Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1847-12-10
RICH ND, VA.
Friday Morning, December 10, ls47.
THE ELECTION OF SPEAKER OF THE
HOIJSE Of REPRESENTATIVES

The oceedinss OF Congress, on The hfsf Gay
of It's session, are very alarming. as lar as 'h'
rights of The South, The compromises oil Inc ION
situ,ion and the stability OF the Union are con
cened. BY union OF the Wings of the Sou'f
with those of the North. Wilmot Proviso mar
has been elected 10 he third Office in The Govern
nen,, and, with respecf TO The influence which
can exert upon the action of Congress, relative 'e
the subject of Slavery, scarcely inferior 10 Inc
Presidency itself. And this has been effected oy
the vote Of Southern Wings; every one oil "hou
voted for Mr. Winthrop with the exception o.
Mr.. Tompkius of Mississippi, who, by absent
ing himself, contributed 10 the result, almost az
much as if he had voted with bis comrades.
devoted as the Wings OF the South are 10 parry
this We are tree 10 confess, was mol 10 have been
expected of them. For some time past Inc
Wing press of The South have expressed sueh ap'
prebension of danger to their section OF the coun-
try from The advocates OF the Wilmoi Proviso:
that they have been willing, in order 10 avoid Ii,
10 withdraw our victorious army ipglorious'y
from Mexico. without procuring indemnity ior Inc
wrongs done our citizens, or the expenses Oh Tue
war, in the only way in which either can De OF
tanned, viz: by territorial acquisition. Ana ye'
Southern Wing members OF Congress vote tor
gentleman as Spe ker, with ali oi MS 'rnr.
ence as such, who, with much more pfoprieiy
than Mr.. Wilmo, himself, NAV be said TO be
the author OF The Proviso, which Improperly
bears this later genlenan's name. win
much more proprieiy it should be called
the Winthrop Proviso, for The present Speaker Of
tered il 10 Congress long before Mr. Wilmo' be-
came a member OF that body. And he did 1t un-
der circumstances which display very strongly
his feelings upon the subject. From The forna-
tion of III. Constitution down 10 ]645, there nae
been no attempt on the part OF Congress 10 I'M
pose an,i.slsvery restrictions npon The territories,
except on Two occasions. Down 10 that period,
with the exceptions referred TO, Congress was
con,cn, TO allow 10 the people Of the territories the
right of seli-governmen,, and permit them TO le-
ei.late Tor themselves upon The subject OF slave
~, as upon every other purely concerning
themselves. The i-s, Of these exceptions Is con-
tanned in the law oil The &c OF March, 1914
erecting Louisiana into TWO territories, 10 w"'eh
there was section prohibiting any onefs 'han
pprsous removing into the territory 10 reside, from
introducing slaves. Blu, in that case Congress
speedily retraced lis Steps bv repeating Inc sec
lion al their next session. The second IS IN Inc
law establishing the territory OF Wisconsin; ono
then il was done BY The use Of ambiguous phrase
oloev which escaped The notice OF Congress 10
all The other acts establishing territorial govern
menrs-in the ase Of Indiana, Illinois. Missouri,
H.. q, lie !ha ri uh'S nTjVIlSuES.
and immunilies," granted and secured b he Or
dinance OF 1887, which were extended TO the IN
habi,an,s The.= "rishs." &C., were the f@'.a@
nknial ,ieh,.; such as the rieh OF i!a' BY Jury
OF Habeas Corpus OF religious freedom, &c'' all
of which are provi ed Tor by the o'dinance. ba'in
the ase Of Wisconsin moi only "lhe riabls rri7e-
pes and immunilics" tu also 1.-The rontiI:ons and
restrictions O. tne ordinance OF 1857 we're recoS'
nized. This was such change OF the u'uai
phraseology as was not likely to attract nol'ce'
and |, was arttully introduced, as is very noV'-
ous by the diaush,snan OF the bill, with tie view
nf escaping The notice o; Congress aud thus eiiec'-
On, What could no, probably have peen eltc'ed oil
,ha,time by a more direct movement. In the subse-
ouep, case Of iowa, Congress returned 10 !hs pFeoe
dents in tao oher cases referred TO. Thus ma'ieis
stood until the bill erecting Territorial Govern
men. fcr Oregon WIS introduced In The session OF
IA and As. rs The bill came from The committee,
the Chairman OF which and majority Of whose
members we're from non.slaveho'dips States,
there was no stipulation on The subject CT
slavery. The preceden's, in all The other cases
excep, Wisconsin,, were tol owed; anu win ms
mos, Northern men would have been satisfied,
particularly in the case OF Oregon, whose 'nhos-
pitable climate ard position North o. The Mia
sonri compromise line made II highly improo''
HE that slaves would ever Re Introduced there
Blu, this did roi satisfy Mr.. Winthrop. On The
LIST of Feb, ie45, when this bill was under con-
Alteration, h, moved as section 10 The bill, TIE
id. ni,eal prspiso which 10 al this time called
the w iImol Provso. Upon his motion 1t was
incorporated in The billiard il is the only occa'
.;ou since the formation Of The Constitution that
.uch a measure has been incorporated in any
law OF Congress establishing territory. The
Missouri Compromise was adopted upon the ad-
mission of Missouri as a Stale. II was gfani-
,ous effort offensive 10 the South, IN The part oil
that gentleman. 10 int oduce The .ntj ect OF slave
~ into Congress upon territorial OIL, asa'hs'
all precedenl,-if indeed Il was not worse, and
designed 10 procure from Congress the recogni.
lion OF s RICH, to legslate for the territories in
2 case where 1t wa, supposed, from the charac-
Ter and location of Oregon, there would be no con-
test, 10 be used as precedent in others where
there nigh, be. And This is The man tor wh9m
Southern Wings vote as Speaker! They can.
not saw that they voted for him in ignorance q
these facts. As late as las, February they were
broueh, 10 the attention OF Congress by General
Thomas Ii Bayly. one of the representatives OF
Virginia. On this head we draw Gpor an edit
rial OF the Union. That paper says:
Bu; one fact is notorious, Thai The Southern
Wings have united in pu ling Wiimo Provi.c
noli,ician 10 the chair A Wilmo, Proviso y
Cali /, rather the Winthrop Proviso. He had
the honor OF introducing such proviso into The
House OF Representatives before Mr.. Wi'mot en-
tered that BODY. We quote from the speech ol
Gen. Bayly, OF Virginia, delivered in 'hc House
of Representatives ON lib February, lS47 en- The
Wilmot Proviso:
1.-THE attempt BY the old Congress to legisla,e
for the territories was always considered BY sound
republicans as an usurpa,ion OF poweri and. after
the adoption Of the present constitution, II was
never deliberately attempted in the purer aud better
days of the republic. On the IN May, 1900, The
Indiana territory was formed. At tina, time there
was no such aiempt nor on e l0h OF The same
monih, when an act passed authorizing The es.
Enlistment Of a government, in the Mis.issippi
territory On The 26'h OF March, 1904, The &C,
erecios Louisiana into two territories was pass
nd. 10 that act the power was attempted 10 be
exercised in the section prohibiting any olhers
th,n persons removing 10 the territory 10 reside,
TO introduce slaves; but the attention OF Congress
seems not to hav. been called 10 il al Inc ume Tor
the mex, session it was repealed. In be law erect
ing Michigan into separate territorial govern
meni, there was no attempt al territorial ieklsia'
tiup, nor vas there IN The case OF Illinois, or OIL
Missouri In the case OF Wisconsin, there was;
and the conditions and resirci ions oil The ordi.
nanea nf LEY ps re recnenlzad RuI il WA done