Page:Speeches of Carl Schurz (IA speechesofcarlsc00schu).pdf/214

204 of mining and agricultural activity, is sadly insufficient. He insists that there must be a little variety of freedom and slavery, of white and black labor; and that seems to be his favorite mixture; his cardinal, fundamental, sine quâ non variety [laughter]; and not only have we no right to establish uniform free labor by encroaching upon the rights of the States, but, as a general thing, the extinction of his favorite variety “would be neither possible nor desirable.” He declares it to be “a fatal heresy to proclaim that there can or ought to be uniformity among the different States of this Union.” It would then, according to the Judge, not be desirable that free labor should prevail everywhere, for that would create uniformity, and uniformity would be the death of freedom.

And now mark that wonderful muddle of nonsense in the head of that “greatest of living statesmen.” [Laughter.] Our liberties rest upon our Federal system of government; our Federal system of government rests upon the variety of institutions; that variety of institutions consists of there being slavery in some of the States. If slavery disappeared, that variety would disappear; if that variety disappeared, our Federal system of government would disappear; if our Federal system of government disappeared, the safeguards of our liberties would be destroyed—consequently, if slavery disappeared, liberty would disappear also. [Loud laughter.]

Again, if all the States were free, there would be uniformity; but uniformity in local and domestic affairs would be destructive of personal liberty—that uniformity is prevented by the existence of slavery; consequently, the existence of slavery prevents the destruction of liberty; or, liberty cannot be preserved but by the preservation of slavery. [Shouts of laughter.]

What benefactors of humanity were those who introduced slavery into this land! for they furnished the ma-