vindica ting the gieat cause of free government, more impor tant, perhaps, to the world, than the existence of all the United States. Nor in resisting it do we intend to depart from the safe instrumentality, the system of government we have established with them, requires. Iu separating from them, we invade no rights no in terests of theirs. We violate no obligation or duty to them. As separate, independent States in Convention, we made the Constitution ofthe United States with them; and as separate independent States, each State acting for itself, weadopted it. South Carolina, act ing in her sovereign espacity, now thinks proper to se cede from the Uniuu. She did not part with her sovereignty in adopting the Constitution. The last th ing -a State can be presumed to have surrendered is her sovereignty. Her sovereignty is her life. Nothing but a clear express grant can alienate it. Inference has no place. Yet it is not at all surprising that those who have construed away all the limitations ofthe Constitution, should also, by construction, claim the annihilation of the sovereignty of the States. Having abolished all barriers to their omnipotence, by their faithless constructions in the operations of the General Government, it is most natural that they should en deavor to do the same towards us in the States. The truth is, they, having violated the express provisions of the Constitution, it is at an end as a compact. It is morally obligatory only on those who choose to accept its perverted terms. South Carolina, deeming the com pact not only violated iu particular feaiurca, but vir tually abolished by her Northern confederates, with draws herself as a party from its obligations. The right to do so is denied by her Northern confederates. They deire to establsh a sectional despotism, not only omnipotent in Congress, but omnipotent over the States; and, as if to manifest the imperious necessity of our secession, they threaten us with the sword, to coerce submission to their rule. Citizens of the Slaveholding States of the' United States! Circumstances beyond our control have placed us in the van of the great .controversy between the Northern and Southern States. . We would have pre ferred that other States should have assumed the posi tion we now occupy. Independent ourselves, we disclaim any design or desire to lead the counsels of the other Southern States. Providence has cast our lot together, by extending over us an identity of pursuits, interests aud institutions. South Carolina desires no destiny separated from yours. To be one of a great Slaveholding Confederacy, stretching its arms over a territory larger than any power in Europe possesses with a population four times greater than that of the whole United States when they achieved their inde pendence of the -British- Empire with productions which make our existence more important to the world than that of any other people inhabiting it with com mon institutions to defend, and commou dangers to en counter we ask your sympathy and confederation. Whilst constituting a portion of the United States, it has been your statesmanship which has guided it in its mighty strides to power and expansion. In the field, as iu the cabinet, you have led the way to . its renown and grandeur. You have loved the Union, iu whose service your great statesmen have labored, and your great soldiers Lave fought and conquered not for the material benefits it conferred, but with the faith of a generous and devoted chivalry. You have long linger ed and hoped over the shattered remains of a broken Constitution. Compromise after compromise, formed by your concessions, has been trampled under foot by your Northern 'confederates. All fraternity of feeling between the North and the South is lost, or has been converted into hate; aud we of the South are at last driven together by the stern destiny which controls the existence of nations. Your bitter experience of the faithlessness and rapacity of your Northern confed erates, may have been necessary to evolve those great principles of free government upon which the liberties of the world depend aud prepare you for the grand mission of indicating and re-establishing them. We re joice that other nations should have been satisfied with their institutions. Contentment is a great element of happiness with nations as with individuals. We are satisfied with ours. If they prefer a system of indus try in which capital and labor are in perpetual conflict and chronic starvation keeps down the natural in crease of population and a man is worked out i4 eight years and the law ordains that ehilden shall be worked only ten hours a day and the sabre and bayo net are the instruments of order be it so. It is their affair, not ours. We prefer, however our system of in dustry, by which labor and capital are identified in in terest, and capital, therefore, protects labor by which our population doubles every twenty years by which starvation is unknown, and abundance crowns the land by which order is preserved by an unpaid police, aud the many fertile regions ofthe world, where the Cau casian cannot labor, arc brought into usefulness by the labor ofthe African, and the whole world is blessed by our productions. All we demand of other people is, to let us alone to work out our own high destinies. United together, and we must be most independent, as we are among the most important, ofthe nations in the world. United together, and 'ye require no other in strument to conquer peace than our beneficient pro ductions. United together, and we must be a great, free and prosperous people, whose renown must spread throughout the civilized world, and pass down, we trust to the remotest ages. We ask you" to join us in orm- ing a Oootederacy of Slaveholdiug States. Thirteenth Dividend. Charloti, &. s. C. Railroad Company- A semi-annual Dividend of Four Dollars per share has been declared by the Directors, and will be paid to Stockholders on and ater the first day of January. Stockholders residing in North Carolina and Eastern York, S. C, will "be paid by the Company's Agent at Charlotte; those in Chester District aud Western York, by the Agent at Chester; Fairfield stockholders, at the Bank in Winnsboroj and those in Charleston,- at the Bank of the State of South Carolina., All Others "will be paid at the Treasurer's office in Columbia. r C. BOUKNIGflT, Dec 23, J86Q i Sec'y and reasnrer. ACTION OP THE SENATE COMMITTER Washington, Dec. 22. The Committee of Thirteen were in session to-daj six hours and Balf, considering various propositions to arrest th progress of dissolution and give peace to th country. The amendment proposed to the Constitution b Mr Crittenden, to settle the controversv betw-. the North and the South finally and forever by division of the country from ocean to ocean on the parallel of the Missouri line, was the Lj subject of discussion. .Messrs. Crittenden, IW las and Bigler maintained it with great teal fd ability. - Mr Douglas reiterated his former determination to consider the question for the preservation of the country, as though he had never cast a vote or uttered a sentiment on the subject before. If that mode of compromise would not answer, he de clared himself -willing to go for any other con sistent with honor or justice. . ; The appeals of Mr Crittenden in behalf of the Union are said to have been eloquent and sublime He, too, was willing to embrace any other eWtive' mode of adjustment. Mr Bigler, of Pennsylvania, preferred a division by a line across the country, because in that way the question of slavery could be taken out of Congress and separated entirely from the popular elections in the North, without which we never could have permanent peace. Messrs. Avade, Dooiittle, CoIIamer and Grimes opposed the proposition with much earnestness and ability. They maintained that the people in the late election decided the question of slavery in the Territories, and, therefore, they had no con cessions to make or offer. They manifested great unwillingness to act in the absence of Mr Seward, but as they could give no assurance of his imme diate return, the committee declined to defer jc tion on account of his absence Messrs." Davis, Toombi and Hunter discussed the present unhappy condition of the country with unsurpassed ability, and whilst manifesting a willingness to accept any measures of final settle ment, which would secure their just rights in the Union, insisted that propositions must come from the dominant party, the Republicans. The vote on Mr Crittenden's proposition was as follows: For the proposition Messrs. ttigler, Crit tenden, Douglas, Rice and Powell 5. Agaiust it Messrs. Davis, Doolittle, Collamer; Wade, Toombs, Grimes and Hunter 7. Messrs. Hunter, Toombs and Davis, neverthe less, intimated an inclination to go for it if the Republicans would propose it in good faith The second piopositioii submitted by Mr Cr7 tenden, .denying the right d' Congress to abolish slavery in the dock-ytirds and arsenal!, was voted against by Messrs. Collamer, Doolittle, (J rimes and Wade. The remainder of the committee voted for the proposition, but as it had not a majority of the Republicans, it was defeated under the rules Adopted by the committee that no proposition should be considered adopted and recommended to the Senate which did not receive a majority ofthe Republican votes, and also a majority of those opposed to the Republicans. The third clause,, deuying to Congress the riht to, abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, was defeated by the same vote, the Republicans all voting in the negative. Many other propositions were offered and voted upon, but none of lending importance none that would meet the great exigencies of the times. Mr Davis submitted a resolution expressly re cognizing property in slaves, but no vote was taken on it. Mr Toombs submitted a scries of resolutions, embracing substantially the principles of the Breckinridge platform, but final action was not taken on them. ' Washington, Dec. 24. On Thursday, in the Seriate Committee of 13, the Republicans sub mitted as their ultimatum, that they would recom mend to their State Legislatures to adopt a consti tutional provision that slavery shall not he abol ished by Congress. BOOT AND SHOE E M F & 16 I V M. (SUCCESSORS TO J. B. F. BOONE,) HAVE JUST PIiIEW AT BOONE'S OLD STAND, a large Select Stock of BOOTS, LEATHEE AND SHOE-FINDINGS OF EVERY DESCRIPTION, ; WHICH WILL IJE SOLD AT THE PRICES FOR PER CENT.'1 CHEAPER THAN T.YF.H gold for before in this tnarKei. Having bought our Stock on good terms, we CAN and WILL sell to our customers low down for CASH ! B. R. SMITH & CO. CHARLOTTE, N. C, June 19, 18G0. House and Lots for , At the court-house in Charlotte, on lJe 'tbid ininuary, 1861, 1 will sell for cash o , he b-gg , derat public auction, me iwo iou '-, ., in comfortable Dwelling House ana "'"'"P' B0. the plat of the town ai lots ho. .18 ""f;. dee'd, square and now made under a ..decree ui iuc '-, fa-Torof' lenburg countj, to satis r j 1 an7tVator of huft, Kerr and A Graham, S A Harris g0aB Court of Hendrii, and othera,-obtained in te uou j faid county against ths.ud Ezek.e. E B, Charlotte, Pec 18, 18G0,
The Charlotte Democrat (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Jan. 1, 1861, edition 1
2
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