The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-07-22

; American Insurance Company rs. Canter,
, Peters. 542 IN speaking Of the cession of FloI
da under the treaty with Spain, he says In,
Florida, until she shall become a Sta-e, contil
uGs TO be Territory of the United States, goven
ell by virtue of that clause in the constitute
which empowers Congress TO make all needfl
rules and regulations respecting the territory
other properly Of the United States. - The UA
ted States Us. Grati0t ct al, IA Peters, 537.
"PeIhaps the power of governing a territor
belonging to the United States, which has not
becoming a State, acquired the means Of Sc
government, may result necessarily from tn
fact that it isnot within the jurisdiction OF an
particular State, and is within the powers an
jurisdiction Of the United States. The right I
govern may be the inevitable consequence c
the night 10 acquiIeterritoy. Whichever may b
the source whence the power is derived, its pos
session Is unquestoned." .-CAief Justice Mar
shall; the american Insurance. Company rs Can
ten, Peters, 542.
| might refer TO other decisions of the court
In which the same principle 10 recognised
though less directly perhaps, but sustaining th,
same Interpretation Of the constitution, and civ
ing validity TO the legislative precedents hav,
cited. Writers on constitutional law (Rawle
Sergeant, Story,) concur in this construction
In short, 1t il believed that no power exercise
under the constitution, Of such magnitude a,
that OF governing the territories belonging q
the United States, has been more uniformly ae-
guessed in from the formation Of the govern.
nent to the present day, and in all its depart
nents, legislative, executive, and Judicial.
No system Of rules would be safe, il its au-
thority could be disputed and overturned, in the
face of such comprehensive and long continued
sanctions. Government, law, social and poiti-
cal order, would become unstable, uncertain
and worthless, as safeguards, either to property
OF life, II their foundations could be thus Slapped
and undermined by logical subtiety and refine
ment-by new versions of the constitution al
war with its ancient interpretations, and run
ming counter to the whole course Of the pub
lie administration from the earliest periods OF
time.
And here, MIR. President, dismiss the ques-
lion of power. II, as think, the affirmative is
sustained, something, nevertheless, remains to
be considered. power may be possessed, and
yet it may not be right TO exert it. Its exercise
must be justified by considerations Of public OF
private advantage: il must not work either pub
lie or private wrong. l propose TO consider il
under this aspect.
And, in the first place, / intend to say nothing
in regard to private interests excepting this
that there is no proposition before us TO interfere
with slavery where il exists--no restriction on
the exercise Of private or personal rights within
the sphere Of the local laws under which they
arise. The question before us is, whether slaves
| shall be permitted to be introduced into Oregon,
or whether their introduction shall be prohibit
| ed. IL Is a remote territory generally conceded
(though in this do not concur, as | shall here
after explain more fully as not likely to be oc-
eupied by slaves, IL they were allowed 10 be
carried there. The fact that il is generally ad-
mitted TO be unfit for slave labor must diyest the
question Of all practical Infringement of private
| rights, even in the estimation Of those who take
extreme views Of the subject. shall, therefore.
consider II only in its bearing upon great public
interests.
Mr. President, consider this question, in the
form it has assumed, as Involving the extension
Of slavery. ! consider il 50 under the motion
to strike out the 18th section, which substan-
TALLY prohibits the introduction Of slaves into
Oregon. But IT is made so more particularly by
the amendment offered by my friend from Mis-
sissiPpi, Mr.. Davis which provides
"1hat nothing contained in this act shall be
so construed as to authorize the prohibition OF
domestic slavery in said territory whilst il re-
mains in the condition Of territory Of the L nj.
! ted States"
understand this as an assertion Of the righi
to carry slaves into Oregon both against the in
reference Of Congress, and The desire of the in
habitants TO exclude them. l understand il as
maintaining the right to introduce domestic sla-
very into Oregon. This is extension, and
against the wishes Of the inhabitants who have
prohibited its introduction Let me, then, pre-
sent some considerations concerning this whole
subject Of extension
Those who oppose the extension Of slavery 10
wider limits believe that such extension pro-
notes the multiplication of slaves On the 9TH
er hand, it is commended that it makes no addi-
ton TO their numbers, but merely spreads them
over broader surface. This position is believ-
ed to be wholly inconsistent with all the receiv-
ed laws Of population. The tendency Of the
human race is to increase in a compound ratio
Of the extent and proouctiveaess OF the surface
on which it is sustained. The highest possible
impulse is given TO this increase in an unoccu-
pied country, distinguished for its fertility, and
| offering certain rewards for the products Of la
Dor. This is the character of our own SELL
Wherever slave labor can be carried, il will for
a time, be productive. Missouri sfords a strong
illustration Of the truth Of this proposition
That State lies wholly north Of 80. 80 minutes
north latitude, excepting strip about thirty
miles wide on the Mississippi, running down to
the thirty-sixth parallel, and yet, though so far
north, slavery made rapid progress there after
her admission into the Union. BY the census
of ls20, there were III, 222 slaves; in 1880, 2I
| $40, an increase of one hundred and forty pei
cent. in ten years; and in $40, IS, 24O, an in
crease Of one hundred and thirty-hve per cent
in ten years. For several years, the slave popu.
| la,ion increased more rapidly than the free. In
all new and fertile soils, where the demands for
labor are urgent this will be the inevitable re-
| suit. The multiplication of the human species
| is governed by laws as iniexible and certain a.
those which govern the reproduction Of vegeta-
| Die life. In both the stimulus, Whatever IL may
| De, constitutes the law Of the increase. am
aware that the ratio of increase in Missouri,
both in respect to the white and the black race,
was materially modified by immigration; aud to
that extent the result is independent Of the APP
plication of the principle have stated. But il
can hardly be denied that surface, productive
surface. IL the great element in our extension.
II Is this alone which has carried the ratio Of our
increase far beyond that Of any other people,
, II we had been restricted to the area Of the
thirteen original States, how different would
have been the result of our decennial enumera-
lions! The same principle governs the white
and the black races. The laws Of labor, sub
L sistence, and population, act on both, though
| not everywhere with the same intensity.
IL these conclusions are just, an enlargement
of the surface over which slavery is spread car
ries with 1t, by force of inyincible laws, null
tpication Of the race held in bondage; in other
words, substantial increase Of the number Of
slaves. Extension in respect to surface is mul-
tiplication in point of number. Tho two pro-
positions cannot be legtimstely separated either
| in reasoning or in practice. In this view of the
subject, the extension Of slavery is a reproduce
ton of the original responsibility Of introdu-
cling il; and in this respect 1t has moral bear
| ing, 10 which the great mass Of the community
cannot be indifferent.
Mr.. President-In providing for the govern
ment Of our territories, while they continue