Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1849-12-08
Congress.

Ills bOu1t ioNStiobSi1 . lit
embodiment of the Nations wisdom, assem-
bled at Washington on Monday last. At
this time Thursday we have no advices of
its proceedings. On account of the tangled
struggle to elect a Speaker would be very
exciting, and no one entur to predict the
result. The members elected as Free Soil
ers hold the balance of power, and if they
are true to their principles and manage their
cards ju~diciously, they may perhaps secure
the election of a man who will treat them
with respect in he organization of the Com
mittees, &c. The Wings will support Rob
ert G.. Winthrop, of Boston, Speaker of the
last House. He is a doughface of the most
abject stripe, but the Southern Democracy
will do their best to defeat him and to elect
one of their own sort. Howell Cobb, of
Georgia, is their candidate, but it is doubt
fll if they can elect him without the aid of
the Northern Democratic Free Sellers, which
it is presumed they cannot obtain. 1t is idle,
however, to speculate upon probabilities
'fS
known.
The Message of the President will doubt
less reach us before our next issue. 1t is
hardly probable that we shall publish it at
length, unless indeed it shall prove TO be
much shorter than such documents usually
are but we shall at least present a faithful
synopsis of its contents.
The session will probably be a stormy
one, not only OH account of the peculiar
state of parties, but from the fact that the
exciting question of Slavery will be present
ed in a more formidable shape than usual
The admission of California, with a Consti-
tuition f%orbidding Slavery, will be opposed by
MIR. Calhoun and those who follow his lead.
They will take this ground with no expecta-
ton of success, but in the hope of thereby
obtaining better terms in the shape of a
{ compromise The boundaries of the new
State will have to be settled, and then will
come up the question of applying the VIII
moi Proviso to that portion of the territory
not included in its limits. Then there is
the Mormon State of Deseret, which will al
SO apply for admission to the Union, with a
Constitution entirely silent on the question
of Slavery. A portion at least of the North
ern members, of both parties, will oppose its
admission. The organization of the terrific.
ry of New Mexico will be another source o.
difficulty. Alarge portion of this territory is
claimed by Texas, and the United States
Government has already resisted its claims
The shareholders, we apprehend, will gener
ally side with Texas as the surest method o
securing the territory for Slavery. Whether
they can obtain Northern votes enough t
carry their point remains to be seen.
The North has the power to settle al
these questions in favor of reedom-that is
so far as Freedom can prevail under thu
present Constitution. She cannot indeed
without dissolving the Union, prevent thu
new territories from becoming the hunting
ground of the manstealer, nor relieve theil
citizens from the common obligation to ale
in keeping the slaves securely in their chains
but she may, if she will, make California anC
New Mexico as free as the other s~o-calleC
Free States. The South, or at least a par
of her citizens, are trying over again thei
old game of threatening to dissolve the UuioI
in case the North will not submit to thei
wishes. Whether the North has the bacl
bone to enable her to stand upright unde
this new application Of the %slaveholdin,
screws, we seriously doubt, but shall be mos
happy if we find ourselves disappointed ii
the result. We shall watch the proceeding
with intense interest, and keep our reader
apprised of all that is done. Meanwhile it il
well to note the current opinions of the pc
litical press, and therefore we copy the fol