Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1848-07-26


to arrest that laial course nf events which
his keen sasaci,y anticipated from the
question. IL was but "reprIere." Mark
the deeply melancholy impression which
il made on his mind:-
IL regret hat am 10 die in the belief,
that The useless sacrifice of themselves by
the generation Of l776. 10 acquire sell.
government and happiness f'r themselves
is to be thrown away by the unwlse anu
unworthy passions of their sDns, and that
my only consolation is TO be- thai shall
1--we mol 10 weep over it,
Caa any one believe, after listening to
this letter, thai Jeflersnu is The author OF
the so called Wilmol Proviso, or ever fo~
vored il !! Aud ycr there are al this time
strenuous cflorls making in the North 10
form a purely sectional party ON ii, aud
that too, under The saucliun of lhnse who
profess the highest vcuerallon for his char.
acter and principles! But | must speak
the truth; while viudica'e The memory
of Jefferson from so foul charge. hold
he is not blameless in reference 10 this sub-
ieC:. lie cnmm'led great error in IN
serting the provision he did, in the plan ne
reported for The government of The terrllo-
ry, as much modified as il WAS IL was
the first blpw-ll.e first essay "to draw
geographical line coincd'ns with mark
ed principle, moral and political" II
originated with him in phianthropic but
mistaken views Of the most dangerous
character, as | shall show in The sequel.
Others with very different feelings aud
views, followed and have given to il di.
lection and impetus, which, if not prompt
ly AID efficiently arrested, will end in the
dissolution OF the Union, and The deslruc-
ton of our political Institutions.
have, trust, established beyond con
troversy, that neilh:r the orLinance of
1857, nor he Missouri compromise, nor
the prcccdcnls growing out Of them, nor
the authority of Mr. JeIlerson, furnish any
evidence whatever, TO prove that ConSr'ss
possesses the power over the tcrrlnry,
claimed by those who advocate the Eth
section of This bill. But admit, for he sake
of argument that attn mistaken, and that
the objections ! have urged against them
aie groundiess; give them all tic force
which can be claimed for precedeuts, aud
they would not have the weight of a
feather against The strong presumption
which, ]. al The outset OF my remarks.
showed lu DC opposed 10 the existence Of
The power. Preced, nls, even in a court
of Justice, can have but little weight en-
cept where The law is doubtful. and should
have litle in dcliheralive body in any
case oil a constitutional question; aud
.nouc, where the power TO which 1t has been
attempted to trace i. does not exist, as
have shown, trust to be The case in this
instance.
But, while deny that the clause reia-
ting TO The territory and other properly Of
-,hn- -uniled- States, cou(ers any govern.
mental, or that Congress possess absolute,
power over the territories, by no means
sdenys.that.it has any power over them.
sS;on.'; ;bat4asaehl more s 40 ohs hsrh:s5 When We
Gre IN constituting q terntolial
government, vi, h..ni -nn- objection being
whispered from any quarter against our
:.ight,to do so. llsihere be any Senatoro T
5,tinl opinion, he ought ct once to rise and
move 10 lay the bill TN the table, or to dis.
pose Of il in some other way, 50 as 10 pre-
vent The waste of time on subject upon
which we have no right TO act. Assuming,
then, that we possess the power, The only
questions that remain are: whence il is
derived! aud, what is lis extent?
As for lis origin, concur in the opinion
expressed by Chief Justice Marshall, in
one Of the cases read by The Sepator from
New York, that il is derived from the
right of acquiring territory; and | am the
moro thoroughly confirmed iii il from the
facl, that / entertained Ihes opinion long
before knew it 10 be his. Asso The right
of acquiring territory, agree with the
Senator from New York, that il is EN-
braced, without going further, both in the
war and treaty powers. Admitting, then,
what has never been denied, aud what il
would be Idle to do 50 in discussion,
which relates 10 territories acquired both
by war and treaties, that the Unlled States
have the right to acquire territories, it
would seeM 10 follow by necessary conse-
queucc, that they have The right 10 govern
them. As they possess the entire rig h' Of
soil, dominion, and sovereignty over them,
they must necessarily carry VII, them the
righ, 10 govern. Blu, ,nis government. as
the sole agent aud representative Of the
United S,aies-lhal is. tn S,ales OF the
Union in their ledcrai characler-must, as
such, possess the sole riShi, il it exists Il:
all. But if there to any one disposed 10
take different view of The origin Of the
power, shall make no points with him,
for whatever may be its origin, The couclu-
siun would he the same, as shall present.
ly show.
But It would be great error to conclude
that Congress has The absolute power of
suvcrnn. the territories, berause ii has the
sule or exclusive power. The reverse is
the case. 1t is subject tp many aud i'm.
porlanl restrictions and conditions, Of hch
some are expressed and others implied.
Amoug the former may be classed all The
general and absolute prohibitions of The
constitution; that is all those which pro
hibit The exercise in certain powers under
any circumstances. In tins class Is in.
cluded The prohibniun of granting titles Of
nobility; passing er post .facto laws and
bills of alraiuder; the suspension of the
writ Of haGedS corpus, except in certain
cacps. maxine lans rnsneciiuu The pcf ab