Juliet signal. [volume] (Juliet [i.e. Joliet], Ill.) 1844-1???, 1847-05-25
Letter from Hon. Thomas h. Benton to the
People Of Oregon.
WAsHrNeroN Cry. March 1e47.


| WASHINGTON CRY, March 1e47.
My FRIENDs-Fof such I may call
many OF you from personal acquaintance,
and ell Of you from my thirty years devo-
ton to the interests Of your country-I
think It right, to make this communication
to you At the present moment, when the
adjournment of Congress, without passing
the bill for your government and protec.
tion, seems to have left you in . state Of
abandonment by your mother country.
But such is not the case. You are not
abandoned nor will you be denied pro-
lection for not agreeing to admit slavery.
L, man ofthe South, and STAKEHOLDER,
tell you this.
The House Of Representatives, as ear.
ly as the middle of January, had passed
the bill to give you Territorial Govern.
ment, and in tina, bill had sanctioned and
legalized your Provisional Organic Act,
one of the clauses of which forever pro-
hibits the existence Of slavery in Ore 1on.
An amendment from the Senate's Com
mittee, TO which this was referred, pre-
posed to abrogaie that prohibition and,
in the delays and vsKa.ion to which that
amendment gave rise, the whole bill was
laid upon the table and lost for tho ses.
sion. This will be q great disappoint-
ment to you, and a real calamity; already
FIVE years without law or legal institution
for the protection of life, liberty, and pro-
perty! and now doomed to wait year
longer. This is q strange and anomal.
Gus condition almost Incredible to con-
template, and most critical to endure
q colony Of free men, 1000 miles from
the metropolitan government, and without
laws or government to preserve them
But do not be alarmed or desperate you
will not be outlawed for not admitting
slavery. Your fundamental act against
that institution, copied from the ordinance
Of 1767-(the work of the great men Of
the South, in the great day Of the South,
prohibiting slavery in territory far less
northern than yours will not be abro-
gated! nor 10 that the intention OF the
prime mover Of the amendment. Upon
the record, the Judiciary Committee of
the Senate is the author Of that amend
ment; but not so the fact!
That committee is only midwife to it.
Its author is the same mind that general
ed the "6rebTand resolutions" of which
send you copy, and Of which the amend
mont is the legitimate derivation. Oregon
is not the object. The most propaganist
of slavery cannot expect to plant it on the
shores Of the Pacific in the latitude Of
Wisconsin and the Lake Of the woods.
A home agitation, for election and disun-
ion purposes, is all that is intended by
thrusting this firebrand question into your
bill and, at tho next session, when it is
thrust in again, we will sceurgs it out
and pass your bill As it ought to be. |
promise you this 10 the name ofthe South,
as well as the North; and the event will
not deceive me. In the me antime, the
President will give you all the protection
which existing laws, and detachments Of
the army and navy, can extend to you;
and until Congress has time to act, your
friends must rely upon you to continue to
govern yourselves ss you have hereto
fore done, under the provision of your
own voluntary compact, and with the
Justice, harmony and moderation which
is due TO your own character and to the
honor of the American name.
send you by Mr.. Shively copy of
the bill of the late session, both az il pas
sed the House Of Representatives, and
as proposed to be amended in the Senate
with the Senate's vote upon lying it on
the table, and q copy of Mr.. Calhoun's
solutions-posterior in date to the a.
mendment, but, nevertheless, father to it)
also copy Of your own provisional or
ganic act, as printed by order Of the
Senate: all which will put you completely
in possession ofthe proceedings OF Con-
gress on your petition for Territorial
Government and for the protection and
security of your rights.
In conclusion, have to assure you that
the same spirit which has made me the
friend Of Oregon for thirty yesrs--which
led me to denounce the Joint occupation
treaty the day i, was made, and to oppose
its renewal in 1928, and to labor for its
abrogation until it is terminated; the same
spirit which led me to reveal the grand
destiny Of Oregon. in articles written in
1918, and 10 support every measure for
her benefit since-this same spirit en-.
irnates me, and will continue to do SO
while / live; which hope, will be long
enoug h to see an emporium Of Asiatic
commerce at the mouth ofyour river, and
astream Of Asiatic trade pouring into the
valley Of the Mississippi through the
Channel to Oregon.
Yeur friend and fellow. citizen.
| THOMAS HI. BENTON.
| A LITTLE ExCITHMENT.--On the