Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1848-08-30

n Buy J fear. Mr. Chairman. this polio
}, will not be accedcd TO bv the South, I'll
o intention has already been manifested I
II use Oregon as means OF forcing Il,
Il North into concessions in regard To III
: Mexican territory. II is to be used as a
j available element of compromise 10 brea
t the force of the much dreaded ..Wi!mo
Proviso.' Ever since the commencement
5 OF the Mexican war. a government ha
5 been withheld from Oregon for this put
2 pose alone. The acquisition OF territory
as the result Of that war was clearly fore
seen, and the determination was apparcn,
: that no government should be afforded 4
Oregon, upon such terms as could be &C
ceptablc to the North, until the Soutl
could. at the same time. procure such
settlement as she desired Of the question
of slavery in the Mexican territory.
remains TO be seen how far this schem,
will be successful How far northern
gentlemen may be disposed TO concede
for the sake Of harmony. cannot say.
can only speak for myself and those | re-
present. Much, sir. as desire peace and
concord-much as deprccatc any sec.
tlonal controversies-I cannot. for one
consent to any compromise which con
tbC tNtCuSlOil OI SidNcEN. New
Mexico and California have come TO us
as free territory. So far as my vote goes
they shall remain free. Neither north OF
thiry-six and half degrees. nor south OF
it. shall slavery ever exist by any sanction
OF mine. Not upon one acre of soil. be-
longing to the United States. now free.
shall 1t be extended. while my vote can
! prevent it,
would gladly, Mr. Chairman. have
avoided this question. with all its exciting
consequences. lou. sir, can bear tesfi-
mony that we have earnestly endcavorcd.
Oh this side of the House. TO avoid it by
attempting to arrest the mad career of con-
quest into which the President has plunged
the country. We are now rcaping The
bitter fruits Of that policy, which has been
SO hccdlessly pursued, to CRAFTY a lust
of dominion. We have wrestcd from
Mexico large portion of her territory and
now we engage i'll strife among ourselves
upon the question of establishing slavery
IN 1t. Is it not enough that this barren
and dcsolatc territory has already cost Us
more than a hundred millions of dollars!
Is 1t not enough that thirty thousand of
our countrymen rest in forei gn graves, or
their unburIed bones lie bleaching on a
foreign soil. whose lives have aided to
make up the price we have paid for this
worse than worthless acquisition! Is it
not enough, that our soldiers are now re-
turning to us worn down and cInaciated
by disease. or manned and crippled BY the
fierce strife Of battle, and dragging their
mutilated frames to premature grave!
do not these constitute price far out
weighing all the advantages oftIlat boasted
'indcnnity for the past which our treaty
with Mexico has secured! But must
We now add to these the angry controversy.
the hot blood. the sectional iealousies
which this question Of extending slavery
must produce! Sir, if we cannot compro-
mise or settle this question on any other
terms, it would be better now, a thousand
times. that we should reject this territory
better that we should restore it to Mexi- |
co. than make it a subject of domestic
quarrel.
But, if these Mexican. territories are TO
be Incorporated into our Union-if they
are to become part and parcel of the .
American Confcderacy-I, for one. can /
TO receive them only upon the !
condition that they come to us free from
The institution Of African slavery. The |
trainers Of this Government found the in
stitution of slavery existing here when
hey had achieved the task of establishing
he independence of the colonies twas
hen firmly established upon the country.
It had taken deep root in our soil. Ithad
become closely interviewer with our social
and political systems. The men of that
lay-the patriots Of the Revolut;on-were
leeply sensible of the evil. No where
,an more eloquent denunciations of it be
ound than in their speeches and writings.
They would, with one blow, have stricken
he institution from existence, if they
could have done so. But the disease was
90 deep seated to be removed by violent
measures. They resorted to milder means.
They adopted such system of measures
Is they thought would lead to a gradual
estriction and curtailment, and a final
.tolition of the evil The statesmen of
hat day would have been shocked beyond
measure at the open advocacy of the ex-
ension Of slavery into free territory.
Sir. no man can read the history of that
period. down to the adoption Of the Fed
raj Constitution, without being forcibly .
with the strong opposition to !.
lavery which then existed with the public
nen Of this country. both South and
North. The history of the ordinance of
1857, so frequently referred TO in the dis
'ussions here. furnishes ample evidence ,
# that fact. There was then none of that +.
xtreme sensitiveness now so frequently
by Southern men when the sub
ect is referred 10. 4 Southern man could
hen express the opinion that slavery was ,
N evil. and oppose its extension. without ,
Mourning the hazard of being denounced I
IS a ''trdst0r to the South Those who
lid not believe it should be extended. .
ould say SO without being reProached as
'incendiaries. .tanatics." or "abol-
ionisis." Why. sir. according to the
es,s now applied on this question, Gen.
" Washington. Thomas Jefferson. Chief
Justice Marshall, Colonel Mason, with
numerous other illustrious southern states
men. were ..fdndiics." and ..tmcendi0-