The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1848-05-18

be considered compact then it was equally void as the
pretended parties il not consulted Well, then
might Mr. Madison speak Of as an act .done without
number of the Federast. Mr. Madison says; Congress
has assumed the administration of this stock, lreier
ring to the public nsss Oega" dc 10
they have proceeded to form new States to erect tempo
rary governments to appoint officers Tor them and to
United into the confedecy And all this has been done,
and done toithout the least color constitutional ahori
ty" And. truth, the sixth article OF the ordinance
ty in the territory itself AT the time Of the cession Of
the territory, uninhabted except by few French
and Canadian settlers. who held slaves And they con-
tinued to hold them notwithstanding the ordnance ana
the issue Of many OF them are held as slaves TO TINS
fhe States formed in the northwestern territory, and
the Congress of the United States ITSELF BY their respect
i've legislation, have shown that they resardea a' "
In the constitutions which those States formed prepara
tory to their admission into the Union, they prohibited
slavery: which was unnecessary II II was ALREADY per
peuay excluded by the ordinance, as is now conendea
In Illinois slavery still exists to small extent as II
has not vet disappeared under the operation OF her laws
for it's gradual abolition and yet Illinois was within The
territory the prom nea, G S To-
from service, this language occurs
"Sec And be it e~aetsd. That when person held
orror,, on sn X. orss or south Of the Ohio under the
iacs thereof shall escape other OF the said States
S Ss ,ias.s the person ~A' '''n service " ~ ~
There territory northwest OF the Ohio, except
that covered by the ordinance OF s7 yet this law OF
Congress- passed shortly after the adoption OF the const
ton and the passage OF the ordinance OF s7, recognises
the existence Of slavery in it, the ordinance to the con-
trary Notwithstanding
think it sufficiently clear, Mr. Chairman, that the
sixth article Of the ordinance of 1857 had any va
ldity But of all the absurd ideas have heard in
this hail. the idea that the ordinance forever beyond the
reach of the people of the present States and in its own
language is to 'forever remain unalteable is, beyond
question, the most absurd 1t has been said that it is I'M
bln 10 OF HaU m m
that ii had validity such Besides suppose il
otherwise, who had authority to bind men and
their descendants through all time, as to the form OF gov
eminent and the institutions under which they should
live? ALI governments are compacts, IN the sense IN
which the word compact" is used here; yet will any
say, in this country that the people be restrained
in their right to alter and reform their governments and
laws whenever, in their opinion, it will be promotive Of
their prosperity and happiness! If this idea that this
ordinance is forever unaleabe be then the States
in the northwest not completely sovereign, and they
do not stand equal footing with the original States
And the condition Of hs Virginia deed Of 81, that
States has been violated Will the northwestern States
waiter the adoption of the constitution, in the purer and
better days of the republic there never any attempt
by Congress to legislate for the Territories;
On the 18th May, 1900, the Indiana Territory was
formed At that time there attempt to control the
domestic institutions Of the territories; nor the 10th
OF the same month"; when an act passed authorizing the
establishment OF government in the Mississippi Terrific
ry On the Goth OF March, 1904, the act erecting Louis
into two Territories was passed In that act the
power attempted to be exercised in the section pro-
hbng any others than persons removing to the Terrific
~ to reside TO introduce slaves; but the attention OF
Congress seems not TO have been called TO it at the tme
for the next session it was repealed
This act the gentleman from Maine [Mr. SMART re-
teed to, to sustain him in his claim of the power in Con-
Rress to egsate for the Territories upon the subject OF
slavery; but, if the gentleman had gone little farther he
wasagainsthm. Why was the lawn favor of
which the sympates of Congress doubtless were-repea
ed Surely only because its enactment considered
of thIc rlyciAn opIo-
" from the character of the transaction ITSELF but from
the testimony of statesmen who in the public
oils at the time.
The gentleman also referred to the clause of the same
act prohibiting the importation of slaves from foreign
Countries and he seemed to think that this Prece
dent for the exercise of the power now claimed And
the opinion of Mr. Madison expressed in $780, that Con-
gress could prohibit the foreign slave-trade in the terrific
RES. has been quoted for the purpose But the gen.
the right of Congress after 1908 to prohibit the foreign
trade; and before that time many supposed-as it
MT in i1.o and the Congress Of
IN territories which acquired subsequent to the adop
ton of the constitution. The language Of the constu
ton is in these words: The migration or the importa
ton Of such persons any of the States ersting
shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by
Congress prior to the year 1905"
Bat appears that the clause of the act of 1904 under
consideration, was not very deliberately considered by
Congress; for subsequently, in 1907. under crcum-
ysy highest sanction to their act Congress modified this
Law in most vital particular The law of 1904 made
the negroes, imported contrary to its provisions free
But the law of 1907 repealed this and declared that they
should remain subject to any regulation which the
legislatures OF the several States or Territories might
thereafter make will show the importance of this pro-
ceeding hereafter.
In the law erecting Michigan into separate terrific
rial government there was attempt territorial legis
laon there in the case OF Illinois, or of Mis-
souri, In the case of Wisconsin there was; and the con-
dons and restrictions of the ordinance of 1857 were re-
cognised But it done in general and ambiguous
phaseoogy, which caused il to pass unnoticed Il was
not attempted in the of Iowa on the contrary the
precedent in the of Wisconsin was abandoned and
return made to the former practice of the government
in the bill OF the session of ls45 relative to the Ore
gon Territory, until the 9th article of the ordinance of
7S was engrasted it, upon the motion of the present
Speaker, lMr WINTHROP On the contrary in most of
these acts, which reported from committees com
posed OF majority of members from non slaveholdng
STATES all legislative power except such relates to the
in the territorial legislatures This is most clearly
done IN the case of Iowa. the provision in reference to
which shall have occasion to quote in another con-
nexion. Ii is true, of these ac,s there "a GO
cured to the inhabitants of the Territories ali the rights
privileges and immunities," granted and secured bv
the ordinance OF 1887; and have heard il contenaea
that this recognised the article prohibiting slavery Bu
is very clear that this erroneous view The words
here used taken from the constitution of the United
States. where they have technical and ascertained
meaning In the language of Judge Chase in the case
OF Morris u.s. Campbell, privilege and immunity syn
onymous or nearly So Privilege signifies peculiar ad
vantage exemption, immunity; immunity signifies ex-
empton, privilege" And in the language of Mr. Justice
rights, privileges, and mmunites which are designed to
De secured bV the a. h., a.