The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-07-12

or MIR. BREEsE, Of ILLINOIS;
Dsl,s,ed ia The Sensis Of Tie United States june s.
erst Session, on the Treaty Js' the RECOMMENDATION q
Ttres The isjunetiom Of secrecy rs"os'd)
(cokrmuED.l
HAVE WE THE CONSTITUTIONAL ro~Ea TO ACCEPT
THIS cEssIoN
This necessarily leads to an examination Of some
prov isoDs Of our Constitution. .
II = objected on the other side, particularly by The
honor.bls senator from Massachusetts, Mr. CaoATE,
that the treaty Of cesion Is not treaty IA The sense
of public la OF the Federal Constitution, and tha'
The President aud Senate cannot communicate 10 IL
any validity and these are The terms oil resoiuuo"
h. has laid upon our table, and the honorable sena-
Tor from New jersey MIR. MLLER seems, @guesdo,
TO concur with him in this opinion The senator hrs'
named seems 10 insist that the word "treaty," as
used in out Constitution, has technical meaning OF
rather that It's inerpre at on should De Tue same a'
IL had in 1851 when the Constitution was framed
that such treaties Us this were heard Of at that
day aud that il could not lie treaty, for The PLAIN
and obvious that, when sovereignty Is ceded'
there produced, by the fact OF such cesson, the
none xstence Of a party TO be bound by It's supu-
lations.
II the word +" treaty. used IN the Constitution,
is TO hive the meaning coBtended Tor | would m
quire, Mr. President, If other words IN The same m
slruDcnt 10 be subjected TO the same rule and
the honorable senator mas hiuseH Always ~ e""''
dered and acted
The fourth clause of the eighth section Of the inst
article Of the Constitution gives 10 Congress the
power to establish uniform laws on the subject OF
bankruptcies. Now, sir, the senator voted Tor the
bankrupt act Of 1872 and ! would inquire Of him,
it, al the lime the Constitution framed, there had
been known in the country fron which we derived
our knowledge Of the bankrupt system, any law on
that subject, by which debtor could act IN The
first instance, or any use OF the term IN any statute
.,... AdInU hose
laws in England, from which country we took the
hint were for the benefit Of persons engaged in
| commerce, and out OF the creditor relation
| entirely. The in.tialye--all the steps were taken
for the benefit OF the creditor until the consumma
ton Of the act by the certificate OF discharge An
instance, apprebend cannot be found up,n the sta
tute book, Of Great Britain OF that day, wherein
the debtor, as under law, could originate and
carry OH the proceedings.
But sir, Diminishing these reflections am willing
the term "trc ity" should be tried by the senator's
| test, though | regard il wholly unmportant by
what name the agreement between us and Texas may
be called. II may be called pact an agreement,
| convention.
4" A rose BY any other name would smell as sweet"
| What says Vattel this subject, in the para
graphs have already quoted He calls the articles
of union of power with another, nditfcrently,
pact, treaty of submission" and he says it may
be varied to nfnity 1t may either leave the nation
part OF its reignty il may totally abolish II,
1
| reign Of the other.
! irea les, sir, are nothing more, by whatever name
they may be called ,h,n contracts between soyc-
regns wing the force Of law it is tue, but resting
entirely for their obligation upon the public faith /;
and being Of such a Character 1t is only necessary
they should possess the essential elements of binding
contracts in individual cases, and these are parties
capable of contracting, as have shown Texas to be-
| by being sovereign and independent and no one
will deny capabil y, and proper subject matter
to be contract for and to this have shown by
the authority read, that territory ald sovereignty are
| proper subjects OF national contract
| The most that be said Of the proposition is
that il is foreign territory about to be ceded its so.
we're guty and Independence but incidents to It.
! The territory itself Is the principal thing and that
we can acquire it by treaty has been long settled,
only by the ractce Of the Cove nment, and by JUDI
cia decisions of the highest authority, but tbs power
il inherent in every nation not etered by any restric
ton imposed by It's organic law. We, a nation,
acquire foreign territory mot only by treaty, in
the instances Of Louisiana and Florida, and Of the
territory acquired by New HAMPSHIRE, Vermont, and
New York, by Che late treaty of Washington, but al
| SO by discovery and by conquest incident TO
the power TO make war. Gan we not carry war
IL IL not, Why the eo,ls during the last war 10
conquer Canada Had We GIT to acquire that
country by the fortunes OF war, and towards which
much OF our energy was direclsd'
II, then, we can conquer country, and by force
| assume and exercise sovereignty over the peoplc
W thin it, would il not be absurd TO say that we could
not peaesabiy and nth the Of a people by the
treaty making power, do the same thing
But, MIR. Piesideni, contend there is an express
provision in the Constitution TO authorize the acqu,.
stion OF foreign territory, and that it was placed
there for that express purpose. The Senator from
New jersey MIR. Miller seemed TO think and so ar.
gued, III 4 the clause al ude to has reference alone
to territory within the limits Of tie confederation at
the time OF the adoption Of the Constitutionto do
nestle erritory-lo territory at our own doors -
The history OF that clause, the changes the origin
al proposition uLderwtn IN convention before the
pres,nt form wa assumed, are tamiliir 10 all; and
! am somewhat ,urpused that that senator should
have att mp,ed ia he Argument to restrict IL 10 tar
riiory oonfessedy within the limits OF the republic an
1857.
The first clause Of The third section of the fourth
article OF the constitution provides as follows;
New States may be admitted by The Congress into
this Union bot States shall be formed a,
elected within he Jurisdiction Of any other Stat, nor
any State be formed by the junction of two or more
State or parts of States, without the consent OF the
lg'slstures Of the States Concerned az well as of
Congress"
The first paragraph con aims he grant Of pow,r
The rest 10 r,strcuvo-isa limit iion upon the other
vice unrestr cted power 10 admit ne States and 40
long as keep within the re,trc, on We can act a. In
us may seem expedIent We inig b. under this clau.e
admit Texas az State, and also Canada and The
design of admitting Canada was entertained at he
oe OF the adop ION Of the articles OF confederation
30 some OF our slsissmeo-a nen no les. than
Benjamin Franklin, Silas Dean, and Arthur Lee. a.
early a. l7ie, at the gIoomiest period of our resI
uonsry struggle when the treaty Of alliance with
France was iofmed-en eftain.d views Looking "a
olber territory besides Canada as likely to become
parts Of our Co ledersey The fifth article of thai
treaty provides a. follows;
IF he United States should think ft 10 attemptt the
reduction Of The British POSER rvmsin'nr IN he nortb-
efn parts OF America OF the island Of Benuda, tho.e
cnufftflss ~ islands "a ols hi a..
Jed,rai,d rih, or dependent upon, the saiJ United
States"
TUT n, all the territory Contiguous to Us was tina,
norhwest OF the fiser Ohio, and couv we'd 10 a. by
ce sion from Wig ma IN 1884 and that thi. = am.