The Portland gazette. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1818-1824, 1820-01-25

scheme lor Compelling congress 10 adlnit
Missouri without any condition He
hoped the honorable speaker would re-
wise his decision and, if he did Mr.. W.
was surethe would decide differently.
With regard to other grounds ,rayers-
ed by the speakers, which seemed only
to come aid OF fsis uaix object, Mr..
W. confessed hilsek to be in more
doubt. lie cid not believe ii was lnthe
pswer OF Congress to say that, oil t"ent,
Representatives which Massachusetts
has Oh tins floor, seven should be
sent home nor did lie believe 1t in the
power OF Congress 10 select the seven TO
he sent home. 1 ms difficulty, however
he believed, might be COTTON over, but,
he feared, not IA the way which haa
been contemplated. He bciesed Con-
gress might make a provision that tue
seven Representative from tie districts
in Maine should for the present Con-
gress, be considered as the Representa-
tlves OF Maine, and the remaining thlr-
teen as the. Representatives OF lnassa-
chusetts. This course, whist within tie
power of Congress, could not but be ac-
ceptable to Massachusetts as well as to
Maine. BY authorizing the Convention
OF the People OF Maine to form a consti-
tuition OF state government, Massachu-
sets must have been considered as con-
senting to have her representation cur
tailed. Ii the section reported by the
select committee had bcen permitted to
remain in the bill, provlso vi this des-
cription might have been auded, and In
this way, every difficulty nave been re-
moved. However, Mr.. VI. said he had
not objected to strinlng 1t out, IN de-
ference to what he supposed the better
judgment OF several scnt,emen from
Mame and Massachusetts, who thought II
better that this provision snouiu be the
subject of a separate bill. With respect
TO the apportionment OF representation,
he took occasion to say, he did not be-
lieve Congress were under any necessity
of making it at the moment after the CEN
sus was taken; he thought it might be
made at any other and intermediate
time. Whatever arrangement might he
made SO as TO reserve their respective
portions OF representation MIR. W. SAID
ne was sure both Massachusetts and
Maine would be satisfied. The former
would not expect to hold her whole
present representation, after the Sc
yerance OF Maine, as Virginia did after
the state OF Kentucky was formed IRON
territory within her limits.
The )norable Speaker, Mr.. W. said,
had given the house piece OF history
which he had never heard before. he
was apprehensiye the hon. Speaker |
might have been misinformed. lie
understood him to have said, that Yer
mont and kentucky had been tackled to-
gether, and the admission of one had |
been made necessary to that of the other
and, further, that the objection to the |
admission of Kentucky came from the
Eastern and Northern sections of the
Union. This, MIR. w. said, he had
never heard before. II the gentleman
Judged from the fact that the statute
book showed them both to have been
admitted at the same time, it was as fair
to infer that the objection came from the
South as that ii came from the North. |
But, be the fact in that case what it may,
said Mr.. ". it ought to make no diff
ference in regard to the admission of
Maine. Because Congress may at any
former period have done wrong, will the
honorable Speaker insist upon our
doing SO too' The Speaker, he said, had
not commended, hut rather reprobated
the alledged delay Of the admission Of
Kentucky for the purpose of including !
Vermont and, if he reprobated it in
that case, il was because the thing was
incorrect in itself. If so, certainly the
Speaker would not persist now in con-
tending for a measure which was then
wrong, but would give it up as incorrect
at all times.
With respect to the question of i'm
posing conditions on the admission OF
new states, Mir. ". pointed to the act
of admission of Louisiana into the Union.
Were there no conditions there, he ask
ed, which conAicted with the absolute