The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1849-02-01

the masses in this State, Of both parties
there are eighteen out Of every twenty
who arc opposed to the extension Of slave
~, md believe from the very republican
nature Of the proposition, that Congress,
has the Constitutional right to legisla.e up
on the subject, hence no candidate for th,
Legislature dare 60 before the people ant
take contrary ground; hut on the contrar,
more than two-thirds Of the Democratic
candidates for q seat in tho General As
sembly At the August election openly pledg
ed themselves in favor Of the policy, ono
more than enough Of the Democratic mem.
bcrs elect, to have held tho balance Of pow.
er on joint ballot, pledged themselves tc
their constituents to vote for no man fov
the United States Senate who was no. in
favor Of the .Wilmot Proriso." Now Il
show tho consistency Of these tools Of polit
ical dcmagognes. and prove how basel,
they have botray ed the confidence Of gen
erous constituency, let us see how they
acted. Men may talk and say many req.
sonable things, Blu. "actiOns speak louder
than words"
On the third day Of the session, aud the
day previous to the one fixed upon, for q
joint convention Of both Houses to elect u.
S. Senators, Mr.. Cook offered the following
preamble and joint resolutions in the Sen.
ate. 10 wit:
"Whcrcas the people Of the State Of lowe
expect that their Senators and Reprcsen.
,atves in the Congress of,he United States
will truly represent their sentiments and
interests upon the various topics Of vital
Importance to the people Of this Union; and
whereas the people have righ, 10 know
the sentiments Of those who IRE to repre-.
sent them in the councils OF tho nation
and whereas the free S,a,cs Of this Unio,
have an abiding interest in the final dispo.
si,ion and government Of Territory belong
ing to the United States now free. and over
which the Congress Of the United States
has exclusive right to lcgisla,c.
"Theretore, Rcsolrcd, by the General
Assembly Of the State Of Iowa, ,ha. the
people OF this State being opposed to the
extension Of Slavery over Territory Of the
United States now free, il is the duty oil
this General Assembly to select men te
represent them in the United States Sea.
ate who believe that Congress has the Con
sti,utional right to legsa,e upon that sub.
jec,, and who will vote for any proposition
10 prevent the extension OF Slavery, and
against the admission Of any new State
into this Union as Slave State.
"Resolred, That this General Assembly
will not vote for any person for Senator &c
represent this State in Congress who will
not subscribe to the sentiment contained in
the foregoing resolution, and use his best
endeayors to cnrry it out in the Congress
Of the United States"
The reading Of these resolutions caused
n perfect commoiion in tho Lobby, and
among the Locos in the Senate, some Of
the new members somewhat green in par.
Iiamentsry manguvering looked around
impluringly for .aid and comfort" in this,
their hour Of trouble. sour Phil" of Old
Jackson, came to the rescue, and moved to
lay the resolutions upon the table; this mo-
ton was carried by strict party vote, ev-
cry democrat voting 10 lay them on the table.
The same preamble and resolutions we're
offered in the House Of Representatives on
the same day, and met with like fate.
Ia order to test their sincerity little
further, Mr.. Jay offered n joint resolution
ins,ructing our Senators, aud requesting
our Representatives in Congress, to vote
for the principles contained in the ordi.
nance Of 1857, md the EVilmot proriso.
The I.ocos first amended the resolutions BIZ
striking out "Wilmot proviso" and then
laid that on the table, where it is yet qui-
city sleeping. OF tho subsequent nets up
on this question will inform you in the
order ofbusincss. The question very mt
nraily presents itself, why did these men
thus bascly betray their trust? The qucs-
,ion may be answered in one sentence, it
ras to elect A. c. Dodge to the q. s. Sen
ate.
II was perfectly well known that Dodge