Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1805-02-06
El2 IL Ccsts siagls. /

: are met with objections upon cen ,,ituiion-
. al principles gainst cur yfshf. We have
: been told BY the people OF this district, thae
. Ne cs,nni fes-ds .:-a .-.-f.r.S Of which
they are Inhabitants, witnoIt their con-
, sent /; andthe gentleman from Maryland
i(air Cennis) hss told us today That the
proposed recession cannot be. made With
oai the consent of the people Of the whole
Unitcd States.
& Il iscerisny i-sirahl. shat al! questions
ce this nature sao,ifd receive solution
Iro,n the principles and pSaetice q! cur
iown governments, without having resort
Ito foreign sources. Bu, much FEAR llar
The condition Of the Gistr.cs OF Coiumbi4
is one of a nature So fec'1iar 20 itseik utiat
no ssch solution can be found. For itis
;impos sibie 10 conceive ,ha; the principles
OF xovernmen, whose essencc IS ,sghf,
should ~ found 10 apnis 10 Tie situation
OF a people slrint Of al r-:.gtf.
The proposition thai The consent Of the
people OF this dstri9 Is necessary TO give
validity 10 an att of congress, ha, Dg Tor
its obic:t recession OF the Territory, car
! RES with it the recitation OF Itself. Il
proves too mach. Tic same reason by
erich thsy maintain this position. was me-
lcesssry TO give validity 20 any set Of legis-
iotiop over them. That comp ress Posse IS
the powsr of e-red1sfve legislation over
them, cannot be denied. We exercise,
aud wc are authotisei so 10 do Dswer
over all thsir rights Of hfe, liberty AID
properly. Nov there cannon be present.
al 10 ny mind . greater absurcijy than
90 say Mia, the consent Ct the people of
Columbia is Necessary TO any aei IN relati-
on 20 The N, when they ate striyt Of Ill The
tights OF sslS-soyeramS
knew, Sir, tina, distinction HAS been
made b-sween the eight of isgislalior, and
The poser Of transferring iiat right too
,h@rs. A.nd whilst it is a.lm,ited that the
ocngress of the United States possess
themselves Of, exclusive right Of ieeisla-
ton over Ike district OF Columbia, ills de-
med That this right cen be transferred to
The states of Mgrylapd a,,d Vireinia, with
out The Consent cl the pecpie who are to
90 aaeSled by the tsausrer. OF those
SO naln,ais this proposition. woulg, cn-
an,re by what authority was the ces.icn
At nrst made by Virginia and Maryland
to the United States! Was The consent of
The p=nple who were to be affected by the
TRANSFER, then deemed necessary 10 its va
iidiiy, and ii 80, how was sacI, copssnl OBJ
tanned have heard 1t argued that the
people 10 be affected, were comronet parts
bad representation IN The legislatures Of
those states, through which der consent
was given. fask where is The pioof tba,
their consent to the &C ssion vAs SO giveni
For any thing that appears, tie repscsen.
talises Of those counties voted against The
cessicn ssis in which event The wiIi OF the
tpropte of this district vas so far as the
| same could be 10 that way expressed, d.
rectly opposed TO the measure. Aid for
the sake OF Illustration viii suppose The
fSci to have been SO, and ask gentle neil
i~he'herthe acis making the cessiop " ere
on that account Invalid take upon nv.
sen the risk OF saying, that 10 one VIII
answer afatmstisely- ! { so, the doctrine
IS reduced to this dilemma, that cessiou
OK The Gistriel Of Columbia cannol he CEN
st',uuossiiy made without The consent of
the inhabilats thereof, but HAT such cessi-
on May be made ia the face Of .heir ex.
press negative.
The position of the gentleman r,,n
nsrsisad Mr. Dcnnis) aoes his reasoning
10 srpport It have not had weight on nsy
inind. Cannot conceive hc~ the peo-
pie OF the United States are parties 10
ice compact, so as 10 make any CO set
nn their part necessary. Tae only par
ties IN my opinion, are the congress on
the one hand, and the states OF MARYLAND
and Virginia on the other. These par.
ties negotiated and formed the compact
the SAME parties can undo il.
But be ihs reasoning of The people Of
Columbia, and the ressonine of the gen
tleman from Maryland ever so correct
and we'll founded in the abstfa6t, still
have conclusive answer, t..st il cannot
apply TO the case. No rraso1irg dawn
from the principles OF free governments
can apply 10 case, where TIC peop,c
are DISTINGUISHED OF al rights. The 10.
nab'Iants o. this distriet sre IN eye1y
sense the sH6ieefs OF Congress, AID con-
gress are their noSfers. This is not ouiY
the theory of the government exef.
c'sed here, but in rny opihian ,I.e, the
tory has 10 reeent instsn.s (yNe case
tot tie Aexsndti9 chsrt@rJ been put INTO
~ ut ,,iattiCe II IL ~ ,,;st Ss.f.t.;,