Page:Speeches of Carl Schurz (IA speechesofcarlsc00schu).pdf/149

Rh kind of sovereignty was not very popular after all, and he called it “non-intervention.” [Laughter.] Methinks something will intervene pretty soon, and he will strain his imagination for another name, if it be worth while at all to christen a thing which never had any tangible existence.

But if we may believe him, his “great principle,” and nothing but his “great principle,” will settle the irrepressible conflict, restore peace and harmony to the nation, and save the Union.

Let us judge the merits of the great principle by its results. Has it secured to the inhabitants of the Territories the right of self-government? Never were the people of a Territory subject to a despotism more arbitrary, and to violence more lawless and atrocious, than were the people of Kansas after the enactment of the Nebraska Bill. Has it removed the slavery question from the halls of Congress? The fight has never raged with greater fierceness, and Congress hardly ever came so near debating with bowie-knives and revolvers, as about the questions raised by the Nebraska Bill. Has it established safe and uniform rules for the construction of the Constitution? It has set aside the construction put upon the Constitution by those who framed it; and for the rest, let Mr. Douglas give you his opinion on the Dred Scott decision. Has it given peace and harmony to the country, by repressing the irrepressible conflict? Alas! poor great principle! this harangue of peace and harmony inflamed the irrepressible conflict even inside of the Democratic party, and rent into two sections an organization that claimed the exclusive privilege of nationality.

These were its immediate results. It is true, Mr. Douglas accuses his adversaries of having created the disturbance. Certainly, if the whole American nation