Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1820-01-25
t'ls ,OuRi QUESTION.

In the House OF Assembly of the
o'a'.' oil New York on The l4,ii inst. the
resolutions on The Missouri question IN
St'Ucfin9' buih senators aud yeprese,fa
tiOcs Ohus pitching HE bar farther ,I,an
they iIad right 10 do,( came upon Tie
,apIS Tor discussions. Among oIh,r 1cn-
ilemfu, VINO addressed The House. was
MIR. Spencer, Speaker Of the House. who
was lately IN the Congress of the u.
States. This gentleman il "A decided
freud OF restriction. and claims the
honour OF maintaining almost alone. on
Tie floor OF Tie Ii. of L. that the power
OF Congress WAS 10 he found in that
Clause al HE constitution" which relates
|" inl&raiion and Importati"n."-I lie re-
pratS Ills convictions, aud has tie Goho,. Of
supporting his idea by classifying a high
ahh distinguished authority, whom he
cites ~ hls favour. Thai we NAV Go
more justice 10 MIR. Spencer than he has
done To Judge " ilson, sc shall quote his
words, aDd lei every reader Judge Tor
himself:
ia the dcbatesin the Pennsylvania conveu-
non, which will TIE iOund IN lIh Halls Ameri-
riccH law Journal, The venerable Judge Wilson
mad given lucid and satisfactory explanation
OF thIN ciAnse lie declares that il il intended
10 r'StIici tic power OF congress over the ou
States umtii lS0S that after that pVriuj The
mletatoG ana importation OF slaves could be
prolnbi,ed aitO9ethPr and that an the lsgru
irhlfs no Aer STATE coUid he ndaitted tith0ut DrO
hunting tie tRtTOduCtiOR Of SLtrrra lie ,tateS the
clause To have been The result of compromise
between Tie north and south aud he courr;-
iniat"s his colleagues on having Obtained SO
iEnrh. authority more uecisive can hardly
be expected, especially when il is recuilectcd
that I, lisa cOntempOraugOuS exposition of the
Intentions OF the trainers OF the constitution
being made III The year 1887 by one ofthe most
distinguished III that bari of iiuStiiogs states
men
Alr. Spencer here ascsibes to Judge
Wilson Two assertions LIST, that MigratiOn
was meant 10 apply 10 SiaveS; 2d. that
PRIOR 10 1908, no neiU state cOuid be admitted
withom prohibiting lie naturalization eff SLaee
IY, leaving ii also To be inferred that the
same restriction applies 10 new states
SINCE.
We we're satisfied from the moment we
saw Mr. Spencer's speech, that he had
not done Justice 10 the opinion of Judge
Wilson; and the examination of it salts
mes us OF Tie fact. The distinguished
Judge expresses himself i'll the following
manner:
ut Is with much satisfact ton view this pow
er IN tile general government, whereby they
may lay an introduction ca this reproachfuI
trdde (slave trade y but all Immediate advau-
tage Is also obtained, tor a tax or duty may he
imposed ~" such importation not exceeding ten
dollars lor each person and this Sir, Ope-
rates az IA pdriiai prohibition IL was all that
could he btaiHed l am sorry il was no more:
but from this think there is reason to hone
that yet few wears, aud it will he prohibited
altogether and i'll the mean time. the new
STATE 5 which are TO br formed will he under
the control of Congress IN this ydYficuiur: and
SLAVES will never be introduced among them.-
lie gentleman says that il is unfortunate IN
another point OF view IL means TO prohibit the
,ntrodac!ion Of phite people from Europe. as this
tax may deter them from coming amongst
ihem; iitle impariaity aud attention " i'll
discover fhe care that the convention took III
selecting their language The words are the
| htSrdtton or IMPORTATION of such persons, & C..
shat not he prohibited by Congress piiur to
Tue year iSOS, bnt a Tax or duty MAY be impo-
SID on such IMPORTATION /; 1t il observable
here, hat the term migration is dTOpged where
tax or dnty is mentioned so that Congress
| nave power 10 impose the tax, only those
| impsrted."
Now, how does Mr. S. make out from
these words thai migration extends to
SfareS The opponent Of the constitution
had said, you forbid white people from
coming amongst us. BV no lspans, say $
the Judge ; you tax imported slaves only ;
| but you drop migration, wien YOU speak
| OF tax and lhe white man is free TO
migrate bllher without any tax al all.
| Nor does Judge WILSON say, thai Com
| gress may prohibit The iMtroducii0n Of
SfaccIy INTO new state (|,Om an old one
Slaves viii never be iulrohuced among
them )" that is, from abJOad and thus
sense is fully made out hy his Just be.
| fore saying ibal " the new STATES which
are 10 be formed, will be under ibe on
| troll OF Congress an tbs paFticniar;" In
Whdt particular? 90 farther back, and
ii Is plain that he refers alone 10 The i'm
Po'tatiOn Of them-by means OF The slave
| nGde
TO such sophisms are the advocates OF
restriction driven!
In HE same debate, and on lie same
side of The question, is Mr. Irving, who
alter quoting the act Of 1907, "prohibit
ing The importation OF slaves into the
union after HE Isl January, 1903" thus
goes on 10 cOniOund Importation anC
migration together:
That This act Was never supposed to i'm
terlere with any OF the rights aud privilege
| possessed by the states or 10y individuals; ant
II his act il constitutional why I've ask ed, lat
| not congress equally tie power to prevent Ga,
| migration of slaves from one state into anO
tier; tor The powers implied by tie section
| TO exist IN congress, WEI equal as IL respected
Tie importation or the migration Ofslaves. Tht
internal traffic i'm slaves between the citizen
| OF different states may therefore be equals
prohibited with the tralhc between them ant
the subjects OF foreign countries: and 1T sucl
traffic may be altogether prohibited, it mus
follow tliat the United States nave power Il
| suppress or .uterdiCt II in their territorial go
vernfncnts aud TO require such absolute inter
diclIon rs rendition upon which tile sam
shall be admitted iufD tie uniou."
We pass over ihe objections To thi
confused passage. 30 slate one absurdii,
luio which Mr.. Irving is driven by hi
own premises n" lie powers of Congress
were equal as il respected tie importation
or The migration of slaves" and il migra
ION aDttites I'm sIgreg and n foy5,.,.j Z