The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1844-05-10

admitted must be formed out of territory, not for
eign, but which constituted part of the United
States, at the declaration of independence or the
adoption of the constitution. So far from there
being any thing in the language of the constitution
or to be found in the extraneous and contempora-
neous circumstances which preceded and attended
its adoption, to show that such were the intentions
of the framers they are, in my judgment, all strong
ly the other way. In the first place, the articles
of confederation under which the Union was orig
analy formed, and which gave place to the present
constitution, looked directly to broader extension
of the confederacy II contained provision that
"Canada, acceding to the confederation, and join
ing in the measures of the United States, shall be
admitted into and entitled to all the advantages of
this Union; but no other colony shall be admitted
into the same, unless such admission be agreed
to by nine States" The practicability, as well as
expedency, of making Canada member OF the
Union, did certainly, to extent at least occu-
py the minds of our public men as well before the
close of the revolution, between that event and
the formation of the new constitution This is
make probable what subsequent events make GER
tain that the trainers of the constitution had their
eyes upon this very question when this section
was finally settled. That part of the constitution,
as appears by the journal of the proceedings of the
convention, was presented in variety OF forms
before 1t assumed the shape in which it was finally
adopted,
In the resolutions offered by Mr. Edmund Ran
doIph, as basis for the new constitution, and
which contained the first propositions of that char
acter which were submitted TO it, the power in
question was described as follows, viz; That pro-
vision ought to be made for the admission of States
la,cfully arising uithin the limits Of the United
States, whether arising from voluntary junction
of government or otherwise. with the consent OF
number of voices in the legislature, less than the
whole" In Mr.. Charles Pinkney's draft, it was
proposed that "the legislature shall have power
to admit new States into the Union, on the same
terms with the original States, provided two thirds
of the members present in both houses agree
leaving out the clause in respect to the character
of the territory. Mr.. Randolph's proposition,
States lafully arising ,cthin 'he limits OF the u
States, was at one time adopted in committee of
the whole, and, in that state referred with others
to the committee of detail. In draft of con-
stituton, reported by that committee, the article
upon this subject contained the following propo-
sitions: lst. That new States, lawfully constituted
or established within the limits Of the u STATES,
might be admitted by the the Legislature in this
government. I'd. That to such admission, the
consent of the members present in each house
should be necessary 3d. That If new State
should arise within the limits of any of the present
States the consent Of the legislature of such States
should also be necessary to its admission. .4th.
That if the admission was consented to, the new
States should be admitted on the same terms with
the original States; and, 5th That the legislature
might make conditions with the new States con-
corning the public debt then subsistng. The I'd,
4th and 9TH clauses were stricken out by the votes
OF the conventions; and after that had been done,
the following was adopted as a substitute for the
the whole, viz: "New States may be admitted by
the legislature into the Union but no new States
shall be erected within the limits of any of the
present States, without the consent Of the egisla-
ture of such State, as well of the general legs
lature"-leaving out that part of the first clause
which related to the domestic character of the
territory, and this substitute was subsequently
revised and amended, so as to make it conform in
its phraseoogy to the section as it now stands in
the constitution. These proceedings show that
the proposition to restrict the power to admit new
States to the territory within the original limits Of
the United States, was distinctly before the con-
vention, once adopted by it, and finally rejected in
favor of clause making the power in this respect
general Whatever differences of opinion may
exist to the proprety of referring to extraneous
matter to influence the construction of the consti-
tuition where its language is explicit, there can
certainly be objections to resort to such aids to
test the correctness of inferences, having no other
basis than supposed mprobabities. have not,
therefore, been able to bring my mind to any 9th
er satisfactory conclusion than that it the nen-
ton of the convention to give the power of admit
ting new States tsi Congress, with no other limta'
tons than those which are specified in that nstru-
ment. The language employed, the specifications
of certain restrictions, the adoption and subsequent
exclusion of that which is now referred to- togeth-
er with the subsequent and continued action OF
enew government all seem to combine to render
his Interpretation of the constitution the true
Propositions for annexation can certainly be imag-
ined, of character so unwise and improvident as
to strike the minds of all with repugnance. But
if we look over the conceded powers of Congress,
we shall also find many others, the abuse of which
might involve to an equally great extent, the we'll
being Of the republic, and against which abuse the
constitution has provided no other safeguards than
the responsibilities to their constituents and to the
laws of the land, of those whose sanction is ne
cessary to the validity of an act OF Congress. Nor
is it very unreasonable to suppose that those who
based their government upon the principle that it
is the right Of the people to alter or abolish it, and
to institute new ones, in such forms as they may
Az