And, more than
this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law to
themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now
read:
"Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the
States, and especially the right of each State to order and control
its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment
exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the
perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend, and we
denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any
State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest
of crimes."
I now reiterate these sentiments; and, in doing so, I only press
upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of which the
case is susceptible, that the property, peace, and security of no
section are to be in any wise endangered by the now incoming
Administration. I add, too, that all the protection which,
consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can be given, will be
cheerfully given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for
whatever cause-as cheerfully to one section, as to another.
There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugitives
from service or labor. The clause I now read is as plainly written
in the Constitution as any other of its provisions:
"No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws
thereof, escaping into another, shall in consequence of any law or
regulation therein be discharged from such service or labor, but shall
be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor
may be due.
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