Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1845-02-28
VOL. xxx, NO. 16.--wHOLE NO. 2Oo2

give, 10 Congress the power to admit foreign States
Mt once into this Union, as now insisted IS TO hold
that Congress can, as to this subject make a troa
ty; Tor 1t requires the consent Of both nations:
when, by another clause of the same instrument
they had committed all the management ofour for.
eign relations, by the treaty making power, to an
other department.
Every instrument must be SO construed as that
all INC provisions may stand and be operative, if
possible 1t is quite clear that Congress cannot,
under tns section, admit Texas, unless this article
grants the unlimited power to admit any foreign
country, Undoubtedly it was intended that when
ever state was admitted, it was to be represent
cd in Congress. Indeed it is difficult to understand
what is meant by admitting State into the Union
unless that State is to be represented in making the
laws that are to be binding on her. The Consttu-
ton provides that no person can be Senator, I'M
less he has been nine years citizen of the United
States, nor a representve in Congress, unless he
has been years a citizen of the United States
Is 1t possible to give force to this provision, and at
the same time to hold that foreign States Russia,
or China, OF any other can by Congress, be at once
admitted TO this Union? 1t could not have been so
intended, and it is forced and unnatural corstruc-
ton of that clause, to extend it beyond sthers and
say it goes beyond the limits of our territorial ius
risdiction.
These arguments have, some of them, been pre-
sented by others, and especially the last and have
watched carefully, and for many days, for an an
swer bu have heard none except one, much used
in this debate on that side, that is, the answer by
pettio ptncipii, to wit, this power is granted to
Congress, and therefore it is to be treated as the
exercise of a legitimate power, and all other mat
tiers and provisions must give way, or be forced to
conform to IT."
1t has been said by some, that as Congress has
the power to declare war, they have the power of
conquest, and therefore the right to acquire pea
ccabiy. This is bad reasoning every way. There
are many powers incident to war; but they can on
| ly be exercised in tCar. Such are the powers Of
| blockade nd bn cp1t of nd IF
war; These powers which cannot be eXercis-
ed in peace. Neither conquest, or any Of its
Incidents or consequences But even if at war,
Congress has power of conquest. The Presi-
dent is the commander Of the army, and he is not
bound to conquer. Conquest like acquisition by
treaty. is erecudiUe and no aw-making should.
suparsede it. If legislation can d. it, then the two
thirds of both Houses may override the Executive
power
1t is said that Vermont, and the manner Of its
admission By Congress- furnishes parallel case to
Texas, and precedent for admitting Texas as
State, by legislation. Was Vermont foreign
State -? What, briefly, the facts? During the
war Of l7j6, commonly in America, called the old
French war, Vermont was an unbroken wilderness
) In the prosecution of that the people of New
England had occasion to explore that country, in
} their expeditions against the Indians, and the
French, in Canada and they discovered that fer-
ty ofso in her valleys on her hill-ops, for which
t she is distinguished above the great part of New
t England. The jurisdiction of that country was
2 claimed by the Royal Governor of New Hampshire,
and the lands were purchased of him. The settle
ment from 1902 to the revolution progressed rapid
} ~. As early 1865 the Royal Governor of New
York claimed the territory then called the New
d Hampshire grants. In 17G9 the King, in council
. decided it was within the province of New York.
n The jurisdiction of New York spread over it,
and counties formed, and civil government estab-
ished, and to this people submitted, and were rep
It resented in New York Legislature. But now the
e New York government insisted that the settlers on
e the New Hampshire grants should again buy their
II lands Of the Governor of New York. They de-
: clined so to purchase, insisting they were crown
: lands, and they had purchased them of crown
n governor and paid into the exchequer, and
now ought not to be required, by another represen
tOtlve OF the same crown to buy the land again
: To this the Governor was deaf, and he proceeded
j. to grant the land to others, and eectments were
o brought. 1t was then that resistance commenced
n This about the time that resistance com
menced in this country TO England, and in that Ver
mont deeply participated, and so carried on through
+ all the struggle, two wars at the same time. In
d January, nv she declared her independence, a
IS dopted constitution, and organized her govern
d ment, which she has ever since sustained. She
was however, no foreign nation to the struggle OF
l. the Revolution; and though she was neglected by
d Congress, and all protection withdrawn from
is her frontiers by Congress and New York. and she
:; was compelled to cajoe and deceive the British
d. tves were refused admission to Congress, yet she
ever remained faithful to America, and always kept
Gen. Washington informed of all their movements.
e. The first conquest in the Revolution was by Green
al Mountain Boys, from the Grants, headed by Allen,
m who demanded the surrender Of Ticonderoga in
lie the name of God and the Continental Congress-
lie When the Wanting Burgoyne entered from Cana
he da, with his imposing army OF invasion, he says, in
II his iou nal:
$, "The Hampshire Grants, in particular, a country
ont,1nI ,o1o Al.
y, now abounds in the most active aud most rebeous
y race on the continent and hangs like gathering
s. STERN upon my left"
m That gathering storm burst upon him in mortal
is tornado on the plains of Bennington. After the
lie Revolution our people no more asked Congress to
re admit their representatives. They had been always
,o refused, because New York claimed it was within
their limits and ought to be reduced to their juris
n diction
The first and second Congress, after the adoption
is of the Constitution, was held at New York. In
id 1880 there proposal to remove TO Philadel-
u phia. New York wanted Northern votes, and then
Of began to open the way for the admission of Yer
v mont. The Constitution required that no new
a. State within the jurisdiction of another should be
IN admitted without its consent. New York passed
to an act appointing commissioners to settle with Ver
mont, and to express the consent of New York to
as its admission. 1t was so done. Vermont paid New
he York thirty thousand dollars, and the New York
h. commissioners expressed to Congress the consent
of New York, and Vermont was admitted, precise
ed ly according to the Constitution, State formed
- from another, like Kentucky, Tennessee, and Maine,
or and not as foreign State. 1t is not material what
- Vermont claimed to be. How did Congress recog-
in Mise and deal with her? Her independence had
es never been acknowledged by any government,
or and she was treated and admitted as made from
T. part Of New York. There is, therefore, no resem-
it bance between the case of Vermont and Texas.
y Vermont within the limits ofthe United States,
rs defined by the treaty of 1888, and she was ad-
lie United as made from part of New York, by her
at consent. To create any degree of resemblance 1t
Mt must be shown that Texas was within bounda-
ur res, and also that her independence is acknowledge
ut ed and consented toby Mexico, from which she re-
ltoI