The Arkansas advocate., 1835-10-23

mon country, have submitted to the cny,s;, ment of a portion oftheir inherent priyeaaa ,'''- when awakened to a sense of their r;eb.'' ;ebSs' by their condition and numbers, and resol,. ed to claim the stand to which they bpI;o,, themselves entitled, according to the a,,; denee of every age and country, will con tinue to agitate a question so vtally in portant to them, until it meets with a 6nai and satisfactory adjustment. It is fartbas believed, that Arkansas, wi .out subiect;0. herself to the censure of an unjust assrnop ton, according to her numbers, altbondh situated on the frontier, contains as mpob moral worth and intellectual capabilitv or | self. government as any portion of that orest confederacy, the proudest privilege of whoss people is to be called American citizens = In every view, then, that your commits. have taken of the expediency of the mea sure, they are irresistibly brought to tbo conclusion, that the resources of. the conn, try are fully equal to the undertaking. and that in such a course the prosperity and i happiness of the whole people would bend l vanced in an eminent degree.
 In relation to the right of Arkansas, with her present population, 10 admission into fbe i Union, upon an equal footing with the or; ginaI States, your committee, after a delih crate and calm investigation of the subject are equally clear and satisfied with the pro- priety of their conclusion. Without resort ! ing to the abstract and unchangeable prin. ciple, founded in nature, and indelibly incor. poratcd iir ir shEie sEie American code, by our fa. thers, in thewar warofindependence, that allmen are born free and equal, and are by nature sovereign and entitled to self-government they find ample guaranties in written stipu. lations for the right which the people of this ! Territory now claim. Then, without rein. quishing the former, they are, for the pre-. sent, willing to rely upon the latter, as fur. nishing sufficient safeguard 10 the liberties of their constituents, while the Congress If the United States retains its high charaefet for justice and uniform respect to the rights of man. That 1t was the intention of tbe people of the original States, who created the Federal Constitution, to permit an in. crease of the number of States, is evident
 from clause in the constitution itself de.
 clarng that '' new States may be admitted
 by the Congress into this Union" ;" and con. clusively established by the admission of many s' new States" under that Constitution. In addition to this general provision in the
 Constitution, there Is a special guaranty o
 this Territory, as constituting at that time
 part of ancient Louisiana, found in the trea.
 ty-and treaties, by the Constitution, arc declared to be the supreme law of tho
 land cedlng that province of France tothe z United States, under the auspices of Mf.
 Jefferson, then President of the U. States,
 and Napoleon Bonaparte, then first Consul
 of the French Republic. This treaty was
 made A. D. 1903, and many of ss the iahab.
 itants of the ceded Territory" then were,
 and now, together with their descendants, still are, citizens of this Territory. The third article of the treaty Is as follows = " The inhabitants ot the ceded Territory shall be incorporated in the Union of the
 United States, and admitted as soon as pos. slble, according to the principles of the fed.
 eral constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of the United States; and in tho mean time they shall be maintained andpro. tected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the religion which they pro. fess." But it has been urged that this guar. anty extends only to those who were then
 inhabitants olthe Territory, and not to those who have become inhabitants since the rall
 f1cation of the treaty and farther, that as to the then inhabitants, the treaty stipula- tlons have already been fully compiled with As It regards the last, we would only ask, by way of example and illustration, how can any people enjoy "all the rights, ad. vantages, and immunities, of citizens of tho United States," unless they have vote iu the election of their Chief Ma gistrate, and can be heard by their Senators and Repre-. sentatlves on the ioorof Congress Here
 then, are the most vital privileges of cit. zens of the United States, with many others ot like character, denied to those ancientln-
 1abitants who still reside in our Territory Your committee do not contend. as has been erroneously y supposed by some, that the l,e- glslatiye Council and House of Representa. tives can act as the agent of France to re. qufe the performance of the pledge in the treaty towards the French inhabitants ofthat day; nor are they disposed to assent, on the other hand, to the equally absurd doc
 Urine that they are but the deputy of Con-
 gress; but that they are the Representatlve | of the whole people of Arkansas, whether French or American, in their sovereignca. paclty, as well as in the one delegated to 1 the people by their own consent in the or