He plants himself resolutely upon the Compromise of 1850 as a final settlement — not merely for the Territories then in dispute, but for all future territorial legislation. Sustain it, and we may proclaim the party a unit and repose confident that the federal Union is safe.
Original passage & context
"He plants himself resolutely upon the Compromise of 1850, as a final settlement -- not final merely as to the Territories then in dispute, but final as to all future legislation for territorial governments. [...] We may then gladly proclaim the democratic organization a unit, and repose confidently on the conviction that the federal Union is safe."
A Northern Democratic paper reading Douglas's report the week it appeared, and treating party unity and the safety of the Union as the same question. The test it proposes — whether Northern and Southern Democrats vote together — is the one the bill went on to fail in the North.
Read it in the original — Furman Secession Era Editorials transcription ↗