Political speeches and debates of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen ADouglas, 1854-1861 . people are opposed to it,our right is a barren, worthless, useless right; and if they are forit, they will support and encourage it. We come right back, there-fore, to the practical question, If the people of a Territory wantslavery, they will have it; and if they do not want it, you cannotforce it on them. And tliis is the practical question, the greatprinciple, upon which our institutions rest. I am willing to takethe decision of tiie Supreme Court as it was pronounced by thataugust tribunal, without stopping
Political speeches and debates of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen ADouglas, 1854-1861 . people are opposed to it,our right is a barren, worthless, useless right; and if they are forit, they will support and encourage it. We come right back, there-fore, to the practical question, If the people of a Territory wantslavery, they will have it; and if they do not want it, you cannotforce it on them. And tliis is the practical question, the greatprinciple, upon which our institutions rest. I am willing to takethe decision of tiie Supreme Court as it was pronounced by thataugust tribunal, without stopping to iufjuire whetlier I would havedecided that way or not. I have had many a decision made againstme on questions of law which I did not like, but I was bound bythem just as much as if I had had a hand in making them and ap-proved them. Did you ever see a lawyer or a client lose his casethat he approved the decision of the court? They always think thedecision unjust when it is given against them. In a government oflaws, like ours, we must sustain the Constitution as our fathers. fi*£
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Keywords: ., bookauthorlincolna, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookyear1896
