a.O ..:,::~.... ,~..,.
II
I.
VOLLMEIE =0
citizens of the different States ? Will net their rights
of property and all other rights be the same in the
Territory 1 It is no inequality that all the rights of
property which exist in the different States may not,
exist in the Territory; these are State rights, created
. by the State laws, and held under State authority.
They are not 'rights derived from the Federal Con
stitution, nor upheld by its They may cease when
a citizen removes from the jurisdiction of the State
where they were enjoyed. The rights of property,
and the rights of person in their, social relations, do
not depend on the Federal Constitution, but on the
constitution and lawiof the State's. For Congress
Here with either in a. State, would be a most
it invasion of Stale rights. 'Can this Govern
tnt regulate the titles .to hunk, the descent of pro
perty, or the rights of master and servant? We all
know that these matters belong exclusively to the
States. And in regard to the Territories, although
we have'exclusive legislation, and may, if we please
regulate property there, still, even in that view of it,
the argument, as I conceive, can derive no support
whatever, I admit that we might legislate in these
Territories. That we have not done. We have
delegated that power; we have constituted local
governments based en organic laws. But were we
to legislate, could we introduce the laws of all the
States there? 'Would it be possible for us, howev
er inconsistent they might be with each other, to es
tablish the laws existing in all the Stales in relation
to property in a Territory ? What is property is one
State is not property in another. Every one must
seethe impossibility of such a system of legislation.
The argument of the himorable Senator,based on the
equality 'of the States, thus fall* to the ground.
It is impossible that the citizens of every State
should enjoy the same rights of property in a Ter
ritory that they enjoy in the States from which they
remove, as the rights of property are different in the
several States. Nor can this be said to occasion
any inequality or injnstice. The power and juris
diction of Congress over a Territory is entirely diff
erent from what it is in a State. In the latter it is
defined and limited; ia the former it is exclusive
and local. It does notlaperate upon the citizens of
:he States, and affects only the people of the Ter
riory. Those who emigrate there necessarily part
their State rights of property and pen-on,
and can only enjy such of either as is consistent
with the laws of [the Territory And those laws;
whether emanating frqm Congress or the legisla
tive councils of the Territory, are merely.local ter
ritorial laws. Was Congress to legislate, we should
in the first place, look io the interest of the people
of the, Territory. We are called upon to act for
them. Our first duty is to conselt their wishes and
interests ; and in the next place,, ladmit, we should
look to the establishment of equlal and exact justice
as regards all the States, as tar as that may be prac
tible. But we certainly cannot incorporate the laws
Of all the States inlthe institutions of a Territory.
establishing li law the principle of slavery, ! That would be impossible. We cannot make that
who occupy the extreme ground, and the more property in a Territory'whieh is recognized as prop-
Moderate advocates of the same object. The for- city by the laws of some of the States without con
mer, as I understand from the remarks of some of flirting with the law of others. In this, as in all
them.—the gentleman from Alabama, [Mr. BACII usher eases, the majority must decide; and the whole
and the distinguished Senator from South Carolina„! subject is in our hands ; there is no constitution re
jM r. CALHOUN] —maintain, that under the Cimsn- strirtion one way or another. It is a question like
union slavery becomes the supreme law of all our ! all others wl}ere there is no doubt as to the power
Territories—l state their position in my own lan- in which dot/minority must submit: I have no doubt
guar, —and that it is not in the power of Congress, where the majority is in this case. A proposition,
nor in the power of the people inhabiting a Terri- then, resting on this ground or any other, that we
tory, to abolish slavery ; that is above the reach of are required to introduce slavery into Oregon, is,
both, resting on the solid foundations of the Consti- to say the least of it, a very strange one. It makes
tution itself. Well, I profess to be a steadfast and this Federal Government the propagandist and sup
firm supporter of every legitimate arid constitunotyd ' porter of slavery ! Hitherto I believe the doctrine
'principle,•whether it operate in favor of my views has been, in the South, and every where else. that
and the interests of my constituents or not. 111 this Government should let slavery alone—that .we
could believe that the position which 1 have just ha% e recognized it in the States, and ought not to
stated was well sustained, however relectaritly 1 touch it. As long as my friends frorn the South oc
might come to such a conclusion still my friend - from, cupied that ground. I always stood with them, and
Alabama would find me standing by him in sup- • so long as they stand there I shall sustain them.—
porting even a proposition so hostile toll know that We have been told, again and again, that it was a
to be with the spirit of the age. But this prupbsi- Slate institution—a State interest—that the Federal
lion is one very easily understood. Ido not propose Constitution had recognized it as' such—nut as an
to dismiss it at length; but as I understand, it rests institution existing under cur authority or sanction—
s orethe sirepleidea , of private property_ Well, now, and that we 'had no riglrt to interfere with it in any
it is certainly one of t.. 0 strangest propositions I way. Btu the proposition now advanced goes much
'ever heard; and if anything could add extravagance farther, and presents a new question. It connects
to a proposition in itself so extraordinary, it would this Government u-ith'slavery—it makes slavery a
be the fact that it emanates front the Senators from Federal right—an institution not established by an
Alabama and South Carolina: and others who are act of Congressndeed, but which is a part of the
per a ellonice the advocates 'of State rights. What Constitution itself! I e ill presently notice the more
does this proposition mean ! Why, nothing less than qualified statement of the doctrine; but that is the
this: that the right of property depends upon. the proposition now-presented in its length and-breadth.
sanction of the FederalGovernincut ! Where, !Usk, / I ask. by what authority is slavery to be introduced
are your " State rights," if' we have the poWer, the r into Oregon I By authority of the. Territory ! No.
responsibility of guarantying private property to the . piven in this qualified term of the proposition, it is
citizens of the various States? If we can protect by your authority—by the Federal authority—by
it, we can invade it. We have the power, •or we the act or acquiescence of this Government. To that
have it not. It is idle to discuss a proposition,,whieli I ant not prepared to accede. I have always voted
upon the face of it,in my humblejudgment, requires ! here in favor of maintaining the rights of the South,
only to be stated to show the fallacy of it. Private to the utmost limit to which I believe the Constitu-
Property is that which the laws of the States cousti4 lion secured and guarantied them. I do not use
cute property, and we have irothing to do .with it ! the word "compromise.' It has nonpplication here.
here. she rights of property do not depend on the " Guaranty "is the pm:ler term. All the States of
• Constitution or laws of the Federal Government. the Confederacy have guarantied slavery. Our mil-
Mr. CALHOUN. I have great reFpect fqr the hon. • line may be called out to protect it. All that lam
citable Senator, and I depart from my Anil rule in . l prepared to sustain. But when I am called undo
interrupting hint. But we do not rest this question employ the authority of Misgovernment for the pur- ,
upon that foundation. I rest it upon the comity of pose of introducing slavery into the territory now
the States of .this Union. The Territory of Oregon free, a new question is paescnted, and it is one to
is the territory of the rniteil States, and by the Uni- I which, I belieye, the people of this . country will
ted States we mean thelitates i n t h e i r f e d era l capae. -lye a derided negative. They will never sanction
ity as members of this Union. I lost it upon the ! :itch an exercise of the Federal authority. I Hill
additional fact, the States in their f.;tlerat capacity not here to excite irritation. or to use the language
are .equal and coequal, a n d being so, no discritn- of menace but I ask, do gentlemen suppose that
illation can exist between those wlio hold and those the tree Starbs will send representatives here io
who do not hold slaves take an active agency in the introduction of slavery
Mr. Nii.Es. - The explanation is such as I rxpect- into flee territory!! Po they thick that the moral
ed, and it does not affect my statement nfithe ques- :sentiment of the North vciU justify this?
lion. The honorable Senator rests his position on The second preposition is not so extravagant as
° the ground of eq4alriglits guarantied to citizens the former, and 'yet I think it amounts to pretty
of all the States, which would be violated, as he al- much the same thing. In the one Ease, its. are eta
leg,es, if citizens from any of the. States should be led upon to incorporate the principle of slavery ;--in
prohibited , from entering any of the Territories and the o th er, t o permit it to be doni- . .;:tt; leave it to in
enjoying the saute rights of property 'there which trocjitse,iffelf if it can, citner . Wrthe(‘josi
they enjoy in the States from whichthey removed. of the people-of die Teriiioty.
ft - rove any inequality of rights anion the the ecople to govern is a just and eoptilar idea; bet it
TOWANDA:
Webnestran Morning, 3nlg 5, 1818.
SPEECH OF
Hon. John M. Niles, of Connecticut,
On Shivery in the Territories,
Dellverc 1 to the F. S. Senate, June 2, 1818.
On the Bill to establish a Territorial Government in Oregon—
Ma. Nu.es said : Mr. President, I have a few re
tnarks to submit on some of the questions raised
by this bill, and I may as well offer the,ni at this
tune as any other. As this bill involves the ques
tion of slavery in one of its forms—always a deli
cate subject—nothing but a strong sense of duty
could induce me to take any part in this debate.
During the time I have been lionoredwith a seat in
thii, body, I-have always forborne to enter into any
disCussions upon that sitbiect when it has come up,
as it often has, in the form of abstract propositions.
; But it now comes before us in a different aspe:t,
being directlyconneeted with legislation, with the
establishment of a territorial goverment in Oregon.
In this view of the question now before the Se
nate it is not an abstraction; nor can I perceive
the justice of the remark, that any proposition affirm
ative either of the principle of absolute freedom, or
t of that of an opposite character, is to be regarded
as a " firebrand" thrown into the Senate.
We are now called upon to pass a very impor
taut act—an organic law to establish a government
for a distant people ; and the question is, whether
in undertaking this great work—laying the founda
tion for a mighty empire which is to spring up on
the shores of the Pacific Ocean, facing Asia as we
face Europe—we shall transplant there the sacred
principles of freedom which have taken root tri our
midst, and by which we have become a great peo
ple among nations of the earth. That is the ques
tion, and it is no small question. Whether the peo
ple of that distant region are to continue a part of
this Confederacy-, or whether, as is quite pro.rable,,
they are to assume the character of a separate and
independent nation, still the responsibility now de
volving upon us is the same. Our duty is the same,
whether they are to remain under our jurisdiction
as part of us or to grow tip into an independent
State:under our auspices and guardian care.
What then, is the, particular question before the
Senate ? If I were to judge from the debate, there
is no question here as to the exclusion of slavery -.
the only question is, as to how far it is proper to go
in favoring the introduction ofslavery ; whether we
shall actually incorporate it into the institutions of
that distant and rising people, or shall So shape
their organic laws as simply to encourage its intro
duction, leaving the door open, and asserting the
right, that it may insinuate and establish itself there.
—The difference is between those who are tor
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MEM
PITBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY, AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD - COUNTY, PA; BY E. O'HARA GOODRICH,
===III:NEM!!!!!
applies only to independent, organized communi
ties possessed of sovereign power. It cannot pos•
sibly apply to the people of this Territory, who do
not possess oue particle of sovereignty. We 'are
called ripen to exercise sovereign power over this
Territory. If the sovereignty is in the' people of
the Territory, then we cannot pass this bilL lam
not prepared to leave to the people of a Territory
the question of the establishment of slavery there.
I do not think that that would be an honest and
faithful discharge of our duty. I know it is said.the
climate and other geog,diphical causes will inhibit
the establishment of slavery there. But that is a
circumstance with which I have nothing to do. I
am not here as a legislator to speculate about the
probabilities of thee•introduction of this great evil, or
of the necessity of asserting any of the great princi
ples of freedom. Our ancestors did not act in that
way, either in the establishment of their State or
Federal Constitutions. The illustrious statesmen
of old Virginia did not so act when they proposed
their ten amendnients to the Federal Constitution.
None of them perhaps were necessary; yet they
deemed it wise and prudent to throw every• safe
guard around the rights of the States and the peo
ple, and her ellightened statesmen were not pre
pared to ratify the Constitution without the security
which those amendments afforded. On the same
consideration we havO those declarations of the
great principles of liberty in our bills of rights in all
the States. Why do you provide that there shall be
•uo established religion I Why do you protect the
sacred rights of conscience ? Why do you provide
that the habeas corpus shall not be abolished? Why
do you establish the right of trial by jury? Sir, the
question comes up before us, and we are bound to
meet it. Without disrespect to any one, I must be
I permitted to express the regret with whieh I per
ceive a disposition on both sides of the Chamber to
evade and avoid the great qUestioes which now
Presents itself, and which, I must add, cannot be
blinked. All the efforts to evade it must prove un-
availing. The amendment of the Senator from Flo
rida [Mr. WESTCOTT] brings up the extreme prin
ciple contained in the bill of the last session, assert
ing the first proposition to which I have directed
the attention of the Senate. We must- meet that
probability. Then there is the proposition of the
ordinance of 1787. Now, do honorable Senators
suppose that standing here as we do, the represen
tatives of ten of the sovereign States of this Union,
instructed to ingrafl the principle of freedom upon
all the Territories of this Union, that when we have
a bill before us i by which the foundations of a now
empire are to be laid, it is possible to evade and
avoid this great question ? Ido not know what my
honorable friends, the Senators from New York,
who sit here very much at their ease, may say on
tin; subject; but I believe they have been instruct
ed twice over to assert this great principle of the
ordinance of 1787 in reference to any territorial bill.
The people of the " Empire State," through their
local legislature, have on two occasions instructed
their Senators here to declare their sentiments on
this great subject. I believe I have myself receiv
ed similar instructions. However, as regards4ny
self, that circumance exercises but a small influ
ence upon my course. Independent of.allinstrue
tions, I feel called upon in this instancetto discharge
a solemn duty. The question cannot be evaded.—
It is upon us. It must be met.
Lhave said that I cannot accede to the proposi
tion even in its qualified form. I cannot consent
to the extens on of slavery by quiet acquiescence.
I do not believe that that' acquiescence would be
consistent with what is due to ourselves er the coun
try. Ilavewo no opinion on this subject ? Have
we no judgment of our own. as to whether it will
be better for that country or. for the Linton that ono
or.the - other of these principles !shourd be incorpo
rated into the institutions to be established there?
If we have an opinion, why should it not be asser
ted ! harmony—harmony may be endanger.
ed by the assertion of a great principle ! And we
have been told of a " platform:" Let me remind
gentlemen that these is but one platfilini on which
we cat, stand iu regard to this-or any other qurs•
tion—tbe platform of the Cor.stitution. That is the
standard by which all questions are to be decided.
would not do out of my way to bring up any dis
turbing questions : but when a question arises, what
ever its character ; I would meet it fearlessly, and
look it boldly in the face, and give my vote accord
ing to my own judgment.
The debate on-the present question seems to me
to have been all on one side. I think that the great
principle of liberty—of equal rights—of humanity
—ought to have at least more than one voice rais
ed in this Chamber in their 4relicatioa. These
grealprinciples are not without tongues among the
people. On this subject the people are not asleep.
In many of the States they have spoken undibly. , —
But the misfortunetis ; that in their State
their representatives speak one voice, whilst their
representatives here, farther rcmo%ed, and alumna •
ded by other influences, often speak a very differ
ent voice. How long thizi is to . ...euntinue, is not for
me to say. Fer my own part, I have tie wish to
avoid this questiOn. I believe that a decision of it
will tend to quiet the public mind.
It is proposed to, strike out thel2th section of the
Lill before the Senate, leaving the question of ski
very to be decided by the people 'of the Territory.
This section is better than nothing, because it as
serts the principle of freedom in this Goveruinent
when it goes into operation; and it also dues re
cognize the fact, that the people of Oregon area free
people. By adopting this section, we also declare
that we establish a liwyentnient for this " people in
.nonformity. with their ownwil:die4 „hut sarike.that
,section outy and where do you: stand? • Wirs,.in
that case; ) uu reverse
. the fact you intfodttee a
kt)iiioo ll ()t!jri..T4 40 .1( ?R1 0 6 1 ao.
vstriunentneyer,, - known,heretuftite,: „I Nyoufil
the:attention of=the Senetektla*dart7 to giaTthrit
fink on lin rdetaNilettlb 11516460
`on tilts
..glii#vt„llo:tiE:4__Wn*A3lll. 141:111e
„liiritory clunixt..:n,9ryn tA rue wient v epac,
greas has actsdruponarrufkeittled piniciple*both in
, LESS OF DENUNCIATION FILDX INT QUANTEE.7I
the establishment of territorial governments, and in
the admission of States into the Union—and that
principle has been, to take the condition of the peo
ple as it existed at the time, as the basis of their ac
tion. Ohio being free horn slavery, was oiganized
as a free Territory." Theil , caine Mississippi, in
which a different state of facts existed. What did
Congress do in that case ? It recognized the exist
ing state of things, and did not• assert the principle
of the ordinance of 1787. An.effort was made is
the case of Missouri, to set aside this principle, but
it did not succeed, and Missouri was admitted as
she was. Now, we find the settlers in Oregon are
a free people. They have voluntarily organized a
provisional government, and expressly exclude sla
very; we cannot doubt what - their will and purpose
are. And shall we not recognize their action as
the basis of our legislation ? Shall we not carry out
their wishes. Ihich they have expressed in +he
most solemn form ? Will you force upon them an
institution which therdo not desire ? I know it
has been said, and it may be repeated, that this
matter must be left finally to the pe4le: and this
is true, When they become a sovereign State But
that is no reason vtliy, in organizing a Territory,
we should not ingraft upon their insti utions the true
principles of freedom. We possess and exercise
the sovereignty over them. We cannot delegate it
entirely to them. Their condition is a tact which
most regulate our action. They are a tree people
—fuse the term in no offensive sense by implica
tion, for we are all free ; yet the law ot• slavery - is
no part of free, institutions. They have not intro
duced, and do not desire this law. Shall we then
not assume this action of the people of that Territo
ry as the basis on which, tinder our care and guar
, dianship, the superstructure of the government of
that people is, to be raised 4 Shall we now depart
'from a principle whielrhas - been heretofore recog.•
I nized by both parties to this question.
Mr. Wes - i - curr. I understand the - Senator to say,
that in the territory acquired by the treaty of Louis
iana, Congress recopized the existence of slavery
there. In two-thirds of that territory, by express
action of Congress, slavery has been excluded.
Mr. NILES. I said, that in the organization of
Territories, and in admission of States to this l'itiotn,
we had always respected the condition of the peo
ple—that we had uniformly recognized and re.spee
ted the existinn state of things.
Mr. WEirrearr. Slavery has been attempted .to
be excluded by the adoption of the ordinance :of
1781 and the Missouri compromise, in at least two
thirds of the Louisiana purchase, and without a
shadow of right. It existed in that territory under
Spain.
Mr. Nurs. The i2;11 section of the bill may not
be worth much, but it is better than nothing. It as
serts the principle of the ordinance of 1787 with
some qualification. That principle has been alrea
dy recognized by the people of Oregon. The ques
tion is before us now. I, for one, wish to see it set
tled, so far as we, have the power to itdttie it. II
we settle it now, we get rid of it forever, so Lir as
the action of thij Government is concerned. If this
section is expunged, the question is left open to be
agitated in Oregon and in this country.
It has hien suggested that this question is a po
litical one; that slavery Las become an element of
political power; that it enters into the action of the
Federal system, not only as forming a ba.sis of re
presentation in one of the House of Congress, but ,
much more extensively as a controlling influence
at all times in the administration of the General
Government. Well, this is a difficulty which, like
all other difficulties, must be met. It is a difficulty
which did not exist, in my judgment, in the early
stages of this Government, and hence we find, that
instead of decreaSing.. as was no doubt anticipated, J.
the excitement and interest on this Subjert has be
come greater. The question must be disposed .of,
however, according to the ju3.guieut of the majori
ty, in which the minority must acquiesce. Not
long •=ince:, the honorable Senator from South Caro
lina [Mr:' - CALHOUN] went into a consideration, of
this subject, and spoke of aggression upon the
South, and of the alarming increase of power in the
free States. I made some 'remarks at the time in
relation to that point, and may now repeat my con- .
iction. that the tact is entirely the other way. Do
we not all know that our southern friends have for
a long period enjoyed the highest offices of the Go
vernment; that the supreme executive has been
monopolized almost exclusively by them since the
existeuce of the Confederacy;. that they have sup
ptied almost exclusively the presiding, officersin
the other House, who appointilbe committees and
controls its actions; that they have - usually had the
central press here under their control, which forms
and directs public opinion; and that thus, however
stratig,eit may scorn, it is nevertheless true, that the,
element of sla4ery, whatever it may be locally, has
exerted in. the Federal Government a controlling
influenceff . It serves to unite and bind together all
of the States where it prevails, giving them a con
centration and power, which,.when exerted, has
never yet been .succesaluily opposed. It renders
all otherquestions subordinate to it: and although
political and ether divisions may prevail, yet this
principle is a bond of union which Overrides and
controls all others, and iu uu stball degree consoli
dates all the States subject to its influence, and en
ables thenvo, move with united hare and power,
and by taking advantage of the divisions which al
ways preVail iu free States, they have been ena
bled to exercise an intluence over the affairs of the
Confederacy, greatly disproportiohed to theiramtn
hers, if nut dangerous to the interests of othet see-
nous of the Uuiou. Norlas its concerted and ;mi•
led-action-been confined to this subject atone. Of.
ten when the North and the West. have been divi
ded on . grearpoliticalqueirtions, the south has ple
a:Rl;l;l.4n unKtiotiriti #9 . 44 ‘i4l ieh.has Xrenn do.:rzive
M r. President; Wig nbedimenwte INeteeiveWheie
ife ietti iittigtiotf - .'t:tMaitetti. It
,_.4o,kg. cab ffikft r n t 443:ilawmag: skauro inta,a Amiga
mate t wtenitt - try rt.cctocem ifie present- questxin
r==2l!=l
=I
EMI
has very little importance. No, sit; it is a struggle
for power. Now, sir, I believe the South is alrea
dy too Strong. It exercises a preponderating influ
ence in the affairs of this Government. 1. believe
that if this predonilerance contintie—if the North go
On yielding as it 11.07 yielded to every preteusionlot
the South, under this siren song of " harmony !"1—
" harmony`"' concession!" •` concession !"-
there will be danger to the Union. We all know
what this cry for harmony and concession means—
it is an appeal to the North to give way, and it has
always been . successfuland will be on the present
OCCAZ , WII. The result is foreshadowed iu the reluc
tance manifested on both sides of the Chamber to
come forward and sustain the great principle of
freedom. Yes ; sir, the North will give way, if on
this occasion it can lie said to have made a stand.
No one can mistake the influences operating t.n
both sides of the hall: the great principle of tree
darn may be sacrificed to political po;ver. I fear,
sir, that if this ,course of action continues. the salu
tary balance of power in our system will be lost,
and one portion of its machinery wfll acquire an
undue momentum which .may derange the whole.
Then there will arise the danger of reaction. That
is a danger always to be apprehended from a long
continued exercise of power in a particular direc
tion. and an unwise subserviency and yielding to it
'on the part of those against whom it is exercised.
In these cases, a point is at last reached.when-for
beararee ceases to be tolerable, and rctaction comes,
iniikeil; perhaps, with in-ore power than discretion.
I desire to avert such a crisis.. I wish to see re
stored to the lice States that influence, that equ
ty. that teontrol in the .affairs of the. Government,
which very ju-sly belongs to thee], but
my judinetit, they have not heretofore
exercisal
Pray. sir, is not the slave power- seen 'and felt
everywhere in the action cif this tipnerninent—in
all its departments ? NVlio meets with most favor
from it ! Those who stand on the ride of freiloom,
or those who advocate the opposite principle ?—_
Why. I believe it is very well known in this body,
that there is a class of men in our land who are as
much proscribed as if they were felons. Ido not
justify their course ; but ought any portion of our
citizens to be proscribed' for their opinions. how
ever .rnistal. en They are called fanatics—abolition
fanatics? No one of them can receive office un
der this Government any more than though he had
been coricte;.l of treason against it? I have known
cases in which the cry of " mad dog" has led to
the rejection of men in these halls who did not re
ally belong to that proscribed class.i Is it ngbt that
this principle should enter so deeply into the ad
ministration of this Government !! Is it justis it
in accordance with those great principles of human
liberty iu which we are accustomed to glory, that
such a prejudice should be ipennitted to prndnce
a perfect prescription of a class of
. our fellow-riti
ions !
Mr. WEirco - tr.. I feel bound to call the Senator
to order_ . The poiht of order I make is, that it is
never allowable to refer to the acts of the St nate in
Executive session until the injunction of secrecy is
taken off, which he does at . ) when -he asserts that
nominees hay been rejected on account of their
anti-slavery opinions. It is Trot on my own account
I otject to thus. Ido not hes tate to say that I have
voted, and shalt continue to vote, against any nomi
nee who I believe is tainted with abolitionism, to
any office, as I would against an incendiary.—
With respeet to the alleged cases put by the Sena
tor, Sou bemers cannot defend' themselves without
referrinb to the facts. Hence a 'reference to them
by the Sen ris out of order.
The Senator from Florida must re
duce the words not in order to
,writing.
Wciircarr- The call to order is not for ex
ceptionable language or verb'al impropriety. It is
to the fange of the specii , " I except—it is for ref
erences to secret ExecutiVe 'proceedings prohibit
ed by our rules, that the call-to order is Made . .-;-
The words need not be reduced to writing in !sub
stance.
Mr. N,i.ts. Shall I pro6eed •
The l'acsinixo OFFIcER. The Senator from Con
necticut• ii in order : the Chair. se decides. The
Senator will procee(i.
Mr. NiLv.s. Every territorial government is toun
ded upon the .principle of regulatina their own in
ternal affairs within certain limits, and those limits
are, that they shall not violate the Constitution and
laws of the United States ; not interfere with the
primary right to dispose of the soil and certain oth
er great principles of freedom, which it is deemed
more safe and proper that Congress should affirm
and establish. I hope the section may not he
stricken out. •
Mr. - Be - rtes. I desire to ask the honorable Sen
ator whether, under the guarantees of the Con-i;tiat
bon, the tribunals of thecountry would.not be bound
to recognize slave property, yes, even the tribunals
of his own State !
Mr. Nir.rs. That question has been settled Jong
since by the adjudicatton of the courts. •
BCTLKR. I know it has where a slave was,
brought from a foreign country; hut I desire the
opinion of the Senator as to a suit, say an action of
trover for a slave brought in his own State. If you
were the judge, how wolikl you decide it I
Mr. Nir.r.s. T would erifgive tench for your suit.
laugli.y, I have not touched the subject of the
rights of property in slaves in the States, but have
confined my remarks to the immediate question . ,
before irs-the power and duty of Congre.ss in re
spect to slavery itjTerriferies, where we have ex.
.elusive legislation and if slavery is carried there,
it piust be carried by the authority or acquiescence
114.-ongress. I have entered into this debate with
reactance, and have slndionsly avoided going he.
,;yond the limits the occasi . Ottcalted for.
4 Kr. President, 1 have concluded. what I have to
say on this subject s and , leiVe its deein. with the
Senate. ffndt deeey':iffeetteg•any irruniCdiate ie.
leregt4 . 4 Vpilary; it is highlyimpottant to .the
.charaverart4 hetrv„qt , the k epublic;ind the eetiise
rt letinatt.tighti, INe . elebette ctr this subject whit h
had ,den /I t the last three; da34: lat , ..allgrOd
Me an yilturz-bet agreeable tenet:boo; Had airy
Of die the Old ‘V v rl,l
been hert.fo hive 'witnessed oar ProeredingiOhty
would rite, I fear. have been impressetr ertth the
mast evaltml idea of the estiamtkori in o itteil Utter
ly arid Itimain rights are held itr.tieti• Nee couniry.
Could they have ten otherwise than iistonisheti
that at a period like' die present, when liberty, an
hefted from its long sleep, ii...agiiatitig all Europe,
and rousing up the down-iroddett people to the
most heroic efforts for the vitillication of their rights,
that such a question could the the subject of-serious a
debate in the Americlu Senate!
What is this question ? It is hotthe question which
has refill been before the deipOtic Governments or
of Portugal and Prussia—it is not the question which -
formed the subject of the thoughts and efforts of 'that
great philanthropist, Wilberforce, during a whole
it is not the question which has recently corn
mended the attention of the Provisional Government
of regenerated France, and which they have trans.
bored to the Igatimal Assemblynd; sir—it is not •
the question of the abolition of slavery, nor is it a
question as to the amelioration of the condition of
those ivho are the suhrects of slavery—no, sir—but
it is a question astto the extension of the area of An-
This is the question upon Which the Ainet,
lean Senate—in the middle of the Nineteenth.een
tory—before the eyes of the world—at a time wl4ll
new ideas of liberty are springing up in Europe
upon which the Senate ofttbiS Model Republic—
holding ourselves up to the world as an example
for all other nations—..upon which the Senate. of the
United States has been for three days 'envied in
grave debate— l a question as to the . form, s , and to
what extent, and,under what focal RrevistoiyAa
vez y shall 'eithir be engrafted upon .or permitted to
to i:ltroduce ils4f into a Teri itory where it does not
exit—where'the people have repudiated it—where
as far as we know their views, thy have set their
taces against it.
* ;; I I4
la
?"- -
-
very
Mr. President, it is desirable that this bill-should
pass r we hare lei; long neglected to extend our
jurisdiction over the people of Oregon, and afford
them ouriprotection: I feel anxious to vote for the
bill ; but if the twelfth section is stricken out, I shall
be compelled to rote against it. But with that sec - -
lion ; it is not what it ought to be. It ought to con
tain; without qualification or restriction,
the ~irigci
ple of the Ordinance of 1757. .I hope-to 'have in •
ol i ortunity to give my vote for such an runcialtnent.
Ca. we , not, in the assertion of human rights, come
up to the line where our ancestors stood sixty years
:12;')? ran we :not serf those principles of free
dom which they then proclaimed, and.thich h - ric-4 -
tram tha! day to the present time, when occasion
called for it, been repeatedly reaffirmed. .And are
' we now, in this age of progress, to be gravely de
liberating whether we shall not repudiate the
priu
ciple altogether? IVetare notproposinz to iiitivaltice
any new principle—not endeavoring to tna);c any
advance. lam considered rather behind the w.
1 I do not profess to belong to the party of Progress,
[ and,Cod forbid that I should belong to that proges
; i.ive party which a lvances backwarks in the cause
of car it liberty—w ich, instead of advancing and
I; adopt ing a moreliberal and comPreliensive and
•
policy proposed to fall back ; upon_ an
tiquated idea., and to extend and perpetuate an
1 institution origivatiig in a tiirbarouS age, and equal- .
ly in conflict witlirery sound idea of enlightened
um - eminent as it is with every true feeling of hu
manity..
TUE MODEL IViry.,--She never , c.onies down to
brc.tkfast in curl ropers. She does not imitable if
her husband hiings . a friend home to dinner,; even
it there is nothing in the house. She doesnot , ri.-
inon , tiate if her husband puts his feet on the steer ,
fender, or cry if he does not wipe. his boots an the
door mat." She subscribes to no circulating library.
and it she reads a novel, she falls asleep over it.—
She is proficient in pies, and has a deep knowledege
of iuddiugs. She never talks politics; or. ••• wish
es ihat she—were dead," or• " a or slams the
door, or shuts herself up in her bedroom on the
plea of a " ncrvousticailache." She is very slow
in tears, and.a stout heretic as.to hysterics.
Oatumor Brass.—Stays were first invented tft•
a brutal butcher of the thirteenth century, as a pun
ishrhent for his wife. She was very loquacious,
and !hiding nothing would cure her, he put a pair
ut stays on her, in. order to take away her breath,
and so prevent, as he thought, her talking. This
cruel punishment was inflicted by other husbands,
till at last there .was scarcely a wife in all London
'ho was not condemned to wear stays. The pun
ishment becaine so universal at last, that the ladies
in their defence made a fashion of it, and so it has
continued to the present day.
BREAD AND MILK FOR - CAILDRES.—Never. allow
milk to boil; it loses most of its nutritious quality
by so doing Place it in the oven; or warm it in
the saucepan; the.fortuer is best. ,Let it be luke
warm. The bread may be.soalied in the basin by
a little hnt water, with a plate over to steam it, pre
vious tu pouring the milk
PLAsTEn.—About a bushel of plaster to the acre
has been -considered - stifficient. Some prefer to use
it on gr.iss ground in May on grain when it is up
two or three incites, hie)]. It has been bound bene
ficial on grass ground after being rirowed. - " •
THE BERMUDAS ' to which the Irish patriot,Mitcha
elf has been sent as a fqou by the British. Gotett
rn ent for 11 years; area Troup of iSlands clesci
the Atlantic coast 7uo milee ! hom Care liattettss;
anal 1,000 from Charleston and &want.; theirspopu
!anon is about 1.000 souls. :The number of, troops
is less than 10,000 about ono half Irishmen. One
or tug) vessels Of war, and auumber,ofeouvict hulks
ate ustrallyafloating about the Island. •
sass..-,The peo,plc of Newporjt; R.
hpva•vote 1 iTainst licetr,es. Tlus. will compel the
faishioritibleirjwho go there for the •sernratir,. t 6 be
strictly . IPlitperate, unless some mode of L eyadirt,g
the. law. 1:.L.1 v d zlre Nt.i ank:ees bf
thevlaio. •
IZE
MU
WlOl/7311M 1
laid