The New era. [volume] ([Portsmouth, Va.]) 1845-1847, 1847-03-11

Of the Federalist, Mr. NIadisun saws. :. Cong,oel'
has assumed the administration of this s,ock -
Referring to the public lands.1 They h,v.
begun TO render il productive. Congress has un'
dertaken In do more they have proceeded 4,
iorm new States 10 erect temporary governments.
TO appoint officers for them; and To prescribe thu
| conditions on which the States shall he admi,,.S
into the confeIeracy. fad oil this has been
done. and done ,cithout The least color of con-
'ftuttonal authority" And in truth the sx,b
article OF the ordinance, the one relating to slave
ry, was always treated nnlliiy in the terr,o,y
ITSELF AZ the time of the cession of the terri,ory
It was upinhabl,ed except by a few French and
Canadian settlers who held slaves And ,hsv
continued TO hold them notwithstanding The ordi.
nance, and the Issue Of many of them are held a.
| slaves TO this day.
! think it Sufficiently clear, Mr. Chairman, tia,
,he sixth article OF the ordinance of 1887, never
had any validity. But of all the absurd ideas
ever heard in this hall, the idea tina, the ordinance
is forever beyond the reach of the people of the
present States and, in its language, is to f,r.
ever to remain unalierable,' is, beyond oues,inn
the most absurd. The gentleman from Indian,
Mr. Petit, says it is unalteIabe because il is
compact. Have not shown that it never had
any validity as such Besides, suppose il wa.
otherwise, whoever had authority TO bind men
and their descendants through all time as To the
form 0f government and the institutions under
which they should live =? All governments arc
| compacls in the sense which the word compac, il
used hero yet will any one say. in this countrv.
that the people can be restrained in their RIGHT 10
alter and reform their governments and lave
whenever. IN Their opinion, will be promo,iye
ct their prosperity and happiness If this de,
that this ordinance is forever unalterable, be cor
rect, then the States in the northwest are mt
completely sovereign, and they do not stand on
equal footing with original States. And the can
diiion of the Virginia deed Of cession that thew
{ hn oil, f.,I IL
same rights of sovereignty, freedom and indepen
dence as other S,a,es,'' has been violated Win
the northw estern States ADM, that such is their
condition Of iner0riy
The attempt by the old Congress to Iegislate
| Tor The Territories was always considered bv
sound republicans as usurpalion of power; and
alter the adoption of the present constitution, it
was never deliberately attempted in the purer
and better days of the republic. On the 7th of
May. leOO. the Indiana Territory was formed.
Al mat lime there was no such attempt, nor on
The 18Th OF the same month, when an act passed
authorizing the establishment Of government in
the Mississippi Territory. On the Goth of March.
ioo4, The act erecting Louisiana into two Terri
tories was passed In that act the power was
attempted to be exercised in the section prohibit
Ing any others than persons removing To the Ter
itoTy to reside 10 introduce slaves but the at.
tenlion OF Congress seems not TO have been called
| to II at the time, for the next session it was re-
| pealed. In the law erecting Michigan into n
separate Territorial government, there was no at
tempt at Territorial legislation nor was there in
Inc case OF Illinois, OF of Missouri. In the case of
w isc0nsn there was. and the conditions and re-
strcti0ns OF the ordinance of 1857 were recoe
| hizeu. But II was done in general and ambiguous
phraseology which caused it to pass unnoticed.
IL was not attempted in the case of Iowa nor in
the bill OF the last session relative The Oregon
Territory, until the 9th article of the ordinances of
| Pi 4 ho r.
gentleman fion Massachusetts, Mr. Winthrop.1
On the contrary, in most Of these acts all egisa.
i've power, except such relates to the DISPOSAL
OF the public lands, is recognised as existing in
the Territorial legislatures
And from the act relative to Wisconsin itself
1t Is evident that It's trainers did not understand
The words In question referring to the article of
the ordinance relative to slavery. for in The very
same section, after declaring that the inhabi-
| tants OF said Territory shall be entitled to all the
| rights, privileges, and advantages" secured by
The ordinance, i. is added. =" and shall be subject
10 all The conditions and restrictions and PRO
htbtttons in said articles Of compact ~ which
were unnecessary if the construction pentlemen
contend for is correct.
But 1t has been asked, why do most of these
laws organizing Territorial governments, require
that The laws passed by the Territorial Legislature
shall be submitted to Congress, and declare that
that they shall be null if disapproved and also,
1t this does not look like reserving the power of
legislaiion2 On The contrary, these provisions
but reserve a sort Of congressional veto. which
enacts nothing. does nothing affirmatvely, but
puts in the power of Congress 10 arrest legsla-
ton, and leave things as they were. The object
Is evident. II is TO enable Congress to arrest
Territorial legislation relative 10 the public lands,
the exclusive right of legislation in reference to
which is reserved TO Congress. And il is be-
lieved that there is no instance where Congress
has intprnnSed in vhara ho
rlt0rlal legislatures have attempted TO pass laws
affecting The public lands. The section of the
Iowa Territorial constitution shows very clearly
the object Of the reservation. 1t is in these
words
"SEor1oN 6. find be IL further enacted,
That the Legislative power of The Territory shall
extend 10 all rghlful subjects Of legislation but
no law shall be passed interfering with the pri-
mary disposal of the soil no tax shall be imposed
upon the property Of the United States nor shall
the lands or other property of the residents lie
! taxed higher than the lands or other property Of
residents. All the laws of The Governor and
Legislative Assembly shall be submitted to, and
if dsapproved by the Congress of the United
States, the shall be null and Of no effect"
come now, Mr.. Chairman, TO The Missouri
compromise. | am free To admit, in that there
was an attempt on the part Of Congress TO adopt
I fundamental legislation for the Territories. But
il must be borne in mind, that the strict cunslruc
uonlsts never admitted Inc right of Congress TO
; do 80. On the contrary, the south voted against
the Missouri compromise. That compromises, as
1T is improperly called. was forced upon US by the
north And it has been acqniesced in by the
south rather in consequence Of the circumstances
in which it originated. and as a means of prevent
ing the agitation Of an exciting and irritating sub
iect. than because OF any validity in the thing
itself Its obligations rather moral than legal
and We have scquiesced in it az such heretofore,
we are willing to do So hereafter.
| have thus shown that the constitution confers